Walkabout on Wheels

I have been told, though I'm not sure by whom, that the deserts of Nevada are boring, monotonous, and empty. They obviously have never driven from Vegas to Phoenix. Unexpected things, like a bright blue lake in the midst of the red rock desert,

What more can I say? Deserts are cool. LOL.

Anyway, we finally peeled ourselves away from Vegas. We really did stay there way too long. Why? I'm not really sure. Maybe it was the total change from what we were doing, which was getting away from the pitfalls of civilization. Maybe it was just the relief of having a place, no matter how strange, becoming familiar. Who knows. Anyway, we left.

We had no specific destination. We just knew we would be heading through Phoenix. So we plotted a route and figured we would see how long we could stand to drive before we hit a point of interest. To get to Arizona from Vegas, the best way was to go by way of the Hoover Dam. We didn't stop, but traffic was so bad due to tourists and road blocks caused by high terrorist warning levels or whatever that thing is called, that it was almost like stopping. On the way to the dam we had to pull the truck into a special inspection area where they had us stop and open a compartment or two before waving us through. This really didn't strike me as a shining example of national security. The dam was interesting. I guess it was designed when Art Deco was all the rage. Even if not, that was the style they picked.

In stark contrast to the old design were odd pulleys, and half finished towers for a road that will bypass the winding, clogged road which we drove on, and which right now is the only way through. They made for neat pictures!