Arizona

Upon reaching Las Vegas, we picked up the rental car (a minivan) that we have reserved earlier and officially kicked off our road trip. We dropped by IHOP for lunch before driving to the meteor crater, located not far from Flagstaff. To our dismay, the crater was already closed (yes, it has hours) when we reached there. Hence, we decided to visit the site again early in the morning the next day. We spent our night in Amerisuites Flagstaff, a hotel which we found to be not bad due to the spaciousness of the rooms.

We finally got to see the meteor crater the next day, not without first paying an admission fee. I was surprised to know that the site was not owned by a government entity. It was, and still is, managed by some private organization, hence the "premium" charged on every entrance. The crater was gigantic in size, and we already got the idea when we were driving towards it. The rim that was forced up spanned a good 1200 meters in diameter, and it was visible from miles away. To imagine oneself standing in the center of a massive impact 50000 years ago was simply mind-boggling.

Meteor crater (there's an old mine shaft at the bottom of the crater)

After visiting the crater, we wasted no time and drove straight to Grand Canyon. It was my second time there, therefore I was not as awed as I did 2 months back. Well, even back then I got a bit bored after seeing the same thing a couple times. I guess to really appreciate the view you have to either hike or join a helicopter tour ride.

Grand Canyon..

Sunset in Grand Canyon as backdrop

We slept at Holiday Inn Grand Canyon that night, and bid farewell to the famous national park the next day. On our way back to Las Vegas, we managed to spend some time at Hoover Dam, used to be crowned with superlatives but now the world's 34th largest hydroelectric generating station.

The intake towers on the Arizona side (the dam is on the Nevada-Arizona border)

Contemplating on life (LOL)