Hoover Dam: Take the Dam Tour

On our Vegas vacation we stopped at one of the most amazing places I have ever seen: Hoover Dam. It was beautiful.

We took the tour of the dam which began with watching a short film on the history of the dam.

Going under ground in the dam is a little nauseating. If you are claustrophobic, do not go. It is very small and they cram a lot of people down there. It's very deep and you can hear the millions of gallons rushing around you. Down in the dam you get some more information about how deep you are, how many gallons are flowing around you, and how big the pipes are.

In the Dam we could see the blasting holes from when they created the dam. We learned the construction of the dam took a really long time. They had to divert the river on both sides of the dam before blocking it off completely to create the dam, which created Lake Mead, generating a great deal of electricity for the area.

It was interesting walking inside the dam because it was a lot like walking around inside a cave. In all reality it was really a cave because it was hollowed out underground tunnels. I really don't know how deep we were, but it seemed like we were pretty far underground.



Once we came out of the tour we stood on the backside of the dam and saw a beautiful bridge going over the river, which is an amazing site. It's a beautiful view.  The dam sits on the Nevada/Arizona boarder so during the winter it has two different time zones. (Arizona does not change time during daylight savings; therefore, in the spring they are the same time zone. There are clocks positioned on one side of the dam with the name of the state over them)


Overall,  Hoover Dam was spectacular site to see because it is truly an amazing accomplishment. It took a long time to build and many people lost their lives in making it. The tour guide explained to us that there were no men buried in the actual cement or in the structure. I guess people ask that a lot on the tour.

Hoover Dam is an example of how man has had to change the environment to survive and thrive. Harnessing nature we do have the power to enhance our way of living. If only we use it properly.



One major thing concerned me on this visit, the water level. In the pictures you will see the the white spots just above the water line. This is where the water used to be less than 20 years ago. Water is disappearing rapidly because there are so many people living in these areas. It's making the dessert drier. I wondered where it will be in the next 20 years. 

The Neon Museum in Las Vegas

 I went to the coolest place in Vegas. At least I thought it was. It was full of old neon signs from the strip and surrounding areas. The place even included one from Utah. It was a museum, outdoors, in a "boneyard". The signs all had their own history and the tour guide told us about neon, how it was used in the sign process, the art, and the meaning behind many of the signs.





They had a very exciting collection of signs and detailed information about the casinos and motels that used the signs. We learned about the history of Binions, and how it was the first casino in Las Vegas to have carpet. It was also the first casino to ban allowing horses into it. The name: Horseshoe Casino.

Another interesting thing we discovered was Las Vegas isn't only famous for it's wedding, it is also famous for divorce. Nevada has very relaxed rules on divorce, so "Divorce resorts" were set up for people to live at and claim residency at for several weeks in order to get a divorce faster. This is still popular.



 

Some of the signs were illuminated and others were not. It would be extremely expensive to have all the signs on every night. The museum in non profit and the land for the bone yard is rented from the city of LasVegas for $1 a year in order to keep it open.  The building is the rebuilt La Concha Inn and has some pretty exciting architecture.




One of the newer pieces they acquired was the
sign from the Sahara which closed not to long ago. The sign is in really good shape and it was donated to them. The signs they receive are donated to them, but this is still really expensive. The signs cost a lot of money to create, like millions of dollars, they are also extremely heavy and they take a lot of labor to be moved and reset in the bone yard. When they are very old they contain a lot of rust and broken glass from the bulbs. This can be hazardous in the moving process.

Some signs, like this duck, cost a lot of money. This duck was made for a car dealership and cost them like two million dollars. Obviously they went bankrupt. I think that happens a lot in Vegas, go big or go home.





Thank you to my sister in law Julie for the idea to visit this museum! It was very interesting!