This morning we woke up in Sin City aka Las Vegas. After spending less than $100 on gambling and walking our gluttonous buffet off, we felt pretty good about ourselves. We hit up the Hotel Breakfast at The Tropicana before we checked out. They also had a Starbucks in the casino and people who obviously had not gone to bed yet.
Our first stop of the day was, not far from Las Vegas, the Hoover Dam. You paid $10 to get down to walk above the dam. The museum/tours were not open because it was Sunday but, knowing what we already know about the dam I think the site of it alone was awesome. On the way to Hoover Dam you drive by Lake Mead before meeting the dam at the Colorado River.
The Hoover Dam was finished in 1936 and provides power to parts of NV, AZ, and CA. It is amazing to see how huge this was and to contemplate the effect that this had, not just on the landscape of the area, but also an engineering achievement of its time.
After about an hour at the Dam we had a pretty long drove into Arizona to get to the Grand Canyon. Once we got there we went straight to Mather Point, the main “lookout” point for the Grand Canyon. We saw a bunch of female elk and one came up really close to all of the park visitors on the sidewalk by Mather Point.
We had reservations at Mather Campground. We were only at the Grand Canyon for a sort time so we were not able to do any hikes. We walked around the rim a little bit at the Southern Side of the Canyon. It was breath taking and amazing. It really was cool to see in one day both the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. To reflect on humankind and nature.
After spending some time taking it all in we went to the camp site and set up. It was getting late and was just about 9pm when a young couple came over to ask us if we knew if the site across from us was taken. (The campground was full). We explained the rules and what the reservation slip on the post meant, and that the people who reserved it might still be on their way. They started packing up their stuff. We started talking and realized they probably would have a heck of a time finding somewhere this late at night to stay. Since our camp site actually had 2 tent spaces, and they looked like they wouldn’t kill us in our sleep, we offered to let them stay at our site. They took us up on the offer and next thing we knew John was helping them set up their tent in the dark. (They had never set it up before). We sat around the fire for a little bit. Their names were Darren and Alexa, and they were from Sacramento and Washington respectfully. They gave us some great suggestions about things to do/see on the west coast. A little around 11pm we all went to bed, we had a long day of driving the next day so we got an early start. But when we woke up, this was on our window.
They had their phone numbers and the names/addresses of some of the places they had recommended. This is what we think of a campers version of picking up a hitchhiker. But they really were nice and we were glad to help them out. We still have over 2 weeks before we head home so we are sure we are going to need the hospitality ourselves at some point!
Next stop, California!!!
Dietz Summer Road Trip 