Tuesday, 7th May - Las Vegas

Still no wi-fi in our room so another late and initially picture-free update.

After breakfast we went back 30 miles south out of Las Vegas to visit the Hoover Dam - at the time of its construction in the 1930s the largest dam in the world, the largest concrete structure and the largest electric powered generating station. We viewed the dam from the four lane highway bridge, opened in 2020, that crosses the Arizona/Nevada border and which effectively bypassed the road that all traffic used to have to use across the top of the dam itself.

We then enjoyed a drive through the Lake Mead National Recreation Area adjacent to the lake created by the dam - a lake that has clearly and alarmingly dropped considerably in recent years judging by the increasingly visible former high water "tide line".

From there a further 60 mile drive through a spectacular rising and falling landscape to the Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada's oldest and largest state park. The valley gets it name from the red sandstone formations formed from great shifting sand dunes 150 million years ago in the age of the dinosaurs. The 11 mile scenic byway through the park is simply stunning.

Chipmunks joined us for lunch.

We returned to Las Vegas after a round trip of approximately 150 miles bringing our total distance travelled so far to just short of 1,800 miles.

After dinner we watched the fountains at the Bellagio Hotel opposite our hotel dancing to the theme of the Pink Panther, visited the Tea and Tulips floral installation in the same hotel ....

............ and took a $28 elevator ride to the viewing platform at the top of the half-size Eiffel Tower replica at our hotel, Paris, (46 stories up in the sky above the Strip) to enjoy spectacular views of this crazy and unique city. Why, you may ask, is the tower half size? Good question. The Federal Aviation Authority would not allow it to be built any taller due to its proximity to Las Vegas Airport.