Cruising the West (Day 3 & 4)

I decided to get to the chase and wrap up day 3 and 4 together. Particularly since day four was just a drive home.

As we left off I asked if anyone had any ideas of where we may be stopping next... I heard crickets chirping and lurkers lurking, but no guesses. (Must've been my excellent riddling skills right?)

Well after day two's long drive through a part of Arizona, that I actually found to be surprisingly much prettier than I expected it to be, we made it to major stop number three... and with that, I again leave it to the photos to tell the tale.

As the sun set over the desert, and the heat finally slipped off us, we made it to the rim...

I was so pleased to find that, even with their generations dependence on electronics and seeming need for quick fix entertainment, our teenage boys still had a deep appreciation for the wonder that was
" T h e G r a n d C a n y o n ".


This was a trip that we had debated for literally years. My wife and I had both been there and though we remembered it, albeit with far less grandeur than it truly held, we didn't have it high on our list of locations... we were wrong.

Because it was really not on the way to or from anywhere and required a concerted effort to get to, and because we wanted our kids to be old enough to remember it while still being young enough to have the child's fascination with it, we had waited. I think we found just the right time.

The morning of day three we hiked the rim of the canyon. There were so many views it was hard to find the right ones to share.

If you've not made it here, you must.

The Colorado River nearly 4800 feet below us. It was truly a great experience.

After spending the morning checking the canyon and marveling at it's depth, we again hit the road for "greener pastures". This time heading out toward Las Vegas.


But man must after all have his diversions, And what would a true American Road Trip be without a detour to Historic Route 66!

And if your gonna detour off to see Route 66, you may as well grab a frosty root beer float at Delgadillo's Snow Cap in Seligman AZ! It's just like the real life version of the little town in Disney's Cars movie.


It's a pleasure to be able to say I sat on the side of an old American Main Street and just "Watched the cars roll by...". The boys soon joined me with their treats and we certainly had a moment.

We also pit stopped for a few minutes at the Hoover Dam. It wasn't as wide as I expected it to be, but let's just say I was never able to get a good vantage point to see to the bottom. It was Deep!

The new bridge that will be bypassing the damn-top road for national security reasons. A reasonable thing I would say.

We finished our drive to Vegas, walked the strip till we were completely worn out then all crashed hard for some sleep.

The next day we were to head out and back home. but we HAD to make one quick stop just because... well, just because!

A~ and two of the boys heading into the Gold And Silver Pawn in Las Vegas. Otherwise known as the home of the "Pawn Stars", one of our favorite History Channel shows.

We got to meet "The old Man" who, honestly, was just as we would have expected. My son ended up finding an amp for his guitar that he's been looking for and we picked it up there. The old man was nice enough to give him an autograph on the top of it just for memories sake.

We caught a glimpse of "Big Hoss" and "Chumlee" as we were leaving and they were coming in.
Not much to say about Big Hoss but I do have to say, Chumlee, was a arrogant ass from what I could see. I mean I know it would suck to always have people pestering you, but no one's twisting his arm to be on the show. When a person was nicely asking him if he minded letting her take a picture he waved her off and made some snide remark to her. If you're busy, you're busy but geez, ask like a decent person. Anyway, I just had to say that. After that stop we were on our way home.

It was an uneventful ride, one we've made many times before. But as a passenger for part of this drive I found myself truly enjoying the view. We are so blessed to live in such a beautiful country.

And yet, amidst the pastoral beauty, a coal processing operation... Sad but true. One day we'll move beyond this... One day we'll HAVE to!

Closer to home, near Mona UT, I began thinking.. Hmmm, could I commute from hear?


The last photo taken on this trip says it all. From the sun rise peering through the clouds on our opening day of driving to this Sunset welcoming us home, we were treated to a wonderful time together.

Thanks for coming on our little trip with us. I hope you enjoyed it even a fraction of how much we did. We're home now though, and harvest season is upon us.
Soon to come, a well deserved garden update!

Till then, all the best.