The Hoover Dam 12/30/06

On our return trip from the Grand Canyon, we stopped by the Hoover Dam.


















The dam is adorned with statues and memorabelia since it was quite a feat to construct something this huge in the 1930s. I suppose it would be a big deal today, too.


















We took a tour of the inside of the dam. They explained how the dam was built... what an engineering accomplishment. Cooling tubes to cure the cement. An onsite steel manufacturing facility (most of the steel tunnels were too big to transport). Enough concrete to build a sidewalk around the equator.












And the end result was this...












































Notice the crane at the top left in the picture below. They have now begun to build a bridge over the river. Currently all traffic goes over the dam, and it moves very slowly. All traffic will use the bridge in 2008. I had to stop and enjoy the view knowing that the next time we go back the bridge will likely be finished.












Hiroe took time to continue pursuing her life's work.



























That's Lake Mead, the largest man-made lake in the states. It was created when the dam was built. The water was incredibly blue. A bit different than the Mississippi in Minneapolis.












This is the backside of the dam. The water reached as high as the upper water line several years ago and stayed there for two months. When it gets that high they have to let all water bypass the dam, and that usually means flooding downstream.












There is a concrete shelf in the foreground of the above photo that is also shown in the photo below. That shelf was covered with coins. All of those poor people who made a wish then missed the water. Unfulfilled wishes for people with poor aim. When you're down, you're really down.


















After touring the dam we returned to the airport. In the terminal there were several murals on the walls showing other cities in the world. It was kind of fun to see how residents of Las Vegas see the rest of the world. In Minneapolis it seems we have pink airplanes, an octopus, a yellow skyscraper, and Macy's.












And then there's Tokyo. Seems things have changed since we were there last summer. The peak of Mt. Fuji filled in. Some new Hiragana (or Katakana or Kanji) has been created. And lots of Chinese people are riding the Shinkansen.

The Grand Canyon 12/29/06

On Friday we spent the entire day at the Grand Canyon. Well, we did sleep in and we did hit the jacuzzi that evening. But in between we were at the Canyon. It was about 5 deg. celsius and not very windy. Quite nice actually.












There are many spots to take in the view. There is a "rim trail" that is paved and runs along the south rim of the canyon. We walked that trail for about 1-1/2 hours.













There are people in the photo below.































This was at a rest spot that I particularly liked. They had great hot chocolate and fresh baked chocolate chip cookies.












We then drove to this spot at the the west end of the south rim.













The view was fabulous.






































This is a hiking trail in the valley of the canyon. There is a lodge at the bottom (Phantom Lodge) if you choose to spend the night there. My understanding is that it takes about 6 hours to hike down and 10 hours to hike back out. We left that for another trip.

























Hiroe spent some time continuing with her life's work...






































...until this guy showed up. Actually he had a pretty cool old 4x5 wooden camera. Complete with the black sheet he put over his head.












I don't think the scenery was quite what he had hoped for as he didn't stay long.


















In all, a great day at the Canyon.

The road to the Grand Canyon 12/28/06

Before heading out of town for the Grand Canyon, Hiroe wanted to try her hand at a slot machine. Let it be known that Hiroe is not a gambler. If you have money, you put it in the bank. However, they offer penny slots in Vegas. Yes, you can bet one penny. She put the first penny in a slot machine without a handle on the side. You just push a button to bet. Not very satisfying. And it didn't payout either. We then found a penny slot machine with a handle. Her second penny went into that machine. One pull of the handle and the machine quickly displayed four 7's (out of five). She hit the jackpot! Her net gain from this experience? 29 cents. She was smiling for hours. :-)


















With the winnings in our pocket, we left Vegas for the Grand Canyon.













This is typical scenery for the entire trip...












It got quite beautiful after sunset.






































We stopped for dinner in Kingman, Arizona. They're pretty proud of being on Route 66...


















The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful, for a Minnesotan. It snowed. People stopped to put chains on their tires. A Range Rover from California pulled over to let us by. The funny part is there was about 1 inch of snow on the ground. Silly people.

Vegas continued 12/27/06

On Wednesday we went south along the strip to check out the other hotels. The first stop was the Bellagio. Between Ceasar's Palace and this place it's a toss-up as to which one is more outrageously appointed. When touring these places it's easy to picture Andy Garcia from Oceans 11 walking through checking on his employees.































This is one of my favorite scenes from the trip. It's the ceiling in the lobby of the Bellagio.


















At this point Hiroe found what she's calling her "life's work." Photography. But it's not photography of scenery or even other people. It's photography of me, doing photography. Below is her debut. It's me photographing the ceiling of the Bellagio (the above photo).


















Below is another area of the Bellagio. Hiroe is in the picture, just to the right of the Christmas tree. Really.













My cutie.













Exploring deeper into the Bellagio we found this fabulous shop. Jean Philippe Patisserie. Very French. Very delicious.


















They were decorated for Christmas, but this was not the highlight of the shop.












One real highlight of the shop is the crepes. Though we were full from the buffet at Harrah's, we still had to order one. Each.












The other highlight is this fountain. They claim it to be the world's largest chocolate fountain. It was easily twice as tall as I am and contained three kinds of chocolate.


















And finally the coolest part of the Bellagio. The fountains in front that are synchronized to music.












After leaving the Bellagio we went to New York New York. Inside they had an interestingly named restaurant...













We also rode the roller coaster. I had remembered the roller coaster as being fairly tame. So we rode it. It wasn't so tame. Hiroe was not impressed.












Lastly we went to the Luxor. It's the hotel shaped like a pyramid. There Hiroe found a friend.