Grandest Canyon!

Sunday, July 14, 2013 - Happy Bastille Day!
Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon!

Oh yes, we certainly slept in!  But now it's time to get our act together.  Our last Denny's breakfast and everything is stashed in the car.  There is ice in both coolers and we're off to check out and retrieve Marilyn's fifty-dollar deposit.  The cashier walkie-talkies to housekeeping and they are quick to clear our room.  Glad we didn't take the TV!

Overpass as we are leaving Las Vegas.  There are also horses and burros!

It is about a four-hour drive to the Canyon, so we need to break that up a bit.  Luckily we need to do a laundry so all we have to do is find a laundromat and we're in business!  There are only three towns along our route, after we pass Lake Mead, Boulder City and the Hoover Dam.

The first is Kingman, on Historic Route 66.  Google maps on Marilyn's phone thinks there are to laundromats on Beale Street.  Well, that's close to accurate.  Instead of retracing our steps we take a parallel road and there is Soapy Too, one of the ones we'd been searching for!

It is clean and the attendants are personable and helpful.  There is even free coffee and donuts;  but breakfast wasn't that long ago and we decline!  Two loads of wash and one dryer load equals about an hour of typing time on our computers and we put our clean and freshly-folded clothes back in the car.

The last town before we turn north toward the Canyon is Williams and we look for gas and dinner.  Williams is also on Route 66 and takes that role quite seriously.  There are lots of old original-appearing businesses.  There is even a museum in an old gas station.

The gas is easy to find;  dinner not so much.  We choose a family restaurant and it turns out that the only thing we can find that isn't pasta or deep-fat fried is a gyro.  Now I love gyro's but this was just a bit off somehow.  All that aside, we have something in our tummies and are headed for that huge hole in north Arizona!  There is a lot of rain ahead and Marilyn thinks we'll be in the thick of it.  I think we'll be fine by the time we get to Bright Angel Lodge.  She claims I'm a glass-half-full kinda girl.  What do you think?

Guess what, it is barely spitting as we check in!  We park not too far away from our room in Bucky Lodge which is right next door to the main building and bring in all our stuff to get organized after our laundering exercise.  While we were checking in we also confirm our reservations for tomorrow morning's Sunrise Bus Tour.  We have to meet the bus right here in the lobby at 4:50!!  And get there ten minutes early!!  It better not be raining and we better get some great photos!

Oh, did I metnion that the temperature has been steadily dropping?  Something about the 7,000 foot elevation, don't you suppose?

We unload in two trips and as we approach with the first load our room isn't immediately visible.  I walk around the building checking numbers and when I get to the back or rim side of the lodge everyone is excitedly pointing their cameras at the canyon and the sky.  There is a bright double rainbow!!  It is a complete arc and the near end seems to come down into Bucky Lodge.  We are so blessed and protected!!

Lots of pictures later we return to our room and head for bed.  After all, we've got to be up at FOUR AM!!