We’re now into the last two weeks of this adventure. While it feels like home is an eternity away, the time has flown by and we’re relieved that we’ve been doing this updates as they are going to prove invaluable in helping us remember everything we did!
Anyway, we left Las Vegas this morning with the Hoover Dam as our target. We had originally planned on Red Rock Canyon, but Hoover seemed a bit more manageable given the heat.
Approaching Lake Mead 
Scenic Overlook Selfie 
One massive artificial lake
We’re glad we went because the thing is quite the sight to behold and the longer tour was really cool, getting into the bowels of the dam and into one of the powerhouses.
One of the cooler take-aways from the tour, at least to me, was that the construction contract was awarded to an entity composed of six individual firms contracting as one, and the project was funded by power purchase agreements signed before construction started. A lot of that sounds like some of the ingredients of a energy sector P3, only it was the early 1930s.
After the tour and some photos from the top of the dam, we grabbed a quick snack at the Hoover Dam Cafe. I had a Dam Dog, which bordered on obscene in a few different ways, but was pretty tasty as far as hot dogs go.
We then hit the road as the car’s temperature indicator indicated an ambient temp of 40.5C. No wonder, Trish didn’t follow me around the top of the dam after the tour.
Our next target was the Valley of Fire, via the scenic route around Lake Mead, the reservoir created by the dam. The scenery was spectacular and the road was extremely enjoyable, with good pavement, no traffic, and great flow.
If you’re a fan of the timelapse videos, here is one of the drive to Valley of Fire along Nevada Highway 167.
The Valley of Fire was another spectacular place, both beautiful and entirely unforgiving. One Ranger told us that they had had to airlift two hikers out of the park this summer due to heat stroke. One was so bad, she was having seizures and the staff don’t know whether she recovered. We noted the numerous signs indicating that the “Heat Hazard” level was “Extreme”, consistent with a temperature of 42.5C in the shade.
At one point, I wandered into the sand to get the following shots. The sand got into my sandals and let me assure you, it was very hot, much hotter than the hottest hot tub I’ve ever sampled.
This would be an amazing place to hike during the winter months when day-time highs are in 10 to 15C range. Summer? Not so much, but still beautiful to view.
From there, we hit I-15 and headed towards St. George, UT, nipping through Arizona on the way. Despite being a four lane droner, even with the cruise control at 85MPH, the pretty kept coming.
That’s it for tonight. Tomorrow is a bit of a play it by ear day, so we’ll see what happens.