The Westward Trek

Following the Railroad Trail hike, I went to Hoover Dam for the grand tour, after Carly was refused admission at the parking garage. Thus, Carly and Janice were returned to camp whilst I soaked up the inside story on Hoover Dam. For those tempted to take this tour, or any other dam tour, be advised that if you’ve seen the inside of one dam, you’ve seen ‘em all. One of the most interesting facets of this tour was simply trying to figure out what the tour guide was saying. I suppose that Hoover Dam tour guides are the dumping ground for the rejects at the Las Vegas casinos. If you can’t deal blackjack or spin a roulette wheel and want to stay in the Las Vegas area (why?), you apply as a tour guide at the dam. Apparently you don’t have to speak clearly, that’s for sure. Ever heard of a ‘jennu-ritter’ ? That’s what makes the electricity inside the dam. How ‘bout a ‘tower-bin’? Also part of the dam apparatus. People in the tour group were rolling their eyes and looking at each other, as in, “Hey Mabel, didya get that one?” The fact is, many in the group were Nascar holdovers from the weekend races (why else would you wear a cap with nothing but a "7" or a "24", plus a Budweiser logo?) They were somewhat challenged to start with, so Hector the tour guide certainly wasn’t making things easy for them.

Of the one hour or so allotted for the tour, approximately 40 minutes was spent waiting for elevators down and up. A real thrill!

Next on the entertainment roster was a trip into the City of Sin. Originally we were scheduled to meet with a real estate agent regarding the potential sale of Casa Julie. The agent politely gave Janice a horse-laugh over the phone, because there no longer is a real estate market in Las Vegas. Kaput!

Finally, we attended a matinee show at the Luxor to see the ventriloquist Ronn Lucas, who we had attempted to see in December during our last swing through town. This is the gent we saw performing at the Calgary Stampede last summer. A good show.

We broke camp at Lake Mead and headed to Death Valley, with a gas and water stop in Pahrump, which appears to be a growing burg. We arrived in Death Valley, with Julie following a few minutes behind. We are in the ‘slab city’ Sunset campground for 3 more days of dry camping. Lotsa yellow wildflowers. Should get some pretty good pics here.