Quick Update and Hoover Dam

If you have been seeing my Facebook and Twitter updates, (and you should be getting my Facebook and Twitter updates) then you know by now that I have been sidelined by a knee issue and have been told by the Doctor to not run pending the analysis of an MRI. I have the MRI results and my appointment is on Monday. I promise to give you the whole story as soon as I see the Doc. In the meantime, please enjoy the rest of my report about my trip to Las Vegas.

-The Fat Runner

After getting back on the Pink Jeep, we had lunch on the way to Hoover Dam. For this tour, a box lunch is included in the price and the sandwich was pretty tasty along with chips and some veggies and cookies for dessert. 

It is often said that even today, Hoover Dam would be very difficult to build. The fact that it was built in the 30's in the middle of the Great Depression makes this even more of an achievement. Oh, and it was finished ahead of schedule on top of everything else. When was the last time anything was done on time? 

This thing is huge! Not the "vastness of the Grand Canyon" huge but more like "this is a big chunk of cement" huge. Heck, the tunnel they dug to channel the water so it won't go over the top of the dam is gigantic by itself. (And that has only happened once, in 1983 by the way) It is very hard to take picture of this thing. There is an observation deck but somehow I missed it so I couldn't take a whole pic but it was very impressive nonetheless.

So this thing is like, big.

Of course we had to take the Dam tour. How can you go to Hoover Dam and not take the Dam tour. The guide said we could make as many Dam jokes as we liked and I'm transferring that policy to this blog. Since I was taking the Dam tour, I made sure to take as many Dam picture as I could. You don't take Dam pictures every day you know?

The Generators on the Nevada side. There is an identical room on the Arizona side.

The Dam tour was very interesting, especially for a history buff like me and going through the Dam tunnels was fun but I was very disappointed at the end. You see, no matter how much I pleaded with the guide, no matter how much I asked, (and I asked. A lot.) She would not show us the "Megatron room". I know he wasn't in there. (He thawed... duh!) I saw the film and all but I wanted to see the actual room and she would not take us there. I think it was because of National Security and stuff. Her annoyed expression confirmed it.

Finally, I went to very middle of the Dam which is the state line between Nevada and Arizona. I was in two places at the same time! St. Frank you can now call me.

One leg in Nevada, the other in Arizona

 This area has been going through a drought in the last few years even for a dessert. When you look to the lake side, you can see how much the water has receded.

Rain much lately? Check out the water line!

As of 2013, you no longer have to cross the Dam to cross state lines. They built a bridge right in front of the Dam which is the second longest single arch bridge in the World. I took pics of it during our time in the dam but they came out kind of blah. As we were arriving though, I got to take this shot the split second our driver/guide stopped to turn around. It's one of my favorite shots of the entire trip.

In the Jeep, through the glass, turning around for the win.

And with that, we headed back to Las Vegas. This tour is really a once in a lifetime experience. Especially for someone like me who coming from a tropical island who is really not familiar with this kind of terrain. It was without a doubt the highlight of the whole trip.