West to Hoover Dam and Las Vegas

We continued west on Hwy 40 and hit snow again at Flagstaff. This was a clear sign that we should not take that right turn towards the Grand Canyon. Avoiding more weather drama is at the top of our list.

As we went west, the scenery kept getting more stunning.

We passed by the Juniper Mountains, Aquarius Mountains and Mohave County

The weather surrounding us on all sides was very dramatic. We kept going in and out of little rain showers.

At Kingman, Arizona we headed north on Hwy 93 towards Las Vegas. Here is where the scenery got even more dramatic as we went through the Cerbat Mountains and passed Mt. Tipton.

Hoover Dam

We were pleasantly surprised when we realized we were going to pass right by Hoover Dam. Rowan has never seen it and I haven't seen it since I was a child. As we turned off the highway to go to the dam, we were greeted by this rainbow. We took it as a good sign as our destination today is Las Vegas.

Walking out on the bridge over-look just takes your breath away!

You can see the shadow of the bridge we are standing on. It feels like you are on top of the world when you look down on the dam from this viewpoint.

As we approached Las Vegas, we were greeted by another rainbow. Looks like we might have double luck during our visit here! :o)

Las Vegas

We were very excited to arrive at Rowan's cousin Ann's in Las Vegas.

Ann and Steve are huge football fans, so we are happy we are here on playoff weekend. We will be watching all the games. We forgive them for being Patriots fans and look forward to spirited cheering for the 'other' team :o) 

We all went out for Korean BBQ and the food just kept coming and coming.......

....we absolutely gorged ourselves to the point that all we could do is go back to the house and lay down and watch more football.

A view of The Strip at night from Ann & Steve's house. (It looked like our alien friends were hovering in the clouds over the city. They must be following us. :o)

This is the closest we got to the strip. Thank goodness! It really isn't our scene.

Jenni was very excited to have access to a kitchen and grill for the first time in a couple of weeks, so wasted no time cooking dinner the second night of our stay.

Grilled vegetables, shrimp kabobs and grilled chicken were on the menu.

I just loved the fake snakes Ann had around the swimming pool deck in the backyard.

This helps to keep the birds from pooping all over the deck.

The first time I looked out back and saw this guy I about pooped my pants!

Our hike in Red Rock Canyon is next