When we finally escaped Toroweap, the first sign of civilization on the highway was the Pipe Stream National Monument. What is it monumentalizing? Basically, some Mormon settler jerk appropriated the local water source from the Indians, then they (not surprisingly) killed him three years later, then the Mormon settlers built a fort around the water supply. Um, who's the bad guy in this picture? Anyway, it pleases me to see that this is now all Paiute reservation land.
We're not going in to see the exhibits, so we just stop in the parking lot to empty our garbage and our recyclables. But we're a bit tired, so when we drive away, it takes a while to realize that we've left the back hatch of the vehicle open. Oops. We then have to circle back to make sure nothing fell out. Yes, it feels we've been going in circles for a while now.
Before leaving, we stop to buy cheap gas from the Paiute indians. Thank you, Paiute! I will speak kindly of you.
By now we think we've experienced enough natural adventures - it's time to head for the plastic paradise of Vegas. "Viva Las Vegas!" Stephen asks why I even want to go, since I don't drink, I don't gamble, and I don't like stripper joints. But every time Elvis sings "Viva Las Vegas," he convinces me just a little bit. You know what's great about Vegas? Cheap hotels, baby.
Thankfully, we've left the rocky roads behind us, and we're now driving down a speedy paved Interstate. Still, I've never seen so many tire blowouts. We passed at least four vehicles that had lost a tire, one of which blew out just in front of me, leaving a lovely ribbon of tire on the road.
When we reach Vegas, it's too early to check into any hotels, so we set the GPS for the Hoover Dam. Sure, it's an unreliable GPS, but we figure the Hoover Dam doesn't move around much, so even if the maps are out of date, it should be able to find it. The GPS leads us through the north end of Vegas, which seems a bit sketchy. The houses are smaller, some of them needing repair, but it's the bars on EVERY available door and window that really drive the point home. Yikes. This must be Jacqueline's old neighbourhood. ;-)
Our not-so-trusty GPS takes us to where it knows Hoover Dam is. But it doesn't know about the new road, and it's confused. We bypass Hoover Dam on the giant new bridge, and our GPS thinks we're offroading. Swearing at the GPS about the dam road, I find a dam turning lane, get the car pointed in the right dam direction and try to find the dam visitor centre. Success! We're finally at the Hoover Dam Visitor Centre. $7 for parking, and $30 for the Dam Tour. Yes, I want the Damn Tour.
It is super-hot outside. Scorching, sidewalk-radiating heat. I'm suddenly wishing I had short sleeves.
The tour is actually pretty interesting. They start with an inspirational film, with the Hoover Dam trying to exhort me to do better, more noble things with my life. After that, there's a few display areas you can walk through. (Yikes, they were hard on their workers - those guys worked 7 days a week, and 363 days a year.)
For the tour itself, we go inside the dam, where we stand over one of the water intake pipes - you can feel the vibrations through the floor. We also got to go into one of the turbine rooms, and look out through one of the ventilation shafts on the side of the dam. They explain how everything works and lead you through several different areas. A lot of the dam is decorated with marble and has a lot of art deco touches. It's pretty snazzy for a dam.
Then we're back outside, on top of the dam. Tour's over; get lost.
Interestingly enough, even though the dam looks freaking massive, Stephen points out that it's only 750 feet high, whereas the drop-offs from Toroweap were 3,000 feet. Huh. I hadn't thought of it that way, but he's right.
Now it's late enough in the afternoon that we can head back to Vegas and get a hotel.
This time, we're not staying in one of the casino hotels. I want Internet, and I'd like free breakfast, and because we've got so much luggage, I don't want to have to trek a full mile into the hotel from some parkade.
So we picked the Ramada, which is about a block or two off the strip. We got the best room ever (by our standards, anyway)! We're on the ground floor, the first room from the entrance. From where we parked, the room is probably 20 feet away. Whoo hoo! Time to unload that baggage car - but it's never been so easy to do (excepting, of course, the motels where you can park right outside your door).
We've got a fridge, a room that faces a tree and a nearby wall (lots of shade), A/C and lots of electrical outlets. We even have a roof that deflects lightning, and a bed we can lie down on. Wow - it's like paradise.
Now, time to go to sleep. Zzz.
We're not going in to see the exhibits, so we just stop in the parking lot to empty our garbage and our recyclables. But we're a bit tired, so when we drive away, it takes a while to realize that we've left the back hatch of the vehicle open. Oops. We then have to circle back to make sure nothing fell out. Yes, it feels we've been going in circles for a while now.
Before leaving, we stop to buy cheap gas from the Paiute indians. Thank you, Paiute! I will speak kindly of you.
By now we think we've experienced enough natural adventures - it's time to head for the plastic paradise of Vegas. "Viva Las Vegas!" Stephen asks why I even want to go, since I don't drink, I don't gamble, and I don't like stripper joints. But every time Elvis sings "Viva Las Vegas," he convinces me just a little bit. You know what's great about Vegas? Cheap hotels, baby.
Thankfully, we've left the rocky roads behind us, and we're now driving down a speedy paved Interstate. Still, I've never seen so many tire blowouts. We passed at least four vehicles that had lost a tire, one of which blew out just in front of me, leaving a lovely ribbon of tire on the road.
When we reach Vegas, it's too early to check into any hotels, so we set the GPS for the Hoover Dam. Sure, it's an unreliable GPS, but we figure the Hoover Dam doesn't move around much, so even if the maps are out of date, it should be able to find it. The GPS leads us through the north end of Vegas, which seems a bit sketchy. The houses are smaller, some of them needing repair, but it's the bars on EVERY available door and window that really drive the point home. Yikes. This must be Jacqueline's old neighbourhood. ;-)
Our not-so-trusty GPS takes us to where it knows Hoover Dam is. But it doesn't know about the new road, and it's confused. We bypass Hoover Dam on the giant new bridge, and our GPS thinks we're offroading. Swearing at the GPS about the dam road, I find a dam turning lane, get the car pointed in the right dam direction and try to find the dam visitor centre. Success! We're finally at the Hoover Dam Visitor Centre. $7 for parking, and $30 for the Dam Tour. Yes, I want the Damn Tour.
It is super-hot outside. Scorching, sidewalk-radiating heat. I'm suddenly wishing I had short sleeves.
For the tour itself, we go inside the dam, where we stand over one of the water intake pipes - you can feel the vibrations through the floor. We also got to go into one of the turbine rooms, and look out through one of the ventilation shafts on the side of the dam. They explain how everything works and lead you through several different areas. A lot of the dam is decorated with marble and has a lot of art deco touches. It's pretty snazzy for a dam.
Then we're back outside, on top of the dam. Tour's over; get lost.
Interestingly enough, even though the dam looks freaking massive, Stephen points out that it's only 750 feet high, whereas the drop-offs from Toroweap were 3,000 feet. Huh. I hadn't thought of it that way, but he's right.
Now it's late enough in the afternoon that we can head back to Vegas and get a hotel.
This time, we're not staying in one of the casino hotels. I want Internet, and I'd like free breakfast, and because we've got so much luggage, I don't want to have to trek a full mile into the hotel from some parkade.
So we picked the Ramada, which is about a block or two off the strip. We got the best room ever (by our standards, anyway)! We're on the ground floor, the first room from the entrance. From where we parked, the room is probably 20 feet away. Whoo hoo! Time to unload that baggage car - but it's never been so easy to do (excepting, of course, the motels where you can park right outside your door).
We've got a fridge, a room that faces a tree and a nearby wall (lots of shade), A/C and lots of electrical outlets. We even have a roof that deflects lightning, and a bed we can lie down on. Wow - it's like paradise.
Now, time to go to sleep. Zzz.
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