We had made it to Las Vegas – but stayed firm not to go to the ‘strip’….just yet. Our plan was to leave this morning for a roundtrip around the Southwest visiting areas around the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley and Canyon De Chelley, before arriving back in Vegas in time for Christmas, and to experience the ‘real’ Las Vegas.
After picking up a cheap rental car near Las Vegas airport, we made our way nervously (this was the first time we had driven a car for 2 and a half years!!) on the freeway out of Vegas and out onto the open road. The changing landscapes were amazing as we made our way to Flagstaff in Arizona, where we planned on bunking down in a cheap hostel for the night.
We passed the amazing Boulder Damn – an unbelievable sight. We drove down historic Route 66-stopping at a classic Route 66 diner in Kingman. And we slowly got used to driving on the wrong side of the road and the car! This was certainly going to be an adventure.
We were thankful that we had changed our original idea of camping in Southwest, when we arrived to snow in Flagstaff. A bed, blanket and roof were a much better idea for this time of year. We headed to bed early, in preparation of getting up at the crack of dawn, and making our way to the Grand Canyon.
