From Sedona, we planned on directly driving to Las Vegas. But when we saw on the map that the Grand Canyon was "only" a detour of 3 hours, we couldn't justify not going. (Note: During our road trip, we started measuring distances the American way, meaning: a one hour drive is not worth mentioning, a three hour drive is not too bad, with a 5 hour drive you need some snacks, and a 7 hour drive is starting to get long.)
The Grand Canyon was not in our original road trip schedule since we've visited it already three years ago during our honeymoon (along with Zion, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Arches, Capitol Reef, Mesa Verde and Monument Valley). But it turns out that the Grand Canyon is as impressive as the first time you see it! We also took the opportunity to have lunch in El Tovar, a nice restaurant at the canyon rim.
We arrived late in Las Vegas, but I guess Vegas is not meant to be seen by daylight. This time (we also visited Vegas during our honeymoon), we didn't stay on The Strip but in the older part of town, Fremont Street Experience. It's older, thus cheaper (hey, we're almost at the end of our road trip slash budget) but definitely worth a visit - it's part of Vegas' history. We gambled a whopping 6 dollars (we each had a budget of 5 bucks, Ward didn't get lucky, I only lost a dollar) but we got two free corona's out of it so strictly speaking, we won one dollar. I know, we're pussies when it comes to gambling!
Except for the huge gambling going on (the casino's were packed, even on week nights!), we also noted a lot of binge drinking. Las Vegas is of course a notorious bachelor/bachelorette/birthday/wedding/any kind of party destination. But in general, during our almost two years in the States, we noticed that many Americans have a weird obsession with alcohol, male and female, young and old. We blame it on the fact that in the US you're only allowed to drink as of the age of 21... Once Americans finally reach that age, they go crazy and seem unable to not drink when they're in a bar or restaurant, as if it's the Holy Grail. Very weird...
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