I own a Mazda RX-8, and if you know anything about this car, it's a small coupe. So trying to fit our lives into the trunk was a challenge. This thing was packed so tight and our back seats were stuffed. Took Brandon and my Dad a bit to fit it all in.
We drove through the night, switching up every 3-4 hours. By morning we were in Nebraska and it was my turn to drive again. I was already tired, and Nebraska is the most boring landscape I've ever seen. It was just mile after mile of nothing. I even took the time to take pictures of Brandon enjoying the ride.
I was stuck driving for seven hours, and we decided to stop in Denver for a few hour break. We grabbed some drinks and some food, sitting on this great outdoor promenade mall. We needed the break, but by 7pm it was time to get driving again. Brandon was still weary from the last 20 hours, and we were only halfway there.
As we moved out of Denver, I got my first glimps of a real mountain range. Brandon got the task of making it through the mountains, which gave me time to enjoy the ride. It was worth the whole trip itself.
I finally got a bit of sleep, and around midnight we were working our way through Utah. I warned Brandon to not speed -at all- though the small towns, but we got pulled over doing 40 in a 35. The cop clearly thought something was up, but eventually decided that our stories were so weird that we couldn't possibly make them up and let us go. It's a shame we didn't drive through during the day, as the landscape would have been amazing. Rock formations were everywhere.
As we approached Arizona, we drove through a city called Mexican Hat, and Brandon went on about how they should rename it to "sombrero". I think at this point we could feel the trip was almost over, and the tiredness got us a bit goofy. We almost ran out of gas before we made the next rest stop in Arizona, where I took back over.
I had about an hour an a half drive through the back roads to the Grand Canyon. I went for almost an hour without seeing another car, it was just desert everywhere. I thought it was interesting how I'd see abandoned shacks across the landscape. It was like the start to a scary movie.
As we got to the Grand Canyon access roads we just about crashed. There were deer EVERYWHERE, and none of them seemed to want to get off the road. The next 30 minutes of driving kept me on the edge, and I had to reduce speeds to 35mph. Eventually, we made it. I was a bit worried at first, it was about 5am, and we were the only car there. A 5000 space parking lot and not a single car. It was cold, too; it caught us off guard because, well, it's the desert!
We sat and waited for the sun, and it was worth it. If you are someone who likes traveling and like nature, you have to experience the sun rising over the Canyon. Amazing.
I grabbed a huge cappuccino and we headed to Vegas. Our trip ended with a bonus visit to the Hoover Dam, and then into Vegas. When I saw video poker in the gas stations, I knew we where there.
