The following day we decided to just walk The Strip and check out all the well known Casinos. The one that stood out first, unfortunately, was Trump’s golden Tower. It literally looked like a giant gold bar! We then made our way further down where we came across the Venetian. It was just as I had remembered it from my last stay in Vegas, a mini Venice. As cheesy as some parts were, it was a pretty cool Casino/hotel.
Unfortunately other casinos that I had good memories of were no longer the same.
Treasure Island had been a favourite of mine last time I was in Vegas. Those who have not been to Vegas, but have seen Miss Congeniality Two, will know what I mean when I say that it used to have a really cool pirate show. This pirate show was free to the public and you could watch it from the sidewalk. Now both ships are restaurants, as is the whole front of the casino. It was disappointing.
Anyway, we continued down the strip, looking in Paris, Luxor and Excalibur, where we stopped in and had a couple of drinks. All of these places were very impressive, but unless you are a big partier or gambler, which we are neither, they were kind of boring after a while. Once we had finished our drinks, we made our way to New York New York. This was and still is one of my favourites in Vegas.
New York New York literally feels like a mini New York City. It also has the added bonus of a really awesome rollercoaster on the side of the building. I had been on said rollercoaster before and as Adrian is not a fan of rollercoasters, we didn’t ride it this time round. We did however gamble a little. Alas, we lost! However, it is still my favourite casino.
After a good nights rest, we were still exhausted from the day before and Adrian was starting to get the flu, we arose fairly early and made our way out to Hoover Dam. I had only ever seen this from the air before, but it looked and sounded impressive, so I had insisted to Adrian that we should visit when we were in Vegas. Well, it did not disappoint!
The dam area was busy, as had most places been in the US. So we paid our entry fee and booked our dam tour for 1:30pm. While we waited we went to the top of the dam where there was a museum and where we read up on the construction and history of the dam. We learned that the dam was built in the 1930s to help sustain life in Denver, Arizona, California, Nevada, and even Mexico. Without the dam and the hydro electricity, many towns, farms and cities wouldn’t have survived. President Hoover (he did not name it after himself, President Harry S. Truman signed off on that name) commissioned the Dam and within four years the Dam was completed. We also learnt that there is enough concrete in the dam to build a four lane highway from LA to NYC or to build a four foot pavement around the Equator.
Soon enough, it was time for our tour. We were taken about halfway down into the guts of the dam. Once again we were told about the history and the specs of the dam. We were also shown through some very ornate tunnels. Apparently the guys building the dam had a feeling that one day people would want to walk through the dam, much like we were doing, so they used pretty tiles and patterns on the floors and walls, as well had brass doors and even some jade. It was the height of style and very reflective of 1930s style. The guide also informed us that the dam was not actually fixed in place, but designed to be flexible so as not to crack under the pressure of large bursts of water. Apparently the dam has about 1000 years in her before she is due to collapse.
We also got to walk down a very specific tunnel and look out through one of the four hatches in the dam wall. From here you got a different perspective of the dam as well as some incredible views. Specifically the bridge connecting Arizona and Nevada. A newish memorial bridge known as The Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge and quite a sight to see itself.
After the tour was over we made our way to the top of the dam. From this part of the dam, you could see back behind to Lake Mead, man-made by the implementation of the dam. . Due to an 16 year drought the water level was looking fairly low. The capacity is actually currently sitting at only 37% and whole islands were now visible that would be underwater when the lake is at capacity.
We then had something to eat and made our way up to the bridge where walked across and saw the entirety of the dam in all its glory. It was definitely worth the visit.
After stopping at the visitors centre, where we saw some little desert critters and resident desert tortoise (who only emerges for two months a year) , we got our route map and begin the 13 mile drive around the canyon.
First stop were these impressive and very large red boulders known as the 'Calico Hills'. They were a stunning sight with a beautiful red and white colour running through them and they were also fun to climb.
We then made our way around, stopping at various viewing points for some photo ops along the way. We then missed our turn off for the planned walk we had in mind, so we had to do the loop again. Which turned out to not be such a bad thing as we saw a roadrunner on the side of the road. Something which had become the theme of our holiday. Get lost, see cool wildlife. So far it had been a black bear and a moose, now a roadrunner.
Anyway, after looping back round, we found our turn off and started on our little 3.6 mile hike to La Madre Springs. There are many more hikes out that way, but as Adrian was under the weather, we thought it best not to over do it. Plus, this hike came with the chance to see the (so far elusive) big horned sheep.
The hike was cool, with spectacular hills and scenery. We saw some really cool blue birds and the droppings of the sheep. However, we did not come across any actual sheep.
Soon enough it was time to head back to Vegas and get ready for the evenings festivities. It just so happened, that whilst we were in Vegas, Grouplove, a band we both really enjoy watching live, were playing at the Brooklyn Bowl. So after some really delicious sushi, we found our way over to the venue and rocked out for the evening with our $10 US beers in hand. Despite the overpriced beer, the venue was super cool and of course the concert was awesome.
The next day it was time to leave Vegas and make our way to Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon.
Holly.
Fantastic Hol xx
ReplyDeleteThank you. :)
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