Road Trip: Day 7

Thursday morning we woke up before the crack of dawn to try and catch the sunrise and get an early start to Las Vegas. Originally we had planned to do more in Las Vegas but unfortunately the weather did not cooperate. It was freezing! Both days I wore 2 pairs of pants, a shirt, 2 sweaters, a scarf and sneakers. I definitely could have used more layers, I just didn't have any clothes left to put on!

After bundling up in the morning I ventured outside to check the weather. It had been raining a bit the night before and they were predicting a 100% chance of rain for that day. I was thrilled to learn it wasn't raining, only to learn it was snowing! Fortunately it didn't last very long and we made the trek to Yavapai Point for the sunrise. Unfortunately it was still very cloudy and freezing and I don't think the sunrise was everything it could have been.

Once we reached the point of worrying about frostbite we packed it in and made the trek to Las Vegas. The drive from the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas was actually really nice, although we were bummed to not be able to see the Hoover Dam. Apparently after September 11th, the closed the road over the dam and there is now a bypass bridge with high concrete walls designed, apparently, to block any and all scenic views! If we weren't exhausted and just ready to get to Las Vegas we might have considered detouring, instead we powered through. Fortunately we got to Las Vegas early were able to save a bit on the rental car.

Speaking of the rental car...that might have been the best decision we made and our best luck of the trip!  In planning for the trip we realized it was significantly less expensive to rent from someplace other than airport. And at the last minute we decided to pick the car up a day early, even if it meant paying a bit extra. We knew we would be getting a late start on Friday with our work schedules and wanted to be able to just jump on the road as soon as we could. So Thursday afternoon we show up at the DoubleTree hotel outside of DCA at 6pm to pick up the car as per our reservation. Apparently the DoubleTree Hertz counter closes at 5pm and we would have to trek over to the airport anyway. At the airport the lovely woman at the Gold Counter felt bad for us and gave us an upgrade, a car with GPS (that we wouldn't have to pay for) and satellite radio, as well as a coupon for $45 off to more than make up for the increase in taxes you incur for picking up at the airport. This was on top of the discounts we received through my bank and a $25 off coupon. When we return the car they pumped the coupon up to $50.