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Published: February 11th 2009
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Joshua Tree - Highlight
The highlight of our day on Hualapai Lands. Once you see one, just turn back! Canyon West & the Skywalk Scams
At least we got to see a Joshua Tree, but I don't know if it was really worth the amount of dust and aggravation we had to deal with in getting out to the little circus the Hualapai Tribe has created at Canyon West. It is a tourist trap of monumental scale (literally) as I have never seen before. It starts with the fact that they didn't even bother paving most of the road to get out there so there is just dust everywhere and there is no way to keep it out of the car's passenger cabin, a truck that sprays water on the road only showed up late in the day at which point the dust was getting so bad you had to creep along for fear of dumping into one of the massive potholes that line the road or running into another car (no joke).
The next sideshow is courtesy of a bait-and-switch which involves them telling you at the gate (following an hour drive through their version of chutes and ladders) that the only way you can get on the Skywalk is by paying a significantly more expensive fee (of
Tribal Road to Canyon West
It doesn't look bad now, so you just keep going, but the further you go, the worse it gets, but the more you tell yourself "if I just go a little bit further . . ." around $120 per person) to see all of their attractions, most of which are designed to further line their pockets as they sell you "authentic Native American handicrafts," that a Chinese factory could make of better quality. Forget the fact that both on the phone and on their website they quote an individual price for the Skywalk. They also don't tell you that they are going to hustle you another 15 or 20 bucks to park your car in the shabbiest parking lot you have ever seen. So we finally got to the gate and I found this all out and I said forget it, which was clearly not the first time she had heard this and so she responded "have a nice trip back!" sarcastically.
Frankly, seeing what the indigenous people have done out here in Arizona, you might wonder what would have happened had they inherited these lands . . . would there be coal power plants next to every natural wonder, casinos at every highway exit, passed-out drunks on every street corner, and 'caveat emptor' the unavoidable rule of law? Actions speak louder than words and what we saw out here was nothing less than shameful.
Ahhh! Civilization
If you're going to screw up the environment, at least do it right! Leaving the Dust Behind
Not that excessive damming of the Colorado River was a stroke of genius either, but at least we knew what to expect when we got to the Hoover Dam. There was such an amount of traffic and restrictions due to fear of terrorism that we didn't bother stopping, but we did get some good views and there is no doubt it is an impressive structure.
The highlight of the day though was a very hungry Jennifer being able to smash one last In N' Out Burger and then a burrito at the Las Vegas Airport. Thank God for food.
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