Our stay in Vegas concluded with us waking up and checking out of the hotel around the time many others were just calling it a night but we had a long day ahead. On the way out of town we stopped for an obligatory selfie at the famous Las Vegas sign before heading off towards Hoover Dam.
Hoover Dam was incredibly disappointing for Ryan because he didn't see any Decepticons or Autobots or get to visit the top secret facility beneath the dam as was promised in Transformers. Laura marveled at the fact that there is still concrete curing deep inside the structure.
We departed Hoover Dam for Kingman, AZ and a quick charge before embarking on a fun historic stretch of Route 66 on the way to the Grand Canyon. It was wild to see the ghost towns created when Interstate 40 replaced most of Route 66 and bypassed many of the small town built along it. The Hackberry General Store is one of the few remnants of the original American road trip era.
We did find some fun stuff along the way for our nephew Levi including a Radiator Springs tribute to the movie "CARS" and a real Mater!
Driving this stretch of Route 66 only added about 30 minutes to our trip but was quite a walk back in time.
Our evening concluded at The Grand Hotel at the Grand Canyon where we enjoyed a sampling of local beers and Laura experienced her first Fireball Whiskey shot ever! Ryan found it pretty hilarious while Laura was significantly less amused.