We woke up in Las Vegas sore. Neither Rob nor I got any sleep that night due to the uncomfortable beds. We quickly packed and headed out the door to start driving back to Arizona to the Grand Canyon. We didn't think it would be a big deal to drive 3 more hours than originally planned since we compared them to our 18 and 13 hour drive days. While in theory that would have worked we wound up having to pull over on our way to Los Angeles so that we wouldn't fall asleep at the wheel (it was brutal).
Our road trip started with this gem after leaving Stratosphere:
After that it was crossing back over the Hoover Dam - which I was ok with because I wanted to see it in the daytime. It was incredible to see the dam.
We wanted to take a Dam Tour but we were too early and we had the Grand Canyon to see.
On the way to the Grand Canyon and also on our way to Las Vegas we were seeing signs for "Jerky" everywhere. They claimed to have the best jerky. Rob, being a jerky man wanted to stop - I was down. For so many big signs they sure had a small store - then again, why would you need a big store to house dried meats. The jerky was very good - we sampled Buffalo, Elk, Venison, as well as Beef Brisket jerky. They had dried everything in there. The dried mango was my favorite. We basically received a free meal off of all the samples they had especially their olives. They have a website that can be found here if you want some "really good fresh jerky".
After our jerky endeavor we were well on our way to the Grand Canyon. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. (by the way - use the people in the picture for perspective).
We went from great, warmer weather (relative to St. Louis winter weather), to chilly 'I need boots and a heavy coat' weather when we started climbing from Flagstaff to Grand Canyon National Park. We got to the entrance to the park and sure enough... another $25 admission (thank God we didn't pay for the crater). Anyway, we paid it knowing that this is the main reason we decided to make this into an extended road trip and knew it was going to be worth every dollar. Indeed, it was. The pictures do not do it justice. Rob and I enjoyed our time there, even though because of the ice I almost slipped and fell into "The Great Abyss". The Great Abyss is a section of the Grand Canyon that does not sound too fun. Rob and I hope to return to the park and stay in the lodges.
Driving around the Grand Canyon was something else. First, it was cold and icy. That, in addition to the fact that Grand Canyon National Park refused to take their shuttles on some of the roads we were driving on should have sent red flag flying. I really didn't appreciate it until I realized that we were driving about 5-20 feet from the ledge with no guard rail on a sheet of ice. The road may have been slightly slanted away from the Canyon but nothing but a tree was really keeping you from driving off the cliff. Yeah. Scary.
Just a side note - the famous "skywalk" is not a part of the Grand Canyon national park that Rob and I were at, that's its own separate entity that costs around $100 admission.
After viewing at various parts of the South Rim of the canyon we then ate at Wendy's well on our way to Los Angeles. We ate at a lot of cheap, fast food on our trip due to saving some money on the trip for places we really wanted to scarf at - ie. Sadies, crab in San Francisco, sushi in Seattle, etc. By the way, the McDonald's in Vegas and the Wendy's at the Grand Canyon PRICE GOUGE. Rob makes a great point when it comes to it- the dollar menu is still the dollar menu, no matter how small and nonexistent they try to make it seem.
The drive to LA was pretty uneventful - we had a clear night driving through the desert and had to stop to look at the stars. You could see the milky way with such clarity - it was breathtaking. After driving for what seemed like an eternity, we napped for 40 minutes at a gas station that gave us that little bit of energy we needed to drive another hour. The Rock Star energy drinks we were drinking weren't working anymore at that point.
We decided to sleep in as we knew that this night in Los Angeles was going to be about Rob visiting his family (he grew up in LA). I was able to meet his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. I also ate my first In N Out Burger and yes they are as good as everyone says they are. We checked into our hotel at Redondo Beach and walked to a bar on the Pier to watch an LA sunset. Rob made this a mandatory part of our trip which I am glad he did. We also hung out with his Aunt Patti - who is an awesome lady.
LA sunsets are amazing, some say it's from the pollution but I really think it's a southwest thing considering the amazing sunsets we were seeing in New Mexico and Arizona. We visited with family a little while longer and then retired to our hotel room for the night to get some rest before going up the Pacific Coast Highway to Monterey, California (my most favorite part of the whole trip!)
Love
L.
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