Hoover Dam / Death Valley

We were very happy to get away from the biting wind from the Grand Canyon. We stayed in Las Vegas for 4 nights. We enjoyed the pool and the warmer weather. On Friday we went to the Hoover Dam. It was incredible. If all the concrete from that dam was made into a sidewalk it would go around the world at the equator. What an amazing engineering feat. It was dizzying to look down from the top of the dam.
On Sunday afternoon we headed towards San Francisco. Unfortunately we went the long and difficult way. We decided to go through Death Valley not knowing that it was full of 9% grades that went on for miles, twisting and turning. We had to stop 3 times to let our smoking brakes cool off. We were joined by a couple from Calgary that had the same problem. The up side is we found 2 scorpions and a centipede.
We spent the night in Ridgecrest and had a long day today but we finally hit San Francisco after dark. We have come from dry, desolate,barren desert to lush, green fields and hills. We past acre after acre of almond trees in full bloom. California is so beautiful, green mountains, lush valleys full of produce but also lots of traffic and highways. Betsy worked overtime today and I can confidently say that she has made life on the road so much easier.