2geonomads

Today Fred the driver and Mick the navigator.
Not out of town when we have to do a U-TURN to take I 40 west to Topock rather the old Route 66 as we will be covering the Kingman to Topock section when we return from Las Vegas.
From Topock south we travel through a wide flat valley with high mountain ranges on both sides. First signs of large cactus amid the very arid Arizona landscape.

As we turn off for Lake Havasu the temperature hits 101 and by the time we reach the lake itself it rises to 108.
Lake Havasu is the site of London Bridge which was purchased from the UK by Robert P McCulloch in 1968 and officially opened in 1971. The price paid was $ 2,460,000. McCulloch was at the time the Chairman of McCulloch Oil Corporation.

Lake Havasu was formed by the damming of the river in 1938.

Return to Kingman where Fred tries to kill us all by leaving us out in 110 degrees at a service station ( he has the car keys ) while he focuses on his urinary tract.
Set off north towards the Hoover Dam and Doug sleeps or dozes most of the way, missing some spectacular mountain scenery, especially as we approach the dam.

Hordes of tourists at the Hoover Dam which is always impressive but the addition of the truly awe-inspiring Memorial Bridge across the canyon and downstream from the dam has made this even more of a ‘must-see’ for any tourist.

Some info on the bridge:

It is the second highest bridge in the US after the Royal Gorge Bridge , also over the Colorado River.

It cost $ 240 million to build ,is 579 metres long, 270 metres above the river and the longest span is 323 metres. One construction worker was killed when adjusting a cable and a jack punctured his chest.
The bridge is named after Mike O’ Callaghan and Pat Tillman, the former a Vietnam war veteran and later Nevada Governor from 1971 – 1979. Pat Tillman was an NFL star who gave up his career with the Arizona Cardinals to join the armed forces. He was sadly killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan in April 2004.
By this stage the temperature had soared and I will blame it for a ‘senior moment’ when I was waxing lyrical about the bridge supposedly with the cam corder running, only to find that I hadn’t turned it on!
Relatively short trip to Vegas with the temp still at 110. The Strip ( Las Vegas Bld ) far busier than I can recall from previous visits but Fred, after a very long drive all day did a great job in getting us through to a Travelodge Hotel only a few hundred matures from the Strip.
At $ 49 plus tax excellent value.
Late lunch/ early dinner at Cocos restaurant after which we return to the hotel to,avoid the scorching heat. At 8.30 make our way to the Strip to face the assault on the senses that Las Vegas at night represents.

Many new hotels since my last trip but all equally flamboyant and over-the -top as their predecessors. The old faithfuls of Ceasar’s Palace, Bellagio and Mirage still hold their own among the newcomers and in Ceasar’s we manage to prove that we are directionally challenged as pedestrians as well in our vehicle, performing any number of U-turns before we emerged onto the Strip.
It was midnight before we returned to the hotel with the temp still in the 90’s and we get to bed, no doubt dreaming of days gone by when all the young lovelies strutting their stuff in the various hotels would have done more to us than remind us of our arthritis after such a long walk!

The “Leaning Tower” of Vegas

Inside the Venetian Hotel – who needs Italy?!

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.