From Las Vegas to Williams: Hoover Dam, Route 66 & One of Our Favorite Unexpected Stops

Leaving Las Vegas meant we were trading bright lights for historic highways, small towns, and one of the greatest engineering marvels in the country.

This ended up being one of those days filled with unexpected surprises—and one of my favorite wildlife encounters of the entire trip!

Oops... We Forgot the Welcome Sign!

Somewhere between packing up, checking out of the hotel, and getting on the road, we completely forgot about the iconic "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign.

Oops! 😂

Guess we'll just have to save that for our next time through Vegas.

Hoover Dam

 

 

Our first planned stop was Hoover Dam, and it did not disappoint.

Before our trip, I had reserved tickets for the Powerplant Tour. When we checked in, they offered us the chance to upgrade to the Guided Dam Tour.

At first, we declined.

It cost a little more, and we'd have to wait about an hour for the next tour.

As our Powerplant Tour began, we noticed the Guided Dam Tour group was right alongside us... except they kept going into areas we didn't get to see.

Almost immediately, I looked at Byron and said, "We should've upgraded."

If we were doing it again, we would absolutely choose the Guided Dam Tour. The Powerplant Tour was still fascinating, but getting to explore even more of the dam would have been worth the extra time.

The history behind Hoover Dam is incredible, and seeing it from the inside gave us a whole new appreciation for what it took to build it.

Before leaving, we explored the visitor center and grabbed lunch at the café, which was a great way to recharge before another afternoon on the road.

Don't Skip Hemenway Park!

 

  

If you only take one recommendation from this post...

Stop at Hemenway Park in Boulder City.

Seriously.

I almost skipped it.

It was the middle of the day.

It was HOT.

Google didn't think we'd see any bighorn sheep.

Even ChatGPT told me our chances weren't great!

The only reason we stopped was because we needed ice for our cooler, and the park was practically next door to the gas station.

Best. Decision. Ever.

There were bighorn sheep everywhere!

We couldn't believe it.

There was even a Pink Jeep Tour parked there watching them, which made us feel even better about our spontaneous stop.

My advice?

Go anyway.

No matter what time of day it is.

You just never know.

Historic Route 66

From Boulder City, we made our way toward Kingman, Arizona.

If you're passing through, don't just stay on the interstate.

Pull off and explore!

We stopped by the Route 66 area with the drive-through sign and historic displays before continuing east on as much of the original Route 66 as possible.

Once again, the GuideAlong app completely transformed the drive. It pointed out landmarks, shared Route 66 history, and explained things we never would have noticed on our own.

I can't recommend it enough.

Hackberry General Store

One of our favorite Route 66 stops was the Hackberry General Store.

If you've seen Pixar's Cars, you'll appreciate this place even more.

The store is packed with vintage signs, classic cars, old gas pumps, and Route 66 memorabilia, and it's easy to see why this stretch of highway inspired parts of the movie.

Even if you only stop for a few minutes, it's worth it.

Seligman & Williams

We also drove through Seligman, another classic Route 66 town full of charm.

Our final stop for the night was Williams, Arizona, which ended up being the perfect place to stay before visiting the Grand Canyon.

That evening, I made a quick grocery run while we waited for the nightly Wild West gunfight performance.

If you're visiting during the summer, they typically perform around 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.

Would I plan an entire trip around it?

Probably not.

But if you're already in Williams, it's a fun little piece of Old West entertainment that's worth checking out.

It took us a minute to find, but it's near the Visitor Center, across from Pine Country Restaurant and the Historic Brewing Barrel House.

One More Thing We'll Save for Next Time

If we had unlimited time, we also would have stopped at Grand Canyon Caverns.

But one of the biggest lessons from this trip was learning that you simply can't do everything.

Rather than rushing through every stop, we chose to save a few adventures for another trip.

And honestly...

I kind of like having a reason to come back.

Tomorrow, we'll finally arrive at one of the most iconic places in the world...

Grand Canyon National Park.

Safe travels and happy memory making! ❤️

Kayla