Month: June 2014
Last day in Vegas. About 1h away from Vegas lays one of the most impressive dams / lakes: Lake Mead formed by Hoover Dam. Lake Mead is the largest lake / reservoir in the US at maximum capacity (which it did not reach since 1983 due to various causes – let’s not get into the climate change debate just yet).
How was Lake Mead formed? Well, it’s a combination of nature and careful human planning: do you remember that river that carved the Grand Canyon (name is Colorado river)? Well, guess what! It’s not done yet. Hoover Dam is built on the Colorado river and led to the natural creation of Lake Mead. Here is Hoover Dam:
Doesn’t seem like much, right? Well, Lake Mead is big – it’s 110 miles (180 km) long when the lake is full, is 150m at it’s deepest and can hold 35km^3 of water (that can be used for irrigation and to produce electricity for Nevada, Arizona and California). So, while it might look small, it’s just part of what we actually see.
Hoover Dam is the one that is “responsible” for Lake Mead, so here is a peek down the wall. Long way down, right?
Even closer to the edge, looking down.
As you can see, it was a very sunny day in the middle of the desert (mom actually got sick from all the sun). But in this picture, like two bosses.
One thing I should mention – Hoover Dam sits between two states: on one side is the Nevada state (with Las Vegas just miles away) and on the other side, it’s Arizona state. The Colorado river flows through a couple of states before heading to Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. At Hoover Dam, there is a commemorative plaque that tells you through which states the Colorado river flows (in this picture, Colorado, California and Utah – also, Arizona and Nevada).
Last but not least, here I am at the border between Nevada and Arizona. Not very exciting to be within two states at the same time. It’s almost as if the state lines just belong to a map, not excising any force in the vicinity of their physical presence. Oh, wait…
Disclaimer: I did not help fill Lake Mead, but this sign is funny:
Even after turning a corner, we can only see a small portion of the lake. I understood it’s best seen from airplane / space station:
Over and out – done with Vegas. The story goes on – we went back to Seattle, I went to work for a week and then headed for the Big Apple – pictures coming soon.
/cd
After the North Rim, on the same day, we got to Las Vegas in the evening. So, around 10 PM we walked a bit outside to walk on the Strip and see the show. At 10pm, the temperature was still upwards of 90*F (30+*C). Luckily enough, pretty much the entire city runs on air conditioning, so as long as you are inside, you are comfortable.
We walked on the strip left and right, trying to avoid all the drunk people – remember, this is around 4th of July weekend, so the city was pretty full. Besides the drunk people, also trying to avoid the shady guys that give away “business cards” for strippers / hookers. Impressions for the night: hot, drunk people, dirty people, party people (the age average must have been around 30) and, last but not least, opulent people – everybody wants to show off that they have money. One other thing that I did not like was that this place is a bachelor / bachelorette go-to and this is something I don’t get, it’s like a custom to come here and the people that come here for this event seem imagination-less (booze, strippers, maybe gambling and go crazy). Seems like pre-defined “fun” to me (yes, I know I am a rebel and extremist). Anyway…
The Strip – it’s the main street in the city and it hosts all the big casinos in Las Vegas. And again, this is the epitome of opulence – in the middle of the desert, build an entire city (based on A/C), with artificial pools (I have to agree that the fountain in front of the Bellagio is nice and impressive):
And yes, things are impressive because they are there and they are special, but after a while, all of this is getting to me and in my eye. The strip is full of all types of casinos and hotels and entertainment places (the hotel in the background is where we were for our stay).
There’s architecture everywhere, there are paintings, but … at least to me, they seem out of place – the styles, patterns are mixed and in the end I think that the whole concept of insert of ancient architecture in everyday life (like in the picture below, inside a shopping mall) is just … kitsch.
Also on the strip are some highlights from other cities – there is an Eiffel Tower replica (smaller size, see below) that hosts some restaurants, a Brooklyn bridge, a Pyramid hotel and others that I don’t remember. The city, the people and the constant distraction and stress to my senses (skin, eyes, ears – did I mention it was loud?) took their toll on my memory.
The casions are not disappointing, though – I liked the mix of technology and games and it was everything that I saw in the movies (and imagined). And the casino floor spreads for thousands of square feet / meters. An interesting interior was in the Bellagio:
This is a picture taken around 1-2 AM. How come? Well, the ceiling of the shopping alley is painted and lighted in (quite realistic) sky colors. At some point I lost track of time and was wondering why I was so tired in the middle of the day – took me a second to realize it’s the middle of the night and that I’ve been driving all day.
We walked around some more until late in the night up and down the strip and enjoyed the “cooling down” of the city. Next picture is outside the Caesar’s Palace casino:
And this one is in a botanical garden arranged inside the Bellagio casino.
Overall, Vegas is an interesting city, definitely worth visiting for a couple of days – but not the kind of place I would go back to except for the activitiesspecifically (they have lots of shows, you can drive sports cars in the desert and other fun activities) or for photography (drunk people usually make for interesting subjects).
This was my Vegas adventure, one day left.
Catalin