Day 13 Flagstaff to Williams (via the Grand Canyon) 196 miles (2282 miles in total)



(this website is playing up and wont let me upload photos - bumper special soon)



We got up ate cereal and hit the road, the road up to the Grand Canyon was pretty beautiful, looking towards the San Francisco Peaks (they arent in San Francisco Geography buffs) a lot of the way. We arrived at the Canyon and pretty much just looked at it from different angles and locations for a few hours. We got the free shuttle bus along to different view points that you cant drive to as well as walking along the rim. It is massive you really cant prepare yourself for just how big it is, and even though it is about a mile deep there was a litttle boy saying "mommy it doesnt look like that big a hole to me!".



It really was amazing, I will upload photos but they wont do it justice. The only bad thing is there were flies - EVERYWHERE, landing all over you, im not exagerating it was pretty horrible. There were also big mutant blue bottle things - eugh! There was good nature too, I saw a lizard and condors were flying over head. There were signs about saying things like "let the squirrels feed themselves" fair enough they are cute, people might try to feed them but surely "let the coyotes feed themselves" is a bit of a no brainer. (on a similar topic K saw a roadrunner today and I missed it - gutted!)



We had our leftovers from last night in the car for lunch, yummy and (practically) fly free.



On the way back down we came all the way to Flagstaff again so we didnt miss any of Route 66, and also K wanted to get some more chocolate that we got yesterday.



The 30 miles from Flag (as the locals call it) to Williams (as everyone calls it) was pretty cool, it was mostly through the Kaibab Forest and park of the way was just dirt road.



Williams is a pretty cute little town, it is like the way you imagine old towns 'out west' to be. We are staying in a lovely motel called the Westerner. These motels really are by and large pretty good for the money you pay, we have averaged $50 a night and have had 2 queen beds most of the time and fridges in the room.



We went for dinner at a place called Cruisers Rt 66 Cafe, 50s stylee. There was a huge patio where there was a guy playing the guitar but sadly the wait was quite long so we sat inside. We lucked out though and got a booth near the door, near the windows which were open so we got to enjoy the breeze and the music. We both had bbq pulled beef which way pretty nice but as usual we only managed to eat half - we really should start sharing meals.



Then we went to a square done up like an old wild west town where a band were playing country songs, so we sat outside there for a while and had a couple of drinks and enjoyed the tunes. It was pretty much awesome, they played Garth Brooks - Friends in Low Places when we arrived, I was singing along like a local.



Then we walked back to the motel and we are about to book our rooms in Vegas for Sun and Mon night - yee haw (as the locals say).