What Happens in Vegas....................

 

     Next stop was sin city and one of the most iconic signs in the country. There is a line to get yourself in the photo:

We got an ideal site at the campground which was located in the city on Boulder Highway:

More shade than we had in quite a while:

Our first day was spent at the Hoover Dam. Security is tight and I had a feeling they would want to see what was in the bed of the truck. I did not mind knowing that I had two large totes back there that could contain anything. Once they saw the contents (kitty litter and tools and miscellaneous emergency items) we were on our way.

No guided dam tours were operating so we were on our own. First stop is the visitor center where a short film about the dam is shown and then an optional detailed presentation about the construction of the dam.  Finally we made it to the top of the dam:

There are a multitude of facts about Hoover Dam and a few stood out for me: it was completed two years ahead of schedule at a cost of just under 15 million dollars. How did they accomplish that?Work was done 24 hours a day 365 days a year and workers got two days off per year. Most earned about .50 cents an hour. 

And no, there is no one buried in the dam. That is a myth.

I enjoyed the original exhibit building where a model of the entire seven state water reclamation area is displayed.

Amazingly this was the original building tourists would visit at the Hoover Dam until 1995 when the present visitor center was opened. The very knowledgeable lady working here had a plethora of information and history in large binders for the curious to peruse. The tourists started visiting Hoover Dam, then called Boulder Dam, immediately and by 1940 300,000 people had visited that year alone. 

Two water intake towers on each side of the state border;

Lake Mead:

The white, chalky line indicates the high water mark of the lake

Of course not only did we walk across the dam but we had to drive as well:

To the Arizona side:

Back to the Nevada side: 

The Hoover Dam is an absolute must do if you are in Las Vegas. Don't pass it up.

The next day it was off to the strip, Las Vegas Boulevard. 

Of course our first stop on the Strip was the Hard Rock:

We had lunch and walked the strip for a while, then took a break in the Bellagio:

I pumped three whole dollars into a one-armed bandit. That was the extent of my gambling. I think Doreen might have spent one on the nickel machine. The Bellagio is a little too glitzy for me with Rolex stores and other brands I could never afford.

We just strolled along taking in the sights:

The Statue of Liberty at New York New York was bedecked in a Golden Knights hockey jersey that had just lost the Stanley Cup finals to the loathed Washington Capitals:

How about some lobster and a margarita at the mall?

That's what we did! My lobster roll was actually very tasty. Now with a full tank we walked to the Venetian. That my friends, is a looooong walk from New York New York.

I resent the Venetian because it sits on the very site where the Rat Pack put the cool in Vegas.

Now, I don't know who this guy is, but he looks familiar

Everyone loves the Bellagio Fountains at night:

 And all the other sights at night:

I had had enough. I walked over 20,000 steps for the day and it was after midnight. Way past my bedtime. Maybe 20 years ago I would have been all in for gambling and partying; no wait, I am positive I would have dropped a few c-notes playing blackjack and sucking up scotches on the rocks until 4 or 5 AM (that was my twist back in the day).

  Our next excursion was to the Mob Museum near Fremont Street. We would do the museum in the day and Fremont St. during the evening.

This was a nice surprise. The museum houses a comprehensive collection of mafia and organized  crime history inside the former Las Vegas Federal Courthouse and post office with three floors of exhibits ending with a speakeasy in the basement.

Everything from Al Capone's revolver

to the actual wall from inside the garage at North Clark St in Chicago where the St. Valentine's Day Massacre took place:

We spent several hours exploring the museum and topped it off with a cold drink in the speakeasy:

My "drink" came as a glass of round ice cubes and a "book". Open the book and one will find the pages hollowed out for a space to place a glass bottle containing your drink. In this case an old fashioned.

  After the museum it was off to Fremont Street. This is where Las Vegas began. The street is blocked off to vehicular traffic and it is covered.

Here is where the iconic casinos are. The strip is fine but I prefer old school Vegas; The Fremont, the Golden Nugget, Binion's, and poor old Vegas Vic:

They don't even light him up due to a dispute with the actual owners of the building.

After dinner at the buffet it was back to the trailer, this time before midnight as we were pulling out the next day for southern California. 

The Grand Canyon State

  Of course the Grand Canyon state is Arizona. Our drive from New Mexico to the Grand Canyon was about 390 miles and luckily we gained an hour because of the time difference going from Mountain Time to Arizona time. Geographically Arizona is in the Mountain Time zone but they do not recognize daylight savings time so therefore they are on Pacific Time.
  We took advantage of the extra hour by taking a detour through Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Parks.

  The parks are conveniently located directly off of I-40 exit 311. A 28 mile drive through the parks brings you out onto US 180 which takes you back to I-40 at Holbrook Arizona.

The first stretch goes through the Painted Desert:

Old Route 66 cut through the National Park:

The road then goes through the Petrified Forest:

The forest lays on the ground I guess.

The 28 mile detour took two and a half hours. All together this trip was about eight hours. We arrived at Grand Canyon Camper Village in the town of Tusayan about 6 PM:

Before going anywhere I to attend to another repair job. The plastic corner cover was dangling and the entire nose cover was separating from the body. 

I had to screw in the covers and I didn't have black caulk so I used heavy duty GOOP.

The job was done by late morning thanks to a friendly fellow camper next door who supplied me with the screws I needed. So we were finally off to the National Geographic Visitor center in town to plan our visit. We ended up going on a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon:

Tim, our pilot looked to be fresh out of flight school

Just amazing views that you can't see anywhere else

Here the Colorado River can be seen near the bottom

The ride lasted about 30 minutes and was worth every penny.

After the ride we were off to the visitor center in the park. Our campground was only two miles from the entrance and there was no wait getting in, but road construction inside the park did cause delays.

At the visitor center we were able to plan our visit for Doreen to optimize her chances of seeing as much as possible. 

The Rim Trail travels the entire length of the south rim, about 12 miles. Some sections are paved, some are not. The western section is closed to auto traffic with the exception of park buses and persons with mobility disabilities in which case you can get a pass and gate code to gain access. 

Dee has turned into quite a shutterbug:

The end of the line is Hermit's Rest:

An enterprising fellow built a lodge for travelers back in the early 20'th century and it is now a gift shop.

The Colorado River:

A panorama shot:

I have to say that I was in awe of this national treasure. The vastness is something you can't grasp in photographs alone. 

We spent our entire visit on this end of the canyon where the crowds were sparse and traffic was virtually nonexistent. 

After a long day of sightseeing we had to cool off and souvenir shop.

My favorite kind of souvenir: 

The next day Doreen rested while I went for a ride into the Kaibab National Forest:

An elk getting some respite from the afternoon heat:

  That does it for Arizona. Now it is off to Sin City, Las Vegas.