The desert oasis awaits!
My next stop was the Hoover Dam and that glittering jewel of Nevada, Vegas!
The first stop was the Hoover Dam itself. Coming from the North, Janelle and I drove right through the city to reach the dam, but it was well worth the effort. The Hoover Dam really is an engineering triumph. New construction techniques were developed for the dam that are still being used today, and the power generated by it has more than paid for construction.
But the dam wasn’t actually built to provide hydroelectric power. It was made first and foremost to control the Colorado river, which often flooded, and to create reliable agricultural for the entire Southwest. Water flow through the dam is entirely dependent upon water needs down river, and all electricity generated is purely a byproduct.
It’s an incredible structure:
What you can’t see in this picture is a) how incredibly tall it is, and b) how incredibly hot it is. Seriously – we ran outside to take this photo as quick as we could. I couldn’t even see what was on the screen of the phone, but it didn’t matter, because it was about 115+ (degrees F) on the deck. They have people faint every day outside during the summer.
What’s perhaps more amazing is how it was built: 2 years ahead of schedule and under budget. The engineers developed a new method of cooling concrete so that it could be constructed, burying water pipes through each giant block that makes up the wall and pumping ice water inside. They achieved a max rate of 35 feet/month. Without the system, the dam’s concrete would have taken over 150 years to set. Another fun fact: there’s so much concrete in the dam that you could build a 1-inch thick, four-foot wide sidewalk around the equator with it.
It was hazardous work, but an incredible achievement.
After wandering around inside and seeing the generators and massive water pipes (that had to be manufactured on site because they were so big), we headed back towards Vegas for the rest of our stay.
I had no idea what to expect. Our hotel was the Excalibur, on the main strip. I have to admit, I really didn’t care for it, or Vegas, all that much. It was smoky, looked cheesy during the day, and was filled with many, many questionable individuals…
But there were a few experiences that were definitely quite fun, and made the stop enjoyable.
It might not be any surprise to anyone, but Vegas really shines at night. As ironically appropriate as that might seem, it is cool to see all the lights flashing along the strip, urging every passerby inside the massive casinos.
I played in two poker tournaments while I was there, both at the Luxor. I actually did pretty well, considering, and was close to finishing in the money.
The first tournament had 29 players in it, and I snagged fifth place. Sadly, I was literally two hands from being in first, second, or third and in the money. But I don’t blame the cards – I made a few bad plays earlier that left me vulnerable when I tried to take a high starting hand to a win and lost. The real bummer was the fact that at one point the table was interested in chopping the winner’s pot (everyone splits it evenly, or sometimes weights it slightly for the heavy favorites based on chips). Everyone was fine with it – except one guy. Naturally, that guy got eliminated in 4th, and got nothing.
I seemed to like fifth place, as I grabbed it in the second tourney, too. If you’ve ever played poker, you know the pressure to try to take someone out when you think you’ve got good odds. The problem here was that I was in a great position, made the right read, and just couldn’t get the right card to fall. I had the low pair on the flop, with a flush and a straight draw. I correctly guessed the other guy had the high pair, with kings, but was in a tough spot because I needed a lot of chips to go against one of the leaders. I gambled, and unfortunately, lost.
But overall, I felt pretty good about it. I felt like I had some good room for improvement, but also played well, and wouldn’t mind doing it again in the future.
On the final day, Janelle and I enjoyed dinner at the ‘Cravings’ buffet at the Mirage, and walked all the way along the strip, stopping in the shops at Caesar’s and the Bellagio. Both the Bellagio and Caesar’s were considerably nicer (and less smoky) than the other casinos, and had a ton of really cool (and very expensive) shops. We had more than a few great experiences, and I had the chance to try on a beautiful $168,000.00 Breguet watch. I’ve added it to my list of potential buys for the future. : )
Overall, we had a great time going through the shops and examining everything on display, including some really neat art and photographs by a guy named Peter Lik, and meeting a man called Damon, who was a wonderful Cartier representative.
Overall, Vegas was fun, and worth the stop. Next up, the deep desert of Twenty-Nine Palms. Until next time!
