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This lady had been brought in to repair a cash register at one of the shops in the park. Kind of unusual so I took her picture.
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On our way out of the park we were treated to a group of elk who were out for an evening walk. Per took this picture with his digital camera. Mine refused to work because it was actually almost dark.
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I took a picture of the sundown on the other side of the road instead. See the difference!
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Our next stop was Hoover Dam near Boulder which supplies electricity for Las Vegas
and Los Angeles and I don't know how many other places.
The river is the mighty Colorado which gets its start in the Rocky Mountain National
Park near Denver and drains huge areas of Colorado and Utah. Here it becomes
the natural border between Arizona and Nevada and a little ways further on its
journey to the south, between Arizona and California. Then it enters Mexico and
runs out into the Gulf of Mexico.
The west was "won" by pioneers in covered wagons. It was then developed by
the Bureau of Reclamation (established in 1902). Huge irrigation projects made
the west arable and enormous hydroelectric projects keep it lit up. Both provided
jobs during the "Great Depression" and to this day make "Hollywood" possible.
Photo probably from about 1960.
Water level much lower than today I see.
The picture below looks down on the technical facilities which are situated
on the down side of the dam. |
Notice the parked car for size comparison.
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This is a view of Hoover Dam seen from the water side. Can you see that there
are cars on the dam wall? That is highway 93 which crosses there. It's kind of
a bottleneck so you often have to wait a bit to get across.
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Hottest day yet and we spent little time in the sun. Fortunately we got a parking space just across the road.
There is a huge parking tower on the western side (completely handicap friendly) as well as a museum and the usual high class souvenir shop. In the US the latter are either the height of sleaziness or practically designed by Dior. Parking costs money but was no alternative.
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This snazzy big truck was on its way over the dam. Ingrid was particularly
interested in the gleeming American trucks we saw so many of. Must admit
I kind of liked them too. Swedish trucks usually have two trailers and the
drivers cabin is restricted because of maximum length but this one looks
like it might be a complete home.
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© Ann Thulin © Lars Thulin,
© Per Thulin, © Ingrid Hansson |
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