Day 87: Hoover Dam and Vegas
Today we traded in the Grand Canyon for the Hoover Dam and Vegas experience. The drive was surprisingly short–we didn’t realize how close the Grand Canyon is to Vegas.
Rob found a very cool, no reservation campground on Lake Mead. Our plan was to grab a campsite then take the car to see the Hoover Dam before the afternoon calls started. Our plan was delayed slightly by construction on the campground road, but fortunately there were plenty of campsites available, and we found one just one row from the lake.
After getting parked we were off to visit the Hoover Dam. Until a few years ago, the highway went over the dam itself, but now you get to go over this very cool bridge instead. A fun fact about the Hoover Dam: the dam consists of approximately 4.3 million cubic yards of concrete—that’s enough concrete to pave a 16-foot-wide, 8-inch-thick road from San Francisco to New York City. With the timing, Cooper ended up taking a call from the car while Rob and Nicholas explored the dam. Later we all headed out to check it out together.
On the way out, we decided to check out the bridge on foot.
After dinner we decided to make it a late night by heading out to explore Vegas, too. It was really fun to drive on the strip; neither of us had done that before.
Currently the hotel parking lots are free, so we parked at Bellagio and gave the boys the kid-friendly casino experience by walking past the machines on our way out to the fountains.
After a fountain show, Cooper wanted to see more casinos, not believing they all look pretty much the same. We walked through Caesars for a few minutes, and he quickly agreed they were very similar. Both kids then wanted to see another fountain show.
There was hardly anyone there, so we had a prime spot for the three fountain shows we watched before heading back to the RV for the night. If they weren’t so exhausted, I think the boys would have watched the fountain shows for many more hours.
