The Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon was so amazing, we decided to stay overnight at the campground there and went back in the morning. There's a whole village there to support the tourists, with a permanent staff, a bunch of restaurants, even a school for employees' kids. The little figure in the second photo down is me, and I am standing on a little rock peninsula that sticks out over the drop. You cannot really see my expression, but rest assured that I was a weensy bit nervous. But I did it anyhow! FYI: please never bring toddlers here, most of the rim of the Canyon has no fence at all, and even the existing fences are 3-foot-high, token affairs that seem to say: This is the world's most famous Big Dangerous Hole in the Ground, if you fall off it's your problem.

Williams, Arizona

Dear Madam or Sir, may I suggest to you a most ideal location in which to get your kicks?

Route 66

There's no picture for this post, alas, but on the way into Williams, going across the desert, we narrowly avoided hitting a BADGER which was wandering across the road. This was doubly startling to me because I didn't even know Arizona had any badgers. We turned around to try to look at it some more, but it had already shuffled off indignantly into the sagebrush.

Williams, Arizona

Williams, on Route 66, was the sweetest town. We stayed the night here, in the Grand Motel, where the people were amazingly nice--actually, everyone we talked to was amazingly nice. In the morning, we walked around, and the woman who runs the local soaps-and-lotions place gave us homemade soap for free. Williams also has awesome Old West and Fifties buildings.

Chloride, Arizona

Mom and I stopped at a little roadside store, and I took pictures of their birds and donkey.

Hoover Dam

I don't mind telling you, this place gave me the creeps. It looked like the surface of the Death Star, all pylons and wires and giant looming cranes. Very impressive, to be sure. but I did not like it.

Warm Springs, Nevada

Mom and I stopped just outside Vegas for lunch, and we saw this bird hopping around and tweeting at people. A lady who worked nearby told us that his name is Skip, he's a desert blackbird, and he is a sort of mascot in the Warm Springs strip mall where we met him, and everyone there gives him crumbs. We thought he was pretty cool.