Before leaving Topock we checked the weather and decided to head a bit north to the Hoover Dam rather than west into southern California. As expected, weather dictates our travels! We had to backtrack almost to Kingman on Interstate 40 before heading for the dam. Much of the scenery was similar to the previous day. Arizona Last Stop truly was the last stop before we reached Hoover Dam (30 miles away)!
Due to security restrictions all access to the Hoover Dam complex is from the Nevada side where you have to go through security before even getting to the parking areas. We crossed into Nevada at the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge then crossed the dam going back into Arizona for RV parking. Warning signs along the Nevada side access road and past the last parking area on the Arizona side indicate that bighorn sheep could be encountered. The extreme curve warning was the sign right before the overlook and turnaround parking area suitable for RVs.
Of course Charlie had to take pictures from the overlook – I stayed in the middle of the parking lot. The walk down was a bit nerve wracking but I did reasonably well. There are some stairways connecting some of the parking lots and they helped a lot. Once at the dam I still had to stay away from the edges – this definitely ranks up there as an uncomfortable experience for me!
Needless to say we could have gotten a bit confused – going back and forth from Arizona on Mountain time to Nevada on Pacific time several times during our visit. The walk across the dam shows off some of the amazing workmanship – I especially love the clocks on the intake towers.
We took the Power Plant tour – riding an elevator down to the base of the dam to see the generators that create power from the water flowing through the dam. The construction of the dam was also explained by our tour guide. Looking down from above you can see the roof of the area against the dam where we were; the arms that lead away from the dam are the buildings that house the generators.
After our tour we headed back up the mountain to our parking lot. We had found out that what looked like a WWII bunker was indeed a sniper bunker for protecting the dam during the war. Near the top a nice young man stopped and offered us a ride but we were so close that we thanked him and continued on foot.
Once back on the highway we passed a casino sign – we were definitely in Nevada! Our campground for the night was in Henderson, Nevada (right next door to Las Vegas) so we would see many more casino signs before getting to sleep.
Of course there are more photos of our visit to Hoover Dam – click here to see them!
The Travel Adventures of Cheryl and Charlie 