Our Big Fat Trip Out West/Day #2-Vegas/Hoover Dam

[keishashadow]

After not going to sleep until after 3 am, found ourselves ready to go by 8 am the following morning...creatures of habit...it was 11 am 'our time'...a recurring issue

Streets were nearly deserted, already getting hot though. We crossed the street toward the Bellagio. They have those countdown lights to give you an idea of when the light will change. A good thing, since it took us longer than we had expected to cross all those lanes of traffic.

We went up the escalator in lieu of walking up the long drive to the hotel, hoping to catch the people mover i had heard about...nope, being maintained lol. Found out that everything in Vegas is further away than it looks must be because it's so flat?

pic from stationary people mover across street to Paris (DS 1/2 asleep & hot, already 90

Finally, got to the lobby...so elegant and refined...ahh...exact opposite of PH lol.

On other side of lobby there was an elegant conservatory (think ala the crystal palace, with beautiful gardens)

LOTR tree-beard perhaps?

Walked back over to check out Paris, casino was very interesting. FYI, it's okay to drag kids thru them, as long as they don't go near the machines (stay on the different colored carpet). Different from on the cruise ships where they may pass thru, but have to keep moving. Allowed for ma & pa to drop a random quarter or 2 in as we toured

their fountain

1st time i had used my little outlander bag (yes, it's lime green); just right amount of space due to pockets, etc.
arc replica, evidently guests drive thru it to main lobby-cool

; PH is building on right

Didn't want to miss the breakfast buffet that came w/our pkg, headed next door & found it down on the lower level...kept feeling as though we were on a scavenger hunt. I do believe they want you to get lost...drop change ala bread crumbs.

Buffet was excellent! Not sure what they call it now (hotel was bought by PH/Sheraton from Alladin via bankruptcy sale? things still in process of rennovation); i'll call it the Spice Market. One of the better breakfast buffets i've seen top quality. All the traditional dishes plus many international offerings.

Seemed as though we had just arrived, time to retrieve the SUV & head out to the Hoover Dam for a quick stop on way to overnight @ the Grand Canyon!

 

[keishashadow]

It took us longer to head out of Vegas, hit local traffic, etc.

Wound up going long way thru Boulder City (GPS went nutz ), throw back sort of town, nice.

Stopped to get a peek @ Lake Mead off in the distance

back in SUV, soon upon the security checkpoint & on our way down the windy hill to the site. So many electrial towers @ such strange angles

we parked in the garage & walked out to the gorge, hard to believe the work involved here in the construction

very windy!

looking further south, you can see the concrete pylon to the right where they are building the new bridge to allow for traffic/security, etc.

looking straight down, the spillway area

across the spillway, more electrical towers

Looking north, toward the actual dam

Decided we'd work in the tour of the dam, since the line still wasn't long @ 11:30 am,waiting for the tour into movie, transformers!

After a movie & elevator ride down, we entered a tunnel...walls were solid rock & very wet

1st room was the intake area, many lives lost here during construction

and the turbines

after we took the elevator back up to observation deck, we walked on the dam itself, very high indeed.

had to get on the road to the Grand Canyon, since we wanted to catch the sunset @ 7:30 pm, figured if we left @ 1:00 pm, we'd have plenty of time since it was supposed to be a 5 hour drive from Vegas & we had already driven a hour . Problem was, we kept finding reasons to stop & gawk, the scenery was like nothing we had seen before. My son was determined to run thru the desert lol

Hit major construction on way from Williams, AZ; up to GC...starting to worry we'd: a) run out of gas sitting for over an hour and b) miss the sunset. Made it with an hour to spare!


link to day #1-Vegas
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1907329

 

[tlinus]

The scenery is something else out there!!

Great beginning to a wonderful trip - have to see more - you know, the trip report that I am!!!!!

 

[bubba's mom]

i'm in awe.... that scenery just amazes me. To think the dam was man-made. to think GC was nature made

Too bad you didn't get more time in Vegas....you seemed to really enjoy it there

eh...all the reason to go back

 

[keishashadow]

I cannot believe how many pics we took, mostly of hoover & Grand canyon areas, topography was so different from anything we've ever seen

barb- this was the living out of a suitcase trip, back to Vegas for day 3 & 4

im claustraphobic, had no problems until i saw the walls had many trickles of water running down them...kept waiting for a major leak ...although it's managed to survive this long.

Don't think i mentioned that my grandfather (long departed) was one of the peeps who worked on the project (really big money for the time) as an immigrant who was working his way across the country from San Francisco area. Eventually, settling in western PA of all places as a coal miner. So it was sorta neat in that regard wondering what exactly he did

if you've ever been in that cave @ Niagara Falls under the main visitor's center on the Canadian side, it's sim...just way more leakage

 

[RVGal]

Yes, leaking water when in a tunnel knowing that there is that whole huge lake up above is more than a little freaky.

Did you like your DAM tour guide? Did they give you all the facts about the amount of concrete poured and the stats about when it will be finished curing? I can't remember exactly, but I remember being amazed at the numbers.

 

[keishashadow]

Yes, leaking water when in a tunnel knowing that there is that whole huge lake up above is more than a little freaky.

Did you like your DAM tour guide? Did they give you all the facts about the amount of concrete poured and the stats about when it will be finished curing? I can't remember exactly, but I remember being amazed at the numbers.

yep, that was a funny line it was far more interesting that i had expected...

now into the desert we go to the Grand Canyon

 

[KimAshton]

 

[KimAshton]

Opps double posted.