Spring Break in Vegas: Day 1

Hi, this is Rob from Vacation. Las Vegas has been pretty fun/relaxing. Here are some things that we did on Sunday.

Church: We went to the Greenbriar Ward because it was the closest one to our resort. It turned out to be one of the best testimony meetings that I have been to. All the people were quirky/embarrassing but I could tell that they loved each other and they had awesome testimonies. I'm glad we didn't decide to do vacation church (although we did pop out after Sacrament).

After getting ready, we prepared for our trip to the Hoover Dam. We were pretty hungry so we stopped in Boulder City for some food. We were looking for a dive that wasn't too self aware of its retro feel. We finally decided on Mel's Diner.

A good choice. Mel's Famous Steak sandwich was totally awesome (and the fries weren't bad either).

After Mel's we were on our way to the Dam. However, it turns out that there was a lot of Dam traffic. It took us another hour or so to go 10 miles (You may be able to see the traffic build up behind us in this picture). That gave Steph plenty of time to sleep.


Here is a picture of the construction project to alleviate the Dam traffic. Thinking about driving on this bridge sometime in the future freaks me out too much.

When we got to the Dam, we decided to take the electrical plant tour. I liked it when the tour guide took us down into the dam. I wanted to explore these tunnels so bad.

I learned that lot of water runs through these pipes -- I can't remember where the water goes. I think it goes to makes the power.

After we saw where the water went, we saw where the power was made. I had serious issues with this room. There seemed to be very little between me and the 100+ foot drop to the marble floors below. Needless to say, I also had problems with looking over the edge of the Dam.



Stephanie, on the other hand, does not have problems looking over the edge.


Steph did have problems with this spillway tunnel. This is where the water goes if the water in Lake Mead gets too high. It reminded me of a water slide, a la the Howlin' Tornado at Great Wolf Lodge. I think it reminded Steph of the Howlin Tornado as well, hence why she doesn't like it.

Overall, the Hoover Dam was really excellent and a marvel of Engineering. I can totally tell that I am going to be one of those dads that drags my kids there on summer vacations.

Later on, we drove to the Silverton Casino to check out the aquarium there. It wasn't too big, but they had a bunch of sting rays and sharks.


Then to end the night, we filled my childhood dream by going to Circus Circus. My mom always tells me that Circus Circus is always the place that I wanted to go back to. I can see why. The place was loaded with kids -- crazy kids. We saw some Circus performers. Like these magician dudes from Russia.

I was convinced that the Russian Magician man hated his life. He didn't look like he was having fun. But the old drummer on the right is my favorite ever.


Oh yeah, and I totally won big.

Now I am nagging Stephanie over and over to let me go back to Circus Circus.