16 Aug 2014 (Sat)
Lodging: Super 8 Flagstaff I-40 Ex 198 Lucky Lane
1 of 7, fortnight USA trip
Arizona ✈ Las Vegas ✈ Mammoth Lakes ✈ Yosemite ✈ San Francisco ✈ Coastal California ✈ Los Angeles
We chose the hard way, by taking Spirit Airlines at 10:30pm on 15 Aug right after our plant tour in Houston and arriving in Las Vegas at 11:30pm local time. Doesn't sound hard? Well, we didn't book a hotel in Las Vegas, and it's gonna be a 6-hour drive from Las Vegas to Grand Canyon after collecting our Chrysler minivan from National Car Rental at the airport. We knew it's gonna be shagged, and I tried hard to fall asleep on the plane though I hardly could.
Everyone took turns to drive, every hour. We stopped at the Nevada-Arizona border for a short rest, the complete dark surroundings make star gazing clearer and more possible.
We're heading towards Flagstaff where our hotel is located, we filled our car with petrol at a gas station in Flagstaff before depositing our luggage in the morning. I was at the driver seat at that point of time, I stepped out of the car, OH MY GOODNESS WHY IS IT SO COLD?!?! We didn't know that before sunset it's really cold, and for once I thought that's gonna be the end, as none of us brought winter clothing... erm... ha.ha...
But when the sun is up there, it's really dry and warm (or should I say, hot).
Grand Canyon
Sun has risen. Having our luggage deposited in the luggage room of our hotel, we drove to the Grand Canyon Visitor Center.
Let the photos do the rest of my essay.
Antelope Canyon
Having known that we're visiting the Grand Canyon, I requested to add Antelope Canyon into our itinerary back in Singapore, due to its wondrous looking rocks which I've known long ago.
We visited the Lower Antelope Canyon, located in the city of Page (same pronunciation as the common word 'page'), paying an entrance fee of $28 (Ken's Tour). You are allowed to take photos, but no flash photography.
It's a guided tour, and it requires you to climb the pre-installed ladders down to the canyon. The stairways are so steep that I saw someone (probably with acrophobia) fled as she was unable to make her way through.
Little Colorado River Gorge
When we're driving from Grand Canyon to Antelope Canyon, we came across a magnificent view on our left along Arizona State Route 64. We decided to visit that place again after Antelope Canyon.
That viewpoint is the Little Colorado River Gorge, located near a district, coincidentally, called Cameron (as 'Cameron' is also the name of the company I'm currently working for).
There's an entrance kiosk and we're 'not really' asked for entrance fee but for donation, 'any amount', said the lady at the kiosk. I was like, "erm... 5 dollars?" and she accepted.
The gorge is very deep that an acrophobia sufferer might want to avoid. The Little Colorado River runs between the valley down below.
It was past 5 in the afternoon and that's definitely not a very good time for sightseeing here, as the shadow from one side of the gorge is cast onto the other side, same applies to those depressions from the protrusions.
That's the end of our day trip. It's seriously time to rest as we haven't been really sleeping in the past 24 hours.
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