Ah, Las Vegas - the bright lights and big city! We had been in national parks and the desert prior to this, so we were ready for something different. Well, Vegas is certainly something different!
Our RV park was a little north of town. As we drove up interstate 15 we could see the large casinos in Las Vegas. Actually, ever since crossing the state line we could see casinos! They seemed to be at every stop on the interstate.
We were advised to visit Fremont Street, the home of "classic" Las Vegas. Well, we did that, but it struck us as sad and tacky, although they did have a cool zip line down the center. We found out later that there is more action here in the evening when there are light shows and live music, so maybe we just hit it at the wrong time.
It was easy to drive around the city, so we went to the area where the new, oversized casinos are now, the famous ones like Caesar's Palace, Belligio, Venetian, Circus Circus, New York New York (these places are so big they have to be named twice!). We walked around and went into the slot machine area of New York New York.
The Luxor - with a pyramid and Sphinx.
MGM is the largest hotel/casino.
The Hard Rock Cafe (complete with Elvis impersonator in front). We had a nice (but maybe noisy) dinner there.
We auditioned to be the house band but didn't get too far... There are screens all around the place where music videos are playing. At one point Matthew was singing along with one when a manager walked by. He was impressed and high-fived Matthew. We didn't tell him that the song was also covered by Alvin and the Chipmunks and Matthew knew it from a video game.
We found an M&M store. This was perhaps Matthew's favorite spot! More flavors than you can imagine!
The next day we drove about 30 minutes east to Hoover Dam, which creates Lake Mead. The dam is on the border between Nevada and Arizona and you can talk across the top of the dam from one state to another (and one time zone to another). We took a tour of the internals of the dam to learn more about the history of the project. Here are 30-foot pipes that carry water from the reservoir to the generators on the downstream side of the dam.
Our tour guide, explaining the layout of the dam, etc.
Walking through some of the tunnels. Kind of creepy, actually.
Here is one of the generator rooms. There are two - one on the Nevada side and one on the Arizona side.
The story of the dam is fascinating. Construction started in 1931. This place was so deserted everything had to be brought to the site. Plus, some items were so large (like the 30-foot pipes) they could not be transported by rail or road and they had to be constructed on site. Conditions were hard but the project was done two years ahead of schedule and below budget!
Back to the surface...
This is looking down river. The bridge was completed just two years ago. Until then, traffic went over a two lane road at the top of the dam!
These are some statues that used to be mounted on the dam. Very art deco, 1930s style.
It is said that rubbing the toes of the statue brings good luck. Never the one to pass up an opportunity, Beth gave it a shot.
We returned to the commercialism of Las Vegas and celebrated our final night there with a wonderful dinner at Rain Forest Cafe. After this it would be back to the wilds of national parks!
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