Went on a road trip

[E!]

Recently went on a trip from Washington state down to Phoenix Arizona .

We had my S-10 Blazer pulling a U-Haul car dolly with my nephews 86 Dodge Lancer on it both loaded down . He is attending classes at High Tech Institute.

I am going to post our route that we went and about how long it took us to get there.

 

We started on December 31st going down US hwy 97 to the Oregone border . From the US 97/I-84 junction we took I-84 west to Portland then hopped on I-5 going south .

The first night we stopped in Eugene Oregon for the night.

Got up early the next morning and continued down I-5 Once we got around the California border around the Siskous On I-5 that was our toughest challenge (besides the grade between Burbank and Santa Clarita ) but the Blazer pulled through ok .

Once we got to L.A. we hopped off of I-5 and got on I-10 and headed straight to Phoenix . Only problem we had the whole trip happened about 25 miles west of Phoenix we broke our engine drive belt it was the middle of the afternoon so it wasn't that long of a wait we were up and going within an hour it cost 145 dollars though  .

 

When we got to Phoenix we stayed for a couple days to make sure he got settled in ok and got to know his way around town a little bit then we headed off ... next stop on the way back Hoover Dam , I really expected it to be a little bigger and we did not know it costs so much money just to park there or we would have stopped but just going by it was a sight to see    .

After we got through with that we headed off to somewhere I wanted to go for as long as I could remember Las Vegas . I broke even which is good I guess for going to Las Vegas .

 

From Las Vegas we started back home got on I-15 and headed back towards L.A. from there we got on I-5 and took the same route that we did on the way down minus the U-Haul and extra car behind us of course  

 

Got back home about 1 in the afternoon on January 7th

So all in all we traveled 3400 miles and put in a total of 227.9 gallons of unleaded which came out to about 15 mpg which isn't too bad considering we were fully loaded pulling a fully loaded car behind us .  

So I am at home re-cooping until I have to go back to work

 

I also have some photos from my digital camera that I took along the way but I have no idea as how to post them . I think i will walk over to the neighbor who is also a member on here and ask him how I am computer illiterate  

[DamianSolomon]

So do you feel blessed now that you have visited our beautiful state? Nice sunshine huh?  :thumb:

[bscottb]

My wife is from AZ and we have driven from Phoenix to Vegas many times. Unless you stop and take the tour of Hoover Dam you don't realize how big it is. Driving over it doesn't allow you to see over the edge, and it really isn't that far across.

[99silveradoz71]

Yep, drove over the HD with my brother the first time out to Vegas, then later that fall when going to visit my uncle in AZ.  We took the tour this past fall- unfortunately it's not as in-depth as it used to be due to 09/11, but still nice.  Amazing if you get out and walk around.

[sincityZ71]

Ah...Hoover is big trust me.  I could give the tours.  My dad worked there or in the vicinity for over 20yrs.  Driving over it just doesn't allow you to take in the true depth and size of Hoover's massive structure.  It is quite narrow, but very high and over 700 feet wide at the bottom.  A combo, arch, buttress dam.

 

As for the cost of the tours, you have to think of all the stuff there to maintain to keep it tourist friendly.

 

On a side note, the entire cost of constructing Hoover was paid-off in full entirely from the money made from the tours... Also the parking and vistor centres were paid for (at least in part) from that same money. :thumb:

 

Notice Hoover in my sig

[sincityZ71]

 

Sure its no Grand Coulee size-wise (my dad worked there too), but it is the most beautiful dam there is in my opinion.

 

btw, this pic was taken when they tested out the new jet-flow valves (lower part of pic) that replaced the old ones (middle of pic).  These valves channel overflow downstream.  I was there that day, it was a great sight...

 

Picture is property of the USBR...