Las Vegas trip [Part 1]

Last Wednesday we drove 816 miles to Las Vegas for the 19th annual Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend. It was a blast! I plan to blog vacation pictures for the next several days, starting with these photos taken on the first two days of the trip. The photo above was taken west of Denver on I-70, between Idaho Springs and Copper Mountain. So funny -- those bighorn sheep were in someone's yard! Now that's not something you see every day.

It's always gorgeous driving west on I-70! This is (I think) west of Vail, nearing Glenwood Springs. As you can see, we still have plenty of snow in the high country.

It takes about 11 hours to drive from Colorado Springs to Vegas. We were pretty wiped out when we got there late on Wednesday night, but the next day we were ready to do some exploring. After checking with the convention, we decided to drive to Hoover Dam. What a cool place! This is one of a pair of heroic, winged Art Déco statues, designed by Oskar J.W. Hansen, that adorn the dedication plaza.

I guess I have a healthy fear of heights, because I was definitely hesitant to go all the way up to the wall to take pictures. I had to inch my way into position! By the way, that's the Colorado River way down there. It's also the border between Nevada and Arizona. Oh and yes that's a bridge way up there in the background. People were walking on it and driving across. (Oh hell no.)

Hoover Dam was built in the mid-1930s and controversially named after unpopular president Herbert Hoover. By the time it was completed, he had been out of office for a couple of years. The stock market crash of 1929 and subsequent Great Depression occurred during Hoover's presidency, and he was a strong proponent of prohibition. No wonder he wasn't reelected!

Don't worry, Hoover Dam authorities, I have no desire to get up on that wall!

No sir, not getting on the wall, no thanks. (Gaaaaah!)

If you're a regular CS Daily Photo reader, you know how much I love Art Déco! Hoover Dam's architecture and design elements made me swoon!

Take a step to the left and you're in Nevada. A step to the right, you're in Arizona.

Art Déco is so beautiful!

This large relief by Oskar J.W. Hansen is dedicated to the workers who died in building the dam. There were 112 fatalities officially associated with the dam's design and construction, and dozens more deaths attributed to "pneumonia" that were probably actually due to carbon monoxide poisoning. The companies that employed the workers likely didn't want to be on the hook for those casualties, so they found a way to blame pneumonia instead.

I finally get to be a tourist, and what do I do? I take photos of tourists! Actually, this lady was making it hard for me to get a picture of the dedication plaza, so instead I took a picture of her taking a picture of the dedication plaza.