Monday, Oct 10 - Hoover Dam & the Valley of Fire

 

 

Today was a busy day!!    We met at 7 AM and walked across the street back to the Southwest Diner where we could use our breakfast coupons.  Bob and Hilary had traditional breakfasts and I had Rhubarb Pie a la Mode!  A first-rate chef from Las Vegas has moved here to Boulder City and is baking great pies, or so we had heard.  It was first rate and, although I meant to leave some ice cream, it melted into the pie and was wonderful!

View downstream from Hoover Dam

 

We then packed up and headed back to Hoover Dam for the 9 AM Power Plant tour.  The tour started with an old movie showing  the blasting, hauling, and building that took place in the 1930s.  First, two huge tunnels (50’ wide) were blasted on either side of the narrow pass in which they planned to build the dam.  Then the blasted material was dumped into the river to divert the water into the tunnels so the dam itself could be constructed!  What an operation!  It took place during the Depression so a large number of men were available  to work on it 24/7  in three shifts (with only two days off a year!!).  Amazingly  many Art Deco decorative touches were beautifully added. 

Decorative floor in the Power House

We took an elevator down the equivalent of 50 stories into the bowels of the operation and saw the giant turbines that generate electricity.  We returned to the top and walked across the dam itself.  A really impressive operation, although, of course, it helped allowed the unfortunate overpopulation of the American Southwest with its many accompanying destructive activities.

 

Turbines in the Power House

Decorative Railing

We left about 10:30, heading to Zion National Park.  We drove along the west side of Lake Mead for many miles.  Bob had been intrigued by the name of a Nevada State Park: The Valley of Fire located along our way.  We debated whether we should stop there or just head straight towards Zion.  We finally decided to drive as far as the Visitors' Center, but the gnarled brilliant red rock formations (Aztec sandstone) were so fantastic that we decided to skip the center and head up White Dome Road instead. 

 A  wise decision as this must be one of the most beautiful roads in the American West:  incredible colored rock formations and even a herd of bighorn sheep!  We finally had to leave as it was getting late and we were going to lose an hour when we entered Utah. 

 

Hilary drove for miles on I-15 through Joshua trees and subdued landscapes, interrupted by ill-planned towns full of casinos, until after passing through the Virgin River Gorge we crossed into Utah.  We turned off I-15 onto Beehive 9 (Utah state routes have a beehive on the signs!)  through the really unattractive town of Hurricane, but then approached Springdale located right next to Zion.  Springdale must have a very strict planning process  as many  of the old simple Mormon houses still exist and the multitude of tourist hotels and restaurants blend  in nicely with the older buildings and with the scenery that was getting more spectacular by the minute.

 

We found the Bumbleberry Inn, a sprawling, but attractive motel and moved into our rooms at 5:30.  Bob pointed out that there seem to be more hotel rooms than restaurant seats in Springdale, creating a hassle when trying to get into a restaurant, and so we shouldn’t relax, shower, etc, but set off for dinner while we could.  We drove to Flanigan's Inn and went into the Spotted Dog Cafe where we luckily were able to get a table.  Utah has changed from my last visit about 20 years ago when you had to join a “club” to get some undrinkable wine.  I ordered a great Old Fashioned made with Utah rye!!  We had a delicious dinner of lamb shank and roast chicken for Hilary and Bob. and polenta  & veggies for me, plus a bottle of Oregon pinot noir.  Lemon cake and chocolate lava cake for dessert and we rolled back home for bed!