Incredible Trip to Sin City

Hoover Dam from the bridge

Walkway to get up to the bridge

So Jeff had another conference in Las Vegas and we headed out right after our cruise.  I was still sick (although far better than I had been on the ship) and figured the dry desert air would help.  Prior to Jeff having to get stuck in class all day, we decided to get some sightseeing in and, as neither of us had been down to Hoover Dam since construction of the new highway, thought we'd spend a day checking on that.  The highway goes over the gorge created by the river so, when you're standing on the highway viewing platform, you're actually above the dam.  This photo doesn't really capture how far up you are above the river.

To get up to the viewing area at the highway, you have to climb a pretty steep trail with switchbacks.  The trail itself is paved but it's really a long way.  You can either take the trail back and forth, or climb stairs that are put in occasionally.  Either way, it's quite a hike! Then, you're up at the highway and you walk along what would really be the shoulder of the road.  There are concrete barriers between you and the traffic but that traffic moves pretty fast! It's a one-way walk, too.  You walk out onto the bridge to get your photo and you turn around and come back the same way to get back to the parking lot.

Welcome sign on the way to Hoover Dam

Huge Rosemary bush near visitor's center

I thought maybe there might be something interesting in the Visitor's Center so we parked in the parking structure and, while coming out, spotted this enormous rosemary bush.  It had little purple flowers all over it and smelled heavenly. There not only was nothing interesting in the Visitor's Center, we decided to grab a sandwich which we were there and it was absolutely the worst food either of us had had in a very long time!  We made a brief stop in Boulder City to do a little gambling but we both lost so that wasn't great.  Found a great Packers bar on the way back into Vegas and learned from the bartender that her brother still runs a bar in Wisconsin.  Also spotted a Welcome to Las Vegas sign on that end of town, which I had never seen before.