That is One Big Dam !

Once our time in Las Vegas had come to an end, we decided we should go check out Lake Mead and Hoover Dam before we left the area. We drove the bus to a campground right on the lake, but the water was so low, we had to walk over a half a mile to stick our toes in it.  The wildflowers below what should be the waterline were very vibrant against the desert sand and stone colors.  The water was very cold, but it was still worth it to stick our toes in just a couple miles above Hoover Dam.

Chas and I had driven across Hoover Dam in 2010 as we drove Blondie the Mercedes across the country after purchasing her on Ebay in San Diego.  The bridge that diverts through traffic around the dam was still under construction then, so it was nice seeing it completed this time around.  Driving across the top of the dam, you are really not aware just how high above the river you are until you walk to the edge and look over.  If you look in the pictures, that show the view over the edge, you can see cars and trucks at the power houses and they are just specks from that height.  The girls had a lot of fun walking across the dam, especially after I told them they were drinking dam water.

We didn’t hang around on the dam for more than a couple hours since it was getting late in the day.  The girls attention spans were rapidly shortening, so we headed back to our Lake Mead campground to have a little campfire and talk about the size of project required to build the dam in that rough canyon.  They still talk about drinking dam water every chance they get, and I can’t help but smile when they do 🙂  Back at the bus, with our campfire crackling, we decided to open our first young coconut and try coconut water direct from the source.  This was an unexpected bonus for our trip, you should try it if you feel the need to possibly chop off a few fingers.