Sunday, November 8, 2009

Saturday on the town...

We have been entertaining guests this week. Two friends of the Mister came to town, to go to the SEMA show with him. The SEMA show ended Friday and our last guest left this morning, so Saturday was filled with our version of Las Vegas 'amusements'.

We went to two car shows and a car parts swap meet, then we went to Hoover Dam to see the progress of the bridge over Black Canyon (a bypass alternate to driving over the dam).


The bridge is 'below' the dam ( down river), but very high up in the air. I don't really like bridges and I cannot imagine driving across this one when it is complete.

It will be a short-cut compared to going the current alternate route, which goes through Needles, Searchlight and miles and miles of nothing, on the way to Arizona. That route avoids the tourist traffic across the dam and the security search that is inevitable, if you are pulling a trailer or camper, (which we often are) but it is longer.

The water level at Lake Mead just keeps getting lower and lower! The 'bathtub ring' is about twice as high as it was when we came here, three years ago.

This marina was moved about a year ago. It would have been high and dry by now, if it hadn't been moved.

We saw a big horned sheep, grazing by the side of the rode as we drove through Boulder City, but did not get a photo. (Dearest Sister and I always track our 'fauna' sightings. She was visiting Alpacas, yesterday, but they are not 'free range' so I don't think they really count... She might disagree...)

After our tour of the "Wonders of the Modern World, Nevada Edition", we grilled hamburgers and hot dogs.

Afterwards, I caught The Mister and his buddies watching Lawrence Welk!

That is how much excitement you can find at our house, on a Saturday night!

6 comments:

Iron Needles said...

There must have been no racing on! Only the racey Welkie song stylists!

I didn't know the Mister was Welkie. What fodder I have now...

Martha said...

I've been keeping up -- online, that is -- with the bridge progress, which is very interesting to watch. We visited Hoover Dam in 2000, when Lake Mead was at it's peak -- it's difficult to believe the water level could drop so much in 9 years.

That's such a funny photo of The Mister and his friends. I must admit -- I love watching the PBS Welk reruns on Saturdays -- my favorites are the shows from the 70s with all the candy-colored matching suits.

Allie said...

You couldn't pay me to get on that bridge. Oh I don't like them, lol!
Why is the water level so low??? That's quite a drop. I know the Great Lakes are dropping too...my cousin has way more beach than she used to have on Lake Huron.

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Lawrence Welk! Good times at Jan's house! :))

I wonder... if it's like our Utah Lake Powell? With the water levels so low we're starting to see all sorts of amazing rock art exposed above the waterline.

jan said...

IN - To be fair, we were channel surfing and came across the LW show and so the conversation turned to childhood television veiwing and 'singing along with Mitch' etc.
Martha - This was one of those shows! There were dancers whose hair did not move! And the LW singers styling the songs of The Oakridge Boys, who had just won a Country Music Award!
Allie - The water level has been dropping a foot a month for about eight years due to drought.
Kate - It has gotten so low that some of the towns that were flooded when the dam was built are now exposed!

Stickhorsecowgirls said...

Avoid high bridges at all cost--that's my motto. Lawrence Welk??!!! C