Quiet day off

Conference finished, and a spare day before heading to Atlanta.

So....we got a minivan (there were a few of the usual crew here) and headed off to Red Rock Canyon.

Scrambled over a few boulders and took a month's worth of blips.

Then headed down to Lake Mead with the intention of going jetskiing. Went for lunch first, then discovered they were fully booked for the afternoon....bummers.

We had seen a paddle steamer leave the marina - so went over to that...only sailed at 12:00 and 14:00...so we missed that too.

Got back in the van and decided to start driving over to the Hoover Dam

Passed a helicopter pad with rides for $29....(it was 15:50 by now) so pulled in. Last flight was at 16:00 and that was full (you get the pattern for the day).

So in the end....we just went to the Hoover Dam. Another month's worth of blips. So picture above of one of the intake towers....(or is is the entrance for the evil decepticons to get to Megatron - for you Transformers fans out there).

Very impressive, and it's fantastic that they went to the bother of all the art deco design (built right in the middle of the period). Industrial construction just doesn't have that flair these days....its all about minimum costs. Shame.

Stopped off at the Hoover Dam Casino for a cold beer (it was around 107f). Barmaid was chatting, asking where eveyone was from. She'd never been out of America - didn't have a passport. Had hardly even been out of the state. Her sister had been a cocktail waitress in the hotel for the last 24 years (started at 17).

Finished the day with a concert by the Killers. They just happened to be playing their home town in the 15,000 seater stadium that's in the hotel. Had fancied seeing the B52s who were also playing in the smaller club in the hotel. (Did I mention hotels were big in Vegas?)