Day 6: Boulder Dam

The first morning of February we put the Valley of Fire in the rear-view mirror.

Las Vegas's smog was nearly unbelievable. Apparently some find this place desirable?

There's a city of ca. 1.5 million hidden in that sludge.

E objected. We sped through, on I-15 paralleling the Strip so the girls could see just how ridiculous the whole thing is.

Anyway, we had a greater desire to see Boulder Dam, aka Hoover Dam.

The dam is well-hidden in the canyon; you don't get a look at it until you're right at it.

Melissa couldn't decide whether to park in Arizona or Nevada.

I wanted a picture of me and Ludwig by the dam.

This spillway tunnel has to be able handle 200,000 cubic feet of water per second during high water times. This has happened once, in 1983. Looking at the water level coupled with the current state of the world, I'd be amazed if it ever happens again.

There was an escalator. We went to the visitor center but you had to pay like $10 a person. So we went back up the escalator.

There was a bridge that we went over later, except you couldn't really see the river out the side windows, or the dam.

Right when we took the camera out, the Smaller One dropped trou and I cracked up.

You can see the ring of how high the water used to be and how low it is now.

Final proof that Ludwig (and also some random woman, at left) was there.

The road to Kingman.

Our plan to stay at a BLM campground near California's Easternmost point was thwarted, so we headed to Wickenburg for the night.

miles 39405.3-39726.6