October 12, Day 55
We spent the morning touring Hoover Dam. We parked on the AZ side and walked over the dam to the visitor center. The water level was down about 40 feet, but that does not seem to be unusual for this time of the year. The tour was of the generating room. There was also an interpretive center that focused on the purpose of the dam, its construction, and electrical generation. The dam is a most impressive structure and they are in the process of building a bridge a short distance down river from the dam to divert Rte 93 from having to go over the dam. I think this bridge project is in response to security issues after 9/11. There is a security check of vehicles before being allowed to cross the highway on the dam. Trucks are still restricted. We were allowed to take our RV’s over the dam after they were searched inside and out. In the afternoon, we went to the Boulder City Library to check email. The library has an amphitheater with some water features. Very nice!
October 13, Day 56
I woke up to the howling of coyotes. We got an early start and headed to Kingman via Rte 93 which gave us another look at Hoover Dam. Once we hit I40, we headed back west to pick-up a portion of Rte 66 and took it to the town of Oatman. Oatman is a former mining town on the highway that has turned into a tourist center. One of the main attractions is the feral donkeys that freely roam the town. They are very tame and love the carrots that the tourists feed them. We visited the many shops and watched a staged wild west shootout. The 22 mile trip from Kingman was at times beautiful and tawdry. In the flat areas, there are a lot of shanties and abandoned trailers. In the mountain areas, we were on a steep road with a lot of hairpin turns. There were some beautiful sandstone cliffs that we tried to photograph. We are in Kingman for the night. We planned to stay in the Wal-Mart parking lot, but were told by security that we would have to leave at midnight when they close, so we moved up the road and are in a gravel lot behind a Walgreens.
October 14, Day 57
We arrived at Grand Canyon National Park at the south rim about noon. Once again they waived the $25 entry fee because we hold the Passport card. The reference I have on National Park camping cautioned about the importance of having reservations through October, but we came in ‘cold’ to find the campground is barely a quarter full. After setting up, we took the shuttle bus getting to view the canyon from a number of locations. Like Glacier Park, the shuttle bus is free and runs on a frequent schedule. What a great service! This canyon is truly an awesome work of nature. I knew it would be large, but did not anticipate the scale. One observation I made about my fellow tourists is that at least half of those visiting are from some other country. I was told by a camper at Glacier to expect a lot of visitors from other countries in the Fall of the year, but I was still surprised at the high percentage. We talked to visitors from Holland, Germany, France, and Great Britain just in the short time we were on the shuttle bus. We are at 7’000 feet of altitude, so I suspect it will get a little chilly tonight. Tomorrow we hope to do some hiking along the rim.
October 15, Day 58
It was really cold this morning. I learned later at the visitor center that it got down to 30° last night and is supposed to get to 24° tonight. We fixed a real breakfast this morning of pancakes and sausage and then headed for the canyon. We took the shuttle to the east visitor center to view the exhibits and then headed back west. We walked the rim trail for a couple of miles and decided that was enough for the day. That trail provides a variety of views of the canyon. We had a good view of the Bright Angel trail which is the one that goes down to the base of the canyon. As much as I might like to make the effort, the trail descends 4500 feet in 7.8 miles. Hikers that make the trek usually go done one day, camp at the bottom, and ascend the next day. Perhaps another year? When we got back to camp, I saw that someone had closed the door to my rig. I had left the prime door open leaving only the screen door closed for ventilation for Cutie. I suspect she was barking and someone got tired of listening to her. So much for being a good neighbor!
October 16, Day 59
I don’t think it got as cold last night as the night before. I sat outside bundled up with my morning coffee feeding the ravens. These huge bird almost stalk you if they think you have food. I put out some of Cutie’s dry dog food and they loved it. We also say two mule deer in the campground as we were preparing to leave. We left the Grand Canyon National Park mid morning. There was a long line at the dump station and we had to wait a half hour. Your would think that a campground with 200+ sites would have more than one dump site. I stopped en route to fill up on propane as I was almost out. We took AZ180 to Flagstaff and I40 which took us through the Coconino National Forrest laden with Ponderosa pine . It was a scenic route that rose to an elevation of 8,022 feet. The only wild life I saw was a coyote crossing the road in front of me. East of Flagstaff we got off I40 to try to look at some Rte 66 sights, but they were gone. We did leave the expressway to tour Meteor Crater. The area is privately owned, but they have a very nicely developed interpretive center and viewing area at the rim of the crater. The wind velocity today was so high we actually had to hold on to the railings to keep our balance while viewing or photographing the crater. The center focuses on the meteor impact, history of the crater, and meteor impacts and craters around the world. It was worth the entrance fee. Our last stop of the day is at Winslow, AZ. We drove a short segment of Rte 66 to and through Winslow, toured a local museum, and viewed the corner made famous in the ’70’s song “Take It Easy” with the line, ’Standin’ on the corner in Winslow Arizona.’ In Winslow we also toured the former Fred Harvey hotel La Posada. This is a Mary Colter designed building and the last that she did for the Santa Fe Railroad about 1930. It sat vacant for 40 years, but has been recently renovated by the same firm that is doing the hotel/train station we visited in Needles, CA. It is now a five star hotel and is absolutely beautiful! There is a lot of Southwest art on display throughout the public areas of the hotel with some of the original furniture. We are spending the night at the Winslow Wal-Mart.
October 17, Day 60
I did not get a good night’s sleep. The Wal-Mart was noisy and there was an inebriated Native American vagrant knocking on doors trying to get a hand-out. I was awakened at 4:00 a.m. by two diesel rigs firing up and leaving. I took advantage of the time to read. We left about 7:30, drove east on I40 for a couple of miles, and stopped at a Rte 66 vestige called the Jackrabbit Trading Post. It was a beat-up dive, but they had a lot of Rte 66 photos and the like on display and good prices. What they didn’t have was coffee! Our next Rte 66 stop was Holbrook to view the Wigwam Village Motel. This is a throwback to another era! Each 15 or more motel rooms is a stand alone tee pee made of what appears to be stucco. They are each about 16 feet in diameter and 25 feet high. I asked the cleaning lady to show me a room and she was more than happy to oblige. The two double beds pretty much fill the room and the bathroom includes only a toilet and lavatory. They hardly meet today’s standards, but are still in high demand. We had breakfast in Holbrook at a Mexican diner. I had eggs ranchero with mild sauce over the eggs that somewhat hit my upper limit on degree of fire. Our big activity of the day was a run through the Petrified Forest National Park. We drove the 40 miles within the park from south to north stopping at a number of view points and taking two short hikes to view the petrified logs and some ancient Indian remains dating back to 1300 A.D. The former residents are believed to be the ancestors of today’s Hopi Indians. There are a great number of petrified trees in the park and the vistas are varied and beautiful. I am beginning to appreciate the desert. As the day progressed, the wind picked up again. Thankfully, it was a trail wind as we traveled on I40. We are in a nice campground in Gallup, NM for the night. We are both a little tired of ‘dry camping’ and need a long hot shower. The laundry facilities will come in handy as well.
