With no AC in our Jeep and a lot of water, we set out today to see the Hoover Dam and to pick up a few items at the grocery store.
Oddly enough, the Dam was closed. They had federal security guards turning cars around at the main gate and we had no choice but to turn back. There was no place where you could see the dam at all.
We drove across the new 4 lane bridge that was built a few years ago and the guard rails were too high and we couldn’t see the dam from there either.
Maybe if we hiked down into the canyon we could have gotten a glimpse of it but, everyone was overheating in the 117 degree heat so that option was out.
I’ve noticed that I am talking a lot about the heat and many of you may have lived in 110 plus heat and are saying to yourself, how bad could this be. I’m not one to shy away from hot weather. I loved the heat in the Florida keys and really enjoyed places like Marco Island and Sanibel Island. It was hot but, there was lots of respite from the heat. We were never far from the ocean, a pool, an air conditioned restaurant, our RV or even our Jeep.
The problem with Lake Mead is that there is no where to escape the heat (even for a few minutes). The visitors center was closed, the pools are all closed, the beach is a 10 minute drive away (plus there is nothing at the beach except the 85 degree water), there are no stores or shops anywhere near the dam and there are no trees to find shade anywhere.
Our RV would cool down in the shade of a palm tree or evergreen tree or any kind of tree but, it can’t cool down in direct 115 degree sunlight. Plus, we love to adventure and the adventure comes with lots of complaining and a level of suffering while we travel anywhere.
With that said, we left the Hoover Dam without actually seeing it and drove about 10 minutes to the Boulder City grocery store. Here we found some respite as the store was open and air conditioned.
We hooked up the kids with Ice Cream to cool them down. All the red faces was a bit much to take and they looked about ready to drop.
We also picked up a few additional items at the store that we overlooked while shoping in St. George’s a few days ago.
We were honestly looking for any reason to spend a little longer in the AC. We hadn’t experienced cold air conditioning in days and it felt so good.
The ice cream melted in our hands all the way home and all the kids laughed about how quickly it was turning to mush.
Jenn and I decided that this place was not enjoyable and I called our Flagstaff campground and added tomorrow to our reservation.
We will be leaving this crazy heat tomorrow.
Luke's Journey Across The USA 