A video slideshow of Rt. 66 in Arizona

Ok, so I haven’t updated this blog yet with the rest of the days from my trip. Sorry! Here’s a video to hold you over until I get around to it.

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Wild West Trip, Day 4: Our First Day at the Canyon

Our first glimpse of the canyon was a strange moment for me. It seems fake when you first see it. I felt like I was looking at any one of a thousand pictures of the canyon that I’ve seen over the years, rather than the actual real Canyon.

It wasn’t until we started to walk along the rim, and the view began to change with each overlook, that it became real to me. The sheer size and volume is staggering and I’m positive that no one can understand the size just by looking at it. There is a story told at the visitor’s center: when the first white men laid eyes on it,

Wild West Trip, Day 3: Rt. 66 Seligman to Flagstaff

Saturday morning started off with fantastic flurry of Rt. 66 nostalgia right in the small town where we were staying. First of all, we woke up in the Rt. 66 Motel, which is located right on the edge of Seligman. This is an old motel, but everything was clean and well-kept. Definitely recommended.

Seligman, AZ is as close as you will come to finding a town like Radiator Springs in the Pixar movie “Cars”.

In fact, there is a signed illustration by John Lasseter (from Pixar) on the wall in the visitors center.

Wild West Trip, Day 2: Rt. 66 in Western Arizona

We left Vegas Friday morning and drove down 93, crossing the Hoover Dam along the way. That was impressive. We’re going to tour it on our way back to Vegas.

Then it was a 1.5 hr ride to Kingman, Arizona, where we hopped on to Rt. 66 and headed West toward Oatman. This stretch of Rt. 66 to Oatman is adventurous, to say the least. There are wide-open spaces that last for miles, with buttes and rock mountains lining the desert valleys.

As you get nearer to Oatman, the Black Mountains loom large in the distance as you drive across the desert floor. They continue to grow in stature, and then all at once, you are ascending them on a winding road the likes of which I have never driven before.

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Wild West Trip, Day 1: Las Vegas

Well, we’re finally underway! We flew into Vegas last night. We didn’t get here until after 2am Maryland time (11pm Vegas time). Obviously, I was too tired to post anything until this morning.

The boys loved the plane ride! Evan just kept giggling when we took off. Vegas was pretty at night as we flew over it. The way they line every street with identical lights makes it look like a giant circuit board or something as you see it from far off.

We’re staying in the Excalibur hotel, which looks like a giant castle (click the picture to enlarge it).

Wild West Trip, part 3: Using Google tools to plan the trip

First of all, I apologize for posting what basically amounts to an ad for Google services, but I’m hoping that someone else out there who already has a Google Account (get one free) may see this and try it for themselves. If not, hopefully it will at least be interesting to you while you read it. Otherwise, you can contact the complaint department and someone will be happy to assist you.

Wild West Trip, part 2: Discovering what the Grand Canyon area has to offer

When I started the planning for this trip, I realized that I didn’t know anything about the area near and not-so-near to the Grand Canyon. We would be staying in Flagstaff since that is where the timeshare was that my parents could get us a cheap week to. The boys would be coming with us, so it wasn’t going to be a trip where we would hike a lot in and around the canyon, or take the mules down. So what fun things for kids are there to do? What other great sites are there within a short drive from the Canyon, or from Flagstaff?

Wild West Trip 2008

Any great road trip begins months, or even years, ahead of time. Usually, the imagination is sparked by something you’ve read or watched on TV, and you decide at that moment that you must see that in place in person.

For me, it was a couple of different moments. Sometime last Fall, I was giddily flipping through all of the new HD channels that had just been launched by DirecTV, when I happened across a program about the Grand Canyon.