November Road Trip Part 5: The Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, and Route 66



 
When we left Las Vegas, we headed for the Grand Canyon by way of the Hoover Dam. We stopped at the Dam parking area and walked over the Dam road to use the Dam bathroom.  Yes, we made all the Dam jokes we could.

 
It really is an amazing engineering marvel from the 1930s.  And very high.  I'm not fond of heights, but the views were neat.

 
I totally wasn't joking about using the Dam bathrooms.

 
The two "Winged Figures of the Republic" were exciting to our nerdy kids as they feature in one of Rick Riordan's Heroes of Olympus books.  In the book they come to life and are named Hank and Chuck.  The kiddos liked seeing them in real life. 

 
After the Hoover Dam we stopped for lunch at a Black Bear Diner.  This is a western states chain, but we had never been to one before.  Our Bear tried to blend in.

 
We ate large amounts of food and everyone agreed it was a great pit-stop.

 
Then we drove to our home for the next two nights.  A motel 6 on Route 66 in Williams, AZ.  The rooms were basic, but clean and comfortable.  The kids enjoyed the pool and hot tub.

 
It was also decorated cutely in the lobby, and had free coffee and hot chocolate available.  It was fantastic for a super budget place to stay.

 
In the morning we drove the 45 minutes to the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.

 
We took so many photos. The scenery is really breath-taking, and photos don't really do it justice, but we had to try.




Dad thinks he's funny.
(Nobody panic, there was a ledge just out of sight, he isn't actually that close to the edge.)

It was really quite cold the day we were there, but we were determined to hike at least a little bit below the rim, so we set out on the Bright Angel Trail.
 
Crazy beautiful!  The wind was much less down there, so we hiked for a while before turning around and trekking back up and out. You can apparently take this trail all the way down, across, and up the other side of the canyon- if you have two days and all the necessary supplies, which we clearly did not.

 
We did have time to do the Junior Ranger Program though!  The Bear and Sissy got their booklets and completed the activities to earn their badges.


 
Dad just wanted to pose for the picture too.

 
One of our official Jr. Rangers at the Grand Canyon.

 
Back in Williams it was time to stroll Route 66 and look at some souvenirs.

 
We had packed granola bars and snacks along for lunch at the Grand Canyon, so we were all ready for a big meal at dinner time. We chose this Italian restaurant so the kids could get pizza.

 
It ended up being the best pizza we've had since coming back to the US, and my lasagna was pretty tasty too!

  
The next day there was a major snowstorm forecast for pretty much our whole route home to Utah.  So we woke up extra early and hit the road in an effort to stay ahead of the storm. We did see on the map that we would pass right by Horseshoe Bend, so we planned a stop there to stretch our legs. The actual bend is about 3/4 mile from the parking lot, and one of our littles was put out about the unexpected hike on a windy, cold day... but we all did it anyway.

  
It's pretty cool!  And once again, I feel like our photos don't do justice to how massive this place is.

  
The wind was brutal though!

Being Thanksgiving day, it was really difficult to find open restaurants, but we eventually ended up at a Denny's for a late lunch/early dinner.

 
And we did make it home before the snow!

This road trip was a huge undertaking. From Universal Studios and Disneyland, to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon, we felt like we saw a pretty awesome cross-section of the the American West. Of course we have more plans for the years we spend here in the West, but no more trips in 2019 at least!

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