Side trip to the Hoover Dam - it was less than an hour away.
In 1928 congress authorized $175 million for construction of a dam on the Colorado River to control destructive floods, provide a steady water supply to seven Colorado River Basin states, and generate electricity. It is considered one of the seven wonders of the industrial world.
Lake Mead
The water level seemed to be down quite a bit. It was really, really windy.
You can see how far down the water is.
Here's the turbines - there are four of them.
Here's an overflow tunnel thingy ... one on each side of the river ... they're huge.
It is 275 feet high - equivalent of a 70 story building. 660 feet thick - more than the length of two football fields at the base. Construction required 4.4 million cubic yards of concrete - enough to build a two-lane highway from San Francisco to New York.
Jenny's having a bad hair day.
New bridge in the background.
Here's the new bridge - they are still working on the decking. The road leading to it looks like its ready though.
Boulder City was built by the federal government to house 5,000 construction workers on the Hoover Dam project. A strict moral code was enforced to ensure timely completion of the dam, and to this day, the model city is the only community in Nevada in which gambling is illegal. Hoever, there are two casinos at either end of Boulder City - just outside the city limits. The city continues to be kept alive by the management and maintenance crews of the dam and Lake Mead.
Its a vibrant quaint and fun little Southwestern town. We ate at the Coffee Cup Cafe - featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. The decor was fun and the food was really, really good. I had one of the top two popular items - an omlette that sounds gross - but was really good. Pulled pork with green chilles and cheese (remember, this is inside the omlette) with a side of homefries and toast.
After the Hoover Dam we went to Ethel M's Candy Factory
Chocolate might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about Vegas ...
Ethel M was founded by Forrest Mars, Sr., the patriarch of the Mars candy company (of Snickers and Milky Way fame). Mr. Mars retired from the family empire in 1976, but, not being the kind of person to put his feet up on the front porch, he decided to build a new factory where he could make fine chocolates the way he remembered his mother making them when he was a child. His mother's name was Ethel, and many of her recipes and methods are still used to create the confections named in her honor. You do a factory tour - sort of like the Cape Cod Potato Chip Factory on the cape. Not much to see unless you happen to be there when they are actually making something ... but at the end are the samples ... there was some kind of brittle (not peanut or almond, I can't remember what kind of nut) but it was EXCELLENT! ADDICTING!
In addition to the chocolate factory is one of the most beautiful and extensive desert gardens in the country. It covers over three acres and boasts over 350 different species of cactus and other desert plants and trees - COOL!
I had been wanting to see a saguro and they had several.
My battery ran out so I couldn't get more pictures. There was even a purple cactus named purple pancake ... so cool. Its amazing to see so many different varieties of cactus. Just don't get evolution. Why would cacti evolve into so many different varieties ... doesn't make sense ... I can understand adaptation ... but if evolution were true, wouldn't there just be one super cactus that had all the good elements of all the other cacti. What would be the purpose of the purple pancake cactus????
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