Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon, Death Valley and everything in between.

It's been a while since we last posted so here's what we've been up to.  

We hired this little beauty in Las Vegas and drove it about 1200 miles in the first 5 days! Thank God it had AC and cruise control.

Our ride

 After picking up our car we headed east to the Hoover Dam, which on under a crystal clear sky looked great. You will see in the photo below the white chalk stain above the water level, this was once the water level. The dam serves southern Califronia and Vegas, but in recent years the demand for water has increased. A stunning day and a great drive.

Hoover Dam

 From the Hoover Dam we drove through the desert about 250 miles to Flagstaff Arizona. From 22 celcious in the desert we hit about 5 degrees Celsius in Flagstaff. When it got dark we decided to check into a motel and stay the night - the Canyon was only a couple of hours away.  As you can see from the photo below, the famous route 66 runs through Flagstaff. We'd actually travelled part of the route on the way.  

Signpost on Route 66 in Flagstaff

The following day we got up bright and early to head to the Grand Canyon southern rim.  There's a $25 dollar fee to enter the park, but its worth every penny for the amazing vast expansive view. The photos do no justice for the view we had. The view you see below is from the southern rim looking over to the northern rim 10miles accross on the horrizon. The canyon is also about 277 miles long. At the bottom of the canyon 1mile down is the colorado river which takes a full day to hike down to, and a further day or two to climb to the northern rim from the river! You have to see it for yourself. 

The Grand Canyon

The day after our day trip to the canyon we saw a bit of flagstaff and sampled some local beer. We then moved on towards Kanab in Utah, which  sits north of the canyon. On the way to Utah we crossed the bridge below to take us out of the Navajo reserve. We really felt in the middle of nowhere around here! 

The Navajo Bride

View from the Navajo Bridge

We stayed the one night in Kanab, once home of various wild west films sets. Very much a country & western town, the people were friendly and the rooms were cheap. The bbq steak and ribs restaurant was very diferent! Lovely brisket.

After a night in Kanab we drove back into Nevada headed past Vegas to a small back water town called Beatty. The Motel manager wore braces, a striped shirt and a baseball cap. He was a true hick, but a great guy. The next day we headed for Death valley. On the way just before the border we saw signs for Rhyolite 'ghost town', we couldnt resist seeing this town in the middle of the desert. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhyolite,_Nevada This was once a gold rush town, which later was abandonded when they could no longer extract the gold economically. Quite a creepy a place given the ruins left behind, but made more bizzare by the dedicated old boys who station the visitors centre hut. We then shot off into the distance to head for Death Valley.

Ghost Towm - Ryolite, Nevada

On the road to Death Valley from Ryolite

On entering the valley you could see the vast salt flats surrounded by the long mountains framing either side. A equally amazing view compared to the canyon, just a different kind of awesome. We were lucky to travel the valley in winter when the temperature peaked at 22 /23 degrees c. The hottest summer there hit 57 degrees c once! You will see bellow the salt (yes table salt) which deposits when the rain and floods wash down from the mountains. The water evaporates in the baking sun to leave the salt and minerals behind.  

Badwater Basin in Death Valley (284ft below sea level)

David exploring Badwater Basin

After a long drive out of Death Valley we stayed the weekend in Vegas to relax and get some sleep before embarking on the 300 mile journey to San Diego California!