This Road Leads to Your Murder

Monday, May 23rd

I left Las Vegas and made the quick jaunt to the Hoover Dam.  It's huuuuuge!  Not much more I can say about that.  I took a walk on the Memorial Bridge that gives a great view of the dam from above.  Wow.

I thought I'd make it to the Grand Canyon today as well.  But as I traveled south on I-93, I saw a sign for the Grand Canyon Skywalk.  I thought that would be the way to see the Grand Canyon, instead of what I had planned, which was driving along the south rim.  Perfect!  Cool way to see it in a lot less time. 

The exit for the Grand Canyon Skywalk said it was 43 miles to the east.  I drove 20 miles down a road that looked like it led to an old ghost town, which it did.  Scattered throughout the desert scenery were immobile trailers that people lived it.  It felt as though the Grand Canyon Skywalk sign was to lure unknowing tourists to their death in the desert by evil, old townsfolk.  There isn't much to say for the condition of the road, either.  Not good.  Another sign 20 miles down the road instructed me to take a right, and the Skywalk would be 23 miles further.  This road was beautifully paved and a pleasure to drive on!  For 7 miles.  Then it turned to rock and dirt.  Which means that it's a dirt road for the final 16 miles to the Skywalk.  I'd come this far, so why not try it.  After a bumpy half a mile, I made a turn that revealed the rest of the road would be very hilly with lots of turns.  A car was parked, and four people stood around as one other changed a flat tire.  I pulled up to them, and they said, "Don't do it!"  They explained that the terrain was awful, and like driving over a washboard, and for 16 more miles!  I was thankful for the advice and turned around to head back to the road.  I was also angry that there was not a sign explaining how diffcult of a drive to the Skywalk it was.  The sign appeared cheerful.  "Just 43 miles this way!  :)"  When it should have said, "It ain't so easy to get to". 

Angry at this delay, which all told cost me about 2 hours in time.  I headed back to 93, hungry, and in desperate need of some gas.  I headed south and came to Kingman, AZ.  According to the sign, the "Historic Heart of Route 66".  I hadn't planned on riding Route 66, so it was cool to see part of it and all the nostalgic shops in town.  Clyde and I re-fueled and I headed east on I-40 to Williams.  Williams is 60 miles south of the south rim of the Grand Canyon, and an old railroad town.  Back in the day the only way to get to the canyon was by rail, and this was where you caught that rail.  I got a room for the night and decided the Grand Canyon would wait til the morning!

Note:  Arizona highways as I've experienced them so far are awful.  They have more holes in them than a story told by Johnny the Snake.  (I don't know anyone named Johnny the Snake, but I'd imagine a story told by someone with that name would have a lot of holes in it.)