Bucoops Road Trip Honeymoon Grand Canyon/Las Vegas Day 2

[GrumpyDopey&Me]

We were up at 6am today as we had a very long drive to the Grand Canyon and had heard that getting over the dam could be problematic so we wanted to get started as soon as possible. Walking through the hotel I was surprised to see it was practically half full with people still gambling. These people are hardcore.

The roads where almost empty and we decided to take advantage of the quiet and take our Vegas sign shots. We were the only ones there.



It was great to just stand there and look down the strip at it all but we couldn’t stay there for long so we jumped in the car and started our 550 mile round trip to see a giant hole in the ground . We also decided to take in a little bit of route 66 and have breakfast in a traditional American Diner so our first port of call would be Mr Dz Diner in Kingman.

We started out towards the Hoover Dam and seeing how Las Vegas and the surrounding towns merge is amazing. In Las Vegas the housing is quite big and expensive looking and the further towards Hoover you go the smaller and cheaper they look.

As we were driving the road started to look more and more newer and it transpires that they had opened the Hoover Dam and we skipped Hoover Dam entirely, this would apparently take at least an hour off our journey. The only down side of this bridge is you cannot see the Hoover Dam from it.

Hoover Dam Bridge



Pretty soon we were in Arizona



The drive to Mr Dz was uneventful except for the grumblings of our tums and after the Yosemite debacle I hoped 1. That it’s open and 2. The food is nice.

Getting there it looked fab from the outside



The inside was just as good, it was a “traditional” Diner with counter seats and booths. The best bit was the toilets where painted Elvis for the boys and Marilyn for the girls. We both ummed and arred over the menu as everything looked lovely. I chose in the end the 8oz Steak and Dickie had the Route 66 Burger. Both meals where served fast and absolutely gorgeous. This is a strong recommendation. If you are driving through the area then go here. It is lush.

Back in the car fed and totally satisfied we start our way to The Grand Canyon (its about 10am by now) then all of a sudden the sky open again and we are wondering where is this desert weather.



Further down the road we stop Seligman which is supposedly being famous for two things

1. For being the birth place of Route 66



2. For being the town that the Disney film Cars was roughly based on. (Mater’s Cousin in the forefront – a lot of the cars parked on the road had little eyes in them)



We just drove through this as the weather was not stopping up and we didn’t want to add any more time to the journey then necessary.

So we started back on the road and we was slowly counting down the miles and the roads just seemed to go on forever with nothing around



Finally at about 1pm we got there



But unfortunately the rain was stopping and starting up again but this wasn't going to stop us so we parked up and went and looked at all the usual sights.









look at the rain



After about an hour and half of walking in the rain, we started to get miserable so we decided to start back towards Las Vegas as we decided to do have dinner at Fremont Street

The drive back was very uneventful except the rain stopped which is most irritating and before anyone asked why didn’t we go another day it was scheduled to rain every day at the Grand Canyon and we want a break from driving long distances for a few days before our next hotel move.

Some arty shots I took on the way back





Fremont Street was very easy to get to and navigate around because a lot of the roads around are one way and it is very pedestrianised. We got there at about 6pm and we went to Tony Romas for dinner (this was in one of the casinos but I can’t remember which) and this was very nice as well. We thoroughly enjoyed our meals. I had steak again and Dickie for once joined me.

After dinner we had a good mooch around Fremont Street and we thought it was amazing and would definitely recommend it. The shows on the ceilings where very cool to watch.



We also liked to see the people whizzing along on the high fliers and I did suggest to Dickie him going but he was so full from our lovely dinner he declined.

Decided that the best thing to do now was head back to the hotel room and chill (the Jacuzzi was calling) and we had another early morning as we was going to the Hoover Dam tomorrow, it was also our last full day in Las Vegas

Las Vegas Day 1 Las Vegas Day 3

[Guest]

Great report - shame about the weather - doesn't seem to have dampened your spirits or spoiled your honeymoon.

[KarenG]

Oh what a pain, to go all that way and have rubbish weather

[Guest]

It suprised the heck out of us that the bridge was open - it was due to open a few days later, but first we knew about it was when we were already over it. Because you can't see the dam, or how high up you are, when you're on the bridge it's just a bridge.

Turned out it had been open for only about 14 hours so we were some of the very first!

[Ado]

Originally Posted by elmlea22

2. For being the town that the Disney film Cars was roughly based on. (Mater’s Cousin in the forefront – a lot of the cars parked on the road had little eyes in them)



We just drove through this as the weather was not stopping up and we didn’t want to add any more time to the journey then necessary.

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OMG..I have to go there. My boys would have been electrified with excitment if we'd gone there during the summer.

Great Trip Report! Really enjoyed it! Which rim did you go to..we're going to Vegas for four days and we're going to drive one day to the Canyon, so it was really good to read your experience

[GrumpyDopey&Me]

Seligman is on the way, its literally a 5 minute detour.

We went to the south rim, its a long and sometime boring drive.

Had breakkie in Kingman, totally worth the detour as well.

[Ado]

Thanks for that! Showed DH your report, he thought it was fab!

[miss lumpy]

What a shame about the weather..

great report

[Alyson]

That's a mega trip! Lots of miles. Shame the rain came down!

[Guest]

I lived in Arizona for 30 years and I never saw so much rain as you've seen on that trip! I'm glad you kept going and enjoyed the Grand Canyon. I loved seeing the Grand Canyon again. I wanted to yank you both off the rocks though in those photos. ha! That always made me nervous when I'd go there!