Monday, 31st December
Up at 7am. Breakfast was not crowded so we made waffles. Left at 8 for the western entrance of The Grand Canyon, South Rim. Drove through desert scenery and an Indian village on the way.
Stopped to see some smaller canyons which were just as deep as the Grand Canyon but not as wide or long – giant holes in the ground. It was windy and absolutely freezing. We stopped to see 5 – 6 view points along the South Rim, one of which was the pick of all the views because of the good view of the river and rapids.
Another had a 1930s stone tower which we climbed for a higher view and also because it was warmer inside. Another stop had a museum and 800 year old stone wall foundations of an Indian building.
We stopped at McDonalds just outside the park but decided against it when we saw the prices. We continued back down to Williams on Route 66 instead and had lunch at a diner complete with split vinyl seats which had been had been fixed with tape. We had a look in the local information centre which had some pictures from the early days of Route 66. Arrived back at our motel at 4 pm and did some washing and packing. Today barely reached 2 degrees and was breezy. It was our coldest day so far.