September 20/21      122 miles     KINGMAN KOA: ARIZONA     ($26.68)

Across the Hoover Dam into the Arizona Desert

Farewelling Vegas, we retraced our route on the 95 to Railroad Pass, then took the 93 to Boulder City which lies at 2,500 ft, 16 miles from Las Vegas and 11 miles before the Hoover Dam. It has a Boulder City/Hoover Dam Museum (and we'd just missed the September Wurstfest)! See www.bouldercitychamber.com. Their motto is 'Best City by a Dam Site'!

Leaving Boulder we soon entered the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and got our first view of Lake Mead below – a huge artifical lake created where the Hoover Dam (named after the 31st US President) holds back the Colorado River. 

We continued on the narrow 2-lane Road 93, alongside which a new highway is being built. Down at 1,588 ft we crossed the security checkpoint where smartly-uniformed black guards inspected the motorhome, inside and out. Then we passed the statuesque Visitor Centre and multi-storey car park. Highway 93 actually crosses the dam, over the Nevada/Arizona border, with spectacular views on both sides. Built between 1931 and 1935 (to create employment and provide the country's major electricity generating plant – for Las Vegas and California), Hoover Dam is one of the world's greatest engineering and construction feats, which cost many men their lives. Oddly, the monument is inscribed 'They died to make the desert bloom'. Another proclaims 'They laboured that millions might see a brighter day' - and night!

The dam can be viewed from a helicopter or scenic flight, from a Lake Mead cruise, or as we did – by parking in number 13 of the 14 car parks and walking back. (The nearest ones charge $5, the later ones are free). Ours was at 1,343 ft with 2 long staircases down to the dam. A plaque gave all the vital statistics, including: Dam roadway elevation 1,232 ft. Dam foundations at 506 ft. Height of dam wall 726 ft. Crest of dam 1,244 ft long. Thickness at top 45 ft, at bottom 660 ft. The architecture was very solid 1930's, very Third Reich.

After lunch with a dam good view, we continued across Arizona's Mohave Desert – no casinos, no settlements, nothing but stones and rocks. Road 93, now 4 broad lanes, swung south-east climbing to 3,600 ft before dropping over the last 4 miles to 3,367 ft at  Kingman, a mining town where we met both I-40 and Route 66 again.

We shopped at the Super Walmart (a massive selection of food and goods), then on to the KOA campground, about 3 miles from the town centre. This is an excellent campground, with a Games/TV Room, pool, hot water for laundry and dishes, complimentary breakfast coffee and – best of all - wireless internet (WiFi) which works inside the motorhome. Their brochure even gives Satellite Co-ordinates and Cable TV channels, though of no use to us.

With the temperature in the mid-80's, we cycled from campground to town in search of the US Post (cards 50 cents worldwide, letters 70 cents - except Canada or Mexico which cost less). We also enjoyed the reliable WiFi to catch up with emails, internetting and on-line chatting.