Day 10 - Can it get any hotter????

Yesterday I mentioned it was hot in Las Vegas. At 8AM this morning it was already over 100 degrees. Really, I don't know how people live in heat like that. I can handle it for a while, but today was really hot. There are times late in the summer in Texas when you get in the car at the end of the day and it hurts to touch the steering wheel, or put your arm on the center console, or touch the buckle on the seat belt; to the point where you can literally get a burn if you touch something with exposed skin. That's the way it felt in the car at 8AM this morning. I think it was around 108 when we pulled out.

I had a conversation last night with the night manager at our hotel that was rather depressing. It seems Vegas has been hit pretty hard by the downturn in the economy. The housing market is horrible and not many leisure travelers making the trip there. Looking around our hotel I would say it was only 15-20% occupied. He said it's been this way for a while and is really hurting the city. His tone of voice made it sound like he was really concerned they may even close the hotel.

We loaded the car anxious the get Vegas in our rear-view mirror and head towards Hoover Dam. Thankfully, because of the aforementioned drop in tourism, traffic at the dam was very light; at least in comparison to what I was told to expect this time of year on the internet. We got to the dam with the intention of walking around for a bit and seeing the visitor center. Unfortunately, it was so intensely hot, we made it just across the dam and had to turn around for the car to cool off. Everyone was hot. It really was unbearable. See the picture below of the temperature display in our car.

Once we left there was a long climb out of the Colorado River valley into what's called the high desert. Eventually, it got less barren and more green as we approached the Grand Canyon. and thankfully, the temperature began to drop. After a while, you're in the pine trees as you get right up to the park. Jennifer & I both visited the Grand Canyon as children. We both have vague recollections of it. It really is "grand" to see it again in person. It's hard to tell if the kids really appreciate the grandeur of it. I know I did not as a child. It's fantastic to see one of God's truly amazing creations up close and personal. As parents, we were nervous wrecks though. At several of the points we hiked around to, there was no guard railing and several signs indicating "danger" and the fact that many people of have died at this location from falling over the edge. The older boys were generally ok but Tate tends to explore a bit and can disappear very quickly. We had a firm grip on his hand the entire time we were near the edge, which he did not like at all. One false step and any one of us would have gone right over and dropped off over 1,000 feet.

We're in Flagstaff, Arizona tonight and intend to head towards Las Cruces, NM tomorrow with the hopes of making it out to White Sands for the 7PM guided nature walk with a park ranger.

I'll have pictures below from yesterday and today.

I snapped this picture last night just to prove we were actually there.

Our dinner location. This is inside The Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace Hotel. On the right side of the picture is a very large aquarium. There are some really spectacular vistas of Lake Mead as you drive towards the Hoover Dam. Little did we know what torture we were about to endure.

The boys & I on top of Hoover Dam. I have no idea how we were smiling. Perhaps I threatened to throw them over the edge if they did not smile. I really don't remember as I suspect I was suffering from heat stroke. We each had a water bottle and there were three more in the backpack behind Tate. However, right out of the cold ice chest, they got warm in a matter of 15 minutes. I tried to push ahead and make it to the Visitor's Center, but it was just too darn hot.

No, this is not the speedometer as we sped away from Las Vegas. It's the temperature at Hoover Dam. Before I took this picture, it was actually reading 135 degrees. I suspect it was not quite this hot as the car had been sitting for just a minute. However, I think it was legitimately around 115 degrees.

We discovered a new burger joint. I vaguely remember my dad taking me to an In-N-Out burger in San Diego when I was a kid (we would sneak out from grandma's house and grab a burger because we got tired of eating at the house). It had been quite a while since going and Jennifer spotted this one off the freeway in Arizona. I cut off three other cars across two lanes of the interstate to make the exit but we managed to get our burgers. The meat is fresh and never frozen. I actually watched one of the workers cutting the potatoes in the restaurant as we were in the drive through. Everything was so fresh and tasted really good. I wish now we would have tried one of their milk shakes. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.We got behind a loaded cattle truck in some traffic on the interstate. I don't think it had been cleaned out in about a week and stunk quite a bit. Out of the back seat we hear from Braden "Dawson, you smell like the poop of a goat". Jennifer & I both about wet our pants laughing so hard. I just had to take a picture of the truck.Jennifer and the kids at the Grand Canyon. No really, that is the canyon behind them and not a backdrop. It was fantastic. Somehow, I managed to get everyone smiling in this picture.

My lovely bride snapped this shot. We thought it was really pretty. Besides riding roller-coasters, Jennifer also loves to take pictures. I imagine once the kids get older, she'll actually take some classes. She's even mentioned trying to do it professionally.