Day 5

We left Jacob Lake Inn rather early to make our way up to Utah and Zion National Park.

37.2026° N, 112.9878° W

Arizona was so incredibly beautiful that I was a little skeptical about Utah.  But I must say, our short time spent in the state did help me to understand their license plate slogan, “Utah – Life Elevated.”  As we traveled through Zion National Park, we were staring straight up into elevated gorgeous cliffs and mountains of stone!  

As we drove, it felt as if we were actually part of the canyon – we were winding and winding through the amazing view!  That is after we were able to get around a rented Cruise America RV that was very scared to drive the curvy switchbacks!  The other cool treat to this national park was the mile long tunnel through one of the orange-red, giant stones – complete with occasional peek-a-boo views to the neighboring boulders on steroids!  I wish we had planned a longer visit at Zion but we had already planned to make our way to Hoover Dam that day.  Maybe another visit, in years to come, will allow further investigations and some hiking.

Passenger seat view - driving into the mile long tunnel.

We continued driving through Springdale, Hurricane and St. George and then back into Arizona for a quick corner of the state before finally making our way into Nevada again. 

I was interested to see the Hoover Dam – I remember touring a small dam in my hometown as an elementary schooler and found it quite fascinating.  Hoover Dam didn’t disappoint but it was HOT!  Ten facts we learned during our Hoover Dam visit:

1) the Colorado River and the water it provided to multiple states was in dispute and had to be resolved before any type of dam could be built

2) the dam provided many during the depression with much needed jobs with the average wage being $4 a day

3) the water is taken from the very deepest part of Lake Mead because fish can’t live that deep and it prevents fish from going into the turbines

4) the building of the dam drew enough people and activity to create it’s own little city – Boulder City

5) the dam was originally named Boulder Dam but later renamed Hoover Dam because of the work J. Edgar Hoover invested into making it happen 

6) the Nevada-Arizona state line runs down the middle of the dam

7) the dam was built in 5 years, a much shorter time than originally projected

8) not only was the dam an engineering marvel for it’s time, it was also built with beautiful art deco details

9) a special refrigeration system piped cold air into tubes in the concrete to cool it and help it harden quicker in the extreme heat of the area

10) it provides a doggone lot of power – okay so I don’t remember that specific wattage detail!

Left: pipe carrying water from Lake Mead  
Right: One set of turbines churning I don't even know how many watts of power!

Art Deco designs symbolizing electricity and the water wheel.

Left: The two rectangular buildings house the turbine.
Right: Tunnel leading from underground into the lower levels of the dam.

Left: Original crane used in the construction of the Hoover Dam.

Stateline

View from the top of the dam looking out onto Lake Mead.  We couldn't decide if the water really is that blueish-green color or if it just looked so bright again the contrasting rock.

After our dam visit, we headed to our Vegas hotel – Monte Carlo.  We checked in, settled in and made a quick jaunt down the BLVD to a sandwich shop for dinner.  Let’s just say our first view of the Vegas strip was … a little too enlightening!

Next day – sleeping in!!!