Dam

This morning we set out to explore the Hoover Dam. We left about mid-morning only to find we are 7 or 8 miles away. OK - first breakfast.

This is the Dam entrance 

Getting on the Dam elevator 

In the Dam line

In the Dam theater

The Dam underground cave

The Dam water intake tube

The Dam power station 

The Dam turbines

The Dam floor in the turbine rooms are solid marble. Even in the depression the Dam was built to be a national monument.

This is the Dam plaque.

Hoover Dam in all of its glory.

The is the Dam explosive package

The Dam power lines pumping out the power for sale.

We went to the Dam museum 

This is the Dam cable lift. It is original to the building project and is still in service today. The oldest cable lift in service anywhere.

The is the Dam bypass for the road that once traversed the top of the dam. Today Dam traffic is all Dam tourists.

Another Dam sign

The Dam water intake structure

The Dam monuments under refurbishment

The is a story about that Dam dog.

We found Hoover dam to be great, fun, educational, and inspirational. However, we are also seeing why this type of project cannot be trusted to any government in the long run. The power sold from the Dam has long ago paid for all of its cost of construction above salaries, operations, and administration. Yet the money keeps coming - so it must be spent. Below are few photos of the new parking decks - 10 of them, a cafe, new museum and tourist center as well as the previously mentioned by-pass bridge. I expect (if nothing changes) we have not begun to see what level of tourist attraction this will be. I see Dam monorails, Dam Carousels, and Dam roller coasters in our future.

We let the hot afternoon pass and then went for a hike near Lake Mead. It was still very hot but the walk was beautiful.

These girls made us proud. They hung in there in a desert hike on an unknown route. It wasn’t a particularly hard hike (except getting in and out of the canyon) but it was hot and the length was unknown and they came, the sought, and the conquered.

Something unexpected always catches someone’s eye. Emily Grace found this. Not new to her but fun in the Nevada afternoon. 

Road

 Today we were on the road to our next destination. We decided to be take the back roads figuring that an hour or an hour and a half would probably be about the same amount of time we would be sitting still on the interstate and we hope for a much more scenic drive. The drive would not disappoint. It was interesting and it was scenic.

Right away we got back into the mountains and stayed in view of them for the entire trip. 

We saw amazing views that photos from the car would never do justice.

You always come across things that you didn’t expect and you miss the photo op because it’s gone so quickly after you see it. Yesterday, coming into our hotel we passed right by The Crystal Cathedral. The day before, we went by Angel Stadium. Today we passed Joe Davis lane - we missed the photo-ops.

Today, it happened that part of our journey on the back roads took us on Route 66. We watched carefully for a sign so that we could get an iconic photo but there was no sign - we assumed that it was because the signs kept getting stolen. The Highway Department did find a smart way to mark the historic highway and we did get our picture.

The next road was US highway 55. The highest speed limit I’ve ever driven on.

Finally, we arrived at Boulder City, Nevada. A beautiful city and we will call this little place home for the next two nights. Complete with peach tree.

San Diego

 This morning we decided to have a look at Southern California. We drove down to San Diego. Our first stop was the Coronado Del Sol a historic hotel near San Diego.

Emily, Olivia and I went to the beach to look around while Mom and Addison went out in search of lunch.

The beach at Coronado shimmers gold. It is actually Mica from the cove. 

This is lunch. Megan says it is just like Italy.

Gelato for desert.

We went looking for the sea lions on the beach but after circling for about half an hour we had to give up on finding parking. We did find this beautiful beach while looking for a different park.

We started to make our way down to the beach when Megan got suspicious. She asked one of the ladies coming up the hill about the beach. We found that we were at Black Beach - beautiful but it is a nude beach and the most people down the were nude, so we called the girls back up the hill.

Also, don’t bother trying to enlarge the people on the beach in the previous photo - you can’t see anything I already tried it.

Near this location was also a major location for wind sailing - it may just be a coincidence that it’s over a nude beach.