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2nd June
We retrieved our car from the valet, as he pulled up, all the doors and boot opened, almost in unison we said how did you do that - having left the car rental place with no instructions, we discovered we had buttons for everything on this car! Pete was in the driving seat, can't get it in gear he says to Col, switch on says Col, won't switch on says Pete, it's automatic says Col, put your foot on the brake as Col says to a group of men beside the car watching us that Pete passed his test the day before. We shot off, with Col shouting I believe in God!!
We set off for Hoover Dam with a stop for an excellent and far less expensive breakfast, the prices of everything in Las Vegas were big. We could remember every hotel in Vegas offering enormous buffets for a couple of dollars to attract you to their gaming tables, but not any more.
We walked over the new bridge looking down to the Hoover Dam which is an amazing structure to see and the bridge is just as amazing for its
height and scale. The heat was almost unbearable at just over 100 but a bit of a breeze on the bridge helped. The dam was built in the 30s and the bridge was finished just a few years ago and it provides power to Nevada, Arizona, and California. Lake mead took 6.5 years to fill after the completion of the dam.
Most of the drive was through desert, sometimes flat sometimes quite mountainous but always very dry. Very occasionally we would come across a jumble of buildings where someone was living, definitely the middle of nowhere. After a brief stop in Kingman we arrived at out destination of Lake Havasu City.
We found a great restaurant, the waitress likened the area to hell because,of the heat, 'welcome to hell' she said! We had a good meal before an early night to try and get our body clocks in order. Next morning, breakfast was included in our price and we were amazed just how much polystyrene could be used for a meal with of course, the added benefit of plastic cutlery. They had a pancake machine, you simply pressed a button and 30 seconds later
a pancake plopped out on to a polystyrene plate and it was almost edible.
3rd June
Very excited about today as going to see London Bridge. This is John Rennie's bridge built in 19th century and replaced in 1960s. The City of London sold it to Robert McCullogh who wanted to make it a centre piece and tourist attraction for the burgeoning city of Lake Havasu. It is all myth that he thought he was buying Tower Bridge, the large oversized cheque he handed over clearly had an image of London Bridge and I guess it was quite an achievement of the City of London to sell a big old unwanted bridge, a very large antique indeed. It looks splendid in the sunshine crossing the lake, blue skies, sunshine and palm trees. They have tried to create an 'English Village' which is not great, but the city dragons who protect the city at home are here protecting the bridge as well. As a kid, we travelled from north to south London to see my grandmother and would have crossed this bridge many times, so it brought back memories, particularly of my Dad who probably started my
love of London.
Overlooking the bridge, another good restaurant with its own micro brewery which we sampled before watching the sun go down over the bridge.
4th June
Having eventually worked out our to fuel up the car, Grand Canyon was our next destination via the historic Route 66. We thought we had missed the turning but found the signs at the next exit. As we joined the road, we eagerly took photos of the signs on posts and painted on the road and set off. 5 minutes later we were at a dead end and our Route 66 seemed to have been very short. Retracing our steps back to where we thought we had missed it in the first place, we were back on track and this was to be the first of a couple dreadful sign post failures. The road is a bit rough and narrow by American standards, it is hilly and twisty too but on the whole quiet but the scenery was pretty spectacular. Changing constantly, particularly the colours and formation of the Rock and the small amount of flora that can survive in this dry landscape was interesting
too. There were frequent notices of flooding as when it rains it would take a long time to soak in. Unfortunately we came across a fatal motorbike accident on our journey, the emergency services were there but quite sobering, it isn't law to wear a helmet.
We arrived in Oatman which was a great place, it had been an old gold mining town and they had kept the whole place looking like it had been in those days. They have a 'shoot out' a couple of times a day as the bank is robbed and the,Sherriff wades in to ensure law and order. The other funny thing here is the burros as they call them, donkeys, they rule the streets! They are wild but come into town to be fed with shops selling burro food. They are quite funny but can get aggressive with other over food and territory, they can damage cars by kicking, they like a motorbike, particularly chewing the handle bars and one of the Cowboys told me to a donkey, a convertible is a feast!! Enjoyed wandering around here and some real characters to talk to.
On we went, you
could see the entrances into the rocks that had been used to get to the mines to get the gold out of them there hills. Scenery became more rocky and more dramatic with a few more scattered dwellings. The next town was Williams, they were trying to keep,this in a 50s style with bars and restaurants, shops and the general streetscape.
Grand Canyon was our destination for the next 3 night, first time here for Pete and Jane, 2nd time for Col and 3rd time for Sal. We stayed just outside the main park where there were several,hotels and loads of restaurants and fast food places. We didn't have great expectations for our food here but probably needed to lower them considerably, at a guess, 90% of eateries used polystyrene plates if they used them at all and fingers or at best plastic cutlery, we did ok in the end with a Mexican meal.
5th June
They have a good system of shuttle buses to transport you around the Grand Canyon Park which we used. We arrived to some torrential rain and even hail stones but as that passed the absolutely stunning sight
of the Grand Canyon open up, it really is stunning, Americans overuse the word awesome but this is a legitimate place to over use it. The colours and for shapes are just fantastic, we walked a couple of miles of the rim and it keeps changing, the shadows from clouds alter it too. Too many people walk to the edge and perch on outcrops of rock which make you feel very queasy. We came back in the evening to watch the sun go down, wonderful.
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Jean Williams
non-member comment
Peter and Jane's holiday
Glad you are enjoying your first visit to the US. Brian and I flew over th Grand Canyon in a helicoter - it truly is awesome luv mum and brian