Written on e-parchment.

Here starts the vegas recap, muhahaaaaa.

Work is crazy.  Still not caught up.  Did some writing this afternoon on Survivor, the first since I got back from vacay.  Haven't been feeling so hot for the past few days.  I think it's the fibro.  :(

Okay, let the recap begin!


Day 1- Sunday

Spent most of the night flying.  Weeeeeee.  Had a layover in Houston.  Arrived in Vegas around midnight.  Got off the plane, did the whole let's-find-our-luggage thing, and got the rental car.  Got a free upgrade to a minivan due to them being out of Yaruses.  Nice car, lemme tell you.

By the time we got to our hotel room, it was 1am Vegas time -- almost 4am Michigan time!  We literally collapsed.

The Strip looked REALLY cool.  We were sitting next to a native Vegas girl who gave us good information and advice.  Found out, eerily enough, that she's in college studying English/Journalism AND is interested in photography (the very same things I studied, except for the
English part).  Was pretty cool.

(oh, skipped a day!)

Tuesday

Tuesday was our day to take the Hoover Dam Tour.  We had a kick-butt breakfast at this small cafe in the hotel.  It was SO GOOD!

Went to Hoover Dam, which was about 45 mins away from Vegas.  Saw some beautiful scenery on the way.  It was sooooo hot though, about 120 DEG (I am not exaggerating -- that was the official temperature) and even though it was "dry heat," it was still REALLY REALLY uncomfortable and unpleasant.  I was concerned about heatstroke, actually, for a bit.

The Hoover Dam ROCKS.  Before the tour, we were given this plastic hard hats to show that we were going on the tour (this will be important later).  Soooooo we're in the line and someone asked the tour guide if we can take pictures.  The tour guide says, "Take all the dam pictures of the dam you want!"  Sooooo funny.

So we went into the ventilation ducts and the inside.  The inside was awesome.  We were on an upper level and could see everything, the generators and the different parts (I understand the concept, but missed the explanation due to my faulty hearing and the tour guide had a strong accent of some sort...).  What was really cool was the Native American symbols in the floor.  Apparently they had something to do with water.  I got a few pictures of that.

There was one tube that was soooo tight and claustrophobic, but it led to louvers where you could see the water outside.  Very cool.

There were markings on the ducts in pencil.  Apparently the workers did alot of calculating and measuring.

There was a TALL stairway dubbed "The Stairway to Heaven" because it was so high up.  And there was a corresponding one going down.  Freaky but cool.

We somehow got left behind.  They had two groups going at once, and we thought we were in the right group.  We were on the elevator and the tour guide saw our hats and told us that we weren't in the right place.  Luckily, our group waited for us.  We literally ran to where they were -- quite a distance -- and they applauded when we got there.  I bowed, lol.

Um...what else?  The outside was pretty darned cool, too.  Took massive amounts of pictures.  There were electrical towers everywhere, and one was leaning to the side quite a bit. Apparently, it's supposed to be like that.

96 on site deaths (of those recorded...some weren't) while the dam was being built.  Apparently it took 4 years and it was rushed through BUT it is totally safe.  Made of concrete blocks. 

1 on site death so far for the bridge they are building now -- which looks really cool.

Like I said, it was HOT.  And it was far worse going back to the hotel.  We got Jack in the Box and the hubby found a freight yard (trains) to take pictures of. I could have too but I was miserable.

And true to form, I got sicky. 

But, it didn't ruin the vacation b/c that was it on being sick.  We lost one night.  Wanted to see some Improv, but didn't feel up to it.

I got better.

And that completes Tuesday.

To be continued.

Right now, Jeff and I are catching up on The Office season 2 while I do the laundry.  Tomorrow we're going to the inlaws for a cookout.  Should be fun.

PB