We already got a first taste of it on our way from Lake Powell, right after Page, when we stopped at the aptly named “Horseshoe Bend” where the Colorado bends, well, like a horseshoe through a canyon. However, it was quite an exhausting trail to get to the actual viewpoint in the heat, especially for the kids. And, when we finally got there, again it was quite a tough one for the writer of these notes (given that there were again zero safety barriers, which made it all rather uncomfortable to watch for me as people were trying to get as close to the edge as possible for the best photo angle possible). Personally, I rather more enjoyed watching Germany beat Ghana that same day on ESPN.
Anyways, I digress... Yes, the Grand Canyon. About 3 hours from Page (everything seems to be a 3 hour drive here, we have noticed), we got there just in time to see some of the later afternoon light before we set up our RV in the Mather Campground on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
The real treat was getting up extra early the next morning (...and this time not to watch a World Cup game in the early hours on TV) - but to see the sunrise over the canyon. While the rest of the family went for the beauty sleep option, I got up in time for the 5.13 am sunrise, which really is something that neither words nor pictures can adequately describe. Every few minutes as the sun rises, the canyon’s image changes. This combined with the vast space of the canyon itself makes this experience truly one of the greatest nature attractions in the world.
After I re-connected with the rest of the team and after a proper breakfast, we spend some more time at the canyon rim. Or rather time waiting for the shuttle buses and then being carried around in them from viewpoint to viewpoint. Because by now the assembled tourists of this world were all in full flow, and the heat was back on again, too.
I definitely preferred the morning experience...
Leaving the Grand Canyon behind, we drove – you guessed it – again approx. 3 hours on our way to Kingman, Arizona. Just really a convenient stop for the night before the final stretch back to Las Vegas to return the mobile home. Also a good “excuse” to revisit good-old Route 66 on one of its still existing and nicest parts (from Seligman to Kingman). Sabine and I drove the entire Route 66 (or, better, what’s still left of it) from Chicago to Los Angeles back in 1999, so it was nice to revisit at least part of the “mother road”.
Since we last visited, Seligman has really accelerated branding itself as the “spiritual home” of the Route 66 with every shop and every piece of merchandise being Route 66 related (and perhaps overshot the mark slightly in doing so).
By contrast, it was nice to see that things at one of our old favourite places, the old store in Hackberry, hadn’t changed a bit. It still looks like it did years ago. Including being run by the same owner. Just the dog Max wasn’t there 11 years ago...
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