Moving upstream along the Colorado river from the Grand Canyon is Glen Canyon, with a dam of the same name, and the town of Page, Az, which started as a construction camp for the dam and the bridge.

Originally, the location was very isolated and a long way from any roads or rail lines. It was selected as the best location for the building of the dam, but the only way from one side to the other was a several hundred mile overland route.
So one of the first requirements was to build a bridge, which itself is a marvel of engineering.

The north end of the bridge, with the visitor center perched on the edge of the cliff.
And another view of the visitor center taken from the base of the dam. It is about 500' above the water on the low side of the dam. The dam itself is about 700' high, and extends well below the bottom of the river channel to ensure it was on solid rock. The base of the dam is several hundred feet thick, while the top is a mere 25'. Concrete pouring went on around the clock for many months continuously.
This is one of the actual concrete pouring buckets that was suspended from a crane and cable system to deliver the concrete to the working area.Some of the concrete content appears rather course, judging by this sample on display!
I showed up early in the morning, in time to go on a full tour of the dam, which for $5.00 was well worth it. Security was tight, and behind the mirrored glass of the visitor center are armed guards, metal detectors and screening worthy of any airport.
The tour includes a view of the huge turbines and generators that create the power.

At the base of the dam there is a tunnel coming out (you may have to blow this pic up to see it), and a whole batch of river rafts. Apparently this tunnel originates about two miles away and is large enough to accommodate even large tour buses - as they bring guests for the commercial raft tours below the dam.
Below the dam, the water is calm and green, unlike the original muddy torrent of the Colorado river. Attempts are made to somewhat mitigate this change by periodic releases of large water volumes to re-build the downstream sandbars and beaches. But of course, none of the silt entering the reservoir from above ever gets past the dam.



Water levels are well below capacity, and I don't believe it has been full since the 90's? Only time will tell whether the present drought is part of a cycle, or whether it is an indicator of global warming and future climate trends.
View of the dam from several miles upstream.
And, hanging the camera over the edge of the dam itself.

Now, where was I? Or, where am I?

Okay, I got it. After leaving Lake Havasu we headed north onto I-40 and into Kingman, Az.

Not one to travel an interstate if there is an alternative, the obvious choice was to follow historic Route 66 north east out of Kingman through the quaint towns of Hackberry, Valentine, and Truxton. Somewhere along there, night fell and I was able to find a nice area, full of widely spaced and scenic juniper trees, with cliffs and mesas visible in the distance. With the higher elevation, it was cool at night.Route 66 took me back to join I-40 at Williams, where I cruised through town looking for a place to eat. Much to my surprise, a Jeff Gordon (Nascar champion driver, if you are not in the loop) semi-trailer pulled in and parked right beside me. I could not resist some photos that I knew would be enjoyed by some race fans I know, specially since Jeff won the most recent race in Texas.


Trying once again to avoid the freeway, I turned north again to the Grand Canyon. But to avoid the crowds there, I checked out Google Maps and Google Earth, and consulted with the local forest service to find forest roads in the area where I could travel, camp, and avoid the crowds.
The ploy worked! There were no crowds, fairly nice roads, and they were even well signed.

Found a fire lookout tower to give myself a view of that big canyon. It's the first fire tower I have seen that had stairs to the top instead of a ladder. But, at 90 feet high, and being able to look straight down through the metal grate steps, it was fairly airy, and breezy!


But, since I was that close to the GC, I decided I would fight the crowds for a quick look-see.
We found a pen full of canyon mules resting up between trips - in downtown GC village.


There was this big gorge at the edge of town.
It was deep and wide.
It almost wore out my camera.
Snapping.

And more snapping.
At least I got to see the sign - as I was leaving the park - to the east and north.

After the tortoise sighting in Quartzsite, it was all downhill. The town is in it's advanced stages of shutting down for the summer. Many of the winter-time shops have closed up and gone home, leaving just the more hardy of those dealing discount tools, minerals, and RV parts.

Not coincidentally, this was sort of the start of my migration reluctantly northward.

After all, there is now some bare pavement showing up in the neighbourhood back home!


Next place to the north is Parker, AZ. They must have big plans for expansion because their 'city limits' signs are fully 13 MILES from the very edge of town! Perhaps they are just trying to be bigger than Biggar, Saskatchewan?

After Parker, and the dam of the same name, is Lake Havasu, and the city of that same name.
Unlike Quartzsite, Lake Havasu City is apparently booming, and it looks like spring break is getting under way?

Much of the action is concentrated on a short section of channel, right beside the famous London Bridge. All the fancy boats and their owners park gunwale to gunwale, and try to outdo each other with loud music, loud mufflers, and skimpy bikinis.

I chatted to the guys polishing this ship, who informed me that EACH of the two engines alone were worth in excess of $100,000US. I guess business is good somewhere!
Many of the lesser ships parked side by side for the days showing off and bragging rights.



In a slightly quieter end of the channel, is the London Bridge itself.
Needless to say, there is a fairly heavy police presence to make sure things do not get out of control. They have some nice boats, motorcycles, and evidently even a police golf cart or two.
I don't know what crime the young lady in question is alleged to have committed, but the 'bracelets' she is wearing probably don't go well with her bathing attire.Not all the boats are that fancy, however, and not all of them are in the water.
At my usual Lake Havasu camping area at Craggy Wash, there was even a boat that was being put to good dry land use as an RV. Or perhaps the owner was just heeding the 'flash flood' warnings posted all about?And in case some of you thought I was high tech, I spotted this rig with a record 3 satellite dishes in use. Now that's camping!
But after the relative zoo down at the waterfront, it is a peaceful respite to come back to a quiet camp and relax.
Here is my camp spot this time. Even Craggy Wash has fewer campers than when I was here last.
I thought there was a camper somewhere in this photo, but I can't seem to spot it now!
I believe it was an ex-military guy?
And the best thing about it ... there is a sunset almost every night!

Borrego Springs and the state park is certainly an area worthy of a lot of further investigation.

But, vacation time lines are tough as we all know :-) so I had to head back up to the Palm Springs area again, as my friend who winters there was packing up to head north, and I wanted to visit again, and meet his lady -friend before they headed out.The area is pretty windy sometimes, but it seems to be because of all the big fans they have on the hills around there! Maybe they are just trying to keep the L.A. smog at bay?


I'm sure it would not be so windy if they would only turn them off!

I don't think it is a sign of the economic downturn because it has been this way for several years, but I guess the Eldorado Resort is looking for more investors? Or ... anything?
Why would I say that?


Well, I climbed up the sign/wall in the previous photo, and here is what is behind the wall!
From the Desert Hot Springs area, I picked out a route south along the eastern side of the Salton Sea, intending to check out the much blogged area known as the 'Slabs', the remnants of an old military installation, now inhabited by both short and long-term RV'ers. But I guess I was blind, or had not done my homework, as I drove right down and didn't see it!

I guess that was before I downloaded Google Earth to my iPhone!
That is a pretty incredible combo, I must say, because of the built in GPS in the iPhone!
The only down-side (at least here in the US) is that AT&T really rips off Canadian customers on their data roaming fees. Fees that are included or charged at $3/Gb at home for overages are charged at $3/Mb (!) in the US. So, to afford fuel and food, I have to leave the data system turned off till I cross the border, but I can still use the features whenever I can find some wi-fi!

But at any rate, in one tiny hand-held unit, I have all the maps and terrain info I need, with my present location highlighted. And of course, it automatically updates the map at the start of the blog - whenever it can find that elusive wi-fi!

Ah, yes, we were traveling south down the side of the Salton Sea when I spotted these large flocks of pelicans soaring in the thermals. You may have to click the image for a larger view to actually see them?
The Salton Sea State Park let me drive in for a look around without charge. That was nice of them!After missing the 'Slabs' and ending up in Brawley, it was onto #78 headed up through the northern portion of the Imperial Dunes Recreation area, and on toward Blythe, Ca.

I have a question for you. In certain areas of California at least, there are signs like the one below, usually when departing the area of an overpass or intersection.

Why oh why would I care to be informed of the end of landscaping, and why would they put up a sign?
The sand dunes are pretty impressive here; some are likely hundreds of feet high, and forever moving and changing!
I went for a short bare-foot hike in this beautiful, fine, hot sand.For likely 40 miles south of Blythe, I could see this big column of black smoke billowing skyward.
I assumed it was just some fields being burnt off or some sort of controlled burn; at least until I got close enough to Blythe to see that it was actually in the middle of town.
I took these shots as I drove by on the Interstate.
A short time later, after returning from buying some cheaper fuel across the Arizona state line, I came back into town for some groceries and got these relative close-ups.
The next day, in Quartzsite I bought a newspaper that carried the story. Click on the photo, and you may be able to read the story.
I don't think there was enough smoke to affect the sunset, but it was well worth taking a break from happy hour to snap some shots!




The next day, it was off to Quartzsite.



When I saw a couple guys on the outskirts of Quartzsite taking extraordinary care when moving a 'rock' off the road, I took a closer look!
Sure enough, my first ever desert tortoise!

Carefully, I took a couple of portraits of the little guy, as he (she?) motored along at a breakneck pace.I keep forgetting to share some of the shots taken out my front window at home with my web cam. Here's the shot from April 1st. No joke - that is still deep snow.