March 4, 2009 - Las Vegas is an interesting stop on the road trip for two reasons: 1. No way is one prepared for Vegas after being on the road for 48 straight days 2. All your nice clothes are pretty wrinkled by this point in the trip. Sarah and I still managed to have a good time for the 15 hours that we were in town. On the way out we drove down the strip from the Venetian to the famous Las Vegas sign. Notable pictorial omissions are Wynn & Encore, Mirage, and whatever else is on that end of the strip. Now on to the pictures.
I had to put this picture first because any other place it wouldn't make any sense. In reality I took this picture as we left town.
I don't think I will provide running commentary on each picture but rather throw in a few words where I feel it is necessary. To begin with my first thought is, and I always feel this way in Vegas, this place is RIDICULOUS!!!! 
Yes those are tower cranes you see in the picture. Las Vegas is one of the few places in America STILL building hotels. I was blown away by all the new construction since I was last here (18 months).
Someone correct me but I believe the Eiffel Tower "replica" at the Paris is actually life size.
We didn't get a good shot of the front of New York New York but they have a Brooklyn Bridge and a really cool NYC facade out front. Sarah told me they have all the famous NYC neighborhoods in the hotel too (Chinatown, Little Italy, LES). I hope they represent the UES with all the employees dressed in ultra preppy clothes and talking about their weekend homes in CT.
It is great to see the older hotels and how much they have aged compared to the "new" Vegas. I don't think there is a place on earth where buildings age faster than Las Vegas. Sarah and I were saying how the Venetian (9 years old) is even out dated.
The parting shot. It should read "Thanks For All Your Money"
After the strip we headed SE on HWY 93 for the Hoover Dam. Truthfully neither Sarah nor I expected what we saw. The Hoover Dam is a HUGE tourist draw and they know it. They charge you for everything there. On our trip this has been the ONLY national monument/park/forest where you need to pay to get into the visitor center and to park. We said FU to the visitor center and did our own tour. 
The dam is for sure more impressive than the Coulee Dam we say in Washington but it is much small in width. The reason the Hoover Dam is so famous is because of its height and its proximity to Las Vegas. 
The two states that the dam straddles (Arizona & Nevada) are building a new freeway that will by pass the dam allowing cars and trucks to miss the tourist show. I am not sure if this means they will discontinue allowing cars to drive over the top of the dam but in this post 9/11 world we live in I wouldn't be surprised (they did this in Coulee). Anyway the bridge they are building over the gorge is amazing. Look closely at the picture and you will see the arches of the bridge growing closer together. 
Here is another great shot of the new bridge.
These are the water intake terminals on the upper end of the dam. Water passes through these terminals down through the dam into the turbines that create the power and then out the bottom. Each tower is over 420 feet tall. 
No visit would be complete without the "couples shot". I have a new trick where I find two people taking singles shots of one another and I go tell them I will take their picture and then when I hand them the camera I ask for a little reciprocation. 60% of the time it works all the time. 
As I said the dam straddle the boarder between Nevada and Arizona so we were able to get another state line picture. So far we have only missed Washington and Nevada and that was because we were driving on interstates when we crossed the border. 
Hope all are well.
No comments:
Post a Comment