hoover dam

aaron and i were able to take a little vacation and head south towards warmer weather.  we left the kids with grandma and grandpa and enjoyed a few days of no responsibilities and great weather.  on friday we spent half the day at hoover dam.  we bought tickets to go on a tour of the inside of the dam.  it is truly amazing that a structure like that was built so quickly, and without the technology we have now.

the picture of this bridge does not do it justice.  it is huge, and so high over the canyon below.  lots of people were walking out onto the middle of it, i was a little afraid to even drive over it.  

the arizona side of the power plant.

every once in a while we would get caught in a swarm of tiny bugs, this is aaron swatting them away while i was trying to take his picture.  it was such a beautiful day, so nice to spend it outside after these longs cold months of winter.

 the inside of the nevada side of the power plant.  that place was ginormous.

 a tunnel near the bottom of the dam.  i was trying really hard not to think about how much concrete was above me, and how much water was being held by all that concrete.

 about midway up from the bottom, the dam has air vents.  this is a picture our tour guide took of us after we peeked out of them.  pretty amazing to see the dam from that view.

 a vertical air vent. we had to walk over that scary thing to get the other air vent.  i didn't really love that part.

some dark pictures of the stairs that the engineers used to use, the steepest steps i have ever seen.

big fishy's

 after the tour it was getting pretty warm, we decided to grab some lunch and spend the afternoon sitting by the pool reading our books.  such a lovely way to spend the day.