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.