Hoover Dam

Before leaving Topock we checked the weather and decided to head a bit north to the Hoover Dam rather than west into southern California. As expected, weather dictates our travels! We had to backtrack almost to Kingman on Interstate 40 before heading for the dam. Much of the scenery was similar to the previous day. Arizona Last Stop truly was the last stop before we reached Hoover Dam (30 miles away)!

Due to security restrictions all access to the Hoover Dam complex is from the Nevada side where you have to go through security before even getting to the parking areas. We crossed into Nevada at the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge then crossed the dam going back into Arizona for RV parking. Warning signs along the Nevada side access road and past the last parking area on the Arizona side indicate that bighorn sheep could be encountered. The extreme curve warning was the sign right before the overlook and turnaround parking area suitable for RVs.

Of course Charlie had to take pictures from the overlook – I stayed in the middle of the parking lot. The walk down was a bit nerve wracking but I did reasonably well. There are some stairways connecting some of the parking lots and they helped a lot. Once at the dam I still had to stay away from the edges – this definitely ranks up there as an uncomfortable experience for me!

Needless to say we could have gotten a bit confused – going back and forth from Arizona on Mountain time to Nevada on Pacific time several times during our visit. The walk across the dam shows off some of the amazing workmanship – I especially love the clocks on the intake towers.

We took the Power Plant tour – riding an elevator down to the base of the dam to see the generators that create power from the water flowing through the dam. The construction of the dam was also explained by our tour guide. Looking down from above you can see the roof of the area against the dam where we were; the arms that lead away from the dam are the buildings that house the generators.

After our tour we headed back up the mountain to our parking lot. We had found out that what looked like a WWII bunker was indeed a sniper bunker for protecting the dam during the war. Near the top a nice young man stopped and offered us a ride but we were so close that we thanked him and continued on foot.

Once back on the highway we passed a casino sign – we were definitely in Nevada! Our campground for the night was in Henderson, Nevada (right next door to Las Vegas) so we would see many more casino signs before getting to sleep.

Of course there are more photos of our visit to Hoover Dam – click here to see them!

Western Arizona

The scenery is still rather barren for us (being from Florida we’re used to a bit more green) but we made the most of western Arizona with a few photo opportunities and scenic drives. Fun signs, rock formations and iconic plants were the bulk of the drive after leaving Phoenix. And there is actually something at Nothing – a cell tower!

Our campground for the night also had some unique items scattered about. At first Charlie thought the Willys was older than he is but we found out that he is about one year older. I’d never heard of the company before but learned (by listening to the owner & Charlie) that before their demise they were known for manufacturing Jeeps. This early 1950s model was from near the end of their passenger car manufacturing. I’m glad this one is still running – it might be needed to get away from the rattlesnake in the front yard.

 

We continued seeing more fun signs the next day on our way to several photo opportunities.

Leaving the interstate to get fuel was the perfect opportunity to travel part of Historic Route 66 through Kingman.

We continued on Route 66  just a bit out of town before returning to Interstate 40. It is a rather popular bit of real estate – we had the interstate on our right and railroad tracks on our left for a few miles. And big windmills generating power in the distance.

 

Next came the reasons we headed down this bit of interstate – Truck on a Stick and the Golfball House near Yucca, Arizona. The Golfball House was actually a private residence at one time but current plans are for a museum. They currently have a small convience store and it appears the new theme is aliens!

Thinking that we would head into southern California next we continued on to Topock (on Route 66 again) and got a glimpse of the Colorado River from our campground. We walked into town and spent an enjoyable evening at the local VFW talking with the locals, one of which spent a lot of time working at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

An oddity that we didn’t have time for is an actual bridge from London that was purchased and rebuilt in Lake Havasu City to attract tourist and retirement home buyers to the planned community. The sign on the highway near Topock caught my eye and then I had to research to find out what the deal was!

If you would like to see more pictures of our drive through western Arizona please click here.

A bit more of Phoenix

As we left Phoenix we stopped by the Pueblo Grande Museum to learn about the Hohokum people that lived in the area prior to 1450. There is a short video and several exhibit galleries but the main feature is the trail through various excavated ruins. Prior to the start of the trail was a collection of petroglyphs that have been removed from their original sites.

The trail winds through an excavated platform mound, reconstructed adobe house, reconstructed pit houses, an excavated oval ballcourt and an exhibition garden. Remains of several irrigation channels are also visible. Sunrise on the summer and winter solstice lines up through two doorways in a room on top of the platform mound; the two doorways also line up with Hole-in-the-Rock in Papago Park. Unfortunately the reconstructed houses were not entirely accurate – modern building codes insisted that the doorways and roofs be taller than the originals – seems a bit silly to me!

The galleries inside include more information about the history of the Hohokum people and their vast system of irrigation channels. The current exhibit was of pot sherds and how they are used by archaeologists.

Before it got any later we headed out of Phoenix for western Arizona! Click here to see the Flickr album for Pueblo Grande.

 

Phoenix

On the recommendation of our daughter in Colorado we decided to stop at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum on our way into Phoenix rather than visit the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix (half the admission price and similar experience), The road from Safford wasn’t as flat as the previous day and included an amazingly rocky mountain pass.

 

There were fun business signs – the Pickle Barrel Trading Post seems to have it all! And we passed through Miami. My attention had wandered and I missed the Welcome to Miami sign on the edge of town and the mural on a building – so we’re having to make do with the less than optimal ones I did get.

 

Due to a stop for road construction and low speed limits in some of the small towns along the way we missed the guided walk of the arboretum’s main trail at 11am – but it  was very interesting just wandering the trails by ourselves and reading the signs.

They have an area dedicated to medicinal uses of native plants that we walked through first – a short side trail called the Curandero Trail after the Spanish word for traditional Native healers.

The Smith Interpretive Center (named after a father & son that were instrumental in the management of the arboretum) has greenhouses extending in either direction. One is full of succulents; the other is full of cacti – both from all over the world.

These huge Red Gum trees are along the Desert Legume Garden where it meets the large Australian Desert Exhibit – they are natives of Australia.

Many of the plants looked like bizarre works of art – very sculptural and highly textured. This Hatpin Cactus is aptly named as I found out when placing my hand near it for the picture – its spines are longer than my fingers and can draw blood.

The most unusual are the Boojum trees. Some are my size but this one is quite enormous. They remind me of something Dr. Seuss would make up!

Water from Queen Creek is pumped up to a cistern from which it then is used to supply the entire facility and a small lake has also been created. A few ducks were enjoying it – I imagine it is a great place for bird watching. From a small gazebo we could see the home of Col. Thompson – it is impressive. The trail wound through some steep and narrow spots and we got an even closer look at the house.

As we continued down we came to Queen Creek and forgot we were in a desert! It was green and much cooler. We crossed the suspension bridge to the High Trail but decided to return to the main trail.

The last section is the Australian Desert Exhibit – it is full of eucalyptus and smells wonderful. The biggest trees in the entire arboretum were in this area – including another Red Gum.

 

Leaving the arboretum we came down the mountains into the suburbs of Phoenix (our campground for the night is in Mesa). The most fun thing along the way was this less than impressive Arizona State Trooper car – my first thought was it looks like a clown car at the circus!

 

Then we were into city traffic – luckily we were not going too far off the highway. Many of the neighborhoods appear to have small houses on very small lots – and many of the neighborhoods are RV resorts with RVs and park model trailers practically on top of each other. Our resort had an amazing array of amenities and activities – it was movie night in the ballroom and we attended the pre-movie dinner. We didn’t stay for the movie – more laundry to do and work on the plan for the next day or two (and updating the blog for anyone reading).

For more pictures of the drive from Safford to Phoenix click here and for more Boyce Thompson Arboretum pictures click here.

I’ll leave you with some desert love – a special treat for making it through this crazy post that took me forever to finish and publish!

More west Texas then through New Mexico into Arizona

With no idea when Congress might pass a spending bill, three days of elevator repairs planned for Carlsbad Caverns and a storm with high winds approaching we decided to head back towards El Paso to continue our westward journey. After doing as much research on the storm as possible we decided it was safe to leave. I waved at the Carlsbad Caverns park entrance as we passed. Unfortunately the only good way to return was the same road we had traveled the previous day – so no pictures.

We did go a bit beyond El Paso and spent the night about halfway between El Paso and Las Cruces, so the day ended as it began – in New Mexico!

As we pulled out Monday morning we called Pro Tech Diesel (on the north side of El Paso in Anthony, TX) to see if they could fit us in to repair our bent generator tailpipe. They had been recommended to us late Saturday morning when we searched for a muffler shop that could handle us but they closed at noon. Luck was with us this time as they weren’t too busy! It took several hours but they were able to fix the tailpipe as well as test and replace our weak chassis batteries. We definitely recommend them – their staff, service and pricing were all fantastic.

By now it was late afternoon so we just headed back to the same campground in New Mexico. I did a few loads of laundry while we worked on a plan for the next few days. The government shutdown was still affecting our plans – points of interest planned for Tucson were all national parks so that didn’t look promising. Eventually we decided to head toward Phoenix – stopping in Safford, Arizona to keep the driving time reasonable.

The drive through New Mexico was similar to the previous few days but I did manage to take a few pictures. We had long roads, long trains and far off mountains – and an industrial plant that looked like a castle from far way!

 

This Border Patrol Inspection Point separated cars and trucks – we probably should have gone for the truck side as the lanes for cars were a pretty tight fit for the RV. They didn’t even speak to us this time – just waved us through!

Twice along the way we encountered blowing dust warnings – and it was a whole series this time not just one sign! I missed the one that said not to stop in traffic lanes – I thought that was pretty obvious but I guess people get disoriented in a dust storm.

 

We’ve now spent three nights in New Mexico and have left the state without seeing much of anything except highways and campgrounds – hopefully we’ll catch some sights when we come back across the northern part of the state later in the year!

Once into Arizona, the town of Duncan provided some interesting sights – cute store fronts and entertaining shop signs – and they manage to keep the hotel fully occupied.

 

And of course they sell rocks and there are cattle in pastures along the road.

 

Between towns we again had miles of road, houses on distant ridges and more mountains.

 

As we approached Safford the scenery began to change – pastures and scrub were being replaced by cultivated fields – some green and some just plowed. The warning signs reflected that a different hazard might be encountered and it appears they have some rather electrifying shoes!

Tomorrow we’ll shorten our drive time a bit and see some sights in Arizona over the next few days – I managed to find a reasonably priced RV resort in the Phoenix area (pretty amazing as many were fully booked or rather pricey).

For more pictures of our drive along Interstate 10 in New Mexico click here and for pictures of southeast Arizona click here.