Hoover Dam

Las Vegas is only an hour’s drive from the iconic Hoover Dam.  We drove out early around 9.00 to avoid the tourists.  The tour buses arrive around 10 am.  The day was hot and you could feel the sun penetrating your clothes.  I wore my cap which I bought at the Missouri Memorial in Hawaii – that was after leaving my woven paper hat on the front seat of the shuttle we caught to the Memorial. It was untraceable.:(

The structure of the dam is phenomenal – one of the modern wonders of the world.  It was precipitated by floods in the low lying areas where food crops were being grown and were subsequently wiped out and the depression at the time, when millions were out of work and this was an opportunity to earn $40 a week, a fortune in the 30s. The amount of concrete used was amazing and the video intro we had before the tour was facincating.  The tour through the tunnels lasted about 20 mins and we then were let loose in the display area to read more and look at the tremendous effort performed by the men who built it.

http://www.history.com/topics/hoover-dam
Publisher A+E Networks

We did a Power Station tour to look at the hydro-electric turbines and listened to the amazing talk about how marvellous the hydro electricity feeds thousands of homes and controlling the water has made growing food down river from the dam where the Colorado River is no longer  a problem for farmers down river.

There was nothing said but it was documented about the 96 men who lost their lives during the construction.  Some through accident and others through illnesses associated with being underground – pneumonia and tb showed up but they were not considered to be the fault of the work.

“Officially, the project had 96 construction-related fatalities —from such causes as falling rocks and run-ins with heavy equipment—but some sources contend the number likely was higher.”

This is  a sign (below) we saw twice at this venue.  We went through some security checks on our way in and had to remove everything from our wrists  and pockets.

We had icecream at the cafe and toddled home for lunch.  As we were leaving the Dam, the line of cars coming in was very long.  Glad to be leaving – it was very hot and we did not want to hang out with lots of tourists.

We went back to the hotel and had turkey sandwiches, then a sleep, then we looked at the pool.  We went to the outlets on the northside of the city and I bought a pair of very cool brogues in plum patent leather. We ate at the food hall there for tea, and had chinese.  Very nice too.

Later we went out to look at the casino lights and the strip to get photos. Saw the famous Bellagio water fountain with music and movement.

Moments after seeing this display – I lost my party.  A youngster of about 10-11 with a black long haired wig on and a hat and Michael Jackson music blasting out of a huge speaker in the forecourt of the Bellagio caught my attention.  I moved to my left with a swarm of others to watch this kid dance.  In the meantime, D and B were somewhere in the crowd.

After many messages to B and A on the Bellagio wifi through Skype and What’s App , and waiting an hour on the steps inside the hotel “Where I could be seen!” I went back to our hotel and low and behold if not 15 minutes later the other two returned also.

Lovely night overall and home in bed by 11:45pm