Apparently you can't bring guns to Hoover Dam

DAY TWO ~ Albuquerque 571.2 miles

The iPhone is an amazing thing. It has a mobile network that let’s me get directions from wherever I am at that moment, look up info online for safety information on tornados, check where the cheapest gas is, or where are the speed traps, and most importantly it lets me listen to World Cup on ESPN radio through that lovely piece of technology online! I have no idea how people make this drive without one.

Leaving Las Vegas I happened upon Hoover Dam. Literally, I, a US History teacher, had completely forgotten the he piece of American history. Google maps brought me through and I had to stop. Hoover Dam is way cooler than it looks on TV. It rises out of the Nevada landscape stopping the mighty Colorado River and hugging the outskirts of Lake Mead. Lake Mead is a man made lake created in the middle of the desert. Hoover Dam was created to produce the electricity needed for Las Vegas and the entire Southwest corner of the US. The idea for the dam came with the first person, Powell, to explore the Colorado River. And was further encouraged by Theodore Roosevelt who passed the Newlands Reclamation Act as part of his Progressive Era agenda to save the land in the area from development. It wasn’t till Hoover as part of the government under Harding and as president did the Dam come to fruition in 1931. Poor Hoover it was probably one of the few things he got credit for doing right!

I was able to walk through the Museum and on top of the Dam. I passed on the tour of the power plant when they cautioned that there was a minute and a half elevator ride down into tight quarters – no thank you! It was really interesting and I loved the sign that bans food, drinks and guns on the Dam!

After passing out of Nevada I entered into Arizona. I had never been to the southwest before and my visual knowledge was limited to movies and TV. The terrain is so much more than just the red rock and desert terrain. It was fascinating how quickly you drove from grassland, to desert, to Mesa to hilly forest almost Tahoe like. I really enjoyed the scenery – I am getting good at taking the moving picture through the bug stained window. But I think I enjoyed the road signs the most and have added a new feature to the blog – The Best Sign of the Day. After the sign where it had a man with a machine gun said I could pull off at the next exit to pick up one of my own in Nevada they just got more unbelievable or amazing. I could have picked up my very own Geronimo rug for $7.77, or there was the sign that argued that Congress was creating a second Dust Bowl in California – I truly 100% don’t think so!!! I also realized I wasn’t in San Francisco anymore when I was asked to vote for McCain and Palin – maybe time to take the sign down? They LOST for crying out loud!

Anyway though I passed up the World’s Largest Petrified Tree and, it made me said I couldn’t be like the Bradys, the Grand Canyon. I literally passed within 40 miles of the Grand Canyon and I just couldn’t stop. I mean I did take the turn off and mull it over for five minutes but I just couldn’t make it work. But I did get to stop at the World’s Biggest and Best Preserved Meteor Crater. (I am beginning to think there will be a lot of “World’s Biggest…” on this trip!) This Crater was created over 50,000 years ago when a meteor, 150 feet across with an explosive power of 20 million pounds of TNT, hit Arizona. It created a crater 700 feet deep and 4000 feet across. It was in the guidebook “1001 Things to Do Before You Die”. This was also the place where NASA astronauts trained for the Apollo moon landings. It is a five-minute drive off the freeway but really it is in the middle of nowhere!

The stops were worth it though it did mean I would miss really exploring Albuquerque. The city of Albuquerque – I can spell it really good now btw! – rises up out of the Mesa so that you can’t see anything but the glow of the city till you round over the last hill and drop into the city. My sense really is that five people live in the entire state!

The K-Fry Folly for the day: after I checked into the hotel I went up to open my suitcase. When I was packing Elaine said I think that that is the suitcase that is broken and I scoffed. In fact that suitcase is broken and if you pull the zipper too far it won’t go back. I spent a good half hour trying to get the zipper to get back on its’ treads so that I could open my suitcase! Just like the grate in the De Paul campus and I eventually got the suitcase open, victory was declared and pjs were reclaimed from the jaws of a green monster of a suitcase!!!

On to Dallas…

Miles Traveled So Far: 1134.7

Movies that have run through my head: Geronimo, Leaving Las Vegas, Ocean’s 11, Transformers, The Brady Bunch episode when they visit the Grand Canyon

Best sign of the day: America’s Best: Vote McCain and Palin and the one that banned guns at Hoover Dam