Arizona to Nevada

Traveling from Arizona to Nevada we crossed the Colorado river (and changed our time for the last time in out trip). We did our first cross in Lake Mohave and then we crossed back and forth through the Hoover Dam, at Lake Mead (we couldn't find a parking spot in Nevada so we parked in Arizona).

Both Lakes are actually part of the Lake Mead National Recreational Area - what made it an opportunity for the kids to earn another Junior Ranger Badge (their 18th!!!!)

Davis Dam is a relatively small dam, holding the 67 miles long Lake Mohave - south to Lake Mead. Blue clear water scattered with ducks and giant fish and dramatic desert mountains surrounding it.
The next site was the Hoover Dam. As a strategic site - the road on the dam is closed for trucks and buses (since 9/11) and we were not sure if we will be able to go on it with our RV, but after a short questioning and search in and out the RV - we could go.
by 2010 there will be a new bridge to take the traffic crossing between Arizona and Nevada in parallel to the dam instead of on top.
This is how it looks from the top of the dam
We learned that Lake Mead's low water level is a source of concern for the locals. Maybe another global warming effect? In the picture below, the white strip shows the level of water in the past.
And today - we packed a suitcase for 2 nights and left home for the first time in 6 months!! We parked it in the hotel parking lot and took a hotel room in Circus Circus Hotel, Las Vegas. Actually we preferred staying home but it turns out that in Vegas a hotel room is cheaper than a campground!! who said depression is bad???

The Grand Canyon in Winter

For the last 2 weeks we've been following the temperatures in the grand canyon and trying to plan a visit strategy that will allow us to see this wonder. With -10C at night it was impossible for us to sleep in any place near the canyon. So the plan was to sleep in Sedona, a quaint little town 2-3 hours south of the canyon, wake up early in the morning and spend the day in the canyon. The plan worked perfectly well! Yesterday we arrived to Sedona in the afternoon. As the sun went down the mountains and sculptured rocks around the town turned even more red than usual.

Early in the morning we started heading up to the canyon, with the kids still in bed. As we went up in elevation, we saw more and more snow until it was all covered in white. For us, Israelis, it's always a special sight. This is where we stopped for breakfast after the kids woke up.
As we entered the Grand Canyon National Park the sun came out and we saw this lovely mule dear.
It was beautiful to see the canyon with the contrast between the dry, arid desert and the fresh snow all over.
The dramatic views and huge proportions of the canyon make it a spectacular place. We walked along the south rim on a paved trail that was covered with ice so we had to watch our step all the time.

Carved buttes and the geological layers with the Colorado river running at the bottom of the canyon. Of course in real life it's much much more impressive

The grand canyon is more about view than wildlife and yet we saw some bluebirds and a woodpecker.
We first planned to see the skywalk too, but apparently it's far away from the south rim, partly on dirt road that's not suitable for rv's. It's owned by an indian tribe that lives there and they charge 80$ per person, they limit the visit to 15 minutes and they don't allow photography. We'll leave something for next time(-: We went to the i-max theater to watch a movie about the canyon instead...

wild wild west

We started the day yesterday in Tombstone - historic town from the gold and silver mine days of the old west. The place is super touristic and looks like it was taken from a western movie.

We saw a comedy gunfight show with the good guy and bad guy, some shooting and lots of laughs

From there we continued to Tucson area to visit Saguaro National Park. The park is known for it's huge Saguaro cactus. Those cactus are enormous and have special adaptations to survive in the dry desert. It takes them hundreds of year to become as tall as this
The Gila Woodpecker pecks holes in the Saguaro to make a nest. Other birds use those holes to make their own nests too


This morning we visited the desert museum. A wonderful museum that most of it is outdoors, features the desert wildlife, plants and their adaptations. There are many senior volunteers all around the museum that are excited to share their wide knowledge about nature.
Explaining about the bees and tasting some prickly pear jelly, cactus pads pickles, cactus juice and more

We saw a Harris Hawk free flight show. This species is not local to Arizona but they brought them here anyway, can't remember why (-:
Some other interesting things we saw at the museum