Cross-Country Drive Day 2 – Kingman to the Grand Canyon

Stats of the drive

Second day: Kingman, Arizona to the Grand Canyon National Park (GCNP)

Routes taken: I-40 east to Route 89 north (around Flagstaff) to Route 64 west (at Cameron) to hit the eastern entrance to the GCNP

Departure time: 9AM

Arrival time: 3PM

License plates spotted: 43 states (somehow I suspect the gravity pull of the Grand Canyon had something to do with this success!)

A simple plan

The trip’s plan included spending an overnight at the Grand Canyon National Park and enjoying the beautiful views. The drive from Kingman to the GCNP was going to be only about 3 hours so we planned for a late start this day. This would give us a break from early starts that would characterize the entire roadtrip.

Maximizing the Grand Canyon experience

Since we only had an afternoon and an evening (we would leave early the next morning), we splurged by staying right at the rim of the Grand Canyon. For those who have not been there, if you stay at hotels outside of the GCNP, you have about an hour’s drive (or more) for most of them. So that would be a 2-hr roundtrip in and out lost in driving.

We stayed at the Thunderbird Lodge on the edge of the canyon and got a partial view of the Grand Canyon. It was a spectacular setting despite the view being partial.

Sunset light at the Grand Canyon

But let’s not forget about Kingman

So I just spent telling you about day 3’s sunrise but did not tell you about day 2’s sunrise…

Being that my body was still on Eastern time, I woke up sometime in the 4AM range. First thinking my options were TV or reading, I promptly concluded that it would be good to get some exercise in even if mild. Also, I figured I should try to see some of the town but driving was the last thing I wanted to do. So, I just went for a 45-min walk which also overlapped sunrise.

Our hotel (a very nice Best Western) was right on historic Route 66 so I got to walk some of it seeing the police and fire stations and a few business. I also walked the streets of a middle class neighborhood right behind Route 66 but dogs would bark and being still the wee hours, I felt it a little rude of me to disturb the peace so I went back to Route 66 – to get some of the kicks the famous song promises!

Now, let’s go on to day 3!

Missed the start of the cross-country drive? Check out the San Jose to Kingman drive!