Frankly, My Dear, You Give A Dam

Before I begin my post, I wanted to send a special congratulations to Miss Nevada for winning the 2014 Miss America pageant! My prior entry about Miss America contestants was really popular so I figured you all would enjoy that link. If you would like to learn more about the other contestants, you can read about them here. How fitting that she won right in the middle of my posts about her home state!

Speaking of Nevada, the very first excursion I booked was for the Hoover Dam using a Groupon from the Hoover Dam Tour Company. 

My sister and I were picked up at our hotel at 9:20 am and we made a few stops at other hotels to pick up other tourists. We were transported to what looked like a huge bus depot, where we boarded a coach bus to take the drive out to the Dam. On the way out, our driver told us a few stories about the housing boom and bust that had recently happened, as well as some tidbits about the Vegas economy (and thanking tourists such as ourselves for being such a large chunk of it). There was a documentary playing about the construction of the Dam, but I think I was the only person that was actually paying attention to it. 

A view from our drive

After about 20 minutes or so we made our first stop at Lake Mead- a man-made lake created by the Dam that is a popular tourist attraction in its own right. Everyone got out and took pictures, and the driver got some sort desert critters that looked like squirrels without tails to come up to the area we parked in by feeding them peanuts. I didn't get any good pics or video of them-- they were really hard to see due to their sandy colored fur.

Lake Mead

Yours truly at Lake Mead...pardon the squinty look
It was SUPER hot and sunny that day

We stayed there maybe 10 minutes, and headed on to the Dam. We went through security screenings very similar to an airport before we were truly inside of the Visitor's Center (TIP: Outside food and drinks are not permitted. Only bottled water!) There, we watched another movie about the making of the Dam (this one was maybe 10 or 15 minutes long) and then were lined up to be split into groups to enter the Power Plant. We got to see all sorts of inner workings there, but as we just had the general tour, we weren't permitted to get up close and personal with the machinery. 

Power Generators inside the Dam

Tour guide explaining how the water in the Dam works and is diverted

One of the Large water diversion pipes

After you left the Power Plant, there was a mini museum dedicated the history and construction of the Dam. It gave insights into how the public felt about the construction, what engineering and financial hurdles the project managers faced, as well as what the lives of the workers were like. There was a replica of one of the generators you could walk through, and then a part that talked about all the accolades the Dam has won as well as how it has affected the region's economics and ecology. I especially liked that they highlighted the role African Americans played in the construction of the Dam.

Display about workers in the museum portion

Photo of some of the African Americans that worked on the Dam

But, most people come to the Hoover Dam to take pictures of the Dam itself. There are two observation areas once you get outside, as well as the original Visitor's Center and a few cool statues dedicated to a lot of things related to the Dam. We stayed out there a total of maybe 20 minutes. It was SUPER hot (over 100 degrees) and really bright out, so all that light reflecting off of the light colored Dam was a bit blinding. I got a few shots of the Dam, the Colorado River, and the statues though. (Didn't want to disappoint my readers!) The original Visitor Center has a 10 minute movie you can watch, but we had to get back to our bus by then and didn't have time to stay.

The Hoover Dam

The view down

Colorado River and the Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge

Statues near the Dam

After we boarded the bus again, we were shuttled off to Ethel M Chocolates where because we ran over at the Dam, we only got to tour for about 20 minutes. From there, we were all dropped off at our respective hotels. 

I enjoyed my trip to the Hoover Dam. It's one of those American Icons that you hear about, and I was glad to check it off of my list.

I've got a few more entries to go for Nevada, and then my next "new" state won't happen until July-- when I venture off into Oklahoma! In the meantime you can look at the rest of my Nevada photos on my Facebook page.

As always, thank you for reading, and we'll see you on the next adventure!