This is "catch up" Thursday, or to use another term "A Day Late and a Dollar Short". This post is for Wednesday on the last day of April when we visited the Grand Canyon. If you follow these posts regularly you may have picked up on the fact that I usually always post the next morning. If I can.
 After departing Black Canyon, we aimed the old Toyota pickup north on Interstate 17 toward Flagstaff . The high winds from the northeast buffeted our "RV" and sucked up a LOT more gas than usual (just a hair over 16 mpg, our usual is in the 20 range). With Humphery's Peak ahead of us we made the quick trip back to I-40, then turned north at Williams, AZ toward the Grand Canyon. That trip went fairly fast as well because the road is well maintained and not much traffic. We rolled past the Grand Canyon Airport (I asked Dolly - who doesn't fly - if she would like to take a $100 helicopter ride into and over the Canyon. She declined with a few expletives.
Past Grand Canyon Village and another four miles to the Grand Canyon Entrance Gate. There was a sign that said $25 per vehicle and we pulled in and showed our "America the Beautiful Pass." [Lets go back in time to February when Dolly and I were researching for our upcoming trip. Dolly found information on "America The Beautiful" where senior citizens, such as myself can pay $20 and get a pass to let me, Dolly and others in the vehicle into National Parks for free .] This is the second time we've used the pass, so it has more than paid for the initial cash outlay. If you're traveling and an old fart like me ---> GET ONE!!!
 We followed the signs into the vicinity of the Visitor's Center, parked and headed to the visitor's center. While nice, there isn't a lot there. Then we took the 5 minute walk to the closest canyon viewing opportunity. I have seen the badlands, which are similar on a much SMALLER scale, but the views are absolutely breath taking. Millions, maybe billions of years of water erosion by the Colorado River and unrelenting winds have carved one of nature's true visual spectacles. It is impossible to capture the true beauty photographically because the panorama is so HUGE. We both marveled at the sights, took what photos we could then moved to the next viewing platform along the south rim. We must have stopped by 7 or 8 when the 52 degree cold air of 7,000 feet combined with 25 to 30 mile per hour winds took its toll.  
 After leaving the park we went back to Grand Canyon Village, pulled into a McDonalds to have a sandwich and use their internet . The front door was broken and signs pointed us to an adjacent door. Just inside we stepped over, around and under about 75 young Navajo and Hopi Native American kids on a school outing. They were good kids, just bouncing off the walls and having a great time. We went up to the counter to order a couple of sandwiches (I ordered a meal and got fries and a drink, Dolly just ordered a sandwich and we share the fries and drink. I must have been in a fog because when I got back to the table, I saw that the bill was over $17!!! Damn near dropped my load. I should have known...when a country bumpkin like myself gets away from comfortable home surroundings things like this can happen. I did enjoy the sandwich because I was famished, but it took a few more swallows of the Diet Coke to choke it down because of the price. (There went the savings from the entrance fee!!!)
 We continued south on Highway 64, then turned west on I-40 again and enjoyed the high desert landscape and vegetation until we pulled off the interstate at Seligman, AZ . Seligman is a very small village basically in the middle of nowhere. It had a lot of Indian novelty shops and because its on "Route 66" many places to buy shot glasses, rubber hatchets, T-shirts and caps. One place caught my eye though, the Road Kill Cafe. While we didn't go in, I've heard of these restaurants with the clever menus of tire-flattened area critters.  
 Our next stop was Kingman, AZ, a fairly large town with a KOA. Honestly, I like KOA because they cater to the big...and I mean big six figure RV's to redneck campers such as ourselves. Dolly whipped up a low carb supper, we watched the sunset and, as usual, we snuggled in our own version of an RV from sundown to sun up. I call our sleeping arrangements "the space station bedroom" because of the cramped, but comfortable quarters. 
 Thanks for following our adventures, we love reading your comments (when we can connect).

Love ya,

 Cheers!