Viva, Las Vegas!

Since our last blog post, we have left Flagstaff, AZ and the Grand Canyon area headed for Hoover Dam and then 3 nights in Las Vegas, NV. After "Vegas" we will begin our trek easterly with a 2 night stop-over at daughter, Linda's, in Morenci, AZ to pick up a major portion of our traveling gear which we had stored there.

When in Las Vegas, I gave some thought to continuing on to Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean cause it was only 200+ miles further west just to say we've been there. But, we decided to head back toward the Atlantic coast and Melbourne, FL instead.

                       (Just can't wait to hug Karen and Harry & Diana and Emil).



Anyway, our visit to Hoover Dam was a little disappointing. The structure itself was quite impressive with a height of 756 feet, Lake Meade at 110 miles in length and with 550 miles of shoreline behind the dam, and the dam's discharge sending the Colorado River coursing through Black Canyon below was pretty awesome.

The cost for us to tour the insides of the dam totaled $67. But, what's inside a dam? Not much for the money. Just the generator turbines and concrete. Concrete and more concrete. The dam is 660 feet thick in concrete at its base and 75 feet thick at its top. My recommendations.... - see it from the outside for free, skip the $30/person inside tour.

This photo is looking downstream into Black Canyon from the top of Hoover Dam.

The Las Vegas Strip

Then it was on to Las Vegas for a 3 night stay at the "Santa Fe Station" Hotel and Casino. We spent our 2 days walking the Las Vegas Strip and visited about a dozen well known casinos (Caesars Palace, MGM Grand, Planet Hollywood, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, etc.) taking in their free show events, eating good food, drinking good beer and good coffee, admiring the elegant architecture, and straining our ageing leg muscles (the "strip" is a couple miles long - and it's down and back yet).

The "Venetian's" canals

This photo to the left was taken inside another of the casinos we visited, The "Venetian". You could ride in a gondola both inside and outside the complex. And of course, the gondolier would serenade you as he propelled the boat through the interior "canals". Pretty cool.









Photo to the right.......

My favorite bar stools. Found in the "Rain Forest" cafe at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino.







So, as I post this blog update, we are back at Linda and Jim's in Morenci, AZ after a 514 mile drive yesterday from Las Vegas. Will do some laundry, repack the Ford Explorer, go rock hounding tomorrow and head out on Thursday morning for the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, then perhaps "The Alamo" in San Antonio, Texas, and for sure, an overnighting in New Orleans, LA with an evening on Bourbon Street. For the coming week, we'll be heading into the rising sun as we travel I-10 from Arizona, through New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and into Florida.

Until I post again.........

                      
                             "Viva, Las Vegas"!
                                              (She's a table dealer at Caesar's Palace)
                              (She might have taken my money, but I took her picture, Ha!)