Day 18: Is this all there is?!
by Andrew Johnson
Obviously being facetious…if you’ve never been to the Grand Canyon, you can’t imagine the beauty of this place. Words and pictures don’t come close to doing it justice. We immediately vowed to come back to spend more time exploring, hiking, etc. Being in this park (or any of the National Parks, probably) at this time of year is perfect – no crowds at all, the air is clearer than at any other time (we could see for over 150 miles!) and the light dusting of snow makes it even more beautiful. But there is the cold. After we spent a couple of hours with our jaws dropped open, we got back on the road for final push of our journey – Las Vegas.
We made one Route 66 detour to Seligman, AZ, another old major refueling stop along the old road. I had actually been here almost exactly 20 years ago when I traveled cross country after graduating from Maryland and I remembered some of the people we met and shops we visited. I wanted to see if they were still here – and they were! It’s like nothing had changed. This is also one of the famous stops that are always highlighted in books and videos. It’s a dusty little town and most of the inhabitants were nowhere to be seen.
There seemed to have been many signs and obstacles during this whole process that might have made other people rethink their decision: the first buyers of our house walking out of the contract; the many movers we’ve gone through; the trailer and truck troubles we’ve had along the way; etc. etc. etc. But every once in a while there’s a sign so significant and profound that you can’t help but interpret its true meaning. Of all places, we gassed up in Kingman, AZ – another old Route 66 stop and our departure point north to Las Vegas – at a dusty, semi-remote truck stop. Hidden behind the tacky $2 souvenirs, Spike found a Maryland Terps football helmet air freshener! It was dust-encrusted, but had the current design. Obviously, she bought it and it now hangs in its place of distinction from the rear view mirror. We ditched the “air freshener” part – it smelled like disinfected men’s room. I guess we’re on the right path after all.
We drove over the Hoover Dam on our way to Vegas and a got a real taste of homeland security. The dam is a bona fide terrorist target, so they take extra care to search all vehicles, including out-of-staters pulling a non-descript utility trailer. We had no troubles, though, after a quick search. They are building a superhighway and bridge over the gorge to bypass the dam (a long time coming, I’m sure) so there was a lot of construction. The actual dam is impressive – again, the videos and pictures don’t do it justice. This is another place I had visited 20 years ago and I remember the water level being right up to the top (where it should be), but now it is disturbingly low because of all the development and demand of the southwestern US. The dam tours have been suspended but there is still a lot of exhibits and such, so this is another line on our “to do again” list.
We pulled into Las Vegas and saw Marge and Maureen (Spike and Annie’s mother and sister, respectively) to visit and drop off stuff we carted across country for them. We all went out to dinner to a new funky-themed restaurant (like those kind who try to out-do each other with variety, colors, over-abundance of helpings and cocky wait staff). The warm glow of the Terps helmet find was tempered by the removal of a large molar filling from my mouth (Andy). To those of you who have had this happen, you know the feeling of impending doom, waiting for the rest of the filling to come out to expose the nerve and incredible pain. (The last time this happened, also far away from home, I needed a root canal to fix it.) Thanks to Mo for thinking of – and tracking down – that waxy stuff you use for braces to help smooth over sharp edges. At least I now know what I’m doing Monday – see the dentist. (Ironically, this is exactly how I found my dentist when I first moved to Syracuse – an emergency broken tooth – history repeats itself.)
We wanted to stay the last road night of our trip close the northern edge of Vegas, near the highway we’d take to Reno tomorrow morning. Spike found another Holiday Inn Express which had a different twist to the “2 queens nonsmoking” request: they had a kid-friendly room that had a single double bed and 2 singles. No problem, we’ll take it. Spike took Alex up first and Annie and I followed with the luggage. Spike met us at the door with a smile, offering that we could change rooms if we wanted. We walked in to discover the other two small beds were actually racecars, that half of the room being a kid’s NASCAR theme! Checkered flags, racing posters, kid-sized NASCAR furniture, and those bright red plastic racing car beds… Annie and I practically knocked Spike over, racing to claim which car we’d sleep in! Spike and Alex took the big bed – Annie had #3 and I had #8. They were surprisingly comfy for this adult to sleep in! It would have been a perfect ending to our road trip, except for the discovery of the active railroad tracks across the street – literally less than 100 yards from our window. The whole room shook every 30 minutes or so when the freight trains blew their horn and rolled through. Despite these distractions, we all had a good night’s sleep in our NASCAR cocoons.
