Highway to Hell (Day 4)

From Las Vegas we continued our trip East towards the Grand Canyon.

Along the way we made a pitstop at the Hoover Dam. It was fun. It was very windy as well. VERY windy. I've never been in winds like that unless there was a storm a'comin' so it took some getting used too. The Dam is huge and worth seeing if you ever get a chance. We didn't take any of the tours, but we did spend some time walking around.

Before we left we drove back to the look out point for Lake Mead. That was nice as well. Very beautiful and blue.

From there we headed towards what we hoped would lead us to the Grand Canyon. Most of the trip for Day 4 was spent actually driving. Lots of flat land and cacti. Lots of sand. Definitely different from what I'm used to in Kentucky. So it was a nice change of scenery.

We made a pitstop at this little roadside dive off of Highway 94. We just wanted to stretch our legs, but we ended up eating there as well. It was really good food too! I mean, you probably wouldn't expect it by looking at the outside of the building, but it was great...and the people were super nice too. So we ate and I got some souvenirs and then we hit the road again. We were traveling towards signs that marked the way to the Skywalk over the Grand Canyon.

Nearly a hundred miles down the road (and no, that isn't an exaggeration) we thought we were finally to the Skywalk. We drove through miles and miles of a little town that was smaller than my hometown, which blew my little mind. I mean, who knew there was anything smaller than Jackson County, Kentucky.

In order to get to the Skywalk, we had to turn down this curvy, gravel and sand covered road called "Diamond Bar Road." Now Diamond Bar is the only road that leads to the Skywalk. It isn't paved, not by any stretch of the imagination, but if you know a little bit about driving on back country roads, then you should be okay. Fortunately, being from Southeastern Kentucky and being a farm girl, I know my way around roads full of loose gravel and dirt. Unfortunately, I was the only one on the road that knew how to drive on roads like that.

I made the comment to my Mother as we rounded one sharp curve and the car in the other "lane" (to be honest, there were no such things as lanes there) came too close to our side of the road and was absolutely flying, "You know, these people don't know how to drive at all. I had better slow down." And I did. The speed limit is 15 mph on Diamond Bar Road. I slowed down to roughly 10 mph.

It wasn't ten minutes later that we got hit. Yep. That's right. I go on vacation and get ran over. Figures.

As we were coming around a curve, we met a car. The driver was going too fast and lost control of his vehicle. He hit our rental car in the side.

Everyone was okay, but I was ticked. I even got sassy with the 911 operator and had to apologize to her later for my sharp tongue.

When the cop got there (2 hours later...we were really out in the boonies), he assessed the damage and ended up writing a ticket for the other guy, because according to the cop, the guy had to have been going 45 or 50 mph (in a 15 mph zone!!!). Grrr!

It took two hours for the cop to get there. Two hours for the wrecker to get there. And then, after I spent ten minutes arguing with the rental car company because I wasn't going to give the wrecker $900 to haul me and the car back to Las Vegas, it took 2 hours to get to the nearest hotel. So...Mom and I got to spend roughly four hours on the side of the road in the desert after dark. It was freezing cold. Then we rode in the back of the police cruiser for another two hours to the nearest town.

We finally got checked into a hotel in Kingman, AZ around 11 that night. We never got to see the Grand Canyon that day. :-(

So...here's to you, city of Dolan Springs, AZ: I hope you get more cops and a hotel soon. And to you, Kingman, AZ: you were great fun and I loved you. I may move there someday. To Officer Thompson, THANK YOU for going out of your way to make sure we were safe and comfy for the night. You went above and beyond the call of duty. God bless you! To the tow truck driver: You can kiss my a** for being such a rude hog about that car. :-P To the rich guy who owns the Skywalk: Stop ripping people off. It shouldn't cost $35 to get to the Skywalk and then another $25 just to walk on it. And by the way, if you are charging those prices, could you please pave your darn road! You don't REALLY need a new jet do you? PAVE THE ROAD! To the rental company: Suck it. And to the other driver: Listen buddy...you can't go highway speed on loose gravel and dirt. Learn to friggin' drive or move back to California where everyone else drives like you.

Pictures to come soon. :-)