And out of the Canyon we go!

This was a full day of driving! We set off from our hotel after breakfast and the first part of our journey took us through the eastern part of the South Rim as it were! We made a couple of stops on our way out of the National Park.

The first stop was at Grandview Point where of course, we took some photos, before heading off to the Desert View Watchtower. The Rough Guide had warned that this area could be swamped as it is the first point to see the Grand Canyon coming into the Park from the East Entrance road. However, because we were fairly early it was not crowded at all!

We went into the tower, which was built by Mary Colter who was responsible for the majority of the buildings along the South Rim from 1900-1935. The wall art was lovely

And the view from the outside viewing area, again, was stunning!

We then went outside to continue enjoying the view. I loved this rock!

 And another view!

We then went into the shop to buy some sandwiches to take with us for lunch. We met this handsome fellow on our way in

I didn’t realise how big mountain lions are! Hugh then had to try on this hat.

Penny had hysterics when she saw the photo, saying that Hugh looked just like his mother, which in fact he did!

We then set off for our next scenic stop, Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. After a short trip to the very small, but fact filled ‘museum’ we drove to the car park at the Lava Park Trail. We then took the trail which winds through lava flows and cinder fields at the base of the volcano.

The sun was in and out behind clouds and so it was very glary trying to take photos, especially as everywhere around us was so black! The trail was fairly rough underfoot, but not too strenuous and only took about 45 minutes to do. The views were very different from others we had seen on the holiday and we had a leaflet with us which gave good information at numbered points along the trail.

Once we arrived back at the car park we got our picnic out of the car and went and sat at one of the shaded tables to eat our lunch.

After lunch it was back in the car and lots and lots of driving to get to Lake Havasu. We arrived just after 5.30pm and checked in. We were absolutely thrilled to be upgraded to a suite! I had emailed most of the hotels before we left and told them when we would be staying with them and that it was our silver wedding anniversary to see if any would offer a free upgrade (cheeky I know, but why not!). This was the only one that did, but to be honest, the majority of the other rooms were more than ok anyway! However, back to the suite – it was superb and even had a Jacuzzi bath, which, of course I had to use!

After a free beer each in the bar, we went into Lake Havasu to have our evening meal, which we had at Denny’s and it was lovely! We then had a brief trip to London Bridge

which we had to see – it is one of the biggest tourist attractions at Lake Havasu, after the Lake!

We then retired to the hotel. We were going to sit on the balcony, which overlooked the lake, but there were far too many mosquitoes!  So, to finish off today, here is the view from the balcony and me taking a very brief rest there!