Day 11, Williams, AZ

We finally get to leave Las Vegas!! Now I don’t have anything personal against Vegas, but if you aren’t gambling, the place is the rip-off capital of the world. They charge you for every little tiny thing. Unless you’re leaving a pile of money in the casino, then everything is on the house. Anyway, I was glad to move on. Been there, done that.


So we headed back to Boulder City, but this time just to visit Starbucks for a few minutes, then on to Hoover Dam. They aren’t kidding – it’s a big dam!! We drove across the dam and parked on the Arizona side, which is free but in the hot sun, and the sun was out in full force in this particular area. We hopped out and trundled across the top of the dam, which is magnificent! The doors on the restrooms, elevators and gift shop are all brass, and there was a lady out there polishing one of the doors. The never-ending job.


Turns out they’re building a bridge above the dam. It’s not quite complete yet, but you can buy a postcard in the gift shop with a picture of the completed bridge… Guess you can’t trust them either!!

Once we got out of the valley and up on the plains-ish area, the weather cooled down yet again and the drive was very enjoyable. And surprisingly green!! I guess they must have had a few days of rain or something, but there were very few bare spots. Almost all of the surrounding hills and mountains were covered with tree-bushy things and sage and all kinds of green stuff. It was everywhere. Nothing like what I was expecting.


We stopped in Kingman, Arizona, next to get a map at the tourist office, but it was closed. Hazards of being late-in-the-day travelers. We did manage to grab a few feet of Route 66 though, so the stop was well worth it!!

We were hoping to make it further, but by dark we were only in Williams and decided to make camp there. We checked out the local KOA, but they claimed to be “full”… despite the empty cabins sprawled all around the edge. Grrr. Anyway, we came back to town and found a hotel with a room and a bed and decided to make camp there for the night.

All in all an excellent day.