Grand Canyon -
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No hangover today, the drinks couldn't have been that strong yesterday. On our way out of Las Vegas Shehab would like
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Shehab settle for his Protein-powder. It is almost noon before we have the Mirage in our rearview mirror. Driving
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 Author at Route 66 gasstation |
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At the other side of the dam and the Colorado river we reach the end of the Mohave desert. We enter Arizona, the road is turning from dry dusty into mountainous hairpin bend. Just after the city of Kingman you get a chance to drive on the old Route 66 through an Indian reservation, very scenic and you get pretty close to the western rim of the canyon, near Peach Springs. On the I-40, take the 90 miles detour on the Route, constructed in the 1920's along the existing trading routes, streaching from Chicago to Los Angeles. Very gradual the teamperature drops while we climb alongside the Colorado river, but we are inside our car with constant temperature so when we finally make a pitstop it is freezing, we are now used to 100°F so a windbreaker is called for. Warm clothes are being unpacked and then I notice that my bag is burning hot, it has been in the trunk across the desert and I am slightly concerned about the film for my camera, the trunk of the car is like a hot pizza-oven. A good advice is to keep your stuff with you inside the car, but not in the glove compartment - Shehabs pictures have a dim sense to them caused by mist inside his camera-lens. Our plan is to pick a motel in Williams, It is now afternoon and there is no point in hunting for room |
closer to the canyon,
so we check in to a Comfort Inn for the night, our base camp for the
Grand Canyon expedition. We drop our bags
in the nice room before we rush back to the car again and drive the 70 miles
out to the South Rim. On the road out there you find all kinds of "special
offers", to take a chopper ride down the chasms, a trek to the botton of the
Canyon, what have you - and it is not inexpensive, so we skip these
temptation. We push on towards the National Park where we pay a few bucks each for a 24 hour visitors-ticket.
There are several parking-spots on the way towards the Park Headquarter, we drive all the way to the Grand Canyon Village where we park and walk the last mile to the viewpoint or rim-trail. The view from here is stupendious, marvelous or just plain breathtaking and we are luckey to expierence the sunset from here, the scene continually changes as the light gets dim. Sit on the edge and watch the twilight colors turn into different shades and mixtures of blue, mauve, pink and red. This is like looking into a fish-tank; Nothing is going on but you keep studying the view anyway, mesmerised - it has a stress-relieving effect. We had talked about driving for the Northern Rim later but this is made impossible by a roaring forest fire, the thick clouds of smoke are clearly visible from here. |
 View of magnificant Grand Canyon |
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The night is almost pitch black when we leave the Canyon for today, our tickets are due until tuesday afternoon so we agree to get up early in the morning and perhaps catch the daybreak out here again, but taking our previous rise-and-shine plans into consideration, this idea does not seem likely. Back at Williams we search for a place to eat but the entire city seem to have called it a day. A little kept aside we find an excelent restaurant where the kitchen haven't closed yet (if we are quick). So we order the works, steak and Applepie with vanilla ice for desert, and several Samuel Adams, the best beer in the world. But we better get some shut-eye if we want to keep our dawn-at-the-canyon promise. Monday, July 31'st So early next morning is not as early as we had planned. We check out of the nice Comfort Inn and drive an hour back to the South Rim again to see the view in daytime - morning is long gone. Be prepared that you'll probably spend three-four hours, even if you are in a hurry. 277 miles long, 10 miles wide and one mile down, the quick tour to the base of the canyon is called the 7 second descend but from that there is no way back again - so be carefull if you deside to |
go on a trek. Along the rim there is a spectacular wildlife,
we see chipmunks (or squirrel) and the view is fantastic in the daytime. When
entering from the South, make a stop at the first parking space on the way,
I think the view from here is the most immence.
We stop everal places on our way back to the Grand Canyon Village. I want to buy a souvenir and settle for a T-Shirt, so far I have bought four shirts on the way across the US - this help postponing the trip to the laundromat. We take a small walk down and up again before we leave this amazing place. The Grand Canyon is definately a highlight on this holiday, don't miss it. Now we head out on the last stage of our drive across the US, Rajiv is expecting us around August 1'st so this couldn't be more precise. Shehab called his answering-machine and announced our arrival, from here it take about eight hours to drive to Los Angeles so we will be there around 8PM. We go the direct route through Bullhead/Laughlin and hit the last twitch of the LA-Rushhour just before we are lost again. At the outskirts of Los Angeles another forest fire is out of control and we drive through the smoke drifting across the Expressway just before that approach road is closed due to bad visibility. |
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