Just because I felt like I needed to do something normal, I went shopping at Sam's Club by myself while Pam was taking a nap yesterday afternoon.  When I got back Pam was shocked that I'd braved the Vegas traffic on my own after only a couple days, but really it wasn't so bad.  I took a number of wrong turns during my 3 mile trip to Sam's, but as you can tell, I made it home alive.

Pam and Dennis wanted to take another field trip today, so they started by taking me to the Hoover Dam.  On the way to the Dam is the unexpected sight of Lake Mead, a blue oasis in the middle of the desert.

The Hoover Dam, like the Grand Canyon, is just something you have to see in person to appreciate the size of the thing.  It's an impressive amount of concrete, tortuous power lines, and tourists.  Below is what is supposed to be the "high" side of the water.  It isn't all that high because there isn't all that much water these days.

Look below at the dark rock on higher ground and the lighter color rock closer to the water.  The line between the two is kind of like a "ring around the tub" that illustrates just where the water ought to be if only there were more of it.  It's a vaguely disturbing sight.

Also like a bathtub, the Dam as a giant overflow area, which is completely superfluous at present.  The hole you see to carry water away looked large enough to accommodate a carefully piloted helicopter down into it.  

Below is the the "low" side of the Dam.  I think it's roughly 600 feet down from where I was standing.

To get to Vegas from the south, you cross over the bridge pictured below.  I had no idea at the time that the bridge was spanning such a distance because the walls on the bridge are too high to see over when you're actually driving.  I would have been freaking out if I'd known, so ignorance was bliss in this case.  The slanted power lines surrounding the Dam give the place a surreal look.

We didn't spend too much time at the Dam owing to the heat.  The high today was 111 degrees, and the temperature on the pavement was supposedly around 135.  It's impossible to describe what that kind of heat feels like.  It didn't bother me, though I drank more water in 15 minutes than I'm accustomed to drinking on most full days in Indiana.  Pammy got nauseous in a matter of minutes.  She had to find shade while Dennis did the 5 minute walk back to the truck to come and get us.  Even Dennis, who calls himself The Camel, said he had a hard time making it back up the two flights of stairs to get where the truck was parked.  We're planning on coming back on another day to walk the length of the bridge.

After the Hoover Dam, we went down to a little pub on the marina at Lake Mead.  Pam and Dennis toasted the air conditioning with a beer.  More water for Lulu.

From there, a drive through the desert.  Along the side of the road you see all these signs warning you of wild burros, turtles crossing, or big horn sheep getting in the way.  On hot days like today though, the desert is absolutely still.  Nary a sheep nor a bug is to be seen.  I'm assuming that those creatures that can't find a pub by the water are all hiding in the shade.

In keeping with Fake Vegas, we also took a drive through Lake Las Vegas, which is an artificial oasis populated by mansions, luxury condos, a Hilton, a Westin, about three golf courses, and lots of real grass that is *constantly* being watered.  With all of that wasted water, it looked like a desert crime scene to me.  Really, who comes to Vegas to golf?  Save the water and forget the golf courses.  I took this picture from the road when we were well away from the area.  Not a great view of the area, but you get the idea that the greenery isn't consistent with the rest of the desert terrain like you see above.

To beat the heat, I broke out my old swimming costume after we got home and jumped in the pool.  Normally pools run 20 degrees colder than the air temperature, which put the water temperature today at 92 degrees.  I tell you, this place is a law unto itself.

By request, below is what the neighborhood (and practically every other neighborhood) looks like.  The older parts of Vegas look different, but for the most part everything built since the 2000s(?) looks like this. 

I ventured out of the neighborhood last night when Pammy took me for a spin in the convertible down the strip. We left the house as the sun was setting around 7:30 PM.  Even at that time, it was still 100 degrees.  With the wind from an open-top vehicle, it really is like you're being blasted with a hair dryer.  Add the heat of the surrounding cars when you're actually on the strip, and it's pretty intense.

That is THE sign you hit as you enter the strip on Las Vegas Blvd.  It's surrounded by a giant median with two rows of parking beside it so people can get out and take their pictures in front of the sign.  When we left the strip around 9PM last night, there was probably a crowd of 50 or so people surrounding the sign.

It's hard with my dinky camera and bad vantage point from a moving vehicle to capture the scope of the place.  For only being a few miles long, the famed strip packs a lot in.  Or maybe it doesn't.  Maybe it's just a big array of light bulbs and sweaty people wearing tank tops and ill-fitting daisy dukes.  Whatever it is, I was enchanted.  I like that everything is gaudy, tacky, and fake.  New York is fake.  Venice is fake.  Paris is fake.  Egypt.  You name it.  The tans are fake.  The smiles are fake.  The money probably isn't fake.  

Speaking of fake Egypt, I also like the fact that while astronauts can't see any lights illuminating North Korea from space, they can see the light coming off of the Luxor.  

                                       

And speaking of fake money, at the north end of the strip, just past the closed down Riviera, there is an abandoned casino project that never got completed.  It isn't falling down, but the i-beams are rusted, and it's a stark sight to see after all of the brilliant lights.  

But back to the pretty, glitzy, tacky parts!  As I said, I loved the look of the strip and loved it so much that I couldn't wait to go back and see it during the daytime.

Pam and Dennis took me for a walk through a few of the casinos.  Our first stop was Caesar's Palace.  Yes, there are tons of slot machines and gaming tables about, but a lot of the real estate is dedicated to the malls.

While there were a lot of people about and a lot of stores about, it isn't precisely clear to me who does any of the shopping.  It was $7.50 for a plain hot dog and $6.00 for a single scoop of ice cream.   What also confused me is that the three hotels all had the same high end stores.  Gucci, Armani, Harry Winston, Hermes, Guerlain, Prada.  All the same stores repeated throughout the casinos.  Seems excessive since no one seemed to be shopping in them.  Hell, you're lucky even to get in.  Several of the stores seemed to have bouncers positioned outside to ward off unemployed mammo techs like myself.  Check out the nice black man strategically positioned to bounce people out of the Fendi store below.

Meanwhile, the check-in desk at Caesar's Palace resembled crowds I've seen at the ticket counter at the Indy airport.  Blech.  Unacceptable! 

The Bellagio mall was nice and bright.  Same stores.  Same bouncers.  

 

Same crowds at check-in.  The flowers overhead are blown glass.  Fake Chihuly or real deal?

 I guess if you're a hipster The Cosmopolitan is the place for you.  Dark with a club-like interior, its gimmick is that it boasts the world's largest crystal chandelier.  Meh.  I'm not buying it.  In the spirit of the city, I'm banking that quite a few plastic pop beads made their way into this monstrosity.

Donny and Marie Osmond are currently playing to sold-out crowds.  Britney Spears spends her evenings lip-syncing to her own music across the street at some other casino.  Something is definitely wrong out here, but I appreciate it nonetheless.

I feel kind of creepy posting pictures of where I'm boarding, but nobody's reading this blog, right?  Right!  So here we have my crash site.  I'll make the pictures small, so I won't feel as creepy.  Don't tell Pam I took a picture of her cleaning the side of the pool.

Sadly (or not), I'm not much a photographer these days.  Below are just a few pictures though from the Route 66 adventure.

New Mexico is lovely throughout.  Even the view from the hotel in Albuquerque rocked.  But really, I'm in it for the diners.  Check out Nob Hill in Albuquerque below.

Next we come to the south rim of the Grand Canyon.  The North Rim is only some 15 miles away, but it takes close to 5 hours to get to it.  After driving nearly 1600 miles to get to the Grand Canyon in the first place, adding another 5 hours of driving was not high on the list.  Anyway, below you seen the Grand Canyon.  It's a large ravine with lots of people staring down into it and a few idiots doing idiotic things.  Many people choose to watch the idiots to see if they fall in or not.

Meanwhile, back on Route 66, there's grilled cheese!

One of the things I liked about Route 66 is its complete faith in the fact that you can't have too many gift shops selling Route 66 key chains.

Meanwhile, there are those diners!

Like I said, I didn't take too many pictures.  You'll just have to follow me out here and see for you yourself.