Tuesday, July 7 the Grand Canyon

I got up before dawn to pack and get underway before the rush hour of Las Vegas and the heat would start. My first destination would be Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam and from there to Kingman, Arizona.

Attracting more than a million visitors a year, Hoover Dam is located in Black Canyon, just minutes outside of Las Vegas.

In 1930, construction began on the Hoover Dam, the largest of its kind at the time. Despite the remote location and harsh working conditions, it was completed in less than five years -- two years ahead of schedule -- and well under budget.

The dam is named after America's 31st president, Herbert Hoover, who played a large role in bringing the nearby states into agreement about water allocations, settling a 25-year controversy. The dam has been called Boulder Canyon Dam as well as Boulder Dam.

At present a large bridge is being constructed to divert the road above the dam. the road now still leads over the dam, from which one can take pictures but cannot really see the dam in its entirety.

From there I reached Kingman, where I entered the historic Route 66.

U.S. Route 66 (also known as the Will Rogers Highway after the humorist, and colloquially known as the "Main Street of America" or the "Mother Road") was a highway in the U.S. Highway System. One of the original U.S. highways, Route 66 was established on November 11, 1926. The famous highway originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, before ending at Los Angeles, encompassing a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km).

It was recognized in popular culture by both a hit song (written by Bobby Troup and performed by Depeche Mode, the Nat King Cole Trio and The Rolling Stones, among others) and the Route 66 television show in the 1960s.

One of the famous photo ops is at the general Store in Hackberry. A 1952 Corvette is sitting outside the store.

A nearby restaurant serves local food as clearly evidenced by its name!! Bon appetit!

At Williams I turned North to reach the Grand Canyon. My lunch consisted of a Greek salad, a turkey sandwich and a Steel Reserve High Gravity beer at the local airport of the Canyon Airlines.

At the visitor center of the Grand Canyon I watched an Imax movie about the canyon. This is recommendable because it shows views of the inside of the canyon and the river which are barely visible from the rim.

A group of female riders from Norway were going down route 66 and we took pictures to send by email.

Ride safely, Anna and friends!

And then I was back at the canyon, the first time after decades. It is majestic, enormous and beautiful. Pictures cannot do it justice.

I stayed all afternoon and rode to Flagstaff in the evening. The total trip for the day was 475 miles so I decided I had deserved a glass of local amber beer of the Flagstaff Brewing Company.

I was a little sad because tomorrow would be the last day of my ride.

But all good things must come to an end.