Dam Fine View - Zion National Park, 5/21

We woke up early this morning and watched the sun rise over Vegas. It was one of those magical moments where the sky went from indigo blue to a soft orange and then suddenly the entire mountaintop was washed in sunlight. It was great because we experienced the entire show snug in bed. Talk about having a primo camping spot! We were rewarded on our early morning ride off Mt. Charleston with more great views. The only detour was stopping at another campground to take showers since our campground’s showers mysteriously were locked down overnight. (Did this have anything to do with the campground host rather sheepishly rolling in from a late night in Vegas at 6 am?). Ned and I decided to cruise the strip at 8 am, which seemed pretty surreal after our quiet and peaceful night on the mountain. We braved the casinos and had a big breakfast at the Luxor. The blinking lights and ringing bells seemed a bit jarring after the quiet we’ve experienced the last couple of days. After battling traffic to get out of town we headed toward Hoover Dam. We were both expecting a relatively quiet tour of the dam (especially after our low key tour of Shasta Dam last year) and were shocked by the traffic congestion and thousands of people milling about. We tried parking in several parking lots and after being sent to overflow lot 13 on the Arizona side I have to admit we had enough. After spending the last several days in laid back places I felt like those cranky old codgers holed up in the desert muttering to themselves, “People are no damn good. grrrrr.” Despite the congestion, Hoover Dam is quite an experience. The sheer magnitude and scope of the project is mind boggling. (See today’s pic). Wanting to stay off the main freeway we decided to take the Lake Mead National Recreation Area highway towards Zion. I was expecting more of a scenic drive hugging Lake Mead. The lake is extremely low and the road is surrounded by parched desert without a view of the lake for most of the drive. The road was also being repaired so we had several 10 – 20 minute stops along the way. Ned, being the smart guy he is and knowing how antsy I can get, wisely suggested we listen to some of the “This American Life” podcasts I had queued up. Fun! We had a great time listening to the stories and telling our own stories as well. We finally pulled into Zion National Park in the late afternoon to discover that all the campsites were filled. So here we are staying a mile from the park in an RV resort. The good news is that it has electricity, showers and wi-fi!! We were also able to access the bike trail really easily from here and did a quick spin thru town before dinner. In the early evening we took the shuttle bus to Zion Lodge and poked around. When we returned to the Visitor’s Center around 9ish, we spotted a bobcat hanging out on one of the rocks in the parking lot. Very cool! Rather than take the shuttle bus back to the campsite, we decided to take advantage of the sensuous warm breeze and walk back in the moonlight. Nice ending to the day.