Woke up at 4:30 am (would be 6:30) back home. Called a quick family meeting and decided to make a break for it while the traffic was still light.
So we packed up and checked out a day early. Staff was ok with it, but because we booked the room through Expedia, they wouldn't do the refund. Said we had to do that through Expedia. So I phoned Expedia, they said the hotel had to do it. However, the person at Expedia was nice enough to call the Tropicana immediatly and process the refund.
The thing about Vegas is it never sleeps. People were still busy in the Casino. Watched as one guy, who had too much to drink, tried arguing with one of the pit bosses about a bet he should have won. His claim was that someone moved his chip to a different number than the one he was betting on.
I figured, good luck with that buddy.
It was still stinking hot at 5 am as we were leaving. Traffic was indeed lighter and on the outskirts we saw places we would rather stay. That way we could visit the strip rather than be in the middle of it. Oh well, next time.
We didn't realize it at the time but the road we took to Flagstaff took us right over the Hoover Dam. What a neat surprise!
Now, something you should know about me is that I don't like heights. I know this is weird for a tall guy, but it's the truth. So all these hairpin turns on narrow roads amongst the rocks were a little unnerving for me.
We did stop and take some pix. It's quite an amazing sight. Can't imagine what would happen if this thing broke. I guess that's why there's troopers all over the place.
After the Dam, we headed on through some desert like terrain spotted with the odd house trailer. This really felt like you were in the middle of nowhere. Have no idea what people do out here. There wasn't any vegetation for animals to speak of. Land didn't look like you could grow anything on it.
Heading southeast it was back into the mountains. We stopped for gas at a town called Kingman, Arizona. The gas attendent noticed one of our tires had a leak. As it turned out, all four tires needed replacing as the rubber was seperating from the belts. This was a bit of a kick in the teeth, but what are you gonna do? Roll the dice? We'd seen tons of blown tires on the side of the road and in this heat, that wasn't something we were prepared to take a chance on.
So, new tires were installed while we had breakfast in a quaint little place called Lotta Lou's. Finding some of these little places are the highlight of the trip for us. Had a nice visit with the owners. Everything done by pen and paper, old style cash register. She even counted my change back, a lost art form for sure!
With new tires on we went. We reached Flagstaff around noon and found a nice place to stay for a couple of nights. The Fairfield Marriot. For us the main criteria was a clean room, non-smoking and free WiFi! Being connected allowed us to keep up with what was happening back home and communicate as was necessary. Also, helped in checking weather, maps etc.
We checked out Historic Flagstaff. Nice area to walk around with lots of shops to explore. We had a late lunch at an outdoor oriental cafe which was really nice. Really relaxing. It rained a bit, but we were under a roof so no problem.
Took a pic of a plaque dedicated to Howard Krueger. Now I'm guessing it's not the same one involved with 99.9 Bob FM, but interesting nontheless.
Back at the room, caught up with downloading pix and watching the Olympics. All American coverage of course.
Went for another walk in the evening and found an Italian place, the owner was from Italy, that made great pizza/pasta.
Then it was off to bed. Tomorrow...the Grand Canyon!
Again, click on the title of this chapter to see pix from this leg of the trip.
Cheers!
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