A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

Day 2 we decided to go to the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon West. First stop Hoover Dam – and to get there you drive through Lake Mead National Recreation Area. They charge you $10, but it is good for 7 days. There are a number of scenic turnoffs along the way.

The Hoover Dam is about 45 minutes from Vegas. Because we knew we were going to be doing a lot of day trips, we opted to rent a car – a little compact car that got great gas mileage – which was much cheaper than doing a guided tour. You can opt for guided tours with companies like Pink Jeep or Viator. Tours at the dam are offered from 9am-5pm, walking by I overheard the tour guide talking about how many people have tried to commit suicide by jumping off the dam – um…morbid much? Parking at the dam is $10.

The day was cool but not cold – all you needed was a light jacket. We spent about 30 minutes or so here.

A look down.

Pretty amazing when you think about it. Then it was off to Grand Canyon West. It’s about a 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive from Las Vegas, and when you get closer, make sure that you have enough gas, as stations are sparse along the way.

When you get closer to the entrance, the road turns to a dirt road – makes for a slow ride (about 20-25mph). You arrive at a visitors center and buy your tickets, then you board buses that run in a loop between 3 stops. See the packages here. So for two people, to ride the bus and to go on the Skywalk, it was $152.

We didn’t buy a food package, but you could buy food at the Skywalk a la carte (chicken fingers were $7).

The Skywalk. There are 3 viewpoints, Eagle Point, where the Skywalk is, Guano Point and the Hualapi Ranch. Before you walk on the Skywalk, you are asked to leave all personal belongings in the lockers provided. They make you go through a metal detector as well, so leave all your cell phones, cameras, etc in the locker. You are then asked to put on little disposable booties as your step out onto the glass. While you are not allowed to bring camera or cell phones, there are photographers there that can take your photo that you can purchase when you exit through the gift shop. The Skywalk is suspended 4,000 feet over the Colorado river.

The views here are pretty amazing. Note that if you are bringing small children here, you should keep eyes on them at all times. There are no railings here and it would be easy enough to slip off the top of the canyon.

Beautiful.

For more information, see the Grand Canyon West website.