Tired eyes from the altitude......

I'm a day late writing about my trip on Saturday.  I got up early and planned for the day's drive ahead, but left later than anticipated.  Arizona was in a different time zone then Nevada, and I kept getting confused.  (Arizona doesn't follow day light savings time).  My goal was to get to the Grand Canyon and move on from there, however, it didn't happen that way.

I drove the original Route 66 for a few hours.  Started around Kingman, AZ and then hooked back up onto I-40 in Seligman, AZ.  From there, I took I-40 to Williams, and then followed 64 north to the Grand Canyon.

Route 66 is a two lane road.  One lane for each direction of traffic.  There are virtually no cars on the route.  I saw more trains than cars.  It took me through gorgeous areas which hinted of the grand canyon vistas that were around the corner on my journey.  Along this stretch, there are random road signs that only give you partial messages and you have to wait until the next sign comes along, followed by the next, to get the whole message.  The last sign of these messages would always read "Burma-Shave".   It kept things interesting, and I got a laugh out of them.

My journey of the day ended at a hotel right outside of the Grand Canyon's South Rim gate entrance.  While checking in, I asked the woman behind the desk if it would be easier to buy a park pass prior to entering the park, or just wing it at the gate.  To my delightful surprise, I was advised that the park was free to enter on Sunday, in honor of Veterans Day.  Could I have not picked a better weekend to visit, or what??  That saved me $25 and I could breeze through the entrance.  

I had dinner at a Mexican place next door to the hotel.  I sat at the bar, and enjoyed a nice, cold glass of Grand Canyon pilsner while eating fish tacos.  Yum!  A gentleman that sat next to me shared a video that he had taken that morning in the parking lot of his hotel.  I couldn't believe it when I saw an elk with ginormous antlers just chomping on the berry bushes in the parking lot, as if he didn't have a care in the world.  I kept my eyes peeled from that moment on for elk.

Once I got back to my room, the wifi was very weak, and I just fell asleep right away.  I planned to get up incredibly early the following day for the sunrise at the Grand Canyon, which is exactly what happened.

I woke up at 5:30 the next morning and was in my vehicle, on the way to the grand canyon, about 30 minutes later.  As informed, it was free to get into the park that morning.  I went to the Geology Museum parking lot for a better view, and hopefully less people.  (Even though it wasn't very crowded, due to the time of year).  Needless to say, when the first rays of sunlight bounced across the canyon walls, I felt like a little kid.  There are no words to describe the incredible awesomeness of the canyon.  It's too huge to even comprehend.  It took my breath away.  I watched the sun rise at the Grand Canyon.  Beautiful, just incredibly beautiful.  I recommend everyone enjoy such a moment at some point in their life.  I spent a good three hours or so at the park before I snaked my away from the canyon's edge and on to the next part.

I passed the Continental Divide on my way to New Mexico.  Did you know that this is where rainfall splits and runs off towards one ocean or the other?  Rain to the east goes to the Atlantic, and rain to the west goes to the Pacific.  Pretty interesting tidbit, eh?

My final destination of the day was Albuquerque, New Mexico, where a friend of mine from the service now lives with her husband and kids.  We went out to dinner at a fabulously delicious place called El Pinto. We tried incredibly hot roasted peppers.  Talk about ON FIRE!! WOW!  It was a fantastic time catching up with her, and meeting her husband.  I'm now ready to just pass out and get a good sleep.  Phew!  Until tomorrow....

Ramble on down the road.....