Day 2: Ely to Phoenix

So, I was going to confess that I didn't actually double my money last night, it was the beer talking. And then I was going to castigate myself for blowing $25 more bucks the next morning after breakfast, throwing away what little I did win. However, when I got to Las Vegas, I decided to stop by Binion's Horseshoe Casino and gamble a little bit, and...

...I managed to turn $20 into $100.

That's the most I've ever won on slots. And it was penny slots no less!

Anyhoo, then I drove over Hoover Dam. It is a gigantic dam, no doubt, however I've seen it before and so the awe factor wasn't such a big deal for me. But, when I got there I noticed that they are building another bridge over the Colorado River gorge to bypass the two-lane road that currently goes over the dam. This bridge is humongous. I'm not kidding when I say that the bridge dwarfs Hoover Dam itself. It's not done but you can see how monstrous the project is:



I'm almost a little sad to see this gigantic bridge going over the canyon, dwarfing the Hoover Dam itself. Hoover Dam is supposed to be this monumental feat of engineering, costing the lives of many workers, built when the nation's spirit was at an ebb as a tribute to America's can-do mentality. And now the majesty of Hoover Dam is being dwarfed by a four-lane bridge solely for the purpose of traffic control.

Here are some more Hoover Dam pictures:





This last one is of these two eagle statues that appear to be "standing guard" to the entrance to the dam roadway. It reminded me of Egyptian mythological statues. Hmm.

Then, after a few wrong turns and a bizarre Phoenix road system, I finally made it to Scott and Jen and Freder's place. I reek of sunscreen and I'm ready for bed.

Scott has said, "Still blogging?" I guess it's time to finish.

P.S. Wow! It's raining in Phoenix in July! Snow in Nevada, rain in Arizona...what will happen once I get to Texas?