Day 24: Hurricane, UT: 450.4 miles; 7:26

We saw a sign about Interstate road closures on the freeway yesterday, but didn't get time to read it entirely, so I checked online and found a wonderful site listing traffic and construction sites.  I did not find any problems with I-17 south (which we planned to take to Sedona), but I discovered that highway 89 near Page, AZ was CLOSED.  Since that was our planned route, we had to make adjustments.

We were also questioning going to Sedona since the forecast called for rain all day.  The strong winds turned out to be associated with a large front passing through today.  It rained hard overnight and the sky to the west was looking ominous.  We couldn't avoid Flagstaff where they were predicting 2-4 inches of snow, but we thought we would go west and try to get through to the other side of the weather.

Note on Arizona time.  Right now it is the same as Pacific Time.  This confused us when we saw the clock in the room since according to the map, we do not get to Pacific time until we cross the border into Nevada.   I looked it up and found that: "Most of Arizona does not observe daylight saving time, however, the Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona does observe daylight saving time."  Guess that explains things...

So we started off at 8:23 (7:23 AZ time). It had stopped raining and we planned to take exit 237 for Meteor Crater. I had called yesterday and their message was clear: We are not affiliated with the Federal Gov. WE ARE OPEN. So, finally something we could see. Then Jim said, "What time do they open?"  I looked it up and they open at 8AM (Arizona time) We didn't want to sit there for a half hour and it started raining again, so we went on.

The sky got darker and darker and then we saw a rainbow arched over the Interstate -- that has to be a good sign, right?  Then it turned into a double rainbow.  Then the sky darkened and it started to rain hard.

About 20 miles from Flagstaff, it started to snow.  Flagstaff (pop. 65,870; elev. 6,905 feet) is nestled in the mountains.  it was named by the locals in 1881.  The name referred to a tall pine tree that was stripped of its branches and used as a giant flagstaff during the city's 4th of July celebration in 1876.  The flagstaff was visible from afar and remained in place as a landmark for wagon trains.

Now it was really snowing and Jim broke out singing Christmas tunes.  "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas." To our minds the words "Arizona" and "snow" do not go together, but there they were.  We noticed that the trees were TALL again and dusted with snow. It reminded us Highway 26 over Mt. Hood.

We passed the exits for the Grand Canyon and then close to Seligman the snow just stopped.  The trees disappeared and we were back to desert country. 

The largest existing stretch of Historic Route 66 goes off from the Interstate at this point.  It is a 158 mile stretch of the original highway and it goes north from here then through Kingman and south.  Each year classic car buffs gather here and drive the old road.  Route 66 was the first completely paved national highway in the country and ran through the main street of most towns along the way.  It's nickname was "Main Street of America."

There were no rest stops along the highway, so we got off at Seligman and stopped at a Chevron station and found ourselves on "America's Main Street."

Back on the Interstate, we turned off at Kingman and took highway 93 north to Las Vegas.  It was a deserted, desert road with signs warning, "No services for 30 Miles."  About half way to Hoover Dam, we saw the turnoff for the "Grand Canyon Sky Bridge."  The Hualapai Tribe built the "Sky Bridge" on reservation land in 2007.  It extends 70 feet out from the canyon rim and is suspended 4,000 feet above the canyon floor and the Colorado River.  It weighs 1.2 million pounds and is unquestionably an architectural wonder.  The views were described as "jaw-dropping."  Even though this was one of the few attractions in the area open during the government shutdown, Jim said there was "NO WAY" we were going there.  

We went past the White Hills ghost town and saw a sign inviting you to shoot a 50-caliber machine gun at a shooting range 30 miles down the road.  The scenery was becoming colorful with yellow wildflowers and singular Joshua trees.  As we entered the Lake Mead National Recreation Area we entered the west end of the Grand Canyon.  The views were spectacular.

We went over a bridge and around a few curves until we got to the Hoover Dam exit.  We had seen people walking along the side of the bridge, so we suspected that this Federal area just might be open.  And it was.  We parked at the area for the "bridge walk."  Jim stayed with the car and I took the camera and started up the stairs towards the bridge.  It was crowded and lots of non-English languages were spoken.  I figured that all the poor foreign travelers that came to this country to find out our national parks were closed must be here. 

 The Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge on US 93 links Arizona and Nevada.  The Bridge is arched, 1,00 feet long, made of concrete and steel.  The bridge was opened in 2010 to replace the 2-lane part of highway 93 that actually took the traffic over the top of the dam in the past causing quite a bottleneck.  The bridge includes a 6-ft wide pedestrian sidewalk.

Hoover Dam is 726 feet high (6 stories).  It is one of the highest dams ever constructed. It was built during the Depression (1931-33) in an Art Deco-style 

Once back on the highway, we entered Nevada and immediately ran into a casino.  We went through Boulder City (pop. 15,023; elev. 2,501 ft.) known as "the town that built Hoover Dam."  It sprang from the desert in 1931.  We found ourselves on the Interstate again and in the outskirts of Las Vegas.  The contrast between the remote countryside in Arizona and this busy, urban area was huge.  What a difference a border makes.

Miss Direction got us through Las Vegas in one piece and we headed east through the desert, back to Arizona.  The Nevada countryside was desert and stark, broken by the view of mountains in the distance.  By the time we got to Arizona, we were back in the mountains and Grand Canyon Country.  Then we hit Utah and the landscape changed again with red cliffs.  Beautiful country.  

We ended up in Hurricane, Utah for the night.  This is a nice little town about 12 miles off the freeway on the way to Zion National Park (which remains closed.) The town was named after the "Hurricane Fault" rising 7,000 feet above the town.  We had dinner at Sonny Boy's BBQ which was awarded the "Best BBQ in the State" award in 2013.  I'm not sure that Utah is known for its BBQ, but it was quite good.  

We are heading north towards home tomorrow.