West Coast 2009, Days 23-24

OK...RUSS THE BUS IS NOW GOING EAST...LOL

DAY 23 & 24 BLOG

Good morning from Grand Canyon Railway Station located in Williams Arizona.

Day 23:

After leaving the Vegas area we decided to camp 8 miles outside of Hoover Dam so we could get an early start as it has been 107 deg and from what we heard after 10 am., the traffic is nuts. It was a good break after the long drive from San Fran the day before. We could see Lake Meade from the campground and was very relaxing, but HOT!

Day 24:

As planned we were at the dam early and good thing, because after we got there within 30 min the traffic was winding up the road from both directions for mile The Hoover Dam, is simply cooler than words. So different from all the “Natural” beauty we have been seeing, it is an engineering marvel. What’s even slicker is they are erecting a bridge over the dam to divert traffic, and it is something to see a bridge being built. In some ways the bridge over shadowed the dam. What was disturbing is that Lake Meade is 76 feet below its normal level. The lake has been shrinking for the past 12 years. The kids and Patty enjoyed the structure, and even though we were early, we skipped the tour since the lines were over 1.5 hour wait and we needed to get to the west rim of the Grand Canyon. It was also 113 deg.

After enjoying the Dam, we headed east to the Grand Canyon. As we left we saw in the distance looming clouds and several storms (BTW, we have had no rain to speak of in 24 days so it was interesting to see such a storm.)

Well, as we got closer we were VERY disappointed! We were at the last turn to get to the West entrance another 8 miles, and the road was closed and washed away. The storms we saw were pretty bad and flooded the road to the entrance. Needless to say we were and are disappointed, but it was a sign of what was to come…

Our next stop was to be near the South Entrance. Heading out we drove into the storm, and lucky for us we were on the front edge of the storm. The road we were on is a road that floods and for a bit we were concerned we would be stuck as the road was flooding and you can see why and how flash floods occur so quickly. Well, we got to the end and as we did they closed the road behind us! The rest of the drive and day was very un-eventful, but the storm was enough for all of us for a while.

Until tomorrow, please have a very blessed day!