about 9:45 to see the Hoover Dam. We missed the exit (there was nothing saying
Hoover Dam!), but realized that we just went over that new bypass bridge (more
on that later) so we were able to quickly turn around. The exit on the other
side of the highway is clearly marked. Hoover Dam actually has its own police
department. They made me open up the cargo carrier for inspection, but were
very nice in not really looking inside.
We parked on the other side of the dam (free in Arizona) and it was quite a walk
to get back to Nevada, where the tours are given. Of course, once we get down
into the building for the tour tickets, I realize I still had my sunglasses on.
So the crew gave me permission to go back to get my regular glasses so I'd be
able to see stuff underground. I was soaked already when I got back to the van.
I decided to move the van to a much closer lot, but had to pay $7. I was also
able to fit under a covered spot. It was a balmy 98F today, a tad cooler than
yesterday.
When we got thru security (x-ray), the guard sees us and asks where we're from.
Turns out his parents are from the Bronx and Philadelphia. He wished us a Good
Shabbos. It really is amazing to see how spread around our people are. One day
we'll all be together again, i"yh.
The Dam tour starts off with a short video on the making of the dam, from
conception to completion of construction. It's mind boggling to think how such
a massive project like that was done before the age of modern technology. It
would probably be a massive project even today with all the powerful tools, but
they had none of that then, and still pulled it off - ahead of schedule!! A
remarkable engineering accomplishment.
They then take you down 537 feet to where you are standing above pipes taking in
water at a rate of about 100000 gal/sec. You can feel the vibration underfoot.
Then you go to the turbine room. A massive room with eight turbines. You can
see the shafts spinning the rotors underneath. They also have a "mini" turbine
that powers the entire plant. There is no power brought in to the place. It's
all generated on site, and transmitted out.
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| Turbines |
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| View from the Hoover Dam |
The dam was built to help with the flooding problems in the area downstream, as
well as to provide fresh water to the surrounding states. The fact that they
generate a load of electricity is just a by-product. The largest man-made lake
was formed by the waters of the Colorado River pooling up before the dam (Lake
Mead). This is used as a reservoir for residents and farms, and a big recreational area.
Just a year or so ago, a bypass bridge was built. The dam was the main source
of traffic to cross the river. But the traffic was taking its toll on the dam, and security was
an issue, so they decided to build a separate bridge. It's dedicated in memory of Mike
O'Callaghan (a governor of Nevada) and Pat Tillman (football player for Arizona
Cardinals, killed in Afghanistan). After we were done with the dam tour (and
gift shop), we ate lunch in the car and went to the bridge to walk out into the
middle for pictures. Boy, does it get windy up there. I can't imagine what it
was like building that thing. It's a massive arch concrete structure. Along
the path to the bridge there are informational plaques about what it took to
build it. Arie recently had a tour of the Rutgers engineering program, and
interestingly, the civil engineer who was speaking mentioned how he would have
loved to have been part of this project.
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| View from the Bypass Bridge |
outing on "The Strip". First we went to the famous Las Vegas welcome sign. I
showed Shani how all the people in front of us went all the way to stand under
the sign for their picture, but then they come out as specs and you see mainly
the sign. So I showed my gang where to stand to get the best of both subjects
- the people AND the sign. And it looks like we are right beneath the sign
anyway.
We then parked the van at the MGM Grand. They have an eight foot clearance, so
no problem for us. We saw the lion habitat exhibit at MGM (two tigers that
sleep for most of the day), then went to the M&M's store, then to the Coca-Cola
store.
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| How can you decide which color to get?? |
The Bellagio does a water show in their front garden every hour, so we got to
see that. They have water fountains spewing up in rhythm with music/song. Kind
of like a fireworks show, but with water cannons out of the lake.
Then Arie met an old friend from school at Caeser's Palace. He's gotten to know
him really well ever since freshman world history..
Then to see the "erupting" volcano at The Mirage and the gondolas at The
Venetion. The Venetion has some really cool interiors where the scenery and sky
are painted so realistically, you really think you've gone outside - both daytime
scenery and nighttime scenery. The line was too long to do the gondola ride.
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| This is actually indoors!! |
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| Again, indoors!! |
Harrah's back to MGM. We went in and asked the first person for directions to
the station. She proceeded to tell me, and I could tell she had an Israeli
accent. So after she finishes, she (of course) asks where we're from and where
we're going. Then I see her name tag and it says Tova (a Hebrew name - my
daughter's and sister's middle name). So I tell her we're going to Los Angeles
for Shabbat, she wished me a Shabbat Shalom, and we're on our way. There were
many other Israelis that we encounter as well (tourists) in various places. One
guy offered to take a group picture, then jokingly starts to dash off with our
camera. Guess he thought he was in New York.
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| Took it while stopped at a traffic light. The bright light is actually the streetlamp, but kind of looks like the setting sun or the moon |
We finally (!) get back to the car at around 9:00PM. We decide to go back to the
place we went to last night (Jerusalem Grill) where my sister had treated us to dinner.
I wanted to try a different place, but was outvoted. The food was excellent,
but I figured we could still try elsewhere. The food was excellent again -
except the waitress seemed to have forgotten to place Naama's order, so her food
didn't come out until we all were almost done. So the waitress apologized and
surprised her with a yummy dessert, which all the other kids "shared" with her.
As we left the restaurant and were back in the van ready to go, a young couple
were getting into their car parked head to head with our van. They had just
left the restaurant also. He started motioning to me and saying something, but
I had no idea what he wanted. I figured something was wrong with the van. Then
he starts to come over and we roll the window down and it is clear then that he
was looking at our NJ license plate and saying "Did you really drive all the way
here?!?!" They look inside the van and are amazed that we had done it. Then
again, they thought Shani was in the van the whole time, not that she just met
up with us here. But why let that fact get in the way of a better story? So
she thought that would be so cool to do (I think they might have been from
Florida) and he was less than thrilled with that idea. So they wished us well
and we were off.
So it was a looooong day, and need to get up early to head to Los Angeles. We'd
like to get there in time for lunch. They're actually closing the 405 freeway
down starting Friday evening, and we don't want to be anywhere near there when
that happens. They're calling in Carmaggedon due to the ridiculous traffic
there even when it's fully open, let alone closed to demolish/replace some
bridge. It's being closed until Monday morning.
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