C & R take a road trip. It'll be Grand!!!

---

Another sweltering day. 104F (37C) on the Pheew-ometer. One annoying thing is that there does not seem to be any direct public transport to and from the airport. Today we hired a car with the plan of driving to the Grand Canyon via Hoover Dam. One is a modern seven wonders of the world and the other is an extraordinary feat of engineering.

The car hire outlets are not actually at the airport. Dollar, Europcar and all the others are about two miles further south. To reach these it would mean taking a cab to the airport then a free shuttle bus. To save time we took the taxi direct to the car hire place.

The taxi driver was very pleasant and as soon as he knew our plans he proceeded to explain how we get on to Highway 95, the route that would point us in the direction of the Grand Canyon.

At the counter of Dollar car hire, despite having already prepaid for two days hire, the assistant was adamant to sell us an upgrade from a saloon to an SUV for only an extra $50 per day.

‘Extra traction for going up those hills!!'

‘We only want to drive to the Canyon, not down it!! I retorted

When the assistant thought he was losing the battle he asked us what airline we flew in with. Suddenly as if by magic, flying with Virgin Atlantic qualified us for a 50%!r(MISSING)eduction. He wasn't going to go down without a flight. We finally conceded. We were obviously dealing with a pro!! So, after sorting the paperwork we were directed to the garage and told to choose from any car within area 7 or 8. We chose a red Nissan Rogue, choosing it as a constant reminder of the sales assistant!! The vehicle was fully automatic which ironically would have been my choice of weapon on the sales rep!!

Programming the Sat-Nav which we had the aforethought to bring with us, the Grand Canyon was 277 miles distant at an approximate drive time of 4:30hrs. We were safely directed to the correct highway. Thankfully we didn't have to rely on the taxi drivers instructions otherwise we'd probably be half way to the Canadian border by now!!!

Our first stop, Hoover Dam is approximately 18 miles south of Las Vegas. We had only been driving for about 20 minutes when over the rise, immediately in front of us, Lake Mead appeared. It is the 16th largest manmade lake in the world and one of the largest manmade lakes in the Western Hemisphere. Now the techie bit: The Lake is formed by the Hoover Dam and is 112 miles long. It has 759 miles of shoreline and is 532 feet deep at its deepest. At the bottom of the lake is a Boeing B-29 Super Fortress that crashed in 1948 while testing a prototype missile guidance. There are also the wrecks of at least two other smaller aircraft down there. Anyway, I digress. The lake is just a by-product of the main attraction, the Hoover Dam. Originally known as the Boulder Dam due to its close proximity to Boulder City, Congress chose to rename the Dam after the 31^st US president and not, as I thought after one of the pioneers of the Vacuum Cleaner – an easy mistake to make!!! The Hoover Dam serves a threefold purpose; it control floods, provides irrigation water and produces hydroelectric power.

On our approach, the Dam visitors Centre and parking was well signposted. Parking near the Dam is $10. However, thanks to Donny & Marie (from Tyne & Wear NOT Utah!!) we heeded their tip and followed the road across the Dam and parked a little further up the hill, gratis! It was only a 10 minute walk down to the dam but at this stage it was extremely hot and there was little shade.

Two peanut butter Magnums later, we were energised to head back to the car. Passing two striking angelic looking sculptures that are apparently the largest monumental bronzes ever cast, a recording constantly on a loop challenged me to rub the toes of one of the sculptures to bring me untold luck. I did as I was instructed as we could all do with untold luck once in a while but as bronze is an excellent conductor of heat all I got was untold 3^rd degree burns!!!

The landscape en route to the Grand Canyon National Park was so diverse. From arid scrub land to craggy barren rocks then morphing in to lush green vegetation in to forests of varying deciduous trees. From mountainous, hilly terrain the landscape became flat with a sole monolith in the distance.

Part of our way touched on the famous route 66. We had now reached a town called Williams. We were on the final leg. The hour or so on the approach road to The Grand Canyon National Park ran as straight as a die. I didn't realise the Romans actually made it this far west!!!

After paying the $30 entry fee in to the Grand Canyon National Park which is valid for 7 days, we followed the path through to Yavepai Lodge.

The Lodge is one of several in the Grand Canyon National Park. This particular Lodge was situated at one end of what is referred to as Market Plaza. The Lodge consisted of a small reception, gift shop selling mainly hand crafted gifts, a coffee shop and restaurant. Across from the Lodge stands a large store that sells everything for your daily needs to make your stay in the National Park a comfortable one.

We were given our key card and a map highlighting the location of our room. Being given a map just to show you your room is never a good sign!! The rooms are blocks of chalets and are scattered over a few hundred acres of woodland.

We decided to eat our evening meal at the Lodge restaurant. Food is ordered and paid for at one of the many online terminals. A receipt is then printed giving an order number and counter at which the food can be collected. A screen above the counter shows the progress of your order. It was like Argos meets TGI Fidays!!

There is free wifi at the Yavepai Lodge but it is only available at the main building at the Market Plaza. Tonight I waited for 40 minutes, the log in process took me through 4 pages before advising me that an error had occurred!! Although the literature promotes this as high speed broadband the number of people trying to access the internet must dramatically reduce the efficiency of the connection. In reality who needs Facebook, the internet or emails….we're at the Grand Canyon!!!

---