Following our journey across Route 66, my friend Irving and I stop for the night at Grand Canyon Caverns. This place is sort of a mini village — there’s a motel, campground, RV park, restaurant, bar, pool, even a mini golf course. And there’s a tiny airport just around the corner for the jet-setting crowd, though I suspect there’s little overlap in a Venn diagram showing those who visit this spot and those who travel via private jet.

Random: this area provided inspiration for the Disney-Pixar movie Cars, which takes place in Radiator Springs along Route 66 (in that movie, a map shows Radiator Springs to be in the same area as Peach Springs, which is a few miles from here).

The mini golf course is populated by rusted dinosaur figures:

The dinosaur theme continues at the restaurant and curio shop just down the road by the campground.

There’s also a ‘Dope on a Rope’ display, a phrase that supposedly started right here during cave tours in the early 1900s.

The RV park and campground is quite large and unpopulated; Irving and I are only two of a handful of people staying here tonight.

I paid for our camping site in advance ($20 total including breakfast). Spots are first-come, first-served, and we can park directly next to our tents. There’s a block of toilets and showers with hot water nearby.

Irving and I have brought small tents — each tent is just large enough for one person and belongings, or two people and no belongings. Here’s a closer look at Irving’s tent, outside and inside:

And now my tent, outside and inside — it’s a Wenzel Lone Tree tent, purchased the week before our trip through Sports Authority on e-Bay for $38:

We grab dinner at the only restaurant in the vicinity, which happens to be a 90-second walk from our campsite.

And guess what? The food is delicious. I order the pulled pork and have no regrets.

Irving and I walk around the campsite at twilight. I don’t get the obsession this place has with dinosaurs, but this silhouette is neat:

We spot this treehouse on the far edge of the campground property:

Now for the fun part of this post — night photography. We all know how much I love my 15mm fisheye lens, and I’ll use any excuse to play around with long exposure shots.

The handful of times I’ve tried to write words in flashlight on a long exposure shot, it has NOT gone well — so I am shocked when these actually come out. Here is my first (rather pathetic) attempt at writing HAVASU backwards with my flashlight:

But after 10 more tries, I get much better:

And then I up the ante by writing the full name of the tribe, Havasupai. AND IT COMES OUT AMAZING:

Man, it was a feat to write that backwards in under 30 seconds — the letter S kept tripping me up. But I am so pleased with the result.

It’s a very cold night here. Tomorrow we’ll be up early to finalize our packs and drive to the trailhead — stay tuned!