Holbrook to Grand Canyon 170 miles

---

We left the wigwam motel early about 8.20 and stopped to fill up on fuel. We've worked out its about $45 to fill up a tank which is about £27 so it's probably about 40% of the price back home. We'd worked out using a ful calculator back home that the trip should cost us about £350 in fuel which is about $585. It's definitely going to be significantly cheaper than that. We were going to work it out but we've lost track of what we've spent but estimations based on the first day using a full tank and doing approx 300 miles are that it will cost us about $405/£240 based on doing 2700 miles as we're taking the longer detour up through Yosemite to Tahoe, ending San Francisco or Frisco as a taxi driver called it in Santa Fe.

We've all been surprised at how cheap general spending and food has been so far. I think I've spent about $550 dollars so far over 9 days which is about £35 a day, not including fuel but including about $60 of gifts etc. the most we've spent on a meal for the three of us including drinks has been at the big Texan which was about $72 / £42 which including 'the' chocolate cake! We could easily have spent less though if we tried as we've been eating out and doing regular crisp and drink runs to supermarkets along the way. Although to be fair we haven't hit Vegas yet! We could soon get back on track with spending! Before leaving I made a Skype call home as the wifi was good at the wigwams so long as you stood in the right place. The wigwam last night was quite cosy and had everything you'd need on a basic level. I can imagine people in the 1950's getting excited about staying there.

Kerry was first up driving today after two days off, so it was my day off from driving today with steph taking over in the afternoon. The skies were blue and it was sunny and we drove on to Winslow, Arizona and made a quick stop at the corner made famous by the 'Take It Easy' song by The Eagles I think. It was nice and quiet and we took some photos and a bit of video footage, before heading on out of town joining the interstate again, which has replaced Route 66 for this section. We've only got today and tomorrow left of driving on the mother road before we head off up to Vegas tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be another long day, as we hope to take the Route 66 detour through the mountains of Kingsman and Oatman going past the Hoover Dam before reaching Vegas where valet parking and two nights stay at the Bellagio awaits! We pulled up at the meteor crater which is where a 50ft across meteor hit the earth 50,000 years ago and made a huge crater in the ground. At $16 each to get in it was a little pricey to see what was essentially a huge hole in the ground. To be honest it was big but I actually thought it was going to be bigger. We walked up to the top viewing point and took some pics. I did a couple of panoramic photos on my phone so I'll have to see how they come out. We then had a walk round the museum and gift shop buying a few bits before getting back on the interstate.

Further down the landscape started to change, we had mountains ahead with snow on, deserts on the left and right dotted with green bushes and as we got further towards Flagstaff there were green pine trees with cabins. We then had a stop to get a coffee whilst Kerry went to McDonald's, and the Steph switched with Kerry for the second part of the drive. After a while we entered the Grand Canyon about 2.30 and paid $25 for the privilege. We drove through past a few hotels then found ours the Maswik Lodge. The room was supposed to be basic but its nice inside and we got to park right outside. We then decided to go on a walk and put our walking boots on and walked a bit to another motel and onto the rim trail. I'm scared of heights and the Grand Canyon is incredible. I've been before but to the west rim, the south is even more insane. The drops and cliffs are so high it's unbelievable and some sections make me feel nervous and jittery. The other two wanted to do one of the hikes further down into the canyon but they were 2-4 hours in length and time was getting on plus they knew I wouldn't do those as they were paths with sheer drops. We walked about half way of the rim trail then decided to go back and get something to eat. But first we took a look in the gift shop and bought a few bits.

Then we ate in a restaurant overlooking the canyon. It's so weird close up and so deep and huge it doesn't look real. The meal we had in the restaurant was very good and the best meal myself and Kerry had had in the us even if it did cost $120 for the three of us although to be fair wedding have a few 'cactus lemonade' cocktails which were gorgeous. We then got chocolate cheesecake take out and went back to the room for showers and bed with a beer as we are hoping to catch the sunrise in the morning at a lookout. Point on our way out of the canyon. The sun rises at 5.59am tomorrow morning we're going to have to leave our room about 5am. We've then got a longish drive to Vegas through a detour to Kingman and Oatman through the mountainous switch backs (what have I let myself in for!!). This is supposed to be one of the oldest and best bits of Route 66. Once we've done that stretch and head up to Vegas through the Hoover dam we'll be done with Route 66. It's been a pleasure and I've really enjoyed it. To be honest some parts have been nothing like I imagined and a bit of a let down but we've done the bits we wanted to and the scenery has been amazing - I really feel we've been on a journey. For me it only really started from Carthage when we stayed in the Boots Court Moreland if you are planning on doing it yourself and you aren't set on starting at the very start I'd definitely recommend starting at the Boots. You'll save three days and two nights which can be put to far better use later on in the trip. So off to bed now at 8.15 ready for the 4.30am alarm!

---