Las Vegas, Nevada * Day Twenty-one 09-08-08

It looks like it is raining ahead. Does this mean we will see a glacier today?


We made it to Vegas! I am so excited.

We stopped at the Mall and these friendly girls invited us in to win some money.

I didn't win anything on this machine.

Just lost some dimes in this so time to move on.

I won 35 cents. I am happy and ready to leave and spend my big winnings.

This gold prospector has some big winnings.

We said good-bye to the pretty gals and headed to Hoover Dam.

Hoover Dam is located near Boulder City, Nevada.

We had a tour of the power plant. There are 17 commercial generating units.

I stopped to help this guy work.

I feel so little next to this.

These two guys also needed my help.

The arch gravity dam is 726.4' high, 1244' crest length, 45' crest width and 660'base width. The volume of concrete is 3.25 million cubic yards. This is a BIG dam.

This is the new bridge under construction across the Colorado River. The Arizona approach to left and Nevada approach on the right. The middle part will be built by the Hoover Dam Authority (if I remember correctly.) Presently the only way in this area to cross the river is over the dam, but semi trucks are not permitted.

This is a scale model of Hoover Dam. This shows the new road which is much higher. To the right is Lake Mead, America's largest man-made reservoir with 550 miles of shoreline and maximum depth of 498'.

We went to Las Vegas and drove down the famous strip. If we had been one day later we could have seen Donny and Marie.

It's five o'clock somewhere.

We drove a total of 375 miles today and spent the night in Mesquite, NV on the border next to Arizona. Tomorrow I get to see the Grand Canyon. I am so excited!

California, Nevada * Day Twenty 09-07-08

We drove through the area where gold was discovered in California and The Gold Rush began. This is rough country with mountains and steep winding roads. The Gold Rush people didn't have it this good.

Lake Tahoe is in California and Nevada.

I didn't know Mama Bev had a lodge here.

Nevada is another state that I had never been in before.

From the looks of all the bullet holes I wonder if they really do welcome people here.

The Silver State ranks 7th in land area and 35th in population. Las Vegas is the largest city and Carson City is the capital.

This is my favorite license plate.

A beautiful sunset to finish a beautiful day.

After driving 474 miles we stopped at the Clown Motel in Tonopah, Nevada.

Don't laugh! It was the least expensive, but one of the best that we have stayed in. It was newly redecorated and there were different clowns on every outside door. I recommend it.

I had fun meeting all the clowns.

Can you find me?

This is a fun place to stay.