The BIG Las Vegas Surprise - 20th Feb 2019 - Road Kill Cafe Seligman & Grand Canyon

[smithlane]

Day 4

Alarm was set for 7am this morning. We both quickly got up, showered and dressed then packed the last of our bits. Both cases were overweight by 3kg each but we have Jim’s golf case we can put stuff in so will worry about it on Saturday morning.
A few more of the room and our view

We checked out at 8am. This is truly a lovely hotel, I would recommend it to anyone visiting Vegas. I liked the fact it’s non gaming as it has a far calmer atmosphere, the lobby also smelt amazing every time you walked in. The staff are very friendly and helpful too.

Got the car from valet then headed for the car rental return. A quick fuel stop to top the car up. Just put $10 in, took it back up to full.
Pulled into Avis return and explained we wanted to swap the car. The oil light was intermittently coming on so we used that as a reason too. There was no issue at all and the lady changed it for a GMC Terrain. Jim wasn’t a happy bunny, I think the actual term he used was "what a basic pile of crap!" Yes it wasn’t as flash as the Mustang but at least the luggage fit easier and I felt safer in it

After loading our luggage in we were on the road for 9. I plugged in the Road Kill Cafe in Seligman into the Sat Nav to stop for lunch. We were just going to have car snacks up till then. Sat Nav said 2 hours 40 minutes.
We passed through Boulder City, Lake Mead and Hoover Dam.
I finally got my State welcome sign!

Stunning scenery along the way. We even spotted a tumbleweed blowing down the road, really in the wilderness out here.
Went through Kingman which seemed to be full of gas stations and motels!

The rest of the journey was straight down the I40 and was fairly uneventful.

We pulled off the highway and followed signs to Seligman and soon pulled up at the Road Kill Cafe at 12.40pm. I had forgotten that when you cross state lines you go forward an hour. This town is amazingly quirky and is the birthplace of Route 66. It’s also the town that Pixar’s Cars film was based on.

Headed inside to a very warm welcome. This place was fab, really authentic.

It was nice to be out of the cold too as it was freezing out there.
We sat down and ordered 2 Diet Cokes to start. I love the jars they came in.

The menu was ginormous, we didn’t know where to start!
Eventually chose the pulled pork burger for me and the nacho burger for Jim and some chips and dip to share.

Whilst waiting I had a look in the gift store attached. Obvs
Lots of taxidermy up on the walls and displayed behind a glass cabinet. They also had a bar section with hundreds of $1 bills signed by customers pinned onto the ceiling. I eyed up a couple of magnets and postcards I would buy after lunch to add to my collection.

Food soon came out and was really tasty. I couldn’t finish it, the burger was huge!

Bill was $44.59 I left a $10 tip. The 2 magnets and postcards were $6.50.

It was now 1.50pm so needed to get going to reach the Grand Canyon in good time. It was now my turn to drive and the Sat Nav said 1 hour 40 so we were over half way.
We stopped quickly to take a few photos of the 'Cars' cars in the town.

Expensive petrol here, over a dollar more than Vegas

No photos for this part of the journey as sleeping beauty next to me passed out as soon as the engine turned on! He did manage this one when he woke up

Very uneventful it’s just a straight run on the I40, then turn at Grand Canyon junction and carry on North until you reach the Park. We arrived at 3.30pm and paid the $35 entrance fee. Still really annoyed with myself for not buying the annual pass the other day in Death Valley as it would have saved us money with us going to Yosemite in the summer too!

Never mind we got our ticket for the car and a load of maps then made our way to the Thunderbird Lodge. The route took us off the main road and onto a side road that hadn’t been cleared of the snow so just took it really slow. Did you know there was a school in Grand Canyon? No? Neither did I!

Passed the train station then pulled up outside of Bright Angel Lodge which is where we needed to check in.
A coach load of Chinese tourists turned up so I quick marched to get in front of them just in case they were checking in too. That’s the one nationality I’ve seen loads of over here, almost more Chinese than Americans!

We checked in no problem, our package included breakfast and a 20% discount card for any of the retail shops (remember this because I sure didn’t!)
I couldn’t wait any longer to see the view so went out of the back door and got greeted by this sight. It was very misty but that didn’t take away the spectacular view in front of us. I just couldn’t stop taking photos!

We walked down on the Rim Trail just taking in each view point. We popped into the lookout studio and took some photos from the upper deck before having a look round the shop.

We bought a Christmas decoration, 2 magnets, a book of postcards and a mounted print. Altogether was $58.74. Remember that discount coupon I had? Yep I completely forgot to show it, damn!

We then walked onto the Kolb studio and looked around the exhibits they had about the Kolb brothers.
Walked further up to the end. Took a few more photos, I really couldn't get enough

Saw some mules being led up the trail

It was getting really cold out there so walked back to the car to get our bits. We decided it was daft lugging both big suitcases in for just one night so just decanted what we needed into a smaller bag and carried that to the room. We had booked a rim view room on the second floor of the Thunderbird Lodge. This was at the far end of the block but only a few minutes walk away. The room was lovely with a great view, if only it was sunny outside. We certainly wouldn’t be seeing a sunset tonight

We chilled out in the room and I caught up on today’s notes whilst Jim watched the Equaliser.
It got to 8 o’clock and we really weren’t hungry at all so decided to just graze on snacks if we got peckish.

The weather was getting quite bad outside and with the typical American style news weather reports they were predicting the worse overnight with plenty of road closures put in place already!
Oh flipping heck, were we even going to get out of here tomorrow

It got to about 9 o’clock and I actually fell asleep, really early night especially seeing as we went forward an hour so was actually only 8pm Vegas time! Must be the fresh air

[Goldia]

The hotel in Vegas did look lovely, such a beautiful room and great views.

The drive down sounds simple enough. Wow. The photos are amazing, but oh boy it looks very cold! The weather does seem to be closing in on you!

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by Goldia

The hotel in Vegas did look lovely, such a beautiful room and great views.

The drive down sounds simple enough. Wow. The photos are amazing, but oh boy it looks very cold! The weather does seem to be closing in on you!

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Really loved The Signature, I would 100% recommend it to anyone going to Vegas!
Its a very straight drive so really easy. Oh Abby it was so cold it took your breath away . Still such an amazing place though

[WileyCoyote]

Love the drive and the cafe and town .. it really does look like CarsLand !
Glad the drive was ok .. what a shame about the mist but wow it is still spectacular scenery, really takes your breath away. that is a brilliant hotel location !

Oh dear to the weather reports though .. eeek !

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by WileyCoyote

Love the drive and the cafe and town .. it really does look like CarsLand !
Glad the drive was ok .. what a shame about the mist but wow it is still spectacular scenery, really takes your breath away. that is a brilliant hotel location !

Oh dear to the weather reports though .. eeek !

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Seligman was really fun, would definitely stop there again.
The view really was spectacular you just can't believe how high up you are!
Haha it seems the over dramatic American weather presenters were actually right on the money...

[juliab]

The hotel looked really nice and very spacious.
The drive looked like it went well, we'll be doing the same do thanks for writing this.
Those views, wow! Fantastic photo's.

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by juliab

The hotel looked really nice and very spacious.
The drive looked like it went well, we'll be doing the same do thanks for writing this.
Those views, wow! Fantastic photo's.

See more...

The drive is very straight forward, if you can stop in Seligman I would really recommend it. Again the scenery is just amazing!

[Malificent]

Thoroughly enjoying your trip report. I hope you don’t mind a few q’s About this part of your trip.
Did you go to the west rim or south rim of the canyon?
How long was the journey from Las Vegas to the hotel in GC?

Thanks

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by Malificent

Thoroughly enjoying your trip report. I hope you don’t mind a few q’s About this part of your trip.
Did you go to the west rim or south rim of the canyon?
How long was the journey from Las Vegas to the hotel in GC?

Thanks

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Thank you for reading along!
Of course not. It was the South Rim we visited. I believe the West Rim is less than 2 hours whereas the South is about 4-4 1/2 hours. It took us slightly longer as we stopped for lunch which I would highly recommend if you do go.
It's a very easy and straight forward journey

[Malificent]

Originally Posted by smithlane

Thank you for reading along!
Of course not. It was the South Rim we visited. I believe the West Rim is less than 2 hours whereas the South is about 4-4 1/2 hours. It took us slightly longer as we stopped for lunch which I would highly recommend if you do go.
It's a very easy and straight forward journey

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Thank you so much for the reply. We have stayed at the south rim before but we’re considering a short trip during our Vegas stay. We wondered if just a drive out to the west rim and back in a day would be doable or would we be better off travelling to the south rim for the night again. The place you stopped for lunch also looks great! Is that after the west rim or before?