The end of the beginning. The last post for Route Sixty Six here on Santa Monica Pier. We spent the afternoon bicycling from Chris Moore's house to the Pier. It was a picture postcard perfect day. A fitting end to a great adventure.

Not quite my last posting from Mexico. We are now at Cancun Airport waiting to connect to Mexico City. The picture is us cheezily posing in front of some Tulum ruins. Our last day in Playa del Carmen was lovely. The water is blood warm and the sand is fine. We had a last dinner on the beach with our toes in the sand as we listened to reggae music and drank some Spanish wine. All too soon we will be back in reality. Reality has arrived sooner than expected. Plane delayed due to rain.

Pretty cool animals in XeHel And we didn't kiss either of them.

Maybe my last post from Mexico. Very dodgy email and computer is dying due to very dodgy power supply here in Playa de Carmen. Having a wonderful time in a sweat drenched, manic sort of way.
Yesterday took 12 hour tour to Tulum - Mayan ruins run by company who have stitched up the theme park business very nicely. XelHa is the name of the massive fun park but they seem to have some sort of ownership of the ruins.
We did see the ruins - and very nice they were too but most of the day was spent inside XelHa where you could do everything from kissing dugongs, swimming with dolphins, snorkelling, walking underwater with a funny helmet on your head and eating and drinking as much as you wanted.
We disgraced ourselves very early in the peace by going the wrong way from the ruins back to the tour bus. We had to catch a taxi back to find the whole party fuming.
Today we have swum, sweated, shopped, sweated, bought crazy ceramics, sweated and so it will go on. Tomorrow we catch the bus to Cancun and then fly to Mexico City and then to L.A where we will see Tom's nephew Chris and his family and then Joe, Aliza,Tessa and Lucca.

The maid who cleans our room obviously loves us or she is a frustrated artist. She left us this folded towel rabbit as a small surprise. Our last day in Merida has been wonderful but tiring. I don't know if it's the constant sun, the constant stimulation or just getting tired at the end of a long trip but we have to drag our protesting bodies to the next wonderful surprise. We ducked into the oldest Cathedral in the Americas which the Spaniards built after they razed the Mayan temples to get the stone to build it. We walked to the Museum of Anthropology, then to the Museum of Modern Art.

This was one of the sculptures that intrigued me. I don't now if it is a metaphor for life. Take my hand 

little chicken foot, we are are strangers in Paradise. After the Museum on to the Sunday markets where we bargained furiously for a hammock and then a brief respite to munch on a hot pork bun accompanied by a Coca Cola. Total cost for lunch $4.50. Life is good.

And I haven't even mentioned the music, singing and dancing. They close off all the streets on Sunday and people enjoy bicycling, walking and dancing.

Well here we are in the land of human sacrifice, cold beer, spicy salsa, tortillas, music and blazingly hot sun.
We have climbed the pyramids at Chitchen Itza, Uxmal and Kabah with every part of our bodies drenched in sweat. What a blood thirsty people these Mayans were - constantly leaping about ripping each other's hearts out and offering them up to the gods. Luckily today's Mexican are a much gentler lot. Merida is a lovely old Spanish town created by another blood thirsty lot - the Spanish. Maybe the human race is getting better.

It's been a long day's night.....this is quite freaky this international travel. Left Charlevoix at 6.30 am, arrived at Traverse City Airport an hour later and had a muffin for breakfast. Had a most unusual body scan at Security. I had to stand as though I was on a crucifix while some secret laser searched through my clothes to see if I was carrying weapons of mass destruction. Happily I wasn't or I wouldn't be here tapping away in Houston.
It's a bit T.S Eliot here, counting out my life in teaspoons. The flight to Chicago was quick but then there was the three and a half wait. I filled this by running around madly confirming our Chichen Itza trip for tomorrow. It took an hour with countless wrong phone numbers and then engaged numbers but finally I got through only to have the whole conversation take place in no man's language. I spoke no Spanish and the receptionist spoke no English. But I managed to confirm that we would be picked up tomorrow morning at nine o'clock. Or I think I did. Maybe I ordered nine clocks. We'll find out tomorrow.
The flight to Houston was seamless and here we have a four hour wait. We are planning for the maximum excitement. Tom is window shopping. When he gets back I will window shop. If we can while away the next hour, then we can have a leisurely meal.
The flight to Merida is about three hours. If all goes well we will get to our hotel about ten o'clock tonight. What exciting jet setters we are. Oh by the way, we gained an extra hour crossing into a new time zone so we are having an even longer day than usual.

As we are about to leave the weather has turned absolutely perfect. Stunning sunsets, crisp evenings and hot days. We have one last day to cram in the delights of Charlevoix. Tennis, a swim and  boat ride are on the agenda. We also have cocktails with two separate parties tonight!
I feel very excited about this next leg of our journey. I am really looking forward to Mexico but not the long trip to get there. We leave at seven o'clock tomorrow morning and arrive at our hotel at ten o'clock at night! And the next day we go on an eight hour trip to Chichen Itza! What was I thinking?
I have been overwhelmed by this trip. Literaly. Yesterday I had to hide in my bedroom as yet another visitor called in. But there is a charm to the place. Where else would you have a meeting with the architect of your new house and be given a home grown cucumber to take away?
Where else would you go to get your driver's license and find the municipal building shared space with a nail parlour?

Passed with flying colours! 

Tom now has an American driving license. Wahoo! He will be able to vote here in the upcoming election and become a resident of Charlevoix, Michigan!

And to end the nail biting suspense of did we or didn't we camp out last night? Here is the photographic evidence of our first night in the house.

The tent was already up. Now all we had to do was pump up the air beds which we sensibly did by day light.

We had dinner with Bill and Mary Lee Fowle - childhood friends of Tom's and then crept up the hill in the dark with the aid of torch lights. We toasted our first night with wine in plastic cups and went to sleep fully dressed to protect us from the cold. Slept pretty well although there were some odd noises in the night. I heard a strange sound like a crying child which I think might have been a racoon. The stars in the night sky were huge and brilliant. Woke up in the morning feeling and looking pretty rumpled as can be seen in the above photograph. Luckily we could make breakfast and have a hot shower in Cathy and Phil's cabin.

Charlevoix - land of chipmunks, bonfires, tennis, sudden storms and the Lake itself as a constant presence.

I can't believe that we only have five days left. I had thought that I would be bored by three weeks in Charlevoix which is why I set up such a punishing pace of sightseeing in Mexico. But I am exhausted by the constant activity up here. People to visit, places to go, food to be eaten and games to be played.
There seems to be a constant parade of social activity and so many things to be achieved.
Today Tom is going for his American driver's licence after which we will play the obligatory round of tennis. Or maybe not. We haven't played for the last couple of days. Not only were our bodies bruised and battered but the weather turned suddenly cold and blustery.
Last night we had the luxury of staying in Phil and Cathy's house alone. It was wonderful to just sit on the couch in front of the fire and wallow in the silence.

We have been eating our way through the left overs from the pre- wedding party that Cathy threw for her daughter Sarah. Everybody is now on Mackinac Island awaiting the huge wedding.
It is cold but sunny and the chipmunks are scurrying and the waves are lapping. Tom has begun to erect a tent for a possible camp in our new house tonight.

It will be interesting to see what happens. Another night in front of the fire in the cozy cottage......

Followed by a gentle lie in.......

Or a night in the wilds with racoons and chipmunks running riot all around us? Watch this space for the next exciting instalment!

Jesse and Tom decided to toast the house in beer.
I am sitting in the skeleton of the house stealing Phil's WIFI to send this blog. How cool is that. We never have to get a dish or anything. We can just creep around stealing Phil's connectivity forever.

Yesterday we went into Charlevoix to the artist's market and saw some great art works. They only have the markets once a year so it was a wonderful chance to see what an artistic place it is up here.

In my dreams I am this tennis Goddess and it is sad when I see the reality. I look like the tennis toad.
I am however slightly improving every day.
For those of you who don't know who the cast of characters up here are, here is a brief run down:
Tom has four siblings. His brother Phil has a partner called Cathy whose daughter Sarah is getting married next week. We are living in their house at the moment but today we move out and the wedding hordes move in.
Tom's oldest sister Ayrie is in Chicago now. She has two daughters,
Kate and Rebecca. Kate is here now with her two children Lily and James. Kate is married to Jason who is arriving shortly.
Lucy is another sister and she is coming up here in a day or two and there is another sister Les who won't be coming up this year.
There are also an astounding array of people who drift in and out who are relatives and friends and a combination of both.  The whole place is a hotbed of gossip and speculation.
Last night we all had dinner in the big house after cocktails with cousins Stu and Sue, a twin-like couple.
Jesse, Mel and Kate made tacos, beans and guacamole and we all played Up Jenkins, a strange game where we try to figure out who is hiding a quarter coin in their hands.
There is another dinner game which is horrible where everybody suddenly puts their finger on the side of their nose and the last person to realise it and doesn't have a digit attached to their nose has to hide under the table and say "I'm a little pig". Go figure.

Bubbles and dreams and Lake Charlevoix. Lily demonstrates her bubble making ability before a splendid dinner of turkey burgers and BLT salad that Cathy made.
I haven't mentioned that we are moving out of the Beach House tomorrow and then hopping between Lucy's cottage and the Main house for the rest of our stay.
For us the main focus of this trip has been the building of the house but for Cathy it has been the countdown to her daughter's wedding next Saturday. She has been graciously hosting us while she waits for the 30 odd people to descend on her tomorrow. It is her job to feed, coordinate and house all these people for over a week. And she has been giving me tennis lessons. She deserves a medal.

                                                   Life at Mooreville

When I named my blog Route Sixty Six and then more, I should have called Route Sixty Six and then Mooreville.
Except then I couldn't write about Mexico. There's a conundrum.
There have been may conundrums up here at Mooreville - the compound formerly known as Charlevoix.
How many states in America have the death penalty are quickly solved with Google but the old chestnut of "If a tree falls in a forest and nobody hears it, did it fall at all?" has been the subject of fierce debate for a couple of days.

Phil, ever logical, says the the question should be rephrased. If you state that the tree falls at the start of the question then of course it fell.
However I wanted to delve deeper and armed with all resources of Google, I am persevering with the question.
It is all about subjectivity. The only reality we humans have is our own construct of things. So unless we see it it is not real to us. Reality is how we arrange it.
A technical answer to the question is that sound is vibration, transmitted to our senses through the mechanism of the ear and recognised as sound at our nerve centres.
The falling of the tree or any other disturbance will produce vibration of the air. If there are no ears to hear there will be no sound.
Sounds good to me.
BUT - what about if I didn't actually see, hear or perceive something happen, would I believe it?
If someone tells me that the Olympics are on right now in England but I have no access to a television or newspaper or Google, do I believe them?
Of course I do unless I have grounds to disbelieve them.
BUT then how can I trust something I cannot empirically prove?
I can't.
ARGHHH!!!!!!

After the horror of shopping we had drinks to farewell Ayrie. James is the life and soul of the party.
We then went downstairs where Lilly was given her Charlevoix award.

Lilly and Ayrie captured 11 chipmunks and humanely let them go.
After dinner I spent an insane night trying to redesign the bathroom in Tom's house. Feeling a bit tired and rumpled today but will try another game of tennis this afternoon.

Following the dream becomes a little harder when you are channelling it through Lowe's and Home Depot. The vision of the gorgeous house fades a little as you wander lost and forlorn up and down aisles of merchandise that is not quite what you want or what you're looking for.
It's a huge task to buy a whole houseful of appliances in less than three weeks. There's three toilets, a bath, countless taps, stove, sink, vanities - the list goes on. My face began to hurt and my brain was throbbing as we valiantly charged through these vast American emporiums to consumerism.

And did I mention tiles?

And then to top it all off we had to end the afternoon at Glens - a large and cheerless supermarket with no salespeople to be found. ARGH!!!

And this is the house that Tom built.

And this is the view from what will be the window of the Great Room. A Great Room is another word for Lounge or Family Room.
Pretty much all of the rooms have huge windows looking out to Lake Charlevoix. Even the walk in wardrobe has a window.
It's not too shabby for a holiday home.
Last night the weather changed and today is cool and windy. I am wearing a pullover for the first time since leaving Australia.
Tennis seems to the main agenda here. This morning Tom and I hit some balls around. Now Tom is playing with Phil and shortly Cathy and I will join them for some doubles. They are all very kind about my tennis.

Saturday afternoon in Charlevoix. What else do you do but visit the Bubbling Springs and hang out with the frogs. You could have a chat with Lily who knows all about animals.

Or you could come back to the Beach house and have yet another swim and then a snooze before attempting a game of tennis in the over 90 degree heat.
We arrived yesterday after a seven hour drive from Chicago and immediately went up to check out Tom's new house. It is amazing. It has the best views of the Lake. It's a pity that it's a few months off completion but its bones are good. Tom is determined to sleep in it before we leave. Phil has promised us a tent but I'm not sure, I like to go to sleep lulled by the gentle sounds of the waves lapping outside, in a COMFORTABLE BED. Not outside with my toes being nibbled by raccoons.

Chicago assaults the senses. My camera almost went into melt down during the Chicago River Architecture Tour. This was partly due to the heat and partly due to the dizzying array of architectural styles.
The Wrigley building is at the start of the tour with its lacy spires, arches and ornately carved gate and walkway. It is dazzling white limestone which contrasts and highlights the tall glass towers like the Trump Tower.
All the architects seemed to have been working in some sort of slow waltz to create a complimentary and contrasting architectural vista as you cruise down the river.
Our guide told us tall tales and true about the buildings and the city. Apparently Chicago is called the Windy City because the people are so long winded and like to talk a lot.
One odd little fact is that Wrigley didn't intend to manufacture chewing gum. He wanted to make and sell soap and when that failed he made baking powder which didn't work either. But the clients really loved the little free sticks of chewing gum he included with the baking powder so that is what he went with.
In the afternoon we went to the Art Institute of Chicago and saw lots of wonderful paintings and art works.

We saw the above picture by Georges Seurat,  Grant Wood's American Gothic and so many more. There was a great Roy Lichtenstein retrospective. Giddy with art we retreated to the streets and visited Millennium Park and the fabulous bean and then we went to Gap and snapped up a few bargains and then came home to have dinner with the family.

The Cubs lived up or down to their reputation. They lost mightily to the Pirates. It was all fine up until the sixth innings - the weather was lovely, our seats were in the shade, the crowd was happy and the hot dogs were plentiful. But then about two hours in it became apparent that the Cubs didn't stand a chance. The crowd began to ooze disappointment. We left before the end of the game.
Caught the bus back to a local farmer's market where we bought organic pork chops, corn and tomatoes for dinner.
Later on we barbecued out on the terrace and watched the red blood moon high up in the sky.
Today we are catching the El into town and going on the Chicago River Architecture Tour and wandering around Chicago and her environs.
Tomorrow we're off to Charlevoix!

We are finally in Chicago. I am sitting under a cool fan in Tom's sister Ayrie's house. It is bliss to be in the one spot and not rushing to the next destination at 75 miles an hour down a long grey highway with the air con blasting away to counteract the blistering heat outside. I love road trips but I hate the speed of these highways and the huge looming semi-trailers. I much prefer the odd little meandering roads where you have a chance to see the countryside and towns but if we'd taken more of them we wouldn't have been in Chicago in 14 days.
And what an amazing 2 weeks it has been. We have been in our own little bubble speeding through a country, seeing amazing things, thinking deep thoughts and eating too much food. It has been both longer and shorter than 14 days - a place in its own time.
The above shot is taken in Arthur - a little town 200 miles south of Chicago. It is largely Amish, hence the young woman's old fashioned attire ... and vehicle. This was our last stop before arriving in Chicago.
Arthur was a bit cryptic for me. You had to dig deep to really get a handle on the Amish and Mennonite way of life, and time is something we've been a bit short of on this trip.
We learned a little - both religions started in Switzerland and both believe in living a very simple Christian life, often without television, radio or electricity. The men have beards but no moustaches for no particular reason. It is just the custom.

Here I am rubbing Abe Lincoln's nose - as you do.
This bust is just outside the tomb where he is buried in Springfield and apparently it is a tradition to rub the great man's nose.
I really wanted another hour or so in Springfield. The museum was great but we literally ran through it.
Lincoln's house was beautifully restored and a modest reminder of a great man. It was just an ordinary, nice home.
We saw a superb Frank Lloyd Wright prairie house with wonderful stained glass windows and copper roofing, influenced by American Indians and Japanese motifs. Unfortunately it was closed but we got to walk all around it.
We stayed in my favourite hotel of the trip - a dear little B&B  called Inn at 835 which was well over a hundred years old and had wine and cheese at 5 o'clock, cookies in a basket hung on our door knob before we went to bed, a super spa bath with candles and pink lighting and a cooked hot breakfast - all for $99.
Today we are going to see the Chicago Cubs play baseball at Wrigley Field with Jason (Toms niece's husband).  Tom's beloved Cubs are apparently the losing-ist team in America and it is going to be over a 100 degrees today -- Yay!

We are now in Springfield Illinois after having spent the night in Hannibal Missouri. On our way we stopped at old Munroe where we had a crappie sandwich for lunch. Crappie is pronounced croppie and is a white river fish. We also had hushpuppies - deep fried corn and onion balls - a heart attack waiting to happen.
Had a great steam boat trip down the Mississippi  and visited Mark Twain's home. Beautiful countryside.
Struck by how much damage the drought is doing to American crops as we drove to Springfield.
In Springfield we booked into gorgeous B&B called Inn at 835 and then had a pony shoe for lunch - ham on white bread topped by french fries and smothered in melted cheese. If I survive American cuisine it will be a small miracle. Springfield is also the birthplace of the Cozy dog - a sort of deep fried hot dog.

We then visited Lincoln's home. I was very struck by the love he had for his wife and children. What a tragic life poor Mary had. She had four children and only one survived to adulthood. Her husband was assassinated and later her only son had her institutionalised.
The above pic is one of the islands on the Mississippi where outcasts Huck Fin and Jim hid out before setting off on a raft down the Mississippi.

We are now Cape Girardeau Missouri. The pic above is of  some crazy cars that an artist planted in his fields far away in another state.
It is late and I will write more tomorow. It has been an amazing day, another one of America's sublime to the ridiculous days.
In the morning we visited the Civil Rights museum in Memphis which was gut wrenchingly awesome. Martin Luther King was a great man. It is hard to believe how much has changed in the last 40 years.  Things may not be the greatest now but it is a lot better than it was then.
And then to Graceland - one of the most ridiculous places ever.

Here we are in Memphis. Again like everywhere it is hot. We are staying at the Holiday Inn and we just had breakfast of granola and coffee at the Blue Plate cafe. When we set off it was hot but there was a little breeze but now at 8.30 it is baking.
America is in the midst of a severe drought which explains some of the barren countryside we have driven though.
When we arrived last night from Checota in Arkansas we immediately set out for Beale Street to see some music and get some food. Major party time - the street was cordoned off and there were police everywhere. We bought a beer and strolled down the street, plastic cup in hand. Black kids did handstands up and down the street, music poured out of every shop front, park or corner.
We had dinner: ribs, gumbo, pulled pork and crab while we listened to the jazz band.
From time to time music would erupt from the kitchen and conflict with front of house. Nobody noticed.
The night before was our cheapest night. We stayed in Checota, on the outskirts of nowhere. The Budget Hotel cost us $40 a night and dinner at the Chinese was all of $13 and they let us bring in our own brown paper bag in which we stashed our bottle of wine.
The gremlins got to us a little during the night. A huge storm raged and trains roared in and out of the nearby train station. None of the windows had locks. Tom jammed sticks in the jams to prevent too much mayhem.
After a mainly sleepless night we motored off to Little Rock and toured Bill Clinton's shrine to himself -  the William L Clinton Presidential Centre. It was actually quite interesting with replicas of the oval office and the cabinet room in the West Wing. There was also a film of the Clinton years.

Another wee pic of the Grand Canyon!
On re-reading bit about Santa Fe, I feel I did it an injustice. It was splendid. I think I was just tired from all the driving and getting lost so many times yesterday.
But after a good night's sleep I think I can say that Amarillo is not a classy town. Sitting eating breakfast out of plastic plates and cups while the T.V.  blared overhead is not one of my favourite experiences. However the Quinta is our second cheapest hotel after Vegas.
Just as you are about to say aren't Americans a friendly wholesome bunch you have a disaster like the Colorado massacre. Now any country can have a massacre; it is not peculiarly American but the response is.
Firearm sales are surging as a result of the movie massacre. People are buying concealed arms by the bucket load so they can protect themselves and their children if they are in a position like what happened in the picture theatre.
Great, instead of one nutter and twelve dead people we have hundreds of nutters and thousands of dead people.
People are debating gun laws and flags are flying at half mast but nobody is doing anything.
As anyone who knows me knows that I am not a John Howard fan but after the Port Arthur massacre many years ago he changed our gun laws.

Now in Amarillo, Texas after hard days's drive from Santa Fe. Got lost many times.
Above is promised photo of Grand Canyon. Nothing comes close to the hugeness of the place. The grandeur that cannot be photographed.
Santa Fe was great - a little less beautiful than I hoped, but good. Flatter and less green than expected. Stayed in another B & B called Pueblo Bonito - couple of hundred year old pueblo. Walked around Central Plaza looking at usual expensive touristy things. Went to Georgia O'Keeffe museum and then visited Heidi Loewen's gallery and watched her throw a porcelain bowl and learned wonderful tips for gold leaf techniques.
Had the most expensive meal at Martin - beautiful presentation and wonderfully contrasted with meal tonight at Mexican restaurant across the way from La Quinta Hotel here in downtown Amarillo.
On way here visited 10 Cadillacs buried in the ground on a farm. You drive off the road and spray paint them - if you have a cab of spray paint.
Hopefully, we are going to head past Oklahoma City to Fort Smith tomorrow.

Somewhere in the bowels of space or in the innards of this computer are the two photos I downloaded from my camera this morning.  They are of the country around Tom's gold mine and the Grand Canyon. We bought a new cable yesterday at Staples which allowed me to access my photos again.
Yesterday we drove through the most amazing country - the Painted Desert and the petrified forest. It was wonderful. Adjectives are getting too simplistic for the vast majesty of this country.
After a lot of driving we came to Gallop - a sad little run down town full of pawn shops and supposedly good deals on jewellery and Indian handicrafts. We bought some earrings from a Syrian family.
Back on the road and into Albuquerque. We followed Lonely Planet instructions to quaint little B & B called Casas de Suenos. Little houses surrounding gardens. It was an hour later than we thought it was - mountain time - so we had to rush out to dinner as it was 8.30 and restaurants close at 9.00. Had huge Mexican meal and fell into bed.
This morning awoke to bright sun and birds chirping. Went to restaurant where chef cooked us breakfast. Huge friendly Spanish guy who was boasting about his 4 year old Indian grand daughter who rode horses.
This morning we will visit 300 year old church San Felipe de Neri (5 foot thick adobe walls) in the Old Town Plaza before driving 50 odd miles to Sante Fe.

This is me with some ladybirds made out of live flowers in the courtyard of the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. It is a really beautiful, over the top place.
I wanted to post some of my wonderful photos of the Grand Canyon but  have somehow lost my  cord to down load onto the computer.
I have overloaded my camera's memory with all the amazing photos and can't take any more so I will have to try and buy another cord somewhere. For the momentI will use my little camera. Besides hundreds of pictures of the Canyon,  I also shot a condor, a moose and lots of squirrels.
Today we have driven down part of Route 66, had lunch in Williams and are now in a nice little motel in Sedona - apparently the most important new age town in the world.
It has VORTEXES!!!!
It is also surrounded by the most wonderful red rocky mountains and lush green trees. A steam flows through to the centre of town.
Tomorrow we will start heading towards Santa Fe. However we may stop anywhere on the way. This is a road trip after all.

At the Grand Canyon and how very grand it is. I spoke about contrasts after Vegas but this takes the cake. It really is sublime and Vegas really is ridiculous.
We spent the night at the Red Feather Lodge just outside the park. We had a truly awful Mexican meal and then fell deeply asleep. It was hard to drag ourselves out of bed but there were adventures to be had.
Breakfast across the road at a Macdonalds. Our cheapest meal yet and surprisingly good oatmeal with blueberries and nuts and coffee. They even played classical music.
Drove through beautiful pine trees towards the Lodge. Couldn't check in but walked down Bright Angel walking track for one and a half hours. Most spectacular and awesome place. Except for the other tourists, almost religiously quiet. Saw a condor and lots of squirrels. It was pretty steep and a bit slippery but just gorgeous. We decided to turn back and do the tough uphill hike and a good thing too because just as we puffed our way to the top it began to pour with cold rain. A heavy wind blew up and we ran for shelter at the Bright Angel Lodge. Just as we arrived it began to hail!
What an amazing contrast from the hot sunshine when we began the walk.
We are now sitting in our cardigans in the lounge of our Lodge surrounded by the stuffed heads of dead animals. It is dark and heavily wooden. It is more than 100 years old.
In 1903 President Theodore Roosevelt said about the Grand Canyon: " The most impressive piece of scenery I have ever looked at ... it is beautiful and terrible and unearthly."
He wanted it preserved  without a "building of any kind, not a summer cottage, a hotel or anything else to mar the wonderful grandeur,  the sublimity, the great loveliness, the beauty of the canyon. Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it."
I absolutely agree with him but after the hail, rain and wind, I'm happy we are nestled in a cosy national park hotel with a fabulous dinner to go to tonight.

20th July 7.05 pm. What a day and a night. We spent yesterday hopping between ornate hotels and the blasting hot sun. The pic above is the exterior to the Luxor. When we first checked in we thought nothing could top it splendid vulgarity but it proved restrained compared the excesses of others. We had breakfast in a hotel which boasted its own artificial surf beach. We loved the grand, colourful, child-like gardens of the Bellagio. The day was a roller coaster ride of heat and air conditioning. The main clientel seems to be family groups - which seems a bit odd. We ended our day with a wonderful dinner at the Mirage and loved Cirque du Soleil's Beatle's Love. Very nostalgic and so emotional. Today started really early. It is Tom's birthday. He turns 66 as we start our Route 66 trip.
As it is nearly dinner time I will just note activities: Breakfast in a casino surrounded by pokies, Hoover Dam, Chloride - the oldest mining town in Arizona, Tom's gold mine, rocky stark terrain and finally arriving at red Feather Lodge outside Grand Canyon National Park.
What a stark contrast between Las Vegas!
Today's highlight: meeting Judy and Paul who took us up towards Tom's gold mine in their four wheel drive and then walking around abandoned nines and cottages in 101 degree heat.