The Hoover Dam
About a month ago Elizabeth went on a field trip with her 4th grade class to the Hoover Dam.
Since then she has willingly shared with us many interesting facts about the dam. We decided that when we drove by the Hoover Dam on our way to St. George, UT (during Fall break) we would stop and see it. After all it is one of the closest "attractions" to Kingman, and we have driven by it a number of times coming to and from Las Vegas.
We splurged and took the whole family on the tour to see inside where the big water turbines are, where electricity is made. After the tour we walked across the dam. The scenery from on top of the dam is beautiful. The whole time that we were walking across John kept looking at the ground. I figured it was because he was scared (he is known to be scared of heights) until he tugged away from me and bent down and picked up a tiny pea sized rock then quickly threw it over the railing and into the water. We never did hear/see that little pebble make a splash.
On one side of the dam is Lake Mead and on the other is the Colorado River. These two bodies of water are also the dividing line between Arizona and Nevada. There is a plaque that marks the spot where the two states meet.
Within the last several years there has been a new road built to make crossing from one state to the other in this area a lot easier. In the past you had to drive over the Dam which could take a long time due to traffic and the whindy roads. As part of this new road there is now a bridge that spans the gorge over the Colorado River which makes the drive quick and easy.
This new bridge is an "attraction" in and of itself. Along the side of the bridge there is pedestrian walkway that runs the length of the bridge. Paul was very excited to go and "walk on the bridge". Don't worry it is very safe. There is a large cement wall separating the pedestrians from the cars.
There are a few of us in the family that felt safer next to the oncoming cars than we did the railing. I was pretty impressed that John and I made it as far onto the bridge as we did.
Paul, Elizabeth & Sarah continued out to about the middle (it was really crowed with lots of people the day we were there) before they turned around and came back. They said the view was amazing. For those who are unfamiliar with "the bridge" the following picture will give you a better understanding of why I turned back and why others were able to experience such an amazing view.
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| A view of the Hoover Dam from "the bridge" |
Since then she has willingly shared with us many interesting facts about the dam. We decided that when we drove by the Hoover Dam on our way to St. George, UT (during Fall break) we would stop and see it. After all it is one of the closest "attractions" to Kingman, and we have driven by it a number of times coming to and from Las Vegas.
We splurged and took the whole family on the tour to see inside where the big water turbines are, where electricity is made. After the tour we walked across the dam. The scenery from on top of the dam is beautiful. The whole time that we were walking across John kept looking at the ground. I figured it was because he was scared (he is known to be scared of heights) until he tugged away from me and bent down and picked up a tiny pea sized rock then quickly threw it over the railing and into the water. We never did hear/see that little pebble make a splash.
On one side of the dam is Lake Mead and on the other is the Colorado River. These two bodies of water are also the dividing line between Arizona and Nevada. There is a plaque that marks the spot where the two states meet.
 |
| Our family is split between two states! Elizabeth & John are in Nevada and Sarah, Rachel & Paul are in Arizona. |
Within the last several years there has been a new road built to make crossing from one state to the other in this area a lot easier. In the past you had to drive over the Dam which could take a long time due to traffic and the whindy roads. As part of this new road there is now a bridge that spans the gorge over the Colorado River which makes the drive quick and easy.
This new bridge is an "attraction" in and of itself. Along the side of the bridge there is pedestrian walkway that runs the length of the bridge. Paul was very excited to go and "walk on the bridge". Don't worry it is very safe. There is a large cement wall separating the pedestrians from the cars.
There are a few of us in the family that felt safer next to the oncoming cars than we did the railing. I was pretty impressed that John and I made it as far onto the bridge as we did.
Paul, Elizabeth & Sarah continued out to about the middle (it was really crowed with lots of people the day we were there) before they turned around and came back. They said the view was amazing. For those who are unfamiliar with "the bridge" the following picture will give you a better understanding of why I turned back and why others were able to experience such an amazing view.
For those that may be wondering, when you are driving you can't see over the edge of the bridge (although Elizabeth said she could in the school bus), and in fact you really don't even know that you are going over a bridge at all.
I'm glad we took the time to stop and enjoy these amazing engineering masterpieces.
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