Grand Canyon: Day Three: Departure

The wind blew all night long. When we woke up it was snowing like crazy--i.e. a blizzard! We dressed (in lots of layers) and headed to breakfast. As we walked to the lodge, we had to look down at our feet because the ground was covered with snow on ice and because the wind was blowing the snow so hard it felt like pins pricking the skin on my face. I should invest in some snow goggles; I may find myself in another blizzard sometime in the next 15 years. When we finally got inside and tried to get information about the weather and road conditions, no one knew anything because all (or almost all) of the people that work in the Grand Canyon, live there too. So, I guess they really don't care what happens with the weather or the roads. But when you have to drive four hours to Las Vegas to catch a flight home, it's pretty important. We couldn't make a decision about whether to wait until lunch time and see if it stops snowing and warms up or to get out while we still could.

When we finally talked with someone who had a little information, we found out that the Grand Canyon area was expecting 6 - 18 inches of snow during the day. We were out of there--after we dug the car out! Driving was treacherous for a while and we had to creep along. Next time Greg will listen to me and rent a Hummer! Eventually the roads began to get slushy, then they were just wet. As we descended from the Grand Canyon to the desert, we saw a tremendous change in our surrounding--snow to sand! PHOTOS

We stopped at the Hoover Dam on our way into Nevada. It hasn't changed since last year. Same lake, same dam, same river! The small big change was the few supports that had been put in place for the new Hoover Dam Bridge. Small because they had only added a few supports; Big because those few supports were enormous and looked as if they reached the sky! I could never work on a construction site like that. PHOTOS

We eventually got to Las Vegas and the weather was comfortable--no gloves, hats, scarves required! We drove down the strip and I was amazed at the change from last year when we were there with all of the crazy NBA All-Star fans. It seemed so calm this year. We headed to Fremont Street to spend a few hours before going to the airport. We "donated" some money to the cause at Binions--slots! We devoured prime rib for dinner and watched the Super Bowl from the casino. Much different than any other super bowl atmosphere I can remember in recent history. PHOTOS

Our flight was scheduled to leave a little before midnight and it was delayed. When we finally got on the plane, I was exhausted and ready for a good night's sleep-HA! We were fortunate in that our seats were in a section of three seats and no one was in the third seat on our row so we got to stretch out! When we arrived home, we headed straight to Mom & Dad's to get the girls for school. It's always fun to get away, but almost more fun to come back home...except for the laundry!