Swansea, Wales

PoppySwansea, Wales is generally not a tourist destination town, no tour buses, no cruise ships.  More than once, we were told by those familiar with the town to not go.  It is mostly a working class town with no major sites to see.  The nearby town of Mumbles has an arcade and pier which seemed to be a vacation spot for many UK families with children.  We selected Wales simply since we thought we would not wish to drive further from Chipping Campden, England, working our way to Ireland.  We found Swansea to be refreshingly very much like a US city.  We saw stop lights at intersections instead of roundabouts, large grocery stores, motels with breakfast included and wider roads in town.  Since eating the local foods is a large part of experiencing the region, I was treated to kippers (smoked herring);  laverbread (seaweed puree) and cockles (shelled muscles) at our hotel breakfasts.
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Toroweep Overlook North Rim Grand Canyon

Toroweep-Overlook-20120512-_ALL0797The drive to Toroweep Overlook on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park is long and dusty.  It is 58 miles of dirt road, one way.  The last 6 miles require a high clearance 4-wheel drive vehicle.  I came across two disabled trucks.  One had three of the five lug bolts sheered off and the other a blown tire.  Another big problem would be to encounter someone going the opposite direction on the narrow road.  I took over three hours to cover the 58 miles when the books say it should only take 2 1/2.

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