Another Dam Day

Good morning, my friends. For as many times as we've visited Hoover Dam and the Memorial Bridge, it still leaves us awestruck every dam time. I'm going to post pictures from yesterday's visit, but I would also encourage you to visit two posts from previous visits. Since I'd taken pictures of some of the things we saw on yesterday's visit and posted them previously, I skipped over those things during yesterday's visit. (I have a bad habit of taking way too many pictures.) 

In this old post, we took the tour of the dam. You can see photos of the inner workings of the dam and how electricity is produced. You'll also read some information about how it was built. In this post, it was our first time walking over the Memorial Bridge, and that was well worth a second visit. Now...several visits later, we'll still visit again the next time we're in Boulder city. It never gets old.

Before we left, I baked some skillet cornbread. This is Debi's Skillet Cornbread. I turned mine into a "for two" version by scaling it down to 1/3 of the original and baking it in an 8-inch skillet.

I haven't done much cooking this trip. We've been living on leftovers I brought from our freezer at home. Actually, I'm surprised they've lasted as long as they have on this trip.

Okay, so descending the hill out of Boulder City, there's a pretty view of Lake Mead.

There's the sign I was looking for a few days ago. It's much closer-in than expected.

We saw several signs warning us of the presence of big horn sheep. In many years of visiting this area, we've never seen big horn sheep here.

Okay, so sit up and look innocent. We're heading through dam security.

I think this level of security was instituted after 9/11, but I'm not certain of that.

They wanted to look in the bed of our truck. Mike thought ahead and removed our extra five gallons of diesel fuel before we left. I doubt that would have been allowed. It took just a minute or two for that inspection, and then we passed through the gates.

Our first stop was the parking lot for the Memorial Bridge.

Here's a closer look at the medallion above.

From the parking lot, one must do this zigging-zagging back and forth ramp. We opted for the stairs on the left side of the image below.

As usual, we need to get the rules straight before we can walk out there. If you're wearing roller skates, you'll need to remove them. Also, no climbing on the walls or railings. I'm thinking that won't be a problem when you see how far it is to the river below. Oh yes, and no amenities. If you were thinking there might be a mini bar here, you'll be disappointed.

"Act responsibly." As if.

You could easily die out here, so you might want to dial 9-1 on your phone right now to save time in an emergency.

All right then...here we go. We're standing on the Nevada side here. On the far side of the bridge, you'll be in Arizona.

Here are the numbers about this bridge.

And here's a timeline of its design and creation.

And, whoa. This view never gets old. Hoover Dam is recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of America's Seven Modern Civil Engineering Wonders. 

At the middle of the bridge, one crosses the state line, as indicated by this inlaid medallion.

Nearby, one is standing at the apex of the arch.

Obviously, I couldn't get a picture of the actual arch, but I captured its shadow.

Okay, and then we returned to our truck and drove on to the dam. As we passed by, I caught this image of the bridge.

Here's a different angle.

Just outside the dam's parking structure is this statue.

We'd forgotten our dually truck is too wide at the rear for the parking structure, and so we were directed across the dam to the Arizona side.

We're visiting two states today.

After parking, we walked down the hill to cross over the dam on foot. And, once again, let's get the rules straight before we go. If you're packing heat, you'll need to leave that behind. Also, no smoking of the "devil's lettuce" while we're here. No food, but if you're hungry, there's a cafe on the Nevada side. And no pets are allowed. What kind of pet do you suppose is pictured on the sign? Is it a seal? Hm. 

Standing on the dam, we had another good view of the bridge.

Oh yes...and no running. 

Here, our shadow selves were very tempted to climb on this wall. They have a penchant for doing whatever they're told not to do. We gave them a stern warning.

This is one of those times where I couldn't stop taking pictures of the bridge. I could take a picture standing here...

But then, it was just as inspiring five feet to my right.

This sign is located on one of the structures there.

Although I've seen this flag pole and statues several time, I recently learned from my friend, Dorothy, that this is a 26,000-year Astronomical Clock. 

You can read more about it right here. I'll admit my eyes glazed over trying to understand this. This is the inscription on the ground portion of the monument.

The article I've linked to will give you an artistic interpretation of these statues.

I was told that rubbing their toes would bring good luck, and I'm always up for that. 

There were a lot of people here, but I was able to capture a clean photo without strangers when we walked back from the gift shop.

Here's a closer look at the words below the flag pole. The flag pole, by the way, is 148 feet high (around 15 stories).

Gazing out at the lake side of the dam, it looks like this:

We noticed this survey marker on our way back to the truck. For some reason, I am inclined to take a picture every time I see one of these.

This one was seen at Michigan's Grand Haven State Park.

This one was taken in Grand Teton National Park. I'm sure there are more, but that's enough for now.

We were nearly back to our truck by then. As we approached the truck, I noticed the colorful landscape off in the distance.

Okay, and that was our day. We were hot and tired from so much walking. We headed back to the RV for lunch, Mike's Lemonades, and naps. 

Today we're going to have a "life happens" day. We need a few things from the grocery store, and we need to pick up some things at the local Walgreen's. Aside from that, there isn't much on the agenda. We're looking at taking another short hike, but that will probably be for another day. Also, we want to make the drive up to Las Vegas. We've learned of a botanical garden at the Belaggio Hotel & Casino. It's free to the public, and open 24/7. We'll save that for some cloudy days in next week's forecast. 

As for today...probably mostly slow-stitching and hanging out. Maybe some photography. We'll all find out together how the day will play out.