Sunday, April 18, 2021

Travel Day | Las Vegas, NV to Grand Canyon, AZ

ODOMETER: 86,409 | TODAY’S MILES: 279 | TOTAL MILES TRAVELED: 8,194

Today was a very big travel day.

We left Vegas around 9am and headed for the Grand Canyon, about 280 miles away.

About 18 miles into the trip, we hit the Hoover Dam and made the small detour to go experience it. It is truly an engineering feat and for a whole lot of concrete, oddly beautiful. The deep blue of the water contrasts the white concrete structures, surrounded by a stark, earthy landscape and topped off by a bright blue, cloudless sky.

We left Hoover Dam and continued the 6.5-hour drive to the Grand Canyon. Along the way, we stopped at a gas station that had a lot of beautifully restored vintage cars, much like the characters of the movie “Cars.” Jack took the opportunity to go take some nice photos.

We got to Tusayan, a small village about 2 miles away from the Grand Canyon Park entrance, around 3:30pm. We went for a short walk upon arrival to shake off the drive and then headed into the park.

The first glimpse of the canyon truly takes your breath away. At a mile deep, 277 miles long and 18 miles wide, it is a massive crator the size of which is difficult for the human brain to process. It is so multi-faceted that it’s difficult to discern how it winds as if around itself. The layers of rock indicate the 6 million years the canyon took to form and look more like an abstract painting than a reality. Above it, birds dance in the air while catching insects at dusk and around it, elk roam freely, seemingly undisturbed by the curious tourists constantly stalking them.

We stood and stared for a while, had a lot of fun taking photographs, then headed back to Thelma at dark. We were all exhausted after a very full travel day, so went to bed early for a 6am Monday start.