Grand Canyon .. My crush during this trip.
We left Las Vegas monday afternoon to catch the sunset ..
Some stops on our way to enjoy the view so different from the ones who are used to.
First stop by a Colorado deviation.
Back on the road …
After couples hours driving our Chevrelot, laughing like crazy, singing, taking pictures (not all are nice by the way !), we just missed the sunset on the Grand Canyon but we enjoyed the show in our way. I’m still so impressed by the sun going to sleep.
Night is coming really fast there, we have to find a place to stay for the night quickly. What seems simple will finally be mission impossible: all the hotels are full, we have to drive 15 minutes to find a nice motel: Grand Canyon Inn and Motel: very authentic !
Planning our trip we read posts from my friend Caroline from Carolinethecity.com and we decided to enjoy the sunrise. That means alarm at 3.30am, to leave the hotel at 4.30am and be there before 5.00am, we are not the only one who decided to fight the cold to enjoy one of the most beautiful thing I had the chance to see in my life.
Sunrise is really fast. It’s a beautiful moment, quiet, relaxing, nothing exist during this time. Like nature gave us personally a piece of magic.
Sun is now on the sky, it’s time for us to have a champion’s breakfast before we start discover the Grand Canyon. As you will see we had to changer our clothes when the sun became too hot ! Very cold in the morning, Grand Canyon is quickly really warm.
I never felt something similar in my life. This day will always be one of the more incredible day I was lucky to live in my life. A restful feeling, quiet, time to ressource yourself. This feling that we are so small in the front of nature immensity. I just can recommend you to go there if you got the chance !
You have different options to visit the Grand Canyon, we choose the trail to walk around 10 kilometers in the border, we met French couples, German biker who rides his bike since 2011 to visit, Italian couple who choose me as their official photographer for the day ! Was funny ! People from all around the world meet in this unique place.
All long the trail you have access to free shuffles ! ( maps available here ).
You can also go down the Grand Canyon, you will need around 6 hours and you need to start really early. We didn’t know this possibility until 12.00pm so it was already too late for us, too many risks of insolations or deshydratation, it’s something you organize in advance !
It’s noon, the sun is really hot, if you are visiting during the summer think about leaving earlier on the morning so you can enjoy 100% before the temperature becomes too high.
From this point of view you can see the Colorado! (We expected a blue river but now it’s really dark 😉 )
Around 2.00pm our tour was over, we planned to be back in Vegas driving by the Road 66. Instead we experienced something really unexpected.. The car didn’t work anymore so Jerry drove us in his tow truck during 2 hours in Arizona ! Back at this time we were really anxious but after I can say I never imagined in my life that one day I will be in an american tow truck in the middle of Arizona ! But as we say you will always remember this kind of adventures ! It’s part of the trip 😉
I made myself dream again preparing this post, I love this place so much ! Even with our adventures I can say that this day was the more beautiful of our trip ! Start with the Grand Canyon put the standard really high for the following days!
My advices:
Hotels:
If you don’t want to knock at all the hotels you can find like us you should reserve 😉
Grand Canyon Inn and Motel: 317 South State Route 64, Valle, AZ 86046. 80$/night at the last minute.
Park:
Park is open 24/7 but be careful it’s a natural park so you may be able to see animals, please respect them, you are in their home !
Entrance park is 30$ per car for a week. If you planned on visiting other national park in U.S. there is a pass but I don’t remember the price.
Car:
We rented with Alamo. Rental car agencies offer you to already pay the gas so you don’t have to fill it before you give it back ! Good idea :)! Be really careful with insurances included, we had this problem, but everything was included for us (Even if we have to spend time on the phone to explain them)
Others:
We had a tripod for our camera and I really recommend it ! Thanks to it we were able to have pictures with both of us on the picture and pictures for an higher point of view !
Water, water and more water ! I will never repeat it enought !
Comfortable shoes are essential if you want to enjoy your day without pain (and the days after !)
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