On Saturday morning we decided to go check out Hoover Dam. We haven’t been there since they completed the new bridge, and it would be the first time for William’s girlfriend, Jasmin.
We all – (Self, Stilla, William, Jasmin, and little Coach) piled into Williams’ rental car (a VW Jetta) and took lake Mead Blvd to Lakeshore Rd through Lake Mead National Recreation Area. I was able to save us the entry fees by showing my disabled veterans access pass.
Here’s a view of downtown LV from the outskirts (below).
The Lake Mead National Rec Area wasn’t too spectacular (no cliffs or cool rock formations)… but then again – we’re probably spoiled from the beauty and grandeur of our recent Lake Powell visit. We drove by the Lake Mead RV Village, but didn’t have time to stop and check it out this time. Here’s a map.
When we exited the National Rec Area near Boulder City, we stopped at the Alan Bible Visitor Center before heading over to the Dam.
There was a nice terrain model and interactive display of the Lake Mead area inside the Visitor Center:
I tried to get William & Jasmin to hug a cactus…
they didn’t fall for it 🙂
We headed over to the Dam.
Here’s the new bridge…
We couldn’t park in the main visitor center parking lot because we had little “Coach” with us. The parking attendant told us we had to go across the dam to Parking Area 9 and someone would have to stay with the dog 🙁
Stilla stayed in the parking area with little Coach while the rest of us walked out on the Dam.
William & Jasmin walked across the Dam to the Main Visitor Center while I went back to Stilla and Coach at the car. I drove back across the dam to pick them up on the other side after ~15-20 minutes. Unfortunately, Will & Jasmin found the Visitor Center was temporarily closed for renovations.
We drove back to the parking area for the Mike O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge: “An arch bridge in the United States that spans the Colorado River between the states of Arizona and Nevada. The bridge is located within the Lake Mead National Recreation Area approximately 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, and carries U.S. Route 93 over the Colorado River. Opened in 2010, it was the key component of the Hoover Dam Bypass project, which rerouted US 93 from its previous routing along the top of Hoover Dam and removed several hairpin turns and blind curves from the route. It is jointly named for Mike O’Callaghan, Governor of Nevada from 1971–1979, and Pat Tillman, an American football player who left his career with the Arizona Cardinals to enlist in the United States Army and was later killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire.” (ref. Wikipedia®)
Once again, we couldn’t take the dog along. Huge signs in the parking area prohibit pets on the bridge and leaving them alone in the parking lot. This time, I stayed with little Coach at the car while Stilla, Will & Jasmin walked up the steps to go out on the bridge walkway.
After Stilla and the others returned from the walkway, we drove across the bridge to see what it was like… unfortunately, the bridge has high concrete sides so you can’t see anything while driving across 🙁 I guess they want tourists to stop at the walkway.
We returned to our spot at the Main Street Station RV Park and hung out until dark. Then we drove a couple blocks over to the Neon Museum Boneyard.
And just our luck… the museum was closed for a private event 🙁 We’ll have to come back another time.
I drove Stilla, Will, and Jasmin down to the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino on the south-side of the strip. They hung out with our daughter Joleen and her boyfriend Dylan (and others) until late in the night. I drove back to the Coach and watched some TV until 11 PM or so, and then tried my luck in a couple of the casinos near our RV park and Fremont Street. I’m still ahead (right now)… hopefully we can stay that way 🙂
Check back later to see what we’re up to next… my Mom, Stepdad, brother Steve and his girlfriend Cheryl are due to arrive here from Casa Grande, AZ on the 26th. I reserved them a spot. We’re looking forward to that 🙂