Dams and Deserts

It was 30 degrees outside on a bright morning as we left the Grand Canyon area and headed south to get back to the highway west. On a personal note, I have to applaud the Loves Travel centers that have these fantastic long windshield squeegees. They have removed a margin of anxiety for folk like me. But… I digress. Our first stop today was at a magnificent engineering marvel, the Hoover Dam. The sheer size of it is amazing, and the fact that it was built nearly 100 years ago blows my mind. How in the world did they figure it out? Seriously? Thank God for people that are smarter than me – there sure are A LOT of them! We were also quite impressed by the bridge over the dam, and the beauty of Lake Mead. From there, we sprinted into Las Vegas, as Stacey simply could not wait any longer. Truth be told, we aren’t Vegas kind of folk, but we wanted to experience a bit of the hype. Melissa found us awesome parking at Paris Casino, and we walked through the lobby and found a lunch spot on a beer garden patio outside overlooking the Bellagio! Ten minutes after we sat down, we watched the fountain show from the front row. AWESOME! After lunch we pulled a few obligatory slots and made our way out of town. Incredible city, just not really our cup of tea. During our crossing of the Mojave Desert, we saw so many unique Joshua Trees, and settled in for the night in Barstow. Tomorrow we find ourselves in Paso Robles to sample the wines of the Central Coast. Yay!🍷🇺🇸