We traveled a mere 162 miles today breezing through sin city, waving as we drove by. Much to the cowboy’s dismay (he doesn’t like tall bridges) we crossed the new bridge which spans the Colorado River and bypasses Hoover Dam. At 840 feet over the Colorado River—it’s one tall bridge, the second tallest in the US (the Royal Gorge bridge is taller) and cost $240 million to build. The concrete side barriers are so tall you cannot see over them to the river below even sitting up as high as we do in the motorhome—so it wasn’t so bad (at least I didn’t think so). 
Out the driver side window you can see the river just over the top of the concrete barrier.
A scenic pit stop just after we crossed the bridge.
After getting set up at Blake Ranch RV Park and having lunch we took off in the jeep for a tour. These guys decided to cross the road in front of us. I never knew it was so beautiful around Kingman—mountains covered in cedars and pines surround you. As Al says, we bumped, scraped, rocked and rolled up this little narrow mountain road—we had a blast and the scenery was spectacular!!
This is one of those rare RV parks—they state, “big rig friendly.” They are most definitely big rig friendly, we did not have to unhook the trailer and I think we could have parked the jeep behind the trailer—a very long and wide site plus their interior roads are nice and wide. It is a little closer to the freeway than we like to be but it will be OK for a few days. And John, they take horses!
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I remember being so disappointed a few years ago when we crossed that bridge & could not see anything. I have a feeling the high sides are intentional to keep people from slowing down to enjoy the view. Not so good for tourists but a smart move on the part of the planners & designers I'd say. You know what drivers can be like when they are distracted by something.........
ReplyDelete\A couple of years back we crossed the dam before the bridge was completed.. We waited in line for quite a while and then had to open all the bay doors and the motorcycle trailer... They also made us open the bedroom slide so they could have a look back there as well.... I don't like the height of the new bridge either, but waiting and opening all the bins seems a lot worse...
ReplyDeleteAh, Janna, isn't it great that we both get to leave all that snow behind us? Love it. Love seeing those back 4 wheel roads to try out sometime, and we had no clue about the new bridge.
ReplyDeleteIt is a nice campground and we stayed there with our horses a few years back.
ReplyDeleteSo that's what the Colorado River looks like above those concrete grids!!!! Kingman is a beautiful area, We atv'd there last year, a beautiful part of Arizona!!!
ReplyDeleteOOOH I don't like heights either, I think I would like the high barriers too,,,
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Karen and Steve
(Blog) RVing: The USA Is Our Big Backyard
http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com
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We've toured this area on motorcycle. It has a lot to offer. King an is a descent city too.
ReplyDeletenot a big fan of tall bridges either..maybe it's a good thing you can't see right over the sides!!
ReplyDeleteAgh. Having grown up in and around all of Arizona, I cannot say I am a Kingman fan. Hot in the summer, windy in the winter and a lot of bare rocks. However, I can say I like the terrain closer to Flagstaff. Maybe even twenty miles east of Kingman. During WWII, the airbase there saw a lot of action. It does have a lot of local history...some of it fairly recent.
ReplyDeleteAll nice areas to visit, hopefully we can drive across that new bridge this year, enjoy Kingman.
ReplyDeleteA fun Jeep ride and visit is to follow route 66 and enjoy Oatman, if you have not been there yet.
I'm hoping to drive over that bridge on our way home - I happen to like big bridges while Paulette just closes her eyes and ducks her head down.
ReplyDeleteI well remember seeing that bridge when it was under construction and how the two sides were merging to meet in the middle. Always thought that was a pretty incredible engineering feat.
p.s. let me know if the Picasa 'sync' thing was the issue with your auto-backups. If not, I'll have another look at G+.
What gorgeous scenery. We had -3 and 8 inches of snow!!
ReplyDeleteWow that looks beautiful! I imagine it would be rather scary without the high sides on the bridge though!
ReplyDeleteWe've stayed in that park, Janna! It's a nice park. The new bridge is a blessing. You used to have to go around through Searchlight/Laughlin after 9/11. And if you went over the dam, the truck was usually searched and it took forever! Having said that, a couple of years ago the new bridge was closed due to high winds and we ended up going through Searchlight anyway! Enjoy nice, warm Arizona!
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