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Published: July 29th 2013
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Hello everyone, apologies for the delay in blogging we are all still alive and well so here is an update on our activities over here in the US. So I think I left you anticipating our trip into Old Scottsdale. In brief it's not very old (Est. 1912) and there isn't very much there so we went to a massive shopping mall in Scottsdale where more shopping was done and dinner was eaten.
The next morning after collecting the hire car we drove the 350 miles North to the Grand Canyon North Rim a longer drive than to the South Rim but it has 10% of the tourists. The scenery on the way up was spectacular and it only improved as we neared the Grand Canyon. We stopped at a view point where the bridge crossed over the Colorado River some 50+ metres in the air. The North Rim of the Canyon has 1 option for accommodation other than camping and that is basic but comfortable wooden cabins. The first night there we went on an all you can eat 'cookout' (BBQ) where there was entertainment provided for us by the Tennessee couple Woody and Callita-Jane singing country music and
performing magic tricks.
We rose early the following morning as we were going on a trek down into the Canyon on mules, the journey down the twisting tracks with steep drops (which the mules liked to wander dangerously close to) was particularly fun and provided some fantastic views of the Canyon. After descending 1400 ft down from around 8200 ft the temperature rose significantly and this is where we dismounted to give the animals a break before turning around to begin the hike back up the hill. This provided more time to take some fantastic photos and get some water on board. The journey back up was fairly uneventful save for the incredible flatulence of the mules when they are having to exert themselves.
During the afternoon we drove out to Point Imperial, the highest point in the Grand Canyon at 8803 ft where again we were greeted with fantastic views looking down into the valley. Dinner was served in the only restaurant in the North Rim with panoramic views looking out at the Canyon. Here Jack and I consumed Bison meat for the first time (tastes like Beef) which was very good.
The next morning we
left the Grand Canyon and headed to Vegas where I'm now writing this in my hotel room. We went for a wander around earlier this afternoon through the shopping mall of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and into the Luxor (the big pyramid one). The scale of everything out here is ridiculous and it all appears to be connected so you don't actually have to walk outside into the heat of the desert. This also provided fantastic views, this time of depressed people loosing all their money as well as more restaurants then you could possibly imagine. I will get some photos of all the Vegas stuff over the next couple of days but for now you will have to make do with the Grand Canyon ones.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
USA
Excellent photo!