Hoover Dam And The New Bypass Bridge
So in my previous blog post I mentioned that we were in Lake Mead Recreational Area. In this same area, just 4 miles away actually, is the Hoover Dam.
We had of course wanted to tour the Hoover Dam. So we thought we’d wait out the weekend and go on a tour on Monday. Less crowded after all.
Well, what do “they” say about best laid plans?
The Hoover Dam gives tours every day, all day. Well, we apparently went the one day that they were not giving tours. Figures. We went all that way. Waited all weekend. And nadda. The park ranger in Lake Mead seemed to think something may have happened because they hardly ever stop tours for the day. Again, just our luck.
It wasn’t all for nothing though. We did go the day before to scope out the parking areas to see if we could fit with the rv. We could fit, but with one catch. We’d have to park the rv way up on a huge hillside and walk down to the dam. Doesn’t sound too bad, until you’ve seen the hill.
Nope, not where those cars are parked. Look closer. Way way up on that hillside behind them. Those tiny specks are more cars and rv’s parked. Way up there. That’s where we’d have to park. That’s about a mile or so away from the dam. And boy…are we happy we decided not to bring the rv the next day, Monday, when we wanted to take the tour. That would have been interesting to park, walk down to the dam, then find out their were no tours, then hiking back up that hill. Not my idea of a nice hike.
So these pictures were taken on that scouting trip that Sunday before. It was cool driving over the dam itself.
Look Way Way Up On The Hillside. That’s Where We’d Have To Park The Rig.
This Is Us Driving On The Dam, Taking A Picture Of The New Bypass Bridge
This is us driving over the dam. I took this picture of the new bypass bridge. The bridge just opened in October and is an engineering feat in itself. They have an area that you can park and walk up to the top of the bridge and look over the side. We were going to do that on Monday too. But alas, we did not do it. We were too upset and disappointed to do it when we found out about them not giving tours that day.
So after a couple pictures and pull over’s to the side of the road, David made a comment, and I have to agree, that the dam looks bigger when you see it in the movies. It was still pretty impressive in person though. We’ll be back for a tour and a bridge walk someday.
On our way back to the Lake Mead recreational area, we noticed an overlook area for the lake. So we pulled in their and took some pictures of the lake from a different viewpoint.
So not the way we thought the day would go. But it still turned out ok.
David, The Hoover Dam And The New Bypass Bridge
A View Of The Marina At Lake Mead. The RV Park That We Stayed In Is Towards The Left Side Of The Photo.
Brenda At The Overlook Area
That’s a nice “Brenda At The Overlook Area” pose!
Thanks. We try :)
Wow, the lake is really low compared to when we were there. Too bad you missed out on the tour. It’s really quite amazing to see how the power plant works.
We did notice the water line seemed to be really low. It’s interesting how you can see the water lines throughout the years. As far as the tour…we’ll be back. We’d like to do the tour and walk the bridge. There’s always next year!