Flagstaff to Las Vegas
Here we are in “Fabulous Las Vegas” – well that’s what the sign says but I’m still not convinced !
The longest part of the day was actually getting from the check-in desk to our room ! (not quite but these places – we are at “The Venetian” – are just bizarre !)
Seligman on Route 66
We left Flagstaff after a quick visit to the 24 hour Walmart to buy a few bits – hiking boots for me, a few cosmetics for Adrienne and candy for Liam – some things are ridiculously cheaper here than in Australia ! We then headed along interstate I 40 toward the town of Williams. We had driven
between Williams and Kingman along I 40 during our 2008 trip so we were back to some familiar territory. The first part up to about Williams was nicelywooded scenery. After that the trees disappeared and it was real desert country.
Northern Arizona near Hoover Dam
At Seligman we decided to take the loop road which is a section of the original “Route 66” – the Mother Road of the USA. A lot of the towns along the old road disappeared after the interstate was built and bypassed them. Seligman has been able to survive by exploiting the “Route 66” legend.
Admittedly it was Saturday but when we arrived – about 10.30 – it was buzzing and there were at least 2 big tour buses full of Germans stopped and packing the souvenier stores.
We stopped for a quick look ourselves then headed on down the old road. We passed various motorbikes as well as a number of convertibles doing the iconic drive.
Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge above Hoover Dam
At Kingman we stopped for lunch at “Mr D’z Route 66 Diner” – a throw back to the classic 1950’s American diner complete with booths and jukebox.
We had also stopped here on our 2008 trip.
We turned north from Kingman (we had headed further west in 2008) and followed a very straight road toward Las Vegas. Just short of Las Vegas, we left Arizona and entered Nevada, crossing the border over the Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge which now crosses the Colorado River above Hoover Dam.
The wall of Hoover Dam
The bridge was not here when we visited Hoover Dam on our first visit to the US in 2005. The main road between Arizona and Nevada had to wind down a single lane road over the actual top of the dam wall – a very slow and congested trip. The bridge was built to alleviate this and I watched it being built via a webcam. It was finished 2 years ago this month and is a remarkable feat of engineering. The loop section was built first – basically projected out from each side to join in the middle. Then the pilons were built before the road bed was laid across the pilons. Two huge cranes, one on each side held cables across the canyon so materials could be moved.
We made Las Vegas about 3pm and after a quick stop to buy some clothes at the Outlet Centre we arrived at the Venetian. Tonight we are off to see the Cirque de Soliel show “Love” across the road at the Mirage. When I say across the road – it will take about 15 minutes from the time we leave our room, find our way out, cross the road and get to the Mirage!
Then tomorrow its LA and the plane home tomorrow night. I will try to add a brief post at the airport – access permitting. By the time we get to LA we should be up to about 5,250 miles (about 8,450 km). This is the equivalent of driving from Sydney to Perth and back again and then setting off for Perth again – back over the Blue Mountains ! Its been a great trip – we have all really enjoyed it. If no blog tomorrow – we will see you all soon – thanks for staying tuned
!