Monday 4 April 2016

Goslings Go West - the Hoover Dam


Ahh the joys of having kids suffering jet lag.  We were up and on the road out of Vegas by 6am.  The kids had some cereal pots, and we had Starbucks.  No traffic, woohooo! 

About 30 miles outside of Las Vegas is the Hoover Dam.  We had planned on stopping here on our way to the Grand Canyon.  We were driving through Boulder City by 7.30am.  Boulder city was build around 1931 to accommodate the men and women who came to build the dam.  

We arrived at the dam about 8am and parked up.  It was nice and quiet.  All the guide books and info onlin advises arriving early to these popular tourist destinations, and we certainly did that! 

                              

An absolutely stunning feat of engineering.

                              

You can tell the era it was but in too. It is very Art Deco on many of the structures, with lots of gold plate.

                             

The Hoover dam is still a working hydro electric plant, and supplies Nevada, Arizona and California with power.

                            

Until 2010, this was the main access route between Nevada and Arizona.  After September 11th, US congress pushed though the building of a new high way to divert the traffic away from the dam. The 2 lane Hoover Dam bypass opened in 2010.  It is a spectacular bridge. The road over the Hoover Dam is closed on the Arizona side, though you can still drive over the dam, then turn around and go back again.

                             

What a view.  Pauls vertigo did not do well on this trip......






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