HOOVER DAM, HENDERSON, NEVADA

Oct. 10^th:   Next destination was Virgin, UT via Hoover Dam.  

Understandable as it was the security check at the entrance of Hoover Dam was over the top thorough.  I was surprised I did not get a body search.  Every corner of my trailer and car were searched.  

The weather was cool and perfect for a walk.  After visiting some of the pullovers, Molly and I hiked to the top of Memorial Bridge.  I was so proud I walked so far uphill.  Even Molly was panting.  However, at the top I met another security guard who said dogs were not allowed out on the bridge.  After that horrendous hike, I was not about to be dissuaded.  With the tourist season officially over, I pushed my luck just a bit.  “Will you watch my dog while I walk out on the bridge?”  “No, sorry I can’t do that.”  “Well, I thought service dogs were allowed?”  “That’s a service dog?”  “Absolutely, she mends my heart every time it’s broken just like now.”  Without a word the guard turned around while Molly and I slipped by on the bridge.  The guard just smirks and turns his back again when we return.  There are such good people everywhere.

Just a bit about the dam itself.....Hoover Dam spans the Colorado River between Arizona and Nevada, some 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas.  Constructed in the 1930s the concrete arch-gravity structure was intended to prevent flooding as well as provide much-needed irrigation and hydroelectric power to arid regions of the states like California and Arizona.  It was originally known as Boulder Dam, but was renamed in 1947 in honor of Herbert Hoover, who was instrumental in getting the dam built.  At 726 feet high and 1,244 feet long, Hoover Dam was, at the time of construction, one of the largest man-made structures in the world.

Lake Meade

Top of Hoover Dam

This is too high for me!

Hey, you with the camera, get me down now!

Yikes

Memorial Bridge

Face of the Dam from the bridge.

Good Grief!  First she gets too close to the edge of the dam where I’m sure I’m going to take a plunge, then wears me out on a hike followed by bamboozling a FEDERAL guard and takes me out on a bridge where I’m almost blown to kingdom come!  I think this day needs to end.

                     

Moving on with Molly comatose in her backseat apartment, the scenery begins to change into something quite interesting.  We are heading north where Nevada and Utah come together.

We took a side trip into Echo Bay, but the place was deserted… well, not completely.

A Coyote?

Oh yes, and he looks hungry, roll up the damn window!

Helicopters?  We didn't hurt the coyotes, honest.

I get it.  They shoot to kill.  Outta here, please.

Okay, our side trip was a little weird.  Didn’t I say this day needs to end?