On to Las Vegas
As previously mentioned, we kept a close eye on the weather and just missed snow a few times! Our next stop was Williams, AZ, the gateway to the Grand Canyon. We were supposed to stay here 3 nights, but shortened it to just one because— you guessed it, it was supposed to snow the next day! when we arrived in Williams it was COLD and WINDY- it felt like it had already snowed! We got packed up the next morning so we could get out of dodge before the snow hit. Next stop: Las Vegas!
We could see a lot of the hotels and Allegiant Stadium on the left.
We visited Hoover Dam while in Vegas:
If you have never been to see Hoover Dam, we recommend it- very interesting!
While driving into Vegas from Arizona we went over the bridge:
As you drive to the dam there are soooo many power lines:
Which makes a lot of sense since the dam creates a lot of electricity! It is part of a multi-dam system that provides power to several states, including CA.
You can drive over the dam and park for free, then walk back across the dam to the visitor center for a tour.
It’s huge! Looking across to the dam from the lake side you can see the intake towers- this is where the water comes from the lake and goes through the dam.
We got to see some interesting things on the tour:
the dam was interesting and we enjoyed the tour- we took the short one, which was just enough!
We wanted to go out to watch the meteor shower that night but it was too cloudy- so we went to dinner and saw a great sunset:
Next stop- home! We originally were going home on Sunday, but realized that driving back to CA would be a nightmare of traffic, so we changed our reservation to leave on Saturday instead- much better, but we did get passed by a bunch of Lamborghini’s, a Porsche, a couple Audi’s- all weaving in and out of cars doing 90+ MPH. We stopped at a rest area before Barstow and a bunch of Corvettes were there, all with Alaska license plates- when I asked about a group from Alaska, they told me they had rented the cars in Vegas and were in a 36 hour road rally from Vegas to Santa Monica to Palm Springs and back- whew! My guess is all the cars that passed us were a part of that rally!
We REALLY ENJOYED our trip to Utah- all of the national parks are different from each other, so we recommend visiting all of them, and giving each a couple of days if you can. Most have some kind of scenic drive, which is a great starting point, but taking time to get out and hike will make your visit even better! We keep trying to determine our favorite one, and we think Bryce was the favorite because it was so different, with all the hoodoos. Arches is surprisingly HUGE, and the arches were cool. Zion was beautiful and warmer than the others- and was the first one we visited, which could account for the warmer weather. Capitol Reef was the most tranquil- I think because of the orchards. And Canyonlands was soooo big- it rivals the Grand Canyon! And Monument Valley, which is not a national park, is not to be missed!
We are especially grateful that our trip was delayed due to truck problems- it made us miss the heatwave they had in Utah (hiking in 107 degree weather would be awful!), and also helped us miss the worst of the crowds! We got to see some snow, although weren’t in it, which was good. So, even if you are like me and NOT a desert person- this is still a must-see trip!