The GRAND Finale

So from Hoover Dam, we drove to Flagstaff, AZ to spend the night.  It's a nice, quaint town with really cool temperatures (so refreshing after coming from the desert).

America's most famous roadway extending from Chicago to L.A.

Historic streets of Flagstaff

San Francisco Peaks

 Ahhhh, finally! We arrived at the South Rim of the GRAND CANYON National park.  First thing we did was go to our campsite and check in.  The whole area is so flat and wooded that if it's your first time there you start to wonder if there's really a canyon.  We checked in at about 1 pm at Mathers campsite.  After that we caught the free shuttle that takes you all over the park.  There's such a great transport system.  You don't have to drive anywhere.  The shuttle takes you from one scenic view to another and the other camp sites.  First we stopped at the visitor's center to watch a short documentary on the Grand Canyon.  It was pretty cool on the big screen. That got us super excited and off we went to see THE CANYON!

Welcome to the Grand Canyon

Our upgraded campsite at Mather campground (now with sheets and inflatable cushions)

Our first view of the CANYON - Mather Point, 7,120 ft

We were amazed at the depth of the canyon

Yes, amazed!

Do you see the Colorado River?

How did he get there?

It's takes a lot of effort and can be dangerous to get to the rocks overhanging the edge of the canyon, though the views are indescribable.

Hermit's Rest point

View from Hopi Point

Sunset from Hopi Point, 6,800 ft

So serene

Next day - Sunrise at Yaki Point, 7262 ft

Can you see me?

V "jumping" across the Grand Canyon, ninja style ;-)

Close to the Bright Angel Lodge

Desert View

Desert View Watchtower

 After that amazing time at the Grand Canyon, we drove south to Sedona, Arizona.  We heard it was a beautiful place... but really were surprised by the beauty of it all.  Also, we got FREE accommodations in this town, many thanks to a time share presentation.  We stayed the night and went to the 90 minute session, but when they heard that we weren't "gainfully employed" they ended the session after about 15 minutes. But listening to the presentation time shares sound like a great idea... but we'll buy a home before we ever do that.

Anyhow, enjoy the pictures.

View in Oak Creek Canyon as we drove between Flagstaff to Sedona

Cathedral Rock

We were refreshed as we swam in these cool waters for about an hour

Our last Shot of Sedona

After Sedona we began our long drive back to Los Angeles. First we drove further south on I-17 to Phoenix then caught I-10 West. After more than 4 hours of driving we finally arrived at the California state line. We stopped at another KOA campsite in Blythe, CA. We just spent one night here.  It was the hardest night of camping because it was hotter than anywhere we camped. At night the temperature was still at 100 deg F! We had the doors open and the back hatch open most of the night... with no effect on cooling us down. Then after restlessly laying down for about 4 hours a huge storm came through. So we had to shut all the doors... and no, the temperature didn't drop at all.  When we finally got up in the morning we made some breakfast and made an immediate exit... Blythe was just way too hot.

We originally planned to camp one more night before going back to LA, but after the previous night we decided it would be better to find a hotel.  We drove along for a few hours and came to the exit for Palm Springs.  We were so happy to find this place. We pulled into town and drove around until we found a hotel that didn't look like it would cost too much and had a continental breakfast.  We found one that was located across the street from another hotel that was once owned by Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin... or one of those old Rat Pack musicians.  The town was really slow paced (summer time is low tourist season in the desert) so we got the room at a low rate.  The receptionist told us that we picked a great day to visit because there would be a street market that evening. Awesome. We went and checked out the market, bought some souvenirs and then headed back to our hotel for our last night on our big trip.

Roasting marshmallows at the street market in a pretty cool looking fire pit.

Wonder why they call it Palm Springs? Hmm.

Apparently Palm Springs is the vacation home of the stars. This Marilyn Monroe statue  stands 50' tall in the middle of town.

After that night in Palm Springs we made our last drive... off to LA to catch our flight.  It took about 2 hours to get there. But before we went to the airport we really wanted to visit the Hollywood sign, since we didn't get to see it our first 3 days in LA. So we drove straight to Griffith Park and headed up to the observatory. It was definitely worth it.

The Observatory

LA - breathe in that smog... yeahh (cough, cough) ... yeah.

There's an astronomy museum in the Observatory that we got to check out. Mu is pretty hot :)

Hollywood

That is the end of it all.  The last stop. The last photo opp. El Fin. Nothing more. We left the observatory and took Santa Monica Blvd to the airport to catch our very last flight. The Round the World Trip is coming to a close.  What a truly GRAND finale.

Thanks everyone for following us around the world.

Stay tuned for our after thoughts and stats.  If you post any questions we'll try to answer them there.

Ciao