Day 9 (01.06.10)
After a chilly night in a poorly heated motel room, We started our morning by running across the street to the American Flyer Coffee Co. where Kristen had her first real cappuccino since leaving New Jersey. After clearing the ice (!) from the windshield, we took a shortcut on I-40 over to Historic Route 66 which we took from Ash Fork to Kingman.
From Kingman, an industrious but ultimately depressing diesel-gray town, we took US 93 north through Arizona toward Neveda. Kristen describes this section of highway as “there used to be mining here.” We passed two or three historical markers which seem to be Arizona’s gravestone for ghost towns. We headed toward mountains in a typical Western straight line (an odd concept to us New Englanders) and wound our way through the hills and curves. When we came to a sign for Willow Beach it seemed like a nice time for a break so we drove down a valley and were treated to a view of Black Canyon and the perfectly clear waters of the post-Grand Canyon, post-Hoover Dam Colorado River.
After that, it was back up the road and river to US 93 and the Hoover Dam! I’ll be damned if it wasn’t a damned fine dam. We ate lunch overlooking Lake Mead and admired the bridge being built to relieve the increased Las Vegas-Phoenix traffic on the bridge, the Mike O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge.
After a brief souvenir stop, it was time for Vegas, baby! Smog-covered, trafficky, touristy Vegas. We parked for free at the Bellagio and took in the fountain show.
From there we walked down The Strip to the MGM Grand where we ate dinner at Wolfgang Puck’s Bar and Grill (we had hoped for ‘wichcraft, but it closed 10 minutes before we arrived, curses). We had a chance to enjoy the full neon of Las Vegas as we headed back to the car and then out of town so we could arrive at Death Valley Junction (or as Garmina knows it, Highway 190 & Highway 127) and our hotel by our 9 PM check-in.
