Day 5

Tuba City, Arizona, to Las Vegas, Nevada :) 495 miles

OLIVIA: WOW, what a day. from Tuba City we went to the Grand Canyon (my first time there) and we went to the little Colorado river canyon (very cute!) and then we went to London Bridge, but between those two things we drove past a replication of the Flintstones village, and to a rest area that was amazingly hot. we also went to a gas station that had a melted Popsicle on the sidewalk and it was just really, really sad. London Bridge was just plain old weird. Then on our way to Hoover Dam, we passed a billboard that read "Try one.... A full automatic" the dots (...) were a picture of a very large gun on the board. IT WAS WEIRD. We went to Hoover Dam, and passed the police checkpoint. phew. now we're at the MGM Grand Hotel on the strip in Vegas and we have a pretty nice view of the airport and a little strip off the main strip :) Goodnight Andrew.

SCOTT: Today was big-time culture shock. It began in Tuba City, which I believe is the country's largest Navajo community. It ended on the strip in Las Vegas, which is the largest something. Largest concentration of Elvis impersonators. Largest assortment of high-rise casino-hotels. Easily the largest concentration of untanned tourists who probably shouldn't be wearing what they're wearing. In between was a drive along the south rim of the Grand Canyon. It was the first time I'd been there and it didn't snow. My other times there were in February, driving to spring training in Arizona. And I had to show Olivia the London Bridge. Can't remember why it wound up in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, but it's there. Strange. The other big thing that marked the day was the heat. It was still 104 at 7 p.m. when we rolled into Las Vegas. The air conditioner was on most of the day, and the top stayed up. Driving down the road the windows of the car were hot to the touch. Not warm. Hot. But a good day. We spent about 100 miles of it driving Route 66. Olivia was behind the wheel much of that time. Tomorrow morning we'll wander the strip -- she reminded me that I promised her some time at The Forum Shops -- then hit the road. Thunderstorms may be moving in, so we'll move out, heading west. West to California, west to the coast, west to the cooling breezes of the Pacific. Still not sure where we'll be on The Fourth. Maybe Monterrey or San Francisco. We'll see. Good night, Elvis. Good night, Wayne Newton. Good night, fellow tourists...