If ever an attraction lived up to its hype, it’s the Grand Canyon. It’s so amazing, photographs cannot do it justice — but I’ll give it a shot.

Before we get to that, though, there was another marvel — the Hoover Dam. While we didn’t stop and do the tour (which meant we were on the “wrong” side of the dam), we did get some great photos of the river and the other side of the structure:

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But then, the Canyon. There were a lot of people there, as we expected. [The cool part about that? We bypassed the endless lines of folks giving up their $25 at the fee collection booth because the Thriller has a Golden Access Card from the Veterans Administration, which means free admission to any national park for the rest of his life. Heh heh. JUMP to the front of the line.]

We parked and walked a short trail. The Thriller said, “Here it is!” I said, “I don’t see anything.” We crested a small hill on the path, and this is what I saw:

The most unbelievable part of these vistas: no railings. No safety precautions of any kind. You step off the ledge, you fall a mile. Period. Each time I’d inch forward a bit to get a better photo, the Thriller would say, “Hey, hey, HEY. That’s close enough.” It’s exhilarating, yet completely terrifying.

Of course, that didn’t stop people from walking on outcroppings and even sitting on edge rocks and dangling their feet. I have a picture somewhere of a guy doing just that. I’ll upload it to Facebook. But this is generally what I mean:

The GC ranks as a real highlight of this trip. I’m so glad the Thriller suggested it! I have a ton of cool photos to upload to Facebook of our time here in historic Williams as well.

Back on the road we go. Actually, we’re going off-roading today, through Navajo country, ending up in Pueblo late tonight. Happy, um, whatever day it is.

Fink, still impressed

Not much to report this day, as I didn’t post to you until later last night, thanks to Finkweb pitching a fit.

After I posted, we went back down to the casino and yanked back some of our money. It was great fun. I learned from a lady in the elevator that not only does the Orleans have a bowling alley and thirteen theaters, but also a roller skating rink. Mind-blowing, I tell ya.

During the yanking-back session, we got up from playing and noticed that whoever had played beside us left $10 on his VP machine. So we printed out the voucher, took it to the cashier, and explained. He looked at us like we had three heads. We laughed.

We awoke around 5:45 this morning, as light crept over the strip:

Looking forward to the Grand Canyon today! I’ve never been, and the Thriller tells me it is a sight to behold. Definitely one of those things that pictures can’t accurately convey.

So today, we check out and make our way back into Arizona, where we’ll stay in Williams, at The Lodge on Route 66. Awesome.

FO

We haven’t been to Las Vegas in 13 years, and boy have some things changed.

We’re staying at the beautiful Orleans Hotel, off-strip. It might be a little different on the strip, say, at Caesar’s, but I doubt it. What I mean is, there are kids everywhere. Everywhere. In the casino, running through the lobby, in the restaurants.

Now you know me; I love kids. But in Vegas? At a casino? I told Mavis this morning that the hotels are apparently competing for shrinking gambling revenues, so why not offer a Disneyland type vacation, and bring the kids, too?

Still, we love the hotel (even though the casino has not been kind to our meager bank). Check out the amenities:

All this is great. The worst part? We’ve played all evening last night and all day today, and we’d take Detroit over Vegas any day. Maybe it’s just a stretch of bad luck, but these things have “sucker” written on them in bigger letters than usual. And we’re good poker players.

Still, we’re having a blast, and I think we’ll go see a movie tonight in one of them there thirteen theaters. Sheesh.

Hope you had a great Tunesday — off to the Grand Canyon tomorrow.

Well, fiends, we made it. Winding “from Chicago to LA, more than two thousand miles all the way” — it was a kick for sure.

On the 4-hour drive through the High Desert from Needles to San Bernardino, we took the Old Road several times. [For those arriving late, Historic 66 mostly runs alongside the interstate, often veering off in other directions, crossing the interstate back and forth, or disappearing altogether for miles at a time. It’s a challenge to find it sometimes, even with road signs and guidebooks/maps.] Our first stop was Ludlow, where we went to the Dairy Queen — one of exactly two functioning establishments in town — to get an ice cream cone. The rest of Ludlow went the way of many other 66 towns across the country on some level:

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Fortunately, the Ludlow Cafe and Motel are still going strong:

Next in our path was Barstow. Once again, our car conversation turned to the absolutely mind-boggling number of “motor court” motels we’d seen along the way. How I wished at that moment that I’d counted them all. I can’t imagine how many hundreds there were and are.

Barstow embraces its Route 66 history. This mural is one of several in the town. And we counted at least ten motor court motels — most with original signage still in place — on the short main drag.

Then it was off to Victorville, known not only as a Route 66 tourist stop, but as a destination for violent criminals nationwide. [We didn’t see the prison.] Victorville restored some of its original charm in a special district, with shops, motels and cafes along the way. Definitely one of the most well-maintained 66 stops we saw in the southwest.

Then we arrived at our destination — the Wigwam! [Again, email me if you are not on Facebook and would like to see all the photos of the Odyssey. I’ll send you a private link.] The only bummer — no AMC, and the wrong HBO. Therefore, no Mad Men, no True Blood. But it’s OK. Really. I’m fine. Seriously.

We checked into the Wigwam, went to IHOP for some flapjacks, then took off for the Santa Monica Pier, where 66 officially ends. I saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time — it was gorgeous.

And there you have it.

Now for the second phase of the trip — the Road Home. We start with a 3.5-hour drive to Las Vegas, where we’ll relax and have some casino fun for two days. More later from the Orleans, fiends — and thank you for sticking with me for this leg of the journey. I feel like we’ve had the company of people who were almost as excited as we were about this endeavor. You are all the beast.

FO

We had a fantastic day in Arizona yesterday. The drive through the mountains out of Flagstaff was gorgeous.

Interestingly, the Old Road doesn’t offer as much in Arizona, compared to the top two states in our opinion so far (Illinois and Missouri). But we went off-road and saw lots of wonderful ruins. For the record, Winslow was a bit of a disappointment, but I’m glad we stopped.

There was Arizona:

Then…California:

The desert — beautiful, but desolate. And talk about hot. I realized yesterday I’ve never felt heat before. I didn’t know hot till last night and today:

At least it’s only going to be 95 in San Bernardino today. Hey…San Bernardino…we’re almost to the end! I just realized that, sitting here at 6:50 in the morning, wrapped in a blanket because the Thriller has the AC down to about 65. Grr. But he’s a good boy — he went out into the 92-degree morning to find coffee and breakfast for us.

Needles is hot. Did I mention this?

More from the Pacific shores tomorrow. Stay cool!