Las Vegas is HOT in the summer. And crowded. I mean, duh, but still. It takes a lot of energy even to venture down the Strip to other hotels.
These are the “it’s hot as crap out and it’s not even 9:00am yet” faces:
Our morning in Vegas (after a whopping 10 hours of sleep) started with breakfast at Bouchon Bistro, which was so delicious. I had the croque madame with too many french fries, Jeffrey had the omelette du jour, and we split a strawberry croissant, which was basically a cross between a croissant and crumb cake.
After too much food (but oh so good), we walked around the Venetian (where Bouchon is located) and admired the canals. We then ventured over to Paris and New York New York, walking through other hotels along the way (mostly to get a break from the oppressive heat). We went on the roller coaster at New York New York, which was fun but jarring (Jeffrey: “Ouch, my skeleton!”).
After our exploration of the Strip, we were ready to go, agreeing that 24 hours in Vegas was all that we needed.
We set out for the Grand Canyon, making a brief stop by Hoover Dam along the way.
We then found ourselves on the classic Route 66 shortly (a few hours of driving) afterward, which boasted such sights as Seligman, the city possibly better known as Radiator Springs, of ‘Cars’ fame.
Our next Route 66 stop landed us in Williams, the gateway to the Grand Canyon. Williams is adorable, and we had a great time. A nice dinner at a place we quickly Yelped up (Red Raven) was followed by a visit to a local brewery/winery (Grand Canyon Winery) across the street, where we split their beer and wine tastings while having travel-related conversations with the bartender and a fellow road-tripper. The wines were great, and their sampling of beers was awesome too (sadly, we couldn’t purchase any growlers of beer). Before we left Williams, we stopped for some pie at Pine Country Kitchen, but not before walking past a wild-west gunfight (staged every evening in the summer at 7pm)!
A short drive later, we found ourselves at our hotel in Tusayan, just south of the Grand Canyon. Realizing that a worthwhile sunrise hike of the Grand Canyon would require that we wake up just after 4 in the morning, we hit the hay shortly after arriving.
Spotted along the way: One mullet, a combination gas station/machine gun range, lots and lots of desert, three “land for sale” signs (anyone want to buy a giant patch of desert?), three “fire danger = EXTREME” signs.
Hours driven: 4.5
Day 2 playlist:
- Jeffrey’s 3-5 star iTunes playlist