The plan was to fly Southwest Airlines to Las Vegas and spend the day touring Hoover Dam, which neither of us had been to before. Then the next day we would drive across the Mojave desert to Anaheim and spend the following 3 days at Disneyland, which we had been to in August for the first time and found to be super-relaxing and stress free.
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| Conveyors at Love Field |
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| Todd's closer to wild, but we're not going to New Mexico. Fueling up at Dunkin' Donuts; I know, but it's 6:15am at the airport and they're the only place open with breakfast food. Besides, we're on vacation! |
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| Hanna and "plane cookies" make the flight pass quicker |
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| Of course: slot machines at the gates and at baggage claim |
We landed at 7:30am, collected our bags, then hopped on the airport shuttle to the rental car building. We picked up our tan/gold Ford Focus and after a quick stop at CVS for sunscreen, headed straight to Hoover Dam.
We arrived around 9:30am. We parked in the Nevada side parking garage ($10) and went first to the visitor center to buy our tour tickets. Hoover Dam offers 3 ticket types: admission to the visitor center only ($10), a 30-minute guided tour of the power plant which includes access to the visitor center ($15), or an hour tour of the dam which includes the power plant section and access to the visitor center ($30). You can buy the first two online in advance of your trip, but the dam tour can only be purchased in person at the dam.
Coming up in the next post: the interior of the dam and a view from the Memorial Bridge.
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| Westward Ho! Ok, so actually Hoover Dam is Southeast of Las Vegas, but I swear it felt like we were headed west. I think that comes from the brief time (less than a year) I lived in Denver and used the mountains to navigate: mountains = west. I guess that's stuck with me some 25-years later. |
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| This shot was an accident, but look - there's 10 acres for sale over there. If interested, call (702) 561-7454 for details. |
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| First glimpse of Lake Mead |
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| Approaching the dam: Power lines and a dramatic change in landscape |
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| The first thing you see is the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, which was opened in 2010 and diverted US93 traffic off of the top of the dam |
We wanted to do the dam tour, because why go all the way out to Hoover Dam and not see all there is to see? We went through security at the visitor center and purchased our tickets which had a return time of 12:00pm. We used the interim time to watch a short film about the building of the dam, look at the exhibits in the visitor center, then walk across the bridge. Leaving the visitor center meant we would have to go through security again when we came back, but that was ok with us.
Side note: all of the staff at the dam were great and very helpful, but be prepared for the dam jokes (or joke, singular) that start as soon as you walk in and continue throughout your visit: "Which dam tour would you like?", "This is the best dam tour you'll do this year.", "I'll be your dam guide...", "Let's get this dam show on the road.", etc., all said with a wink and a nudge. It's kind of cute that it appears to never get old with them.
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| Not as long across the top as I imagined, but massive nonetheless |
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| There are 4 air vents on the side of the dam - as part of the dam tour we would walk to this one and get to look out (picture later) |
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| View of the bottom |
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| The power plants, one on the Nevada side and one on the Arizona side |
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| Canyon wall outlets used to bypass water around the dam in flooding or emergency conditions, or to empty the penstocks (pipes) of water for inspection/maintenance. See picture below. |
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| Photo from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation. www.usbr.gov |
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| Cantilevered electric towers to keep the wires from touching the canyon walls |
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| Towers and wires on the Arizona side |
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| Dedication monument |
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| Close up |
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| Looking down at the curvature of the dam, or as I like to call it: "Death grip on my phone." |
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| Another view |
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| A look at the Nevada side. The parking garage is in the center and also contains the cafe and gift shop. The structure with the copper-colored tower and green roof to the right is the visitor center. Tours start from there. |
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| Looking across the dam from the Arizona side |
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| One of the 4 intake towers and Lake Mead. Notice the white demarcation on the canyon walls - this is the high water mark from flooding in 1983. |
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| Arizona intake towers |
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| Nevada intake towers |
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| Here's how they looked during the 1983 flood. Photo from The Scientific Education Resource Center at Carleton College. serc.carleton.edu |
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| The water level today |
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| One of the spillways. The spillways have only been used twice - once to test in 1941 and again during the 1983 flooding. |
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| The incredibly scary giant hole the spillway drains through |
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| The Memorial Bridge |
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