Hoover Dam & Valley of Fire

August 28: We went on a driving tour today over to Hoover Dam out of Boulder City, Nevada and Valley of Fire State Park about fifty miles north of Las Vegas. It was about a 175 mile round trip and well worth the drive. We drove down Hwy. 93 to Hoover Dam through Bolder City. They are building a new Bridge across the Colorado River below Hoover dam which will give a beautiful view of the dam once it is finished. There will be an arch below the bridge to support the middle part of the bridge. The bridge will look similar to the Natchez Trace Parkway bridge across Hwy. 96 just out of Leipers Fork, TN. The Dam is huge but Lake Mead seemed to be very low. They have closed a lot of the boat ramps around the lake and at the dam you can see the water mark where the water once was. We walked across the dam and took some pictures of both sides of Hwy. 93 which crosses the dam. I will post some picture of Hoover Dam and Valley of Fire. We left Hoover Dam and drove along the west edge of Lake Mead for about 65 miles to Valley of Fire State Park. Every time you think that you have seen all the red rock that there is you come across a place like Valley of Fire. The rocks are the reddest that I have ever seen. Helen and I were just in awe of the beauty of this place. The rocks were different that those we have seen in the other parks in that there were holes all in these rocks. It looked like you were on another planet, in fact there have been several science fiction movies made there using those strange red rocks. There was also lots of ancient Indian Petroglyphs which were too far up the rock wall to get pictures. We are doing fine but it is extremely hot here. The weather man said it was 107 but my thermometer showed 111 out there in the desert. Needless to say we did not go hikeing much. I will post pictures later, blogger is not able to up-load pictures at this time. Check out the link to Hoover Dam & Valley of Fire State Park.

Moving day.

Today is August 26 and we are preparing to move tomorrow. We have been here two weeks and I believe they have been the fastest two weeks we have experienced in a long time. We visited Zion National Park several times and every time we are in awe at the beauty God created there. I know that the scientist can explain how all the color and sheer cliffs over 3000 feet high got there ( or so they say) but they can not explain the feeling of worship that takes place in a person's heart when he or she looks at all that beauty with an eye toward God. The Mormans who settled this area in the 1800s named the canyon Zion because of the sense of being in the Throne Room with God. It is awesome, if you read this and have never seen Zion National Park you need to put that on your list of things to do before you go to the real Zion in Heaven . The day before we left our campground in Panguich, Utah Sylvester was attacked by a stray cat and has been sick ever since. He had two bad bites and the vet patched him up and we have been giving him antibiotics. I took him back to the vet this morning and he is improving but still not back to his old self. I called Teddy on the twentieth to wish him a happy birthday, his birthday was the twenty-first, His family was doing well and he had been working on their house that they are building. I called the twentieth because we were going down to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon on the twenty-first and didn't think that we would have a signal on the cell phone. It has been hot here, as high as 106 degrees, and I though that things would cool down and they have here but I see that it is 107 in Las Vegas, NV where we are going tomorrow. We have a resort there and there is a lot of things to see there also. We will take pictures and post them on our blog later. Helen is doing great and we are both in good health and are enjoying our travels.

North Rim of Grand Canyon

We made a trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon August 21st. It was 340 miles round trip.It was a long drive but we decided we'd never be this close again anytime soon,was a long and tiring day but well worth the trip. We went to the Lodge and Visitors Center first and hiked out to the overlook and made pictures. We drove to a couple other places and hiked to the overlooks. The temperature was nice, in the low 70's and that made the hikes more pleasant. I don't handle high altitude and hot weather too well, it's hard to breathe sometimes. Only 10 miles separate the North & South Rim of the Grand Canyon, as the Raven flies, but over 200 miles separate them by road. Here are some pictures we made on our trip to the North Rim of Grand Canyon, hope you enjoy. Also, check out the link to the National Parks.

Zion National Park

We moved to St. George RV park on the 13th of August and boy is it hot here. We have been to Zion NP several times since we arrived and as I said it is the most beautiful place that we have been to so far on our travels, but of course I say that about every where we go. In Zion you look up at the huge rock walls and cliffs. They are red, pink, tan, white, gray, and sometimes all these colors all mixed together. Some are even shaped like checker board patterns and they are several hundred feet tall. There is a tunnel one mile long through the mountain that divides Zion into two sides, East & West, and they have different views almost like entering another world. We, or rather I, lost our camera on the shuttle ride one day and we almost panicked. I ask the suttle driver if any one by any chance had turned in a camera, they had and in twenty minutes we had our camera back. Only God could have done that for us. We appreciate the honesty of the person that turned it in, but we give God all praise for the miracle we needed at the time. Here are some pictures we took at Zion. You can also go to the link that I put on the blog. It goes to the National Parks website where you can pick what ever state you want and then the park that you choose to look at. I hope you like the pictures and the National Parks website.

   There is another site that may be of interest:Just click the link to Zion National Park.

Bryce Canyon National Park

We are a little behind on posting new information so I will try to catch up. On August 7 & 8 we were at Bryce Canyon. It isn't exactly a canyon it is an ampitheater where you look down into the beauty before you. It wasn't formed by a river washing out a canyou it was formed by constant change by freezing, thawing, wind and rain over millions of years. The beauty is awesome to look at and you can see God's hand at work even though they say it was formed by nature. I believe Bryce Canyon is one of the most beautiful places on earth. But you will see that I probably will say that about every where that Helen and I travel. Here are a few pictures of Bryce Canyon. Sorry that I am late with the pictures.

Zion National Park

This is a picture that Helen took from our campground here in Hurricane, Utah. We are near St. George, UT so they named the campground St. George RV Resort. We have visited Zion National Park twice so far and I believe it is the most awesome sight this side of the real Zion where it got its name. I know Heaven is way more beautiful but God sure did a wonderful creation here. We have more pictures of the park which we will post later. We are really enjoying God's wonderful creation.

Arches National Park

These are some pictures we made while at Arches National Park in UT.