Dam Fine Day

We had a great repeat visit to Hoover Dam yesterday. We've visited before, but yesterday's visit brought us a whole new perspective. When we left the RV, Sadie was napping in a sunny spot on a pile of quilts. She knows what she likes.

Boulder City bills itself as the city that built Hoover Dam. I'm going to show you a lot of pictures, but you can read more about the amazing construction effort at the link I've given you. It's original name was Boulder Dam, but the name was changed to honor the man who was president at the time construction was started. Would it surprise you to know this was a controversial renaming? It didn't take place until the Truman Administration.

If you have a chance to visit Hoover Dam, you should do it. We have been many times, and I can remember visiting as a child. We never get tired of seeing it, and it seems we see a new viewpoint each time. One must submit to a security check...a remnant leftover from 9/11...it's a quick check. As we drove toward the checkpoint, we were treated to these views of the relatively new Memorial Bridge, which is also an engineering marvel. 

We tried to park in the parking garage, but it turned out our big dually truck was not going to be able to negotiate the twists and turns of the parking garage. We were told to drive across the dam to the Arizona side and park in "Lot 9." As it turns out, parking in the garage costs $10 per car. Parking in Lot 9 was free. I can recall driving across the dam when I was a child. The main highway used to go this way before the Memorial Bridge was built. It was kind of a treat seeing it this way.

Sure enough, on the far side, we crossed the state line into Arizona.

For an hour or so, we were on Mountain time.

After parking, we got out and walked back to the Nevada side, and this was a view of the dam we'd not seen before...or if we had, we'd both been children at the time.

Here, we got a good view of the spillway, and (unless I'm mistaken) I believe this was how the river water was diverted while the dam was being constructed.

Here is the sign that accompanied the view above. Remember you can click on the picture to make it larger.

We were, of course, well versed in the many ways we could die out here. And, as you might imagine, our shadow selves were up to their old tricks. It clearly says "Danger: Keep Off Wall," but what did our shadow selves do, but jump up on the wall right away. We really just shouldn't take them with us when we do this sort of thing. When the sun shines, it's unavoidable.

You can see the level of the water here. In Lake Mead speak, this is known as the "bathtub ring."

From here, we were on the lake side of the dam. Notice the near completely vertical walls of the dam.

On the other side, you can contrast them with the concave shape.

From there, we had a great view of the bridge too. Planning of the Memorial Bridge was begun in 2001, and construction was completed in 2010.

Of course, hydroelectric power is generated here. We learned that Boulder City enjoys electric rates 30% lower than in other parts of the country. On both sides, the towers supporting the power lines are wedged at 45 degree angles.

Also, we could see people walking on the bridge. Well...that got us terribly excited. We needed in on that.

As we walked back to the truck, we noticed this surveyors marker in the sidewalk. For whatever reason, the elevation (second round of lettering) was never included.

We drove back to the Nevada side to the "Bridge Plaza" in order to walk on the bridge.

Okay, now I really feel I must warn you of the many ways you could die out here. 

As we prepared to face our fate on the bridge, we were entertained by this wall of superlatives related to the bridge. It doesn't seem to be the "est" of anything, but it comes close in many categories.

You might recall that we visited the Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado about 18 months ago. You can read my post about that bridge right here.

To get up to the bridge, one must negotiate this system of stairs and ramps. (It's wheelchair accessible.)

We could see a good view of the support structures. The engineering that went into this is simply marvelous. Those structures extend thousands of feet into the air.

This is the walkway that will take you from Nevada to Arizona.

Along the way, we noticed when we crossed the state line.

Here, we took the requisite selfie.

Then, walking on about another 20 feet, we came to the apex of the bridge.

Here's how the dam looks from there.

On our way back, we noticed the rock anchors that were used to stabilize the hillside.

From there, we headed back to the brewery for some lunch, and then back to the RV for naps. Mike still wanted to ride his bike on the Historic Railroad Trail, but I felt as if I'd done enough walking for the day. I worried I'd make my shoulder hurt if I didn't call it quits. And that was fine for both of us. I used the time he was riding his bike to make these Deep Dish Fudge Brownies for Two in Ramekins.

When they came out of the oven, they looked like this. As it turns out, they were a little underbaked, and the middles collapsed as they cooled. And that was okay, because it left a nice little space for a scoop of vanilla ice cream to nestle. Underbaked, or not, they were delicious. I'll definitely make this again. I've come to the conclusion that my combination convection/microwave isn't good for baking, and I need to use the propane oven for that. The hot air being blown around in the convection causes the tops of baked goods to appear dry and finished, while the inside is still not fully baked. Mike saw this as a reason to try this recipe again very soon, only this time, baked in the propane oven. Sounds good to me.

We have no plans for today. That doesn't mean we won't do something. It just means we haven't decided what to do. It could just be a quiet RV day. For sure I'll be stitching up the next inchy. Here's the one from yesterday.

I'm just waiting for today's to be posted, and then I'll get to it.