- Woke up, ate breakfast, cleaned up, checked out
- Got to see a good deal of Las Vegas, the actual town, while making a trip to Trader Joe’s before heading on our way
- Drove less than an hour to Hoover Dam
- On the way in, we didn’t pass security – they had to take a peek in the car topper.
- Drove in through twists and turns on cliffs and parked on the Arizona side.
- Walked a short way to look over the edge – Mom didn’t get too close and some kids were not very excited about another walk to see another thing
- It was pretty amazing, but our visit was short for the kids sake and we had bigger, better things to do
- Hopped back in the van and drove back out to the highway
- Ate some bagels for lunch that we grabbed from our free breakfast
- Stopped for gas just as we started heading north toward the Grand Canyon
- Passed a bike race along the way
- Finally arrived at the Grand Canyon south rim – surprise! It was a free day and we didn’t have to pay the $30!
- Got out, spent some time looking over the edge in sheer amazement
- Spent some time telling EC not to run, had a few near-panic attacks with kids looking over the edge
- Saw crazy people walk out on the edge of cliffs for pictures
- Visited the visitor center, gift shop, bathrooms, and headed out after a good 1 1/2 hour visit
- Drove out to the East along the south rim and caught a few more glimpses of the canyon as the sun was beginning to turn the sky orange
- Saw some animals along the road – reminding us of Yellowstone
- Finally made it out of the borders of the park and continued on maybe the most beautiful drive of the entire trip
- Route 64 gave us spectacular views of the Little Colorado river gorge, with rocky mountains to the south – with a beautiful sunset. The pictures I took don’t come close to the beauty of it. Native Americans had stands scattered along the way where they sold their wares
- We finally made it to Flagstaff where we ate a quick dinner at Cracker Barrel
- After a long tiring drive along Interstate 40, we finally arrived at our hotel in Gallup, New Mexico
VIDEOS
Eating breakfast at the hotel in Las Vegas before heading out – by this time we started getting a bit tired of the same menu
Looking over the edge at Hoover Dam
The drive across the dam and state line – a man was blocking the plaque.
Grand Canyon Videos – self explanatory
The drive out from Grand Canyon was beautiful