Hawaii Vegas Connect: October 2023

Monday, October 30, 2023

Hoover Dam 2023

All the marketing materials describe Hoover Dam as an "engineering feat" and that is no lie.

HOOVER DAM IS AN ENGINEERING FEAT!

I am just in awe of this structure ... the dam itself, how it generates electricity for a number of states and the fact that they completed it in just FIVE YEARS! And that includes THREE years to build the infrastructure to divert the water from the Colorado River and then another TWO years to built the dam itself. And this was from 1931-1936! If this sounds like a diss to Oahu's rail, yeah, it's kinda a diss. LOL.

Some interesting facts I learned during the tour:

Hoover Dam borders between Nevada and Arizona. While you are crossing the dam, a few steps will put you in a different time zone.
The dam is located in Black Canyon. It was originally named Boulder Dam, but renamed Hoover Dam after President Herbert Hoover.
The dam wasn't built by one company, but a consortium of companies that formed Six Companies, Ltd. and about 21,000 workers.
Work was done 24/7 in three shifts.
The first concrete pour was on June 6, 1933 and last pour was done on May 29, 1935. During peak production, concrete was delivered every 76 seconds.
I could go on and on, but you can read more on the Hoover Dam Wikipedia page.

I'll list some pricing info at the end of this post, but for now, let's start with some pictures:

When you first enter the Hoover Dam area, you come upon a little parking lot with a path going up the mountain. This is the access point to the by-pass bridge. If you want to skip the by-pass bridge, then keep driving. Otherwise, turn into the parking lot.

The parking lot includes several bathrooms, but they are compost bathrooms and you pretty much "go" into a big hole. Don't worry, there is a toilet and the bathrooms are very clean, but there's no water so you don't flush and you "wash" you hands with hand sanitizer. Anyway . . . this switchback path reminds me of hiking Diamond Head.

When you get to the top, you'll see a monument (sign?) to indicate that you are entering Nevada if you are driving West. I assume there is another monument (sign) on the other side to indicate you are entering Arizona.

View from the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge (aka Hoover Dam by-pass bridge). The bridge was built to help alleviate traffic between Las Vegas and Arizona using Hoover Dam. As you can see, the bridge sits high above Hoover Dam and you can walk across it. This bridge is a feat in itself. Read more about it here.

Electrical towers nestled into the mountain side.

The bypass bridge from Hoover Dam.

Looking down the dam.

View of Lake Mead from Hoover Dam.

Here is the state line marker. You can actually be in two states at the same time!

Two of the four water towers that intakes water from Lake Mead to make electricity.

I don't know why it's named "Department of the Interior" and "Bureau of Reclamation". It's just so literal. I figure they'd have better names.

Tunnel inside of the dam. It's naturally chilly down there!

There is water flowing through these pipes!

Turbines creating electricity!

The Logistics

Ok . . . here's the logistics of Hoover Dam, bullet point style for easy reading:

It's about a 45 minute drive from Las Vegas to Hoover Dam.
There is a five story parking garage that costs $10 to park. You can also drive over the dam to the Arizona side to park for free.
On the ground floor of the parking structure is a gift shop and a snack shop.
You can walk on the dam at no charge.
If you opt for tours, there are three options (prices are as of the date of this post):

Self-Guided Visitor Center Tour - $10: gives you access to the two visitor centers.
Guided Power Plant Tour - $15: in addition to the two visitor centers, you can take of tour of power plant within the dam (pictured above). This is the tour we purchased.
Guided Dam Tour - $30: gives you the first two tours above and then through the tunnels within the dam.

For the first two tours listed above, you can purchase tickets online, and when you get there, you can upgrade to a higher tour. The Guided Dam Tour can only be purchased on-site and I believe there are limited tickets to this tour.
More into can be found on the Bureau of Reclamation website.

Have you ever been to Hoover Dam? Tell me what you liked in the comments below!

Bellagio Conservatory Fall 2023

I love Fall colors -- the various shades of yellow, orange, red and brown -- and these colors were on full display the Bellagio Conservatory's Fall display. The theme was "Enchantment: The Magic of Fall" and fairies were afloat throughout the beautiful flower arrangements.

I've only been to the Conservatory during the day, but a You Tuber I follow suggested going at night as well since the display is totally different vibe. Hopefully I can get out there during both times on my next trip, and I'll post some side-by-side pictures for comparison.

In the meantime, here's some pictures . . .

The Bellagio changes out its display six times a year. Do you have a favorite? They are all so beautiful, but I'm partial to Christmas and Chinese/Lunar New Year. Comment below on your favorite!

Vegas Trip Diary October 2023

Fall is such a great time to visit Las Vegas, weather-wise. Temperature highs were in the mid-80s and at night it dropped to high-70s. It felt so much better than our summer trip!

Traffic wise, Fall is not such a great time to visit for the next 10 years because of the Formula 1 races that are taking place in mid-November for the next 10 years. When we visited in May of this year, traffic was already a mess due to road construction. When we visited in October, traffic continued to be a mess because they started to build out all the grandstands and other infrastructure related to the race. We stayed in Downtown and had a car, but we were highly selective when we went to the Strip.

Here's some of things we did/ate:

Pink Box Donuts, located at the Plaza in Downtown is such a vibe. They are open long hours (24 hours on a Saturday!) and offer the cutest donut creations, ever! We got the more traditional donuts, like chocolate sprinkles. We'll be more adventurous on our next trip.

If you are a fan of the Netflix series "Stranger Things", then the Stranger Things store is a must-visit for you. Located on the Strip, right across of Park MGM, it offers tons of themed merchandise and photo ops. You can take a picture in Joyce's living room, ride a bike through Hawkins and even pose with the various demons.

Paradox Museum
Located mid-Strip, right across from Park MGM, the Paradox Museum is an illusion museum. It offers a plethora of "illusion" displays. What do you see? A vase or two faces? Or . . . stare at the black and white lines long enough and they will start to undulate . . . stuff like that. They also have a bunch of picture friendly illusions you can pose in to baffle your friends and family . . . how are you so small in this picture . . . how are you walking on the wall?

We enjoyed our visit. I think I would want to go back again and re-take some of the photos to get the right angles and to also come up with some new things you can do in certain pictures. Here's a small sampling of the pictures we took.

We ate breakfast at Craft Kitchen Cafe and Bakery, located at the Fremont Food Hall. Go early or else you'll be waiting in a line.

I don't normally eat loco mocos but decided to try theirs. I guess it was ok? Pretty good? Like I said, I normally don't eat loco mocos. LOL.

Strawberry kouing amann. Yummy!

Chocolate shake from Bobby's Burger at Paris.

We became fans of Bobby Flay after watching the "Beat Bobby Flay" series. (Honestly, he should NOT have won the chicken adobe challenge!) We got a chicken burger, hamburger, fries, onion rings and a shake. The food was really good, but it was about $60!!!!! Hideously expensive for a take out place!

Sandbox VR at Planet Hollywood
I never thought I'd be into virtual reality games, but they are really a ton of fun! The first one we did was Avenger's Experience at the VOID, which is now closed in Las Vegas. We also Fall Out at Zero Latency located at MGM Grand. This trip, we played The Curse of Davy Jones at Sandbox VR located at the Miracle Miles Shops at Planet Hollywood (there is also another location at the Venetian Grand Canal Shops, which probably took the space of VOID.

As usual, the oldest kid got the highest score.

As usual, Mom (me, aka Crazy Lady) got the lowest score! I get the lowest score at the Buzz Lightyear ride at Disneyland too! Sigh.

That's it for now! As usual, thank you for reading! Check out my other posts from this trip:

Sunday, October 22, 2023

Random Vegas Pictures Summer 2023

Here's some miscellaneous pictures from our trip . . .

Vegas is extra pretty at dusk.

View from our hotel room.

Aria also has such whimsical decorations in its lobby.

Me trying to be fancy with my picture taking.

I thought this was a funny picture. I guess they had to custom make the gates to accommodate the sign.

The Carousel Bar at the Plaza wasn't open when we visited this trip. But it was pretty much done. Pink Box Donuts was not open yet.

I played this slot machine. The chick would get bigger and bigger each time, but it never "popped", allowing me to play the bonus rounds. It got even bigger, if you can image it!

Night view from our room at The Cal.

Circa does add something to the Downtown Las Vegas skyline, doesn't it?

Well, that's about wraps it up for this trip! Sorry so such a late post, but I don't really think any of my -2 readers noticed. LOL.

Check out the other posts from this trip!