Grand Circle Tour of the Canyons - 4

Day Eight: Hoover Dam - Fri

As I was staying in a hotel 5 minutes drive from Hoover Dam, I decided to do the dam, properly. This meant a $30 tour, including the power plant and within the dam itself. All a bit geeky really. After driving through the security checkpoint to get onto the dam, I avoided the expensive car parks and walked across the dam to the visitor centre. After another security check to get into the centre there’s a 10 minute film about the building of the dam. It’s very American and patriotic, which made me chuckle. After the film, we were squeezed into an elevator, shoulder to shoulder and facing the front, down to the old nuclear fallout shelter and the huge water pipes, which are big enough to drive a car through.

Grand Circle Tour of the Canyons - 3

Day Five - Kingman to Kingman - Tues

Tried again to get to the Grand Canyon - via Phoenix, then Flagstaff but no luck and a horrendous, terrifying drive. Snow and ice on the roads, trucks and SUVs whizzing past far too fast with their invincibility cloaks on.

Day Six - Route 66, Oatman, London Bridge - Weds

Grand Circle Tour of the Canyons - 2

Day Three - Zion National Park, Utah - Sun

After my nightmare journey to get to Zion, with locking the keys in the car I made it to the park, paid the $25 entrance fee,and as it’s out of season people can drive through the park rather than take the normal shuttle buses. So I drove the short scenic route to the riverside walk, which was an easy stroll at the bottom of the canyon. It was very pretty, with icicles - this is the desert, it shouldn’t be so cold.