USA

drive from Seligman to Kingman to Las Vegas

check in Paris Hotel

walk around the Strip, take photos of Bellagio Fountains

From Sedona we drove on Highway 89A to Flagstaff [Flagstaff-travel-guide-5499] (about an hour), arriving before it got dark. There were some roads which were under repair which didn't show up in my Waze and GPS, so I had to route via Route 66 instead of the more direct way passing south of the city. Good thing we didn't get delayed as much. We checked into our hotel (also along Route 66), and then headed out for dinner at the nearby Chick-Fil-A. I've heard so much about the delicious sandwiches they made and definitely this was the food stop that I had planned for many weeks before the actual trip.

Later after dinner I decided to check out the nearby areas and tried driving up to Lowell Observatory but it was quite late already and for sure it was closed. So we turned back and headed to the hotel, having called it a night.

In the morning we had breakfast at the hotel and planned to leave early considering that we would have a long drive to make, first up to the South Rim and then after we've seen the Grand Canyon, a longer drive to Seligman [Seligman-travel-guide-6386], then Kingman [Kingman-travel-guide-5759] before heading to Las Vegas by the evening.

Going to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon from Flagstaff, we passed by the San Francisco mountains (usually these are snow capped) on Highway 180 to Valle [Valle-travel-guide-6692], then continue on Highway 64 to Tusayan [Tusayan-travel-guide-6669] and the Grand Canyon Village (about 2 hours' drive). This is a more scenic route and far fewer vehicles compared to going via I-40. Of course, you can't drive as fast, but who would want to run at 75mph on a scenic road?

About an hour into driving, there is a trading post near the junction of Valle at 180 - lots of interesting things to see worth spending a few minutes of your time. I enjoyed the stuffed bears - there was a grizzly plus a moose and elk head, and much more. Many of the intriguing items were too bulky and expensive, so buying them to bring halfway around the world was out of the question.

For those who prefer to an even more scenic but slower route they can take I-17 to Flagstaff and then go Highway 89 to Cameron, continue through Highway 64 through Desert View and end up at the South Rim. On the way back they can then take Highway 64 to Williams [Williams-travel-guide-6798] and then connect with the I-40 heading west or east.

Further west from Williams is Seligman which is along part of the old Route 66. We stopped to take a bunch of photos of the police station and other landmarks. Practically everything they could paint "Route 66 Historic Road" was a photo opportunity.

And then the long drive to Kingman, where we gassed up (since Arizona gas is cheaper than California or Nevada gas), and off to the glitzy city of Las Vegas.

One rule about travel planning - if you want to vacation with a bit of sanity, then avoid traveling on the days where the crowds are sure to come out in droves!

My family was planning for a roadtrip during the Memorial Day weekend since my father would be able to get off from work as early as Friday afternoon. However, that would be the day most people would be driving out of Los Angeles and so many of our relatives and friends discouraged us from leaving with the crowds! In one instance, my aunt said that during one Memorial Day weekend, they left for Las Vegas (normally a 4 hour drive) on a Friday and arrived early morning on a Saturday! So we have been getting bombardment about changing our roadtrip plans for about two weeks prior to the planned travel dates.

The original plan was to go to Utah for Zion National Park and Bryce National Park over a 5 day, 4 night trip. This I planned when I visited Roger (X_Drive) and May (cotton_foam) during my stay over at May's place on the weekend of May 2nd. However events turned out the we swore off car rental from Hertz due to poor customer service, and our new preferred car rental (Enterprise) had deals but were limited to the states of California, Arizona and Nevada only. Anything further and it would mean a hefty surcharge.

So we planned for a shorter period but a generally not-so-rushed road trip (although next time I know I will spend more time on the road if time allows). And that involved going to Arizona first via the I-40 where on a Sunday, we wouldn't be expecting as much traffic in that direction.

And the plan was set - first to Phoenix [Phoenix-travel-guide-6140] (where my father had a grade school classmate of his that he was visiting again), then on to Sedona [Sedona-travel-guide-6383], overnight in Flagstaff [Flagstaff-travel-guide-5499], and then on to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon before ending up in Las Vegas. And then back to Los Angeles on a Wednesday...I estimated about 1500 miles driving over 4 days, which would be a very interesting roadtrip since I would be driving all of the way.