Sunday, July 16th, 2023

Starting mileage: 8895, Distance travelled: 396

Miles walked: 2

Susan woke up early and took advantage of the credit card-only laundry facilities (totally done with quarters for a load that cost $4.50!) Shout out to Hampton Inn for the excellent room, laundry facilities, and fantastic breakfast (complete with more Belgian waffles). When David got up, he brought the van to get an oil change while Laura and Susan took another swim in the pool. It was 95 degrees even at 8:30am.

We left at 11am with clean bodies, clean clothes and fresh oil in our van. The temperature was already 104 degrees. We had another long day of driving ahead of us but kept ourselves entertained with more of our audiobook. We just started the second of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, the Subtle Knife. In the first half of the day we saw a double decker train, witnessed what appeared to be a desert sandstorm and crossed the Colorado River into Arizona. We stopped for lunch at a Jack in the Box (yes, we are trying to experience all the regional fast food chains possible) in Needles, CA shortly before crossing the border. David also pumped $6.69/gallon gas in 114 degree heat right after lunch and doesn’t recommend the experience.

The next stretch of route 40 across Arizona was the most poorly maintained section of interstate we’ve driven this entire trip. The 75 mph speed limit far exceeded what felt safe for the deeply rutted lanes. The view, however, was exceptional, transitioning from high desert (that looked like a martian landscape) to rocky, mountainous terrain with some greenery, to grasslands sprinkled with real trees. We also passed the Golf Ball House in Yucca, AZ (another great RoadsideAmerica.com find) that was originally built as a restaurant. During most of the day, we travelled adjacent, across, or on (for a bit) the old, iconic Route 66, passing numerous examples of vestiges of the roadside American kitsch of the old cross-country route.

When we got close to the Grand Canyon, we noticed a large plume of smoke on the horizon and learned that the Aspen Fire was burning on the North Rim.

Given the extreme heat forecast, we had upgraded our Grand Canyon accommodations from an RV park to an air conditioned hotel room with a kitchenette. It was astounding that accommodations were even available with 24-hours notice when normally places book solid 6 months in advance. We weren’t complaining though and our room at Maswik Lodge was an awesome place to land for the next three nights. Once we got settled, we walked over to the next lodge over, Bright Angel Lodge, where there was a tavern to get dinner. We caught our first glimpse of the canyon and the setting sun on our walk over. We also saw our first park wildlife, a baby bunny. On our way out of dinner, to our surprise, it was already dark at only 8:30.