Flew into Phoenix and spent one nite. Then we headed to Boulder City, Nevada to see Hoover Dam. The drive across 93 was very diverse. We kept being amazed at how much the landscape changed depending on if the area got rain or not. It's like there are "pockets" where rain happens and it's nice and green. Then, no rain and lots of brown. There were even different cactus in different areas. There were a few palms, but again it seemed to depend on if there was rain or not. We also decided if you lived here, you needed to have a satellite phone....cell is not good enough!!!
There is no real good way to describe this marvel called Hoover Dam. It was constructed in the 1930's....way before computers and it is amazing. At it's base, it is 2 football fields thick...was built to last 1500-2000 years and an earthquake of 9.0...I think it will be just fine. We did a tour of the power plant and went "inside" the dam. When they built it, they built in tunnels (yes you walk, you don't crawl), so they could keep a check on concrete cracks. They also built the tunnels for tourist. Even back then they expected to make money on tours...smart folks. It is truly a site everyone should see. We walked across the top and drove across. Until 2010 it was the only way across the Colorado River...now there is a big huge new bridge.....so the dam and its road are for touring, not necessity. Boulder City is where all the workers and families lived. It is a quaint town with way more square miles than people. They increased the size of their town way more than necessary to keep Las Vegas from coming over and having gambling in their town. Vegas is only 30miles away. You see, Hoover Dam and the Colorado River are split down the middle 1/2 in Arizona, 1/2 in Nevada....but seems to work ok.
On top of the bridge looking down....wow.
A view of Lake Mead, some of the water handlers and the back/top of the dam
The new bridge..now folks don't have to cross over the dam ....is much more efficient.
Got a cool nighttime picture
The inside tour....very cool, these make electricity
Some steps going to another level
In the evening these Bighorn Sheep just wander around this park....cool
We ate dinner a the Big Horn Restaurant....wonderful!! In fact, we liked it so much we ate there both nites we were in town. The prime rib, pork chops and salmon were awesome. The owner Paul was very nice and chatted with us each nite about our day and things to do. He suggested a zip line of Bootleg Canyon. I'd seen this in a magazine I'd picked up and was already curious....so we signed up to do this on Saturday. For now, it was time to hit the bed we were tired.
Saturday we had to be at the zip place at 830a for a 9a run. We got there, got into our gear and headed up the mountain. Was a bumpy dirt road but was gorgeous. We did 4 zips in 2hrs.....the hikes were not bad. We watched a big horn sheep for a long time, he got a little close to us....was really cool. The guys handling the zip were great. http://www.flightlinezbootleg.com/ this is the place we zipped with, they were really great. Zipping is something you just have to experience...it's fast, fun, and the scenery is for sure a bird's eye view!!
One of the platforms where we would get "hooked up" so we could zip to the next platform
At the next platform the guys were waiting on you...
Here I come....when in doubt legs out....that's what we were told...helps to slow you down....
A view of Bootleg Canyon....very rugged, lots of rocks....and bighorn sheep, and we got a bird's eye view.
After zipping , was time for showers and to hit the road to head towards Sedona. We took the slow drive as we wanted to drive the famous Rt 66. We did 80 mi on Rt 66...it was very nostalgic. They even have some of the old Burma Shave roadside signs up. We stopped at some Old General stores along the way that must have been there back during the time RT 66 was used a lot. These stores had several old cars of the 1950's outside, some in good condition, some not...but really neat.
I think he died trying to fix it!!!!
Will the real person please stand up???
Denny was having find memories of all the old cars...
Santa is alive and well on Rt 66
Road Kill Cafe'......YUM!!
Inside there was tons of memorabilia from that era...and all soft drinks were sold in bottles!!! It was a really fun ride. We connected up to I40 and drove to the the town of Williams. WOW it was busy...there was a Labor Day weekend rodeo in town. We walked around, got some dinner and headed for Sedona. It was late, we were tired and it was time to find our condo for the week. http://www.highlandsverderidge.com/ This is our home away from home for this week....a lovely new unit. Great location and fantastic scenery. I think I'm going to like it here!!!
We got settled in and quickly to bed. Tomorrow, Sunday, we are sched for an orientation breakfast and a train ride.
Sunday.....orientation and breakfast were great....now we know a little more about the area. However, our AAA books and info had us fairly prepared and informed. We had a little time before our 1p train ride so we drove to Jerome. It is an old mining town and known as a ghost town now. It's very thriving with little shops and such and waaaay up on a mountain, gorgeous views. And the ghost part is played up, we will likely do a tour later this week. However, it was time to head for the train depot.
Cool paint job on the engine...this area is known for having lots of eagles, we'd hoped to see some, but didn't
We headed down the tracks and pretty quickly spotted these old cliff dwellings...neat
spent lots of the ride out on the open car...don't wanna miss anything
Coming around a big curve.....
headed into a tunnel......
We went "first class"...gave us some snacks and a table....was very nice
We crossed lots of bridges and saw some beautiful country .....the rugged red rocks, cactus streams, it was all very peaceful
http://verdecanyonrr.com/ this was out train ride. Through Verde Canyon...a 4hr round trip. Breathtaking....my neck got tired from looking up. We went first class in the Sycamore car. We had some hot and cold snacks and truly enjoyed the ride. I spent much of my time in the outside open car....I'm like a kid, don't want to miss anything. The views were so varied. This area is so well known for having bald eagles that the train engines have them painted on them....however, we did not see any at all...bummer!!! This train is over 100 yrs old and is lookin' good! We went from milepost 38 to 18, then back again. It was a wonderful afternoon. There was a bit of cloud cover, but that was ok, it kept the heat down when on the open air car.
After the ride we checked out Dead Horse State Park...not much there to do but a pretty park. Good camping and some nice day use areas. We were a bit tired, had been a little busy a good bit of driving so we headed "home". We needed to do some laundry, as we did that we took a swim and hit the hot tub. Got back, watched a movie and fell happily to sleep....tomorrow....we drive to the Grand Canyon!!!
Until then.....
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