Monday 30th March

Up and out of the miserable (but still friendly!) Vegas motel to find Hash House A Go Go for breakfast, as recommended by the fellow from last night. He said to get the chicken waffles so I dutifully obliged. It is quite possibly the most food I have ever had put in front of me in one go, 3 breaded chicken breasts and 4 huge waffles with bacon strips embedded. I got about halfway through and got a take-out box for the rest. We hit the road heading east on the 93 past Lake Mead to have a look at Hoover Dam, a man-made spectacle amidst all of the natural ones. And very impressive it is too, although naturally crawling with tourists like us. There was some sort of construction going on there which was intriguing, looks like a bridge being built over the dam.
We continued east and hit Arizona straight after the dam, our fifth state! We were headed for the 66 south of the Grand Canyon, looking for the hike that Gary from Mariposa had told us about. The road passed through pleasantly arid and mountainous landscapes. We stopped off at the visitors centre in Chloride(!), a strange little town full of ramshackle houses and decorated trees. The lady in the centre showed us how to get there, we had to get to Peach Springs in the Hualapai Indian Reservation on the 66, and ask in the hotel about the hike. When we got there, we were told that it wasn’t a hike as such, but a 21 mile drive down a dirt road that is only open to 4WD vehicles. There was another hike nearby but the road to that one was closed until the start of May. We were disappointed but we got straight back on the road to head towards the main part of the Grand Canyon. It won’t be our private hike, but should hopefully be impressive enough to make the inevitable tourist population tolerable. So back on the famous Route 66 and then the I-40 to the town of Williams, where we got a cheap motel and an early night.