We Have Returned!

 We had a five-night motorhome trip, the first one since our miserable year of poor health has not allowed us to travel. All went well, although after unpacking the motorhome we are very tired today, with lots more left to do! It was fun while it lasted, though!

We traveled to the bottom of the Grand Canyon through the road at the west entrance, this was our second time to do this. Fortunately this time we were there at the right time to see all of the wild flowers blooming. There were these beaver tail cactus, ocotillo, brittle bush, Indian paintbrush, desert marigolds, globe mallows...all blooming in profusion. There were parts of the area that had so many octotillo in bloom that it looked like a forest of them, all of them with their red flags waving.

When we were almost at the Colorado River, we were driving through a stream bed. There was runoff coming downhill from all directions, forming Diamond Creek which empties into the river at the base of the canyon. Here is a small cascade we saw. Being a desert native, I am always captivated by rushing water of any kind!

 We drove to the Hoover Dam, as neither of us has seen it. I climbed to the Memorial Plaza to cross the pedestrian bridge alongside the big bridge to see the back side of the dam. It is a long way down to the bottom!

Here is the memorial bridge, named in memory of Pat Tillman and one other person (I am chagrined to think I didn't write down the other person's name and now cannot remember it!). This is a very long span, completed last year.

Here is one of the most Grand Canyon-esque views as we neared the canyon. Please note the blooming octotillo at the left, in the foreground. This is where the journey got so much more picturesque. We were driving at the bases of these buttes at this point.