Day 13 | August 25th

After having breakfast and checking out of the Paris hotel this morning we were on our way to the Grand Canyon. We knew it was going to be a long drive being 273 miles with stops along the way.

Our first stop on the way was the Hoover Dam, which isn't far from Las Vegas. We drove down to the dam and then parked up and walked around the rim of the dam. The vastness of the dam was incredible but this place was the hottest we have experienced. The car was telling us on the way down that it was 104F so we thought it must have been about 110F on the dam.

I don't do that kind of heat well....at all and I couldn't wait to get back to the parking building for a drink and then back in the car. Scott thought it was really funny how grumpy I get in the heat.

Once we got back on the road we decided we would be best to stop at the next gas station to top up as the distance between towns and gas stops seemed to be getting longer and longer and we thought it better to be safe than sorry.

We also picked up some water and snacks and I was chatting to one of the staff to ensure I had the right directions to the Grand Canyon correct as they did helicopter tours and I found out we could take the scenic route from Kingman along the historic Route 66 rather than take the main freeway. It would add an extra 30 minutes to our trip.

We stopped at the tourist information centre at Kingman and they were so helpful, giving us lots of maps and points of interest along the way to Grand Canyon and from Grand Canyon to Zion National Park. So, we took Route 66 and our first stop was the General Store at Hackberry, which was absolutely amazing. The old cars and memorabilia was incredible. It was definitely worth the stop.

We were amazed at how green it was along the way after the brown countryside from San Diego to Las Vegas. And we were to find out why soon.

About 10 miles before we were going to rejoin the main freeway we drove into a lightening storm. The temperature quickly dropped from 100F to 62F and the wind picked up and the rain poured down. As we drove towards it we could see the fork lightening coming down many times. Truthfully, it was a little scary and we were trying to be positive as Ashleigh was hugging Fizzy Lizzy and trying not to freak out. It wasn't long before we started to drive out of it and the familiar blue sky with a few fluffy white clouds became more regular.

We made another couple of quick stops in William for gas and Tusayan for beer and then we were driving into the Grand Canyon National Park. It cost $25.00 to enter the park and the Grand Canyon Village was just a few miles down the road.

We arrived at the village just after 6pm and were blown away by the view of the canyon, it was stunning. After checking in and unpacking the car it was perfect timing to see the sun go down. Ashleigh and I went out from our room to the rim and sat on the edge to watch the sun go down. I got lots of photos of Ashleigh with the sunset and the amazing sky as the sun went down and the scene changed continually. I also tried to photograph the little bats that were flying around but they were just too quick.

We got to chat to a couple from Tampa and another couple of older guys who were photographers and also both had race cars. It was very interesting the information they told us about the local area, like the deer that were everywhere (we did see a little one on the side of the road in the village as we were driving in).

We had a reasonably early dinner at the restaurant next door so we could get an early night with the aim to get an early start tomorrow so we have lots of time to make our 280 odd mile trip to Zion National Park with plenty of stops along the way to take in the Canyon and other tourist stops.