Valley of Fire & Hoover Dam

What a great stop; thanks Mom for the tip to come here! Compared the Death Valley you can easily see why this was named Valley of Fire. The sandstone was so bright red.

 

We hiked several trails but the one that had the most interesting formations and petroglyphs was Mouse's Tank. We even saw these Desert Bighorn Sheep who stopped to pose for us!

Sorry for the photo dump but these formations and landscape were just so cool! We hiked Rainbow vista and White Domes to get these great shots.

This is specifically for Emma who will appreciate this sign. :)

The campsite was amazing as we were nestled right within the valley. We got some terrific shots of the moon. We also lucked out because it is a first come first served park and we got the last site with electricity! With temps still in the 90's the kitties appreciate that A/C, us too! 

On to Lake Mead and Hoover Dam. Another beautiful hot day and clearly there have been many of them with how low the water is!  You can see in the picture below the cream part is where the water used to be, crazy low!

We took the tour of the dam and got to see the power plant and walk into the ventilation tunnels. Remember the scene with Harrison Ford in the Fugitive...that's where we were and the view is thru one of the louvers.

On our way we saw some wild horses that were just meandering by the road. All I could think of is where do they find water?? They must have to walk miles to get it. Probably why they look to be in such good shape!

As for us we will be meandering down the road to Zion National Park next. Can't wait as it seems to get prettier the further we go on this trip! Looks like Noodle is ready to go...