Canyons of the Ancients NM, CO July 20, 2019

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During our time at McPhee Reservoir Recreation Area, along with visiting Mesa Verde National Park, we also visited other nearby Pueblo dwellings. Down the road from our campground was the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument Visitors Center. We stopped there and watched a movie and picked up a map of Pueblo dwellings within driving distance.

The next morning we set out for a day of exploring along part of the 116 mile road named Trail of the Ancients, the only National Scenic Byway in America dedicated solely to archaeology. The first place we visited was Lowry Pueblo, an ancient pueblo site with forty rooms and eight circular kivas.

A roof has been placed over the main dwelling to preserve it. We were able to walk inside for a close up view.

Next we drove to Hovenweep National Monument which lies in both Colorado and Utah. Hovenweep is a Ute Indian word meaning “deserted valley” which adequately describes the area. There are many multi room dwellings, small cliff dwellings and towers scattered over the canyon slopes. These were constructed by Ancestral Puebloans more than 700 years ago, around the same time as Mesa Verde. Like at Mesa Verde, extended droughts forced the people to abandon the area around 1300 A.D.

We first stopped at the Visitors Center and watched a movie before taking the Little Ruin Trail to see some of the dwellings and towers. They believe the towers could have been used as storage silos for crops, defensive forts or for ceremonies.

When we returned from our hike we saw a very interesting talk on coyotes by a Ranger.

We certainly enjoyed our time in southwestern Colorado.

Next up: Rico, CO and cooler temperatures at last

Colorado Tidbits:

There are 58 peaks in Colorado 14,000 feet above sea level, more than any other state.
Colorado’s nickname is the Centennial State because Colorado was admitted into the union in 1876, the centennial anniversary of the United States.

Mesa Verde NP, CO July 16, 2019

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We left Monument Valley and headed to Colorado and hopefully cooler temperatures. It was a beautiful drive with more rock formations and occasional farmland with horses and cattle. We were surprised to see some working oil pumps.

Our destination was the McPhee Reservoir Recreation Area in the San Juan National Forest for a seven night stay. We had a lovely, private campsite with electric only located at an elevation of 7,200 feet. In the distance we saw snow capped mountains.

Near our campsite is an overlook of the reservoir. Where you see water now is where at one time the lumber company town of McPhee stood. In the late 1920’s McPhee was Colorado’s largest lumber mill town with a population of 1,400 and produced over half of the state’s lumber output. In 1948 after a second major fire in a decade destroyed the sawmill, it was not rebuilt. Today the former lumber town is submerged by reservoir waters.

One day we drove over to Mesa Verde National Park. As we were leaving our campground early in the morning we saw a very large herd of cattle being led down the road to another pasture. It was hard to get a good picture of the large herd because we were facing into the sun.

We were last at Mesa Verde National Park in 2015 (see link: Mesa Verde National Park, CO). The 52,000 acre park is one of the country’s major archeological preserves with almost 5,000 archeological sites including 600 cliff dwellings. Mesa Verde, Spanish for “green table”, was the home of Ancestral Pueblo people for more than 750 years.

They lived in the area from around 500 A.D. to 1276 A.D. It was approximately around 1200 when they began to build the cliff dwellings that Mesa Verde is best known for today. When a drought struck that lasted for twenty-four years, it eventually forced the people to leave the area and migrate to New Mexico and Arizona in search of water and better living conditions.

Last time we were here we drove the loop road where some of the larger cliff dwellings are viewed from a distance. In order to see the cliff dwellings up close you have to go on a park ranger led tour for the very reasonable fee of $5.00.

This time Bill decided he wanted to take the hour long tour of the largest cliff dwelling in the United States, Cliff Palace. He had a reservation for 9:30 A.M. in order to avoid the hottest part of the day. Even though we were now in southwestern Colorado we were still having afternoon temperatures in the upper 80’s. The tour was labeled as strenuous with steep, uneven stone stairs both going and coming and you had to climb four steep ten foot wooden ladders to access the cliff dwelling. I decided not to go and waited in a shady seating area while he was gone. It was the idea of the four steep ten foot wooden ladders that got to me.

Bill had a great time but he did say the walk out was pretty strenuous. He said the ranger did a nice job describing what everyday life was like at the Cliff Palace over 800 years ago. Cliff Palace consisted of about 150 rooms made of sandstone and mortar made of sand, clay and ash. Water had to be hauled in to make the mortar. It is almost inconceivable to imagine how they accomplished this herculean effort in twenty years. In addition to the 150 rooms they had 75 open spaces and 21 kivas, below ground circular rooms used for ceremonies and gatherings.

Kiva – Round Room Without Roof

Picture Taken From Window Of Three Story Tower – Shows Floor Logs

After Bill’s tour we stopped at the archeological museum to see a movie about the park and view exhibits and artifacts on the Ancestral Puebloans.
We stopped by the Far View Sites where homes were built on the top of mesas.

Far View House

Far View House Walls

Kiva at Far View House

Unique Stone In Outer Wall Of Pipe Shrine House

After a late lunch it was starting to get quite hot and we were very glad we had gotten an early start.

Mesa Verde National Park is an amazing place!

Next up: more exploring in southwestern Colorado

Monument Valley, UT July 13, 2019

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We left Prescott, AZ and headed toward Monument Valley. After an overnight stop in Flagstaff we left Arizona and entered Utah. Even before we reached Monument Valley we began to see the majestic rock formations.

The campground for our two night stay was a pricey, dusty campground with no shade. The choice of campgrounds is very limited in the area so they can all charge high prices for very basic services. At least it was a full hookup campground and when we saw the beautiful view of the formations from our site, it definitely took away some of the pain from the high cost.

The last time we were here was in the fall of 2015 and we just drove up for the day.

Looks Like A Indian Head With Feathers?

Looks Like A Rabbit On The Right?

Looks Like A Chicken On A Nest?

Monument Valley is located on Navajo land and is part of the Navajo Tribal Park which was established in 1958 to preserve the environment. Monument Valley sits at 5,564 feet above sea level and its 91,696 acres is located in both Arizona and Utah. The monuments or rock formations are natural structures created by erosion and range from 100 to 1,500 feet tall. There was a $20 fee per car to enter the park and make the seventeen mile loop drive. The road is made of soft sand and dirt with deep ruts making it almost necessary to have a four wheel drive vehicle.

Elephant Butte – Trunk On The Left

Rain God Mesa – This Is Where Water Flowed Occasionally

We Saw Horses In Many Areas

Spearhead

Merrick Mesa

Camel Butte

East Mitten Butte, West Mitten Butte and Merrick Butte

Totem Pole

Balance Rock

Thumb

Battleship?

West Mitten Butte

It was fun as we drove around to see the names of the various formations, some reasons for the names more obvious than others. More popular formations are the mittens and the three sisters. The three sisters are supposed to be three nuns, with one nun being the teacher talking to her two pupils.

We stopped by a couple visitors centers. One center had a nice display on the western movies directed by John Ford, many starring John Wayne.

The other center had an excellent display featuring the Navajo Code Talkers of World War II. The Navajo Code Talkers provided accurate, fast, sophisticated and secure means of communication during WWII. There were nearly 400 Navajo Code Talkers spanning six Marine divisions. They spoke in a code derived from their native language which baffled the Japanese and greatly helped win WWII in the Pacific.

Another popular place is located on the road leading away from Monument Valley. It is the setting of a scene from the movie “Forrest Gump” when Forrest was running through Monument Valley. There were many people who had stopped their cars on the side of the road so they could stand in the middle of the road and reenact the scene from the movie. Some stood in the road with cars and trucks approaching waiting until the last minute to get out of the way! I was glad Bill wisely chose to stand on the side of the road!

Mexican Hat

It was very hot in Monument Valley and we are headed next to Colorado and hopefully cooler temperatures!

Sunset From Our Campsite

Prescott, AZ JUN 30, 2019

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We spent the month of June in Prescott, AZ, elevation 5,300. After the cool, rainy May in Show Low, Prescott was hot and dry. South of Prescott is Phoenix, Yuma and Tucson all were really hot 100+ degrees!

Prescott claims to have the oldest and longest running rodeo dating back to July 4,1888 and was the first to charge admission. In 1964 Barry Goldwater launched his presidential campaign from the Prescott courthouse steps.

The nearby Granite Dells is known for large boulder outcroppings of granite and our campground was located near this area. While the campground was geographically unique in appearance, it was hot and very very dusty.

Our time in Prescott was relaxed and low key. It was too hot to hike or even geocache. Bill enjoyed meeting Amateur Radio members in the Prescott area and became good friends with one member who helped Bill improve the radio antenna he uses on our RV. While we were in Prescott the annual radio event known as “Field Day” occurred and Bill and I attended two local events including a great barbecue. We had such a good time we forgot to take pictures!

Next up: Our summer travels pick up speed with a visit to Monument Valley, Utah

Show Low, AZ May 15, 2019

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Beginning May 1st we spent six weeks in Show Low, AZ in the White Mountains of northeast Arizona. At an elevation of 6,400 feet we thought it would be a pleasantly cool place to spend some time in the spring without the need for air conditioning. After arriving we discovered the month of May in the White Mountains is known to be very windy. At the same time, we heard on the local weather that all of Arizona was experiencing 20+ temperatures BELOW normal. We didn’t need air conditioning but we sure needed the heat on. During our six weeks there we had winds almost every day of 25-30 mph with occasional gusts of 45+. We had nighttime temps in the 30’s, more rainy days than we thought possible in Arizona and to our amazement we had snow on the 20th of May!

May 1st, the day we arrived was our eighth wedding anniversary and we celebrated with dinner at a steakhouse in Show Low. It was a very nice meal but I was really feeling under the weather. Five days later Bill insisted I go to the Urgent Care in Show Low where I was diagnosed with acute bronchitis. They gave me a breathing treatment and sent me home with lots of prescriptions. I don’t know if the elevation along with the cold rainy weather complicated things, but I was really down for the count and it took me most of May to recover.

Bill kept himself busy doing maintenance inside the RV such as cleaning vents, replacing the water and ice maker filters and flushing the hot water heater. He attended a few Show Low amateur radio events and enjoyed their nightly radio net call-ins.

As May turned to June it was like a switch was turned off and the winds died down. The weather warmed up and I was finally feeling better. With only a week left in Show Low, we wanted to spend some time exploring the area and doing some geocaching.

Show Low is an unusual name for a town. You may be wondering where the name came from and so were we! The answer came in a tiny little city park where we found statues of two men sitting at a table. In 1876 two ranchers by the last names of Cooley and Clark claimed and became partners in managing 100,000 acres of land in this area. As it became evident that the land could not support two families, neither man was willing to buy the other out. To settle the matter, the two men agreed to play a friendly card game of Seven Up at the kitchen table in Colley’s house across from where this small park stands today. As the game neared completion, Cooley needed just one point to win. Clark held a three card and feeling he had nothing to lose said, “show low and you win the ranch”. Cooley drew the deuce of clubs and won the game. He renamed the ranch “Show Low” and today the main street through town is called Deuce of Clubs.

Another day we walked the Mongollon Rim Trail, a nice easy paved trail with lovely views. The Mongollon (pronounced Muggy-Own) Rim is a topographical and geological feature that cuts across Arizona and forms the southern limit of the Colorado Plateau. It extends 200 miles eastward and ends near the New Mexico border. While it can’t begin to be compared to the views at the Grand Canyon, it does have some nice far reaching views of the Plateau Country and Desert Canyon of Arizona with drops of up to 2,000 feet in places. After so much time inside it was nice to be outside and get some fresh air and exercise!

Show Low is a really nice town with small town friendliness while having the convenience of many stores and restaurants, including a Walmart Supercenter. We would not mind returning again, though we would wait until after the May windy season!

Currently we are in Prescott, AZ until mid July.

Grand Canyon NP South Rim Part 2 APR 25, 2019

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Grand Canyon National Park has a great free shuttle bus service. Since private vehicles are not allowed in the Hermit’s Rest western area of the Park between March 1 and November 30th, it is the only way to get around and see the area. The buses arrive at each the many stops throughout the Park every 10 to 15 minutes and the bus drivers are friendly and helpful. The first eight seats are reserved for seniors or the disabled and the drivers are pretty aggressive about keeping those seats available for those who need it. The buses are well utilized and stay very crowded and a few times we had to stand which wasn’t a big deal to us. As I mentioned in the last post, the Park was very busy the week after Easter. Most of the people we heard talking on the buses or trails were non-English speaking tourists.

One day we walked part of the thirteen mile paved path along the Canyon rim. In the distance we could see snow on the mountains (San Francisco Peaks) near Flagstaff. We had a view of all the buildings that make up the Grand Canyon Village which includes the Visitors Center, lodges, restaurants, a grocery store and a train depot. As we walked along the rim we could see all the trails that lead down into the canyon. We could see people like tiny ants walking on the trails. As you look at the pictures look for all the trails. Also look for glimpses of the Colorado River. In how many pictures can you spot a piece of the river at the bottom?

After walking on the trail and enjoying the views we hopped on a bus and rode to Hermit’s Rest, the westernmost point and end of the bus line. Hermit’s Rest was built in 1914 and is another Canyon structure designed by architect Mary Jane Colter. It was built as a rest stop for tourists who came by train to visit the area years ago.

Another day we took the bus to several popular viewpoints. It was easy to hop on and off the buses since we knew another one would be along in 10 to 15 minutes. One stop was Powell Point where there is a large granite memorial to Major John Wesley Powell. In 1869 Powell led one of the first documented explorations down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. He led another exploration in 1872.

We also stopped at Hopi Point, Mohave Point and Pima Point, all with amazing views. Do you see the trails and Colorado River in the pictures?

We loved our five days in Grand Canyon National Park and can’t wait to go back.

Next up: We are currently in Show Low in the White Mountains of northeastern Arizona for the month of May.

Grand Canyon NP South Rim, part 1, APR 24, 2019

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The week after Easter we visited the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park for five days. We didn’t realize it when we made the reservation, but the week before and the week after Easter are very busy in the park. We knew that to be true by the long line of cars waiting at the entrance gate to enter the park. We last visited Grand Canyon in 2015 and this time we stayed at the same campground inside the park. I was delighted to see elk roaming free throughout the campground, just like last time. These Rocky Mountain elk were brought to the park from 1913-1928 from Yellowstone National Park. They appear to be tame and unafraid of people or cars. Regardless of how tame they are, we obeyed the rules and kept our distance and didn’t feed them.

We couldn’t wait to get to popular Mather Point for our first view of the Canyon. One of the Seven Wonders of the World, there are no words to adequately describe the Grand Canyon. Amazing, vast, awe inspiring, beautiful are words that do not do it justice. It is hard to comprehend that the Colorado River carved this magnificent canyon. The canyon is 277 miles long, four to 18 miles in width and one mile deep.

The Colorado River flows below at an average speed of four miles per hour. The river averages 300 feet wide and 100 feet deep. It flows through the Canyon and eventually empties into the Gulf of California in Mexico. From the rim of the Canyon the Colorado River is small and hard to see. However there are whitewater areas that make rafting on the river challenging and dangerous. The depth of the Canyon erodes about the width of a sheet of paper each year, so the Canyon is continually changing.

The Grand Canyon became a national park in 1919 so this is the 100th anniversary of the 1.2 million acre park. Recently there have been three deaths in the park due to people falling to their death. The day after we arrived we heard a 70 year old woman fell to her death. Some people ask why the park rangers can’t do more to prevent this from happening. The park is huge and with over six million visitors a year, there is no way the park service can prevent accidents from happening. There are warnings everywhere about not getting close to the edge. The Grand Canyon can be a dangerous place and people have to accept responsibility for their actions. In the five days we were there we observed people doing crazy, dangerous things. And in all cases it was because of picture taking. A few times I had to walk away for fear of seeing a tragedy I wouldn’t be able to forget. No picture is worth risking your life.

Most of the areas of the park can be reached by their free shuttle buses. But Desert View Watchtower has to be driven to by car. So one day we made the 25 mile trip to the eastern most developed section of the park to see the tower and the beautiful views of the Canyon. The four story 70 foot stone tower was built in 1932 and designed by architect Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter.

We climbed to one of the lookout points in the tower and then had a picnic lunch.

We really enjoyed the drive there and back because there are scenic viewpoints along the way. As we started home, heavy clouds began to form which can dramatically change the lighting and appearance of the Canyon. No two days there are the same.

Next up: part two of our visit to Grand Canyon National Park

Las Vegas, NV APR 18, 2019 REVISED

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Our next stop was Las Vegas. Bill and I are not the typical Vegas tourists. We are not gamblers or big drinkers. We did not even find a show we were interested in seeing this time. When we were last here in 2015 we went to a Rod Stewart show.

This visit was more about family. Bill has a cousin (his Dad’s Mother’s side) who lives in Las Vegas and we spent a lot of time with Marion and her husband Bob.
We also were able to visit the homes of their sons, Mark and Troy, and their wives and children. Bill and Marion are really into genealogy so they had a great time comparing notes, looking at pictures and filling in the blanks.

One day Marion and Bob drove us to Mt Charleston, elevation 7,510, where we had lunch and enjoyed the views. This was a place we probably never would have thought to visit on our own and it was just the kind of place we love. It is a great year round destination with camping and hiking during the warm months and skiing in the winter. Marion and Bob have many fond memories of coming here with their family, and their sons and grandchildren still enjoy visiting Mt Charleston, especially during the winter to ski.

Looking North Into the Nevada Atomic Testing Area

One evening Bill and I drove to the Las Vegas Strip to see the outdoor Bellagio fountain show. It is always beautiful and Bill was able to capture some pictures and video. Since there are shows on the hour and half hour we were able to see two shows and we were pleased to see each show was different with different music.

click to see video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwoNl-A9oLY

click to see video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-jcslxBJeM

click to see video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_erzZKhy3e8

We walked around for awhile but it was wall to wall people, making it hard to walk down the street. It felt uncomfortably warm and claustrophobic with so many people. When we were here in 2015 we toured Fremont Street and didn’t feel the need to do that again.

We did see the construction of the new domed Las Vegas Stadium for the Oakland Raiders NFL team which is moving to Las Vegas and will be called the Las Vegas Raiders. It is estimated the new stadium will be ready for the 2020 season.

Next up : The Grand Canyon!

Valley of Fire State Park, NV APR 15, 2019

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Four years ago we visited Valley of Fire State Park and it is one of many places we have always wanted to revisit. We had a choice of two routes from where we were staying. One took us through the crazy Las Vegas traffic and the other route took us through the peaceful Lake Mead National Recreation Area. I think you can guess which route we took.

Valley of Fire is Nevada’s first and largest state park and gets its name from the red sandstone formations. These formations were formed by great shifting sand dunes during the dinosaur age 150 million years ago. When the sun hits the rock formations they appear to be on fire. There are also rock formations of limestone, shale and conglomerates.

Many movies have been filmed in Valley of Fire including “Viva Las Vegas”, “Total Recall” and “Transformers” as well as tv shows and commercials. On this formation “Star Trek:Generations” filmed the death of Captain Kirk.

It was a less than perfect day to visit the park but we were on a tight schedule. It was cloudy which made for less than ideal picture taking to showcase the beautiful colors, but also extremely windy and downright cold. I am usually not one to bundle up much when hiking, but even I put on a jacket.

We had read about a hike called “Fire Wave” and was said to be the most popular hike in the park. We had missed it on our last visit and wanted to do it this time. The hike wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. It seems during the entire time we were either trudging uphill or downhill through sand or walking across rocks. I really don’t do well with rocks. You can see in the pictures people on the rocks we had to walk across on the trail.

We reached the destination which was supposed to be rock formations that looked like waves. I guess I built up an image of something spectacular because the real thing was a bit of a letdown. Maybe it was the cloudy skies, the cold and the wind. By the time we trudged back across the rocks and sand, the wind had picked up even more and it was cold. We had planned on doing three hikes but by the time we got back to the car we pretty much looked at each other and said one hike is enough today. Let’s save something for next time. The thought of getting back out of the car into the wind and cold just wasn’t appealing.

Despite the clouds we did enjoy driving around the park looking at the beautiful red formations. Not even clouds, wind and cold could change that amazing experience.

As we made our way home through the Lake Mead National Recreation Area we drove through some pretty heavy rain showers. We were very thankful the rain held off until we were on the way home.

Next up: A busy few days in Las Vegas

Boulder City, NV APR 12, 2019

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Leaving Lake Havasu City we drove to Boulder City, Utah for a six night stay. Boulder City (pop 15,600) is a lovely city which was built in 1931 to house workers contracted to build Hoover Dam, formerly called Boulder Dam. Previously, men who hoped to work on the Dam were living with their families in tents and shacks on land chosen as the site of the Dam. The town was built by the Bureau of Reclamation as the “Boulder Canyon Project Federal Reservation”. Federal rangers maintained law and order on the “reservation”. Boulder City is very rare in that it was fully planned under government supervision. The town was designed to house around 5,000 workers and the status of the workers was reflected by the size and location of their house. Commercial development was restricted and severely limited by a stern, iron fisted city manager. There was no provision for schools at first because it was assumed only single men would be working on the Dam. No hospital was built for years with injured workers taken to nearby Las Vegas. When a hospital was eventually built, it was a number of years before females were allowed to be admitted. Visitors to Boulder City had to go through a gatehouse, and gambling was prohibited. Today, Boulder City is one of only two Nevada cities which prohibit gambling. Alcohol was prohibited until 1969. Las Vegas had campaigned to have the workers housed in Las Vegas but because of its rowdy, risqué reputation, it was passed over in favor of Boulder City. Today Boulder City is very proud of its nickname “Home of Hoover Dam”. The federal government gave up control of Boulder City in 1959 when it was incorporated.

We visited the Boulder City-Hoover Dam Museum located inside the historic Boulder Dam Hotel. The hotel, built in 1933, is on the National Register of Historic Places.

In the 1930’s and 1940’s the hotel was the accommodation for Shirley Temple, Betts Davis, Howard Hughes, Will Rogers, Boris Karloff and other celebrities who came to see the Dam being built. The museum had an excellent movie and exhibits on life in Boulder City in the 1930’s as well as the construction of the Dam. Working conditions were hard and treacherous to say the least. Because of a fine of $3,000 for every day the construction ran over deadline, the men were pushed to the limit and often competitions were used to push the men even harder. Occurring in the days immediately after the Great Depression, men were afraid to complain of unbearable heat and working conditions for fear of being fired. Only American citizens could work on the Dam which essentially meant whites only. In 1932 only a few African Americans were hired but were not allowed to live in Boulder City. This changed after Franklin Roosevelt was elected.

We enjoyed walking around the town doing some geocaching. Evidence of the town’s history was everywhere.

34 Ton Water Runner Converts Water Power To One Generator

One day we drove to the nearby Lake Mead National Recreation Area. This is the nation’s first national recreation area and the largest reservoir in the country. It was formed by the Hoover Dam in 1935 and provides water to twenty million people and farmland in Arizona, California and Nevada as well as some to Mexico. The Lake has not reached full capacity since 1983 due to water demands and drought. In August, 2017 it was only at 40%.

Our main reason for going there was to hike the Historic Railroad Trail. This trail is a portion of the former railroad route that carried supplies from Boulder City to Hoover Dam during construction of the Dam. The trail is no longer a railroad but has been replaced with crushed rock. Along the trail are panoramic views of Lake Mead. Hikers pass through five tunnels approximately 300 feet in length and 25 feet in diameter. The trail can take you all the way to Hoover Dam but on this day we had to stop at tunnel three because the tunnel was closed due to unstable conditions. Since it was a hot sunny day with no shade on the trail, we were okay with turning around at that point. We had walked 10,000 steps by the time we returned to the car.

We then drove to Hoover Dam. Back in Jan, 2015 we visited Hoover Dam and took a tour of the facility. This time we wanted to stop at the visitor area at the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge which is the first concrete-steel composite bridge in the United States and the widest concrete arch in the Western Hemisphere. At 880 feet above the Colorado River it is the second highest bridge in the United States and the world’s highest concrete arch bridge. The bridge connects Arizona and Nevada. The visitor’s area, in Nevada was super busy with limited parking. I did the musical chairs game with all the other cars trying to find a parking spot. In the meantime Bill walked up the steep trail to the top of the Bridge. It was a very windy day and when he walked out onto the bridge he took his sunglasses off because he was afraid they would blow off his face! He took some great shots of Hoover Dam from the top of the bridge.

We then drove from Nevada over the dam to the Arizona side to have another look at this marvelous structure.

Hoover Dam from the Arizona Side With Memorial Bridge in the Distance

Another day we hiked around the Nature Discovery Trail and Rock Garden. We loved the beautiful rocks, desert flora and giant statues of desert animals. Plaques gave interesting facts about the animals and flora. Did you know jackrabbits can run up to forty miles an hour or that the roadrunner can survive its entire life without drinking water but receives moisture from its prey?

We finished the day by finding a geocache at the Nevada State Railroad Museum. We not only found a geocache but some great old trains too.

Railway Post Offices (RPO) were used to transport and sort mail using the hanging mail bag system. RPO were started in the 1830’s and ended in 1950’s.

We had a wonderful time in Boulder City.

Here is the link to our previous visit to Hoover Dam where we took the inside tour January 27, 2015 Boulder City, Nevada

Next up : Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada

Through the Eyes of the Selphs

Bill and Diane's travel notes and pictures

Canyons of the Ancients NM, CO July 20, 2019

Mesa Verde NP, CO July 16, 2019

Monument Valley, UT July 13, 2019

Prescott, AZ JUN 30, 2019

Show Low, AZ May 15, 2019

Grand Canyon NP South Rim Part 2 APR 25, 2019

Grand Canyon NP South Rim, part 1, APR 24, 2019

Las Vegas, NV APR 18, 2019 REVISED

Valley of Fire State Park, NV APR 15, 2019

Boulder City, NV APR 12, 2019