Dam Canyons

What trip out west would be complete without a visit to the Grand Canyon??? So, after leaving Vegas, we headed east through Nevada and Arizona to see the GC--as we call it. Along the way, we stopped by another large structure--this time man-made--The Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. The Dam was very impressive and the tours were overpriced. (Also, we ran into one of our old teachers from CCS on our tour--Mrs. Poole, but I didn't get a picture.)

Lake Mead is the lake created by the dam. It is very pretty.

The dam thing is huge!

Dam tourists.

Big bridge. Little momma.

So we went on this tour of the inside of the dam and power plant. It was very informative--mostly about Herbert Hoover. Our tour guide's voice sounded EXACTLY like Ellen Degeneres, so I asked her if she would say, "Hi, my name is Dory!" over the microphone. She declined.

This is a huge room that houses the generator.

We actually drove across the dam to continue on to Arizona and to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

My family visited the Canyon when I was 12, so I called my Dad on the way there and asked for some advice on what to see, do, etc. just to make sure we got everything in. His advice: 

"Well, Dave, it's a big hole in the ground, so I'd stop, look at it, take a picture and then pretty much be on my way." (The Samuelsons are very efficient travelers.)

We did a little more than he suggested, but right now let me throw some scenery at ya!

tourists

So, after hiking for a while around the Canyon rim, we stopped in the Ranger Geology station and met Ranger Chris. Noting our genuine interest in our surroundings, Chris recommended that we join his squad of junior rangers. We happily accepted! After completing all of our written ranger activities and participating in a presentation on the formation of the canyon, we said the pledge and received our badges!

Ranger Chris teaching us about "the Canyon's story"

Certified Rangers!

See!

 So that was really fun, and the other 6-10 yr olds in our class really enjoyed meeting us....I think. Next, we grabbed our bikes and headed out to bike the rim and spot rattle snakes! We didn't see any snakes though.....:-(

You can't tell, but I'm 12 inches from free fall.

You can't tell, but she almost jumped!
(and check out that awesome Junior Ranger badge)

Our next days of driving took us through Santa Fe and southern NM into Texas. I'll update again as soon as I get some internet. Peace out, homeys!