Mike O'Callaghan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge

This is the bridge built across the Colorado river to help ease some of the vehicular congestion on the Hoover Dam itself.  There is a walk way for pedestrians if you would like to get a different view of the dam.  The walkway is only on one side of the bridge, but there is a cement barricade protecting you from the traffic.  The walkway also dead ends just before getting to the other side, which means you cannot walk all the way across, you must turn around and come back to where you started.  We enjoyed seeing the dam from a different perspective though.

The bridge with the walkway.  You can also see just a tiny bit of the Colorado river flowing under the bridge. 



 
The  Hoover Dam with Lake Mead in the background.

The view from the far side of the bridge, just before you have to turn around and walk back.

The Hoover Dam

No trip to Las Vegas would be complete without going to the Hoover Dam.   I must say they have really increased their security at the facility since the last time we were there.  The security lines moved quickly though so it is not  much of an inconvenience at all, and I think most people would agree, it is always better to be safe than sorry.

The dam truly is an amazing site to see, and the short video you watch about the building of the dam gives you such incredible insight into what a monumental task this was.

First glimpse of the Hoover Dam from the parking garage.

Touring the inside of the dam.

The Hoover dam with the Mike O'Callaghan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge in the background.

Lake Mead side of the Hoover dam.

Some of the monuments to honour the workers who built the Hoover Dam

Death Valley National Park, Artists Drive

On the road to Badwater basin there is a one way loop, known as Artists Drive that you can take.  It really is a scenic little detour as it brings you back to the highway.  It is a fun little drive and the different coloured rocks were neat to see among the landscape.

Death Valley National Park, Badwater Basin

Badwater Basin is the lowest elevation in the Untied States, at 282 feet below sea level.  This lake bed completely dried leaving  plenty of salt crystal formations behind.  There was a tiny amount of water at the edge of badwater basin, but it was most likely from a recent rain.  There is a designated path to walk on to go out into the basin and see the salt crystal formations close up.

If you look very, very carefully in this first picture, you can see the sign marking where sea level actually is. 

 

A self portrait at Badwater Basin.