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Although it is quite a way north of the Mexican border, Las Vegas has always had a reputation (among many others) as a good place to find a great Mexican restaurant. Today, via Google, I found lists by several rating agencies. The consensus choice seemed to be the Lindo Michoacan, which was conveniently located in Henderson on the southeastern edge of Las Vegas on our way to visit Hoover Dam. One of the charming attributes was the table side preparation of Guacamole dip.
Durelle ordered a shredded beef chimichanga while I went with chile verde with the expected tender chunks of roast pork.
This is the chili verde and you can see the bowl of Guacamole in the top of the picture. The style of the restaurant was expansive, yet intimate; elegant, but not overly adorned. Did I mention the margaritas? Any great Mexican restaurant must make a great margarita...on the rocks with salt, please! Due to the upcoming outdoor activities in the Arizona/Nevada sun, we limited ourselves to one and had a big glass of ice water.
From there it is only thirty miles to the Hoover Dam, a truly massive project the was implemented during the depths of the Great Depression. I was unable to get any "Oh, Wow" pictures, and there is really nothing to give you a sense of scale.
The first picture is taken from the dam looking up toward the southern tip of Lake Mead which the dam created. Note the cordon upstream of the dam which denies boater access. These days it more to protect the dam than the boaters as was the original case. All vehicles pass through security before they are allowed to drive over the dam.
The second picture shows the downstream side of the dam. Note that it is arched toward upstream so that the pressure of the water forces the dam to transfer the stresses into the canyon walls. Although there is nothing visible to provide scale, the dam, itself, is over 760 feet tall and contains over 3 1/4 million cubic yards of concrete. There was another million or so used for all the supporting structures. I could dig up a lot of mind-numbingly large logistic facts. Suffice it to say that that it was a breathtaking achievement given the technologies of eighty years ago.
Just downstream from the dam is the new Pat Tillman Memorial bridge that carries the traffic to bypass the dam. It, too, was a significant engineering achievement, especially anchoring the bases in the vertical walls of the Black Canyon.
Tomorrow is the wedding.
Tonight was a pleasant supper for seventeen at the buffet at the Monte Carlo hotel and casino. In addition to the bride and groom, there were the groom's family plus some of Melissa's and other friends. In order to coordinate the group, the buffet seemed like the best option, and it worked out just fine.
As many of you know, Las Vegas is a larger than life place. As one of the Aussies said,"This place ought to be illegal." It is clear that everyone is thoroughly enjoying themselves and each other. Tomorrow the women will be having a batchelorette party with limousine, supper and the Chippendales. The men will be doing the same sort of thing at a different venue. I guess it is the definitive proof of our age in that we have decided not to join them for that part of the festivities.
Is that a good looking couple having a great time or what?
Today was another weather alert day with a heat index over 110 degrees. I did run the errands at the BX and commissary, and, of course, we had to walk the dog. But, otherwise we spent the day enclosed in our mobile bungalow with both A/Cs doing their best. The rear got down into the low 70s, but the front couldn't quite break 80. The MCD shades are down on all windows so we can't even monitor the movements in the park. Fortunately, there was plenty of activity to keep Durelle occupied starting with the Red Sox at 1000. There was NCAA baseball, MLB baseball, PGA golf and now the NHL. The coolest outdoor spot is the dog park I mentioned yesterday.
It is clear in the pictures that Baxter's surgery for a benign mass removal is healing fine... (thanks Dr. Lerma).
I haven't been at Nellis AFB since 1976 (a source of many pleasant and proud memories). The base appears to be one of the biggest and most attractive of all Air Force bases. Because of almost unlimited space and perennially fine flying weather, it is the home of the Fighter Weapons School and the home of the Thunderbirds. The base employs 9,000 military and 3,000 civilians and has an average daily temporary duty roster of 1,100. The base itself occupies 14,000 acres, and the Nevada Test and Training Range provides 3 million acres of restricted land and 15,000 square miles of airspace. Of course, Area 51, a focus of UFO fans, has been the site of the development of the U-2, the A12, the F-117 and numerous UAVs. It is all a proud part of our military heritage.
I just got a call from granddaughter, Melissa. We'll join them for supper tomorrow evening. Durelle has a pot of her chili simmering on the stove for tonight (and a few future nights).
We arrived at Nellis AFB northeast of Las Vegas, at noon. It was 108 in the shade! Even the normal activities of connecting utilities, extending jacks and slides and unhooking the Jeep were a miserable chore. We finally got settled, got both A/Cs going full blast and had a light lunch. Outside handles on the west side were too hot to touch. With all the window shades closed, by 1700 the inside temperature was down to 85. By then I had had a cool shower and was reasonably comfortable. Hopefully, as the sun gets lower, things will cool off further.
The dog park is large, shaded, with seats, water dishes, grass, and large flowering shrubs. The campground and the whole area is very photogenic. The mountains' outlines are crisp and attractive...but if you want me to go out and take some pictures, you will have to wait until tomorrow.
Some of the wedding party arrives tonight. We are waiting to hear from them.
After days of heavy duty air conditioner use, it was quite a remarkable change to have an overnight low of 38 degrees! We slept in, made bacon and eggs, read the Albuquerque paper and generally relaxed. The long showers felt great, too. Durelle did some wash and got to check out the new drier. She can now dry the entire set of linens in one load while the original combination washer/drier is doing another load of wash. It is quite an improvement.
I walked the dog a bit and took some pictures in the campground. I suppose I could get off my duff, unhook the Jeep and wander around for some real photo-ops.
This is where we are staying. It is a very overtly patriotic place that lets active duty military stay for free!
If you look closely, you can see that the bottom of the pool is painted with the American flag...and isn't that an interesting chess set? They offer a BBQ dinner that we'll try tonight. The highlight is a smoked BBQ platter for $12.95 that includes 6 oz. of brisket, 4 oz. of sausage, 2 ribs and a choice of two sides: ranch beans, potato salad, Cole slaw, and chips. That seems a bit much, so I'm going to get the brisket sandwich while Durelle will opt for the pulled pork. There's cobbler for dessert and followed by an ice cream social. I'm sure we'll go light on that, too.
This an artifact to add a bit of nostalgia to the landscaping. I'm sure that saddle has seen a few miles.
After five straight days of driving, we have arrived in Gallup, and we are going to squat for a day. Today was 422 miles which we accomplished in under eight hours. The cruise control was on 62 while the speed limit was 75 most of the day. The mileage dropped off today. There were some moderately gusty headwinds, but the biggest factor was the elevation gain. We are camped at 6500 feet, but we had several excursions over 7000...the highest being the crossing of the continental divide at 7275 about thirty miles east of Gallup. We did Amarillo to Gallup on a half tank of gas.
I-40 basically retraces the old route 66. Out here in the open country I-40 sits right on top of the old 66 EXCEPT when you approach one of the infrequent towns. In that case the newer I-40 makes a broad swerve, usually to the south, of the town while "Business 40", which is the old 66, goes directly through the town. There are many 66 landmarks. The campground we are currently occupying is on the old 66.
As I commented in the 2008 blog, the thousands of square miles of featureless landscape are completely foreign to us coastal inhabitants, but they serve to remind us of the country's grandeur. Tomorrow, I'll post some pictures. Tonight I'm just going to crash and get outside of a couple of martinis while Durelle makes us some supper.
Nephew Danny Taylor asked in a comment if we had sampled some of the southwest cuisine. We will tomorrow. On that score, however, I should mention the billboards leading into Amarillo. There is a steak house that advertises the "Free 72 ounce steak". So, if you feel up to eating ALL of a 4 1/2 pound steak, it's on the house!! I was just informed by a classmate who grew up in Amarillo that you must also finish the sides which come with the steak, and you must finish it in one hour.
Today was a 375 mile day. I-40 through western Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle used to be known as the Route 66 of Steinbeck fame (and an extremely popular TV show for old Corvette buffs). Between Oklahoma City and Amarillo the steering wheel did not get a lot of use. Fifteen years ago, driving the Corvette, when I went from NH to CA and back for Ned Ord's daughter's wedding on the Monterrey Peninsula and Jim Dill's retirement at Edwards AFB, I averaged over 80 MPH. Today I didn't. It appears that the second planting of several crops has already started. Oklahoma was greener than I expected.
The only picture today is almost an exact repeat of one on 20Sept2008. Long time readers may remember a picture of Belle when faced with the same dilemma that Baxter faced today.
Tomorrow we are scheduled to go to Gallup, NM. It's a 421 mile day, and I got a flat spot today with two hours to go, so we may adjust. If we make Gallup, we'll stop for a day, do some wash and some sight seeing. We have not visited Gallup before. Tomorrow will make five straight days of driving which is far more than our usual routine.
