We'd opted to stay nearish the Grand Canyon, in a place called Ash Fork, rather than in an expensive place next to it. This meant we still had a bit of a drive the following morning to get the Grand Canyon, but we were prepared for this. We shared the driving to Ash Fork along easy freeways, covering the few hundred miles with plenty of stops for snacks and supplies. Before we got there, and not far outside of Las Vegas, we stopped at the Hoover Dam on the border with Arizona. On the approach, we were told to stop so the car could be searched, but were instead waved through.

The Dam is known as an engineering marvel, and at the time it was constructed held back the largest volume of water by a dam anywhere in the world . Built on the Colorado River, it holds back Lake Mead, now the largest reservoir in the USA by volume. It is a concrete arch-gravity dam and it was pretty impressive. We stopped at a free parking spot up the hill and walked up to the Hoover Dam bypass bridge which overlooks the dam. It was hot, hotter than we’d had even in the centre of Vegas, at 46 degrees. It was a don’t touch anything kind of heat, as we could easily have burnt ourselves. The view down to the dam was great, and we decided to get a bit closer.

The parking next to the dam was $10, and with entry to the visitor centre also being $10 each, and a tour $30 each, we were priced out. Which was a shame, because we’d read good things about the tour. We decided instead to walk the length of the dam, along one side and back along the other, meaning that we crossed the border from Nevada into Arizona and back again. We heard little bits of information pertinent to the dam, from speakers along the way. There was also a monument celebrating the USA, otherwise it was pretty views all the way . Before heading off we drove over the dam, realised there was no way through, took in more pretty views, and headed off back on the freeway to Ash Fork in Arizona.

The Ash Fork Inn was a stereotypical motel that you might picture from American TV shows and films, complete with crazy old lady checking us in. She claimed that the carpet in the reception hadn’t been changed since the place was built 61 years ago. We could believe it. The temperature was actually reasonable, at about 26 degrees when we arrived at night. Our room was a bit dingy, and very hot. Unfortunately, the air conditioning was noisy and temperamental, switching itself on and off, and occasionally blowing hot rather than cold. We set off to get some dinner and, after arriving somewhere that had just shut, went next door and ate the greasiest meal, ever. We didn’t sleep well at all because of the air con. The next morning, grumpy and in dire need of coffee, we set off for our next destination; the Grand Canyon!