From there we went over to The Flamingo for Krispy Kreme donuts (taste of home) while I tracked down the Bugsy Siegel monument that marks where the original Flamingo once stood (now the wedding chapel and garden).
We had an awesome time in Vegas and all agreed we'd like to come back on our next planned trip to California. Two things of interest that we noticed: while the hotel rooms are non-smoking, the casinos are definitely not. Big difference from NYC and elsewhere. We even had to wait for another elevator once because a guy was still smoking as he got on. The other was the struggling actors dressed in costumes posing for photos (and tips)* like you see in LA and NYC. We saw Mickey and Minnie, Batman and the Joker, Hello Kitty, and others. I really felt for the full-bodied, or at least head-covered, ones due to the heat. Most impressive were a Bumblebee Transformer with light-up eyes, and a spot-on Hangover III-specific Zach Galifianakis, complete with life-sized giraffe's head. Major props for attention to detail.
* There's a great documentary, among others, on the Hollywood Blvd. comic book crew called Confessions of a Superhero.
For today's drive to the Grand Canyon, we finally turned east for the eventual trip home. It was, thankfully, much shorter than our last couple of days, so we were able to catch a few sites along the way. We even drove on I-40 for a couple of hours, which practically leads to our front door.
On our way out of town, we swung by Fremont Street for a look at the original strip. It's blocked due to pedestrian traffic and there's so much extra clutter in addition to the roof, that it was impossible to see any of the old casinos. We'll just have to settle for a picture book I have when we get back home.
Next stop was the Hoover Dam. Since we last crossed it 13 years ago, they've built a new bridge with high concrete walls (due to the severe crosswinds, I presume) that completely block the view. However, you can still take the scenic route that goes right across the dam. Marsha and Madison hopped out for some quick photos. After we crossed the dam and into Arizona, we found ourselves in a parking lot. The road back to the highway was closed, so we had to go back into Nevada to cross the bridge to get back into Arizona again. I quite liked the two clock towers on each end which tell you what time it is in each state, though I didn't actually read what they said. Yes, this is foreshadowing.
Then it was back on the long highway across more arid, largely vegetation-free, and awesome landscape towards the Grand Canyon. Thankfully, there was little traffic, so the drive was great. We had about a third of a tank of gas and the car had calculated that we'd have plenty to stop in a little town called Kingman. Much of the trek was uphill, though, so I was getting a little nervous when the needle kept dropping and there were no gas stations in sight. Not to mention that we had no cell service and it was 112 degrees outside. Filling up again was quite a relief.
Kingman is on the Historic Route 66, so we took a short detour to "get our kicks on Route 66." We saw a couple of classic Route 66 establishments where Madison could see the clear inspiration for Pixar's Cars.
Next came a bit of confusion as we found ourselves in a time paradox. We'd reset the GPS to Mountain Time after crossing back into Arizona. It looked like we only had two hours to get to the Grand Canyon, but the GPS said we had three. We'd already driven a couple of hours (despite our little detours), so it just didn't add up. I finally remembered that Arizona doesn't practice Daylight Savings Time, so technically the time had not actually changed when we left Nevada. This really helped our schedule, but it sure had us scratching our heads for a bit. Some signs at each time zone border (at least on major highways) would have been very helpful. I remember seeing time zone signs last time, but not on any trip since. The only time zone sign I've seen this entire trip was for Pacific Time when going back across the Hoover Dam.
We arrived at our final destination (and cooler temps), the El Tovar hotel on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. El Tovar is another turn of the century historic hotel, built from giant logs, just like the Old Faithful Inn. In fact, they were completed within six-months of each other. Parking is a challenge and there are no elevators, but the hotel has changed little in the last 100+ years and it's amazing.
What's even better is that the Canyon rim is literally just feet from the hotel. You can sit on the porch, or walk a few more feet and sit on a bench overlooking the Canyon. There's just a little stone wall, and that's it. Awesome doesn't even begin to describe it. When we were here last, four-year-old Madison exclaimed, "Wow, That's a Big Hole!"
The original train depot still sits just below the hotel, where all of the guests used to arrive. It, too, has changed little in the past century. I hope we can go inside tomorrow.
The restaurant here is fantastic. We ate here 13 years ago and couldn't wait to repeat the experience. The menu has changed, now even better, and the service was spot-on.
And if that wasn't enough, as I was bringing in the last suitcase, there were two elk grazing right in front of the hotel!
Throughout the evening, they were joined by others. By the time it got dark, they were joined by at least ten others, including two little ones. Some were still grazing, while others just layed down to relax. It was just like Animal Kingdom Lodge, but without the barriers. After dinner, we sat on a bench overlooking the Canyon, enjoying the night air, surrounded by relaxing elk. Now, you can't end a day any better than that.
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