The first leg of our trip was a short drive out to Hoover
Dam. As we were driving along we could see Lake Mead in the distance from the
highway. Then you have to get off the highway and drive down a little two-lane
road. It seemed odd to me that this behemoth was accessed by a neighbourhood-type
road. I realized though that this is the way they traveled back in the day, on
small roads over the dam as the highway and bridge wasn’t built yet. So I felt
a bit like I was passing back in time. Well not that far back, the bypass
bridge was only building in 2005 which, by the way, is call the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat
Tillman Memorial Bridge.
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| Like this only USMC green |
The first thing you come to once you are in the park is the
gate and a security check. Since we were in a truck with a cap we were pulled
over for an “extra” security search. Now, remember, I used to do anti-terrorism
training when I was in the Navy, so I watch these things with interest. The
gentleman walked up to the truck and asked Bruce if he could see in the back and
they walked back for an inspection. So far so good. Less than, maybe 3 minutes,
Bruce was back and that was it. Three minutes! We had a lot of crap packed in
the back of the truck because we were going camping. Bruce had 2 huge Army-style
storage containers, they were green and very military looking, you couldn’t
mistake them for anything else. The guy just asked him what he had in them. “Food”
Bruce replied and he said “Okay.” AND THAT WAS IT. We could have had a howitzer
in there for goodness sake! The trainer in me was freaking out because this is
a very big target if you ask me. But then we were on our merry way without
having to take the truck apart so it was all good.
Driving across the dam is pretty cool I’ll tell you, and boy
was it windy. Not breezy, not gusty, no…south coast of Newfoundland windy! Ah
but I had my trusty $100 hat and it was firmly and securely on my head. I would
expect nothing less with a $100 hat. I was going to get my money’s worth with
that hat.
One of the first things I notice was all the brass, not just
on the door knobs or something small, they had walls of it. The military in of
us shuddered thinking of having to polish all that brightwork—almost like a bad
acid trip in cammies.
The second thing I noticed was how low the lake was. Not
just a little low. I mean, wow! I may
not drink another glass of water until it rains, low. I know we’ve been having
an epic drought, we have to live it, but to see the affects was unbelievable.
To give you an idea, I found the photo on the left on the internet and the one below it is the one I
took of the same intake towers.
Speaking of the intake towers, don’t you just feel like they
going to start yelling “Exterminate!” Okay for those of you scratching your
heads right now go here. The
rest of us are looking for our sonic screwdrivers. I wonder if that’s where
they got the idea for the Daleks? WHO knows. Okay enough of the puns.
What we also thought was a little funny was that the
electrical towers were slanted down the side of the cliffs. A good earthquake
and poof.
So, the dam was built from 1931-35, the height of Art Deco,
one of my favourite art styles. And boy did they go to town! From the clocks
on the intake towers, one for Arizona and one for California, (because Arizona
is “off kilter” time-wise half the year IMHO), to the statues it just oozes Art
Deco. Bruce said the men’s restroom was very luxurious with brass doodads and pedestal
sinks. I’ll have to take his word for it although I was tempted to give him my
camera. So I went into the women’s washroom thinking, oh goodie this is going to be great, and was very disappointed. It was
just a regular industrial washroom, nothing special except for the Navajo floor
design in the lobby (it’s 2 stories). Then I realized that since all the
workers were men the women’s washroom was probably an afterthought and done
years later for all the tourists. Perhaps but I was disappointed. (I’ve since
Googled the men’s washroom and well, meh.)
But then I saw the statues and I was in love again! They had
to be one of the most beautiful art deco displays I’ve ever seen. Gigantic, mesmerizing,
aspiring, stupendous…well you get it. But there was a little voice in the back
of my head saying, this looks very Nazi. I couldn’t help it. There was something
about them that reminded me of all Nuremberg rallies. They were too perfect,
too straight, too Aryan.
But I still loved them and they photographed well,
once I got all the damn tourists out of the way. And the patina on them was so beautiful.
So that was our tour of the Hoover Dam. After than we went
over to Boulder City and had lunch at a little pizza joint run by a little old
lady. We had a good Philly-style sandwich. If you’re ever in Boulder City go to Tony’s
Pizza, it’s pretty good.
Okay here are some trivia
facts about the Hoover Dam, it’s a real cool video so watch it! And get this, it
was built 2 years ahead of schedule and under budget. Wouldn’t happen these
days.
Next, trying to camp and a wonderful surprise in Williams.
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