Day 10: Friendly Grand Canyon Squirrels

Good morning from the sunny South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

 

Hiking down Bright Angel Trail, which is about a seven mile hike down to the bottom of the canyon. (What sounds worse is the seven mile hike up, which needless to say, we did not venture).

These tourist-loving squirrels were super-friendly (come on, you have to pet one).

He's a natural.

How funny are these elk!? A park ranger eventually told us to move away because some have attacked if you're too close to the babies.

Touring Pink Grand Canyon hummer.

The South Rim and its crowds.

It's really the feeling of endless space that makes the views at the Grand Canyon inexplicable.

Taxidermy, once again. This gift shop did have a lot of desirable goods (turquoise rings and pocket knives, Native American flutes, suede cowboy hats), but it didn't seem right to buy it here and not at a Navajo-run establishment.

Producto de Cuba.

It's finally time for Route 66-- we actually bought the postcard leaving Flagstaff to find the mother road.

Can't get enough of these signs...

Raul was ecstatic to see the "real" cast of Cars in Seligman, Arizona.

Delicious chicken fried steak at Westside Lilo's Cafe.

I had to drive Route 66 at least for a little while. Raul took the following shots...

One hundred and six!

Beautiful shots by Raul. I was so jealous of this landscape (chose the wrong time to drive!)

We realized (thanks to the Route 66 postcard) that the Hoover Dam wasn't too far away, so we swung by. The tours had ended for the day, but we could walk over a bridge to get a better look. Cops stopped us on the way up to check our overhead luggage.

Welcome to Las Vegas.... the rest of the photos "stayed there".