September 26-7, Las Vegas, NV

Yesterday we went to Hoover dam in the morning for a tour. It is an amazing feat of engineering. They completed a huge bridge nearby three years ago so you know longer have to drive across the dam.

New bridge over Colorado River

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lake Mead which was created by the dam is a beautiful blue lake and very large. After a tailgate picnic by the dam we went down to the Boulevard in Las Vegas and walked around for several hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The best that Las Vegas Blvd has to offer is Bellagio's Dancing Fountains and the natural wonders of their Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, a 636,000-square-foot  luxury mall, was beautiful to walk through but way out of my price range. The mall had arched ceilings painted to look like sky so it looked like you were walking through a Roman town; they changed the lighting to match the time of day outside. We did find an Apple store in the mall and used their free Wi-Fi update our phones with the new OS7.

This morning, Friday, we went to the town of Henderson next to Las Vegas to tour to the Ethel M. Chocolate factory and its extensive botanical cactus garden.

They produce high quality preservative free chocolates in small batches. Besides selling their own homemade candies they also have a small M&M shop.

 We had our first In-N-Out burger for lunch which was very good. Then we went to the local Ford dealer for an oil change; we figured it was due after putting over 4500 miles on the truck this month since we left home.