Saturday, June 25, 2016
Posted From: The Oasis RV Resort in Las Vegas, NV
Miles driven: 324
Total trip miles: 3,168
Total national parks visited: 9 (unless Vegas counts...we did see a lot of wildlife)
We gave ourselves a bit of whiplash today. We started out very early with a hike down into the Grand Canyon. Then we drove on historic Route 66 for 85 miles, saw the Hoover Dam, and walked the Vegas strip. It was a little crazy, but a lot fun!
It is true what they say: Start your hike into the Grand Canyon early. It gets hotter as you go down...and there is no breeze...at all. It turned out to be untrue (at least for us) that it takes twice as long to come back up as it does to go down. We planned to spend 90 minutes hiking, so we walked down for 30 minutes, but then somehow managed to walk back up in 15-20 minutes. Huh. Oh well, it was fun and we probably needed to get on the road anyway. We had to make it to Las Vegas!
It is true what they say: Start your hike into the Grand Canyon early. It gets hotter as you go down...and there is no breeze...at all. It turned out to be untrue (at least for us) that it takes twice as long to come back up as it does to go down. We planned to spend 90 minutes hiking, so we walked down for 30 minutes, but then somehow managed to walk back up in 15-20 minutes. Huh. Oh well, it was fun and we probably needed to get on the road anyway. We had to make it to Las Vegas!
Here we are taking a little break in the shade. It starts to get very steep after you go a quarter mile or so.
When we made it back up towards the top, the kids stopped to rest by the tunnel. By the time we got to this point, the temperature is cooler and there is a breeze.
We returned to the campground, packed up and headed toward Nevada. The trip was going well, and uneventful, but then we saw that we were near stretches of the old Route 66. Hmm...so we exited I40 at Seligman and drove the 84 miles to Kingman. Sure it took extra time, but it was fun! We listened and sang to "Life is a Highway" by Rascal Flatts.
Some of the old signs are still along the road. Parts of the road were either full of tourists or deserted.
And then we pulled off on the side of the road in Valentine and took this picture. We had talked about taking this picture at some point. Our tribute to the Griswolds on our epic family vacation. We used the timer on the camera and our 6 ft ladder that we carry with us. It was hot as we were in the desert. We all had our roles to play:
Dad - Good ol' lost Clark
Mom - The bad navigator with the map
Grace - The snotty teenager not caring about what is going on around her, listening to her music while texting. (No she isn't really like this, but she had fun with it!)
Cameron - The little boy holding the leash tied to the bumper
Caleb - The little guy sitting in the window, wondering what is going on
We obviously did okay. We don't look too worse for the wear.
We all wanted nothing more than to jump in this water at this point. It was such a pretty blue-green color.
We walked across the dam, and went down the escalator into the visitor center. This is where you basically go through airport security. It was intense. My bag was scanned first and the guy commented that I had food in my bag, which was a no no. Then he scanned Matt's bag and said that he had a knife. Um, so we were kicked out of the visitor center. There was absolutely no way we were hiking back up that hill in this heat to drop off our stuff and come back. Nope. In our defense, that morning we had hiked down into the Grand Canyon and had our packs stocked accordingly. I guess we never unpacked. Matt always carries a multi-tool in his Camel-back, and I always carry trail mix. As we were riding the escalator back up, we cheerfully declared that now we have an extra $50 to spend on something else. Woo hoo!!
We look like we are falling down in this picture. And though it certainly was hot enough to melt into the pavement. It was actually more a matter of camera operator error...mom.
You are supposed to rub the toes of the statues for good fortune.
This picture is actually a game called, "Find the Camper." You probably aren't looking high enough or far enough into the distance. It is at an angle on the far hill in the background. Matt (the best dad and husband EVER) walked back up the hill to get it when we left. He pulled up to the visitor center and picked us up.
This might look like a picture of a cool yellow car, but it is actually a picture of the truck and camper crossing the Hoover Dam. The car just got in the way.
We finally arrived at our campground in Las Vegas, and all I can say is, "We aren't in Kansas anymore Toto." This was not your typical campground. It was more like a fancy hotel, where people stayed in their campers instead of rooms. It had a couple restaurants, shopping, swimming with separate adult and family pools (this basically means that one pool has more pee in it than the other...I'm just not sure which one.) This was us leaving the campground when we drove to the strip.
The kids loved the hand blown glass ceiling at the Bellagio.
Caleb could not stop looking.
This was also the first time the kids had ever been on a moving walkway. I couldn't capture his amazing moves in a picture, but Matt took it upon himself to show the kids how to dance on the moving walkway. He drew some looks for sure.The guy can move!
The kids loved the lights and excitement of the strip, but Caleb was so tired. This picture caught him mid-yawn. He did great and kept up the whole time, but was snoring before we left the parking lot.
Party animals.
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