First
stop after arriving in Las Vegas (and scooting out without a backward
glance) was the Hoover Dam/Lake Mead area. I'd actually been there a couple
years earlier, but this was Peter's first time. We didn't do the dam tour
(pardon the expression) because I'd done it before and time was short.
But we stopped and took a nice long look at this amazing man-made wonder.
Looking over the wall down at the dam and the Colorado River way
below, we experienced the first of many heart-stopping, "whoa!"
moments of the trip. The scale of this engineering masterpiece is mind
boggling — I found it hard to relate to something so huge; such an incredible
achievement.
I
could get more involved with the parking garage. What a beautiful structure!
built into the side of the mountain opposite the dam. In a soothing southwest
shade of salmon, I'd call the architectural style adobe art deco; with
gleaming chrome gates and rails, and shiny, squeaky marble-like floors,
it does justice to the dam. Nicest garage I'd ever had the pleasure of
parking in.
Leaving
the area, we headed north through the Lake Mead National Recreational
Area. We had some nice views of the lake, which had a surreal look compared
to other lakes I've known (mostly in the eastern U.S.). The color looked
backlit — better than real (so does the sky). Then through miles
of orange lunar-like terrain. So beautiful and desolate; we only saw a
few
cars and felt like we had the area to ourselves. (One of the benefits
of travelling in October, we discovered. Many normally crowded areas were
blessedly
empty. We were able to enjoy these most special places at their solitary
best.) It's a very beautiful desert area; I was compelled to say, "Stop!"
many times for pictures.
(Peter thinking: we're an hour into the trip and have made 20 stops already
— this is going to be a long vacation.)
We went through some interesting, quaint little towns on our way to Mesquite, where we spent the first night at a casino/hotel (didn't drop a single quarter). A long day with the flight from Boston through Dallas, but I was thrilled to finally be on this long-awaited Southwest vacation!