Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, and a bonus bridge

After our all-nighter, we didn't especially feel like waking up before checkout and driving away for several hours. We did try to extend our stay another night, but alas, the hotel was fully booked that night, and we did not feel like hotel hunting all over again.

Thank goodness Sharon had controlled herself in the wee hours of the morning. (Did she forget to mention in the last post that the Ellis Island casino is also a brewery? And of course drinks are free when you're playing.) So after 3 hours of sleep, we packed in some breakfast, and started heading east toward Arizona. Sharon driving, of course.

Not long after leaving Vegas, we came across this striking sight:

Once you get closer to Lake Mead, it's also a federal park, so we took advantage of our park pass and went in further to check out this man-made wonder in more detail.

Of course, where there's Lake Mead, there's the Hoover Dam! So eastward we continued, and came upon the Mike O'Callaghan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge - also known as the central portion of the Hoover Dam Bypass.

Unknown to us, it was completed only recently after over 5 years of construction, and opened to the public 2 days earlier. Talk about timing!

We actually didn't see the bridge until later - first we walked on it, looked waayyyy down, then looked at Hoover Dam.

 

 

Observe the shadow of the bridge...

Leaning towers

One end of Lake Mead

Heading back to the car, we drove down to the actual Hoover Dam. So now instead of just looking way down, we could now also can look way up!

What we were walking on earlier

We parked the car, taking care not to bring our booze and guns with us.

Wandering around the Hoover Dam brought some more interesting perspectives.

After taking in the sights, we headed back to the car, up the hill, and over that amazing bridge. It's interesting to note that you are not allowed to stop on the bridge, and you cannot see the Hoover Dam from the bridge either. I guess they don't want people hanging out up there in their cars.

Scenery wasn't done for the day. On our way to Williams, Arizona:

 

24 hours Vegas Style

In the morning we enjoyed breakfast in the hotel restaurant while we made dinner reservations and planned out our day.The day started out sunny but then quickly turned to that rainy weather you hear so much about in the desert. It came down pretty hard for some time and the thunder and lightning continued from the day before.

We had stopped by the Vegas outlet mall which we browsed for a bit. This trip is definitely not about the shopping. This is what it looked like by the time we got out. Look like the desert? Not so much...

Then we decided to go see old Vegas. This is the area it used to be about, the original casinos and hotels. We thought they maintained their old style quite well and had a great time. It's a lot less expensive than spending time in the new and big spots on the new strip. The Golden Nugget was my favourite. If you go to Vegas, we highly recommend checking out these old classics.
Later we went to The Venetian which is modeled after Venice and enjoyed dinner at Mario Batali's restaurant Enoteca Otto Pizzeria while watching the crowds wander by. Vegas is fabulous for people watching.
The Venetian design is quite impressive...

yes this is inside!

After wandering a bit, we went next door to Bellagio for much of the evening and then after (unsuccessfully) searching for ice cream on the strip, we walked back to the area of our hotel and to Ellis Island which was recommended in Lonely Planet. It is an off the strip place that we discovered the locals spend time. It was late enough, or shall I say early enough for steak and eggs to look good to Joe...

The people were very friendly and the place was very low key, and before we knew it, we were racing the dawn back to our hotel room to snatch a few hours before we left for Arizona.

Las Vegas - Day 1

Assumption #1: Travelling into the desert, it will be hot and sunny
Assumption #2: Arriving on Tuesday afternoon we will have our pick of the hotels on the "strip"

Here's our story...

After leaving California, we had a gorgeous drive through the desert into Nevada. Incredible. The Mojave has views we didn't even imagine.




The weather was perfect, sunny, nice fresh breeze...and I had been a bit worried about being too hot and getting too pink. A bit 'o sunblock and we were good to go.

We arrived in Vegas and it was as over the top as I imagined. Everything is big! EVERYTHING!


After driving up and down the strip, stopping in hotels and either being quoted ridiculous prices or being told they were full...we realized that our assumption about Vegas was a bit off. Maybe they were having an Elvis convention or something. I don't know, but eventually, a bit of crankiness was showing and we found ourselves a place we could sit and just figure this out. I finally agreed to give up my idea of staying on the strip (as I never have) and went with the Lonely Planet recommendation (and yes, Joe's too) to call The Platinum, a favourite of the business travellers in Vegas (doesn't that sound like fun?!)

Turns out we got an upgrade to a one bedroom suite (the Princess Suite - Joe found that quite fitting) with a balcony, HUGE bath with a double jacuzzi tub, 2 closets, full kitchen...and it was just a touch off the strip. And all for a fantastic price.

So after settling in and trying out all the bells and whistles - we decided to venture out and get some dinner and tour the nightlife on the strip...Just in time for the thunder storm - yes in the desert! So there went our second seemingly safe assumption..but rain it did, and we saw a spectacular light show!

view from our hotel balcony

So we grabbed a cab, headed for the strip and started our adventure. We had dinner in Ceasar's Palace in a funky noodle bar,

checked out some of the sights
...and watched the fountain show at the Bellagio. It really is impressive...and perfectly choreographed to music; not one song, but a number of tunes and runs every 15 minutes until midnight.

Bellagio - indoor display

After all the excitement of the day, we retired to our fantastic suite and rested up for our next day of adventure.