I think the best time to go to Vegas is during Fall and Spring time because it is not too hot. We made a mistake of going there in the Summer and the weather was way too hot. It felt like I was inside the oven whenever the wind would blow. That is one downside when doing a one minute decision of visiting a place. I thought our decision of being spontaneous would reward us but it wasn't all that great. We did however had fun with our road trip to Grand Canyon.
I would like to share some of the photos we took of the tall buildings in downtown Vegas. The Stratosphere is the most striking one.
If you are into thrill rides, Stratosphere has it for you. Rising 1,149 feet into the Vegas skyline, the Stratosphere Tower has the most exciting thrill rides in Las Vegas.
When we were driving around, we saw how the rides dropped and even seeing that made me dizzy lol. I am not a thrill seeker so even if someone would pay me to try it, I would decline.
If you don't believe me, just watch the video below.
We did however got inside the hotel, we ate dinner there one night while we were in Vegas. Of all the hotel we went to in Vegas, I think the Bellagio is the one that I love because you get to enjoy a display of their conservatory and botanical gardens. I will have to post the photos sometimes.
Our hotel was located not far from the Trump tower.
It's amazing to me that despite all of these tall buildings and busy streets, you can see the mountains from a distance.
If New York City is the city that never sleeps, Las Vegas seem dead in the morning. It's a great time to walk around with the kids except you see some drunk people walking but over all, morning in Vegas is dull especially during summer time. It might be a different scenario though with different seasons, I don't know. But if you ask me if I would ever go back there again, I'd say no. It was nice to see it though.
We stayed at Circus Circus hotel during our Las Vegas vacation last year. It is an iconic hotel located on the Las Vegas Strip which is close to shopping. It is a nice place to stay, a little bit confusing at first because it is huge. There are circus acts, a carnival midway, and the adventuredome indoor theme park featuring 25 rides and attractions. Just like many or most hotels in last vegas, guests also enjoy casinos and nightly entertainment. The funny thing is, we stayed there but never ate at their dining outlets.
I wasn't really impressed with the rooms, tome, it's a bit outdated. The best part though of the room that we got is the view especially during at night time. We always look at the window and see the beautiful Stratosphere hotel which when light up, it's beautiful.
If the view is beautiful during night time, it is even gorgeous when the sun is rising.
One thing that we noticed during our stay in Las Vegas, people are out in full force during night time but when you go out early, the city seems dead. The only ones you see are drunk people or some runners. I think it has to do with the season that we were there. We went there on summer time so it was soooo hot, we felt like we were in the oven all the time.
We love going out early because it is not crowded and we can eat breakfast in peace.
Despite the super hot weather, we had a fun time. I don't think we will ever come back there during summer not will be staying again at that hotel but maybe we could go back someday during Fall or Winter.
We actually had more fun on our road trip from Vegas to Grand Canyon than our Vegas adventure itself. Here's the lobby of Circus Circus in the morning, it's quiet but when you arrive there during midday, it is packed! You can't even find a place to sit while waiting for your turn to be checked in. It's overwhelming actually. I love the feel of small hotells rather than larger ones like this.
I also didn't like that the casinos are right in your face when you come in. To me, it's not really a place to stay when you have children with you just like we do.
See how empty the streets are early in the morning?
If it wasn't for our plan of going to Grand Canyon, I wouldn't have agreed to go to Vegas last year but it was nice seeing the city that everyone talks about. I think Las Vegas is overrated but that's just my opinion. I am sure people will disagree but that's just my own preference when it comes to vacation and stuff. I like relaxing getaways, nature-related type of adventure more than the city fun. I don't drink nor gamble and I am not a night life kind of gal so Vegas is okay but not my type of vacation. How about you, what do you like when it comes to vacation type of places to visit?
We've heard about Hoover Dam prior to our visit to Las Vegas but we did not know that it is actually a tourist attraction. After we saw the beautiful Lake Mead, we still have time to kill before checking in to the hotel so we proceeded there. It takes 12 min to drive from Lake Mead to Hoover Dam.
It's amazing to know that Hoover Dam was built during the great depression. It is also amazing that it supplies electricity to more than 20 million people. Kudos to all the men who have worked so hard in completing this awesome project.
Now there are tours that you can take to see the Hoover Dam but we figured, we will just discover it ourselves and learned from what we can see. I mean who needs a tourist guide if you can just explore the place, right?
According to the videos that I have watched, this Dam was called Boulder Dam then changed it to Hoover Dam. The dam was named after President Herbert Hoover. But Secretary of the Interior, Harold Ickes, changed the name back to "Boulder Dam." Then after 14 years, congress felt compelled to pass a joint resolution to change the name back to "Hoover Dam" in honor of the United States 31st president, Herbert Hoover. Imagine the confusion of it's name, I am glad they finally gave it a permanent name.
t is amazing how much work those dedicated men have put into doing this project. What a great accomplishment considering that it was done during the Great Depression.
Hoover Dam is described as a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, it is located on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona
The most exciting part of seeing the Hoover Dam is crossing between the Sate of Nevada to Arizona. It is a unique feeling that you can be at two states for a matter of minutes. My children thought it was pretty cool.
Here are some HOOVER DAM FACTOIDS FOR KIDS from the Reclamation website.
DID YOU KNOW THAT . . . . ?
1. Hoover Dam is 726 ft. tall. That is 171 ft. taller than the Washington Monument in Washington D.C. and twice as tall as the Luxor Casino (338 ft.) in Las Vegas, Nevada.
2. At its base, Hoover Dam is as thick (660 ft.) as two footballs fields measured end-to-end.
3. As many as 20,000 vehicles a day drive across the 45 ft. wide top of the dam between Nevada and Arizona.
4. There is enough concrete in Hoover Dam (4 1/2 million cubic yards) to build a 2 lane road from Seattle, Washington to Miami, Florida or a 4 ft. wide sidewalk around the Earth at the Equator.
5. During peak electricity periods, enough water runs through the generators to fill 15 average sized swimming pools (20,000 gallons each) in 1 second.
6. Each of the 30 ft. wide penstocks (water pipes) can carry enough water to fill 900 bath tubs (100 gallons each) in 1 second, or 960,000 (12 oz.) cans of drink in 1 second.
7. Hoover Dam is shaped like a huge curved axe head, 45 ft. wide at the top and 660 ft. thick at the bottom.
8. Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the USA and contains enough water to flood the entire state of New York with 1 ft. of water (26 million acre ft.).
9. If you drink water from the tap at Disneyland, Anaheim or Sea World in San Diego -- that water is coming from the Colorado River and Lake Mead, 300 miles away.
10. Each of the 17 generators can supply electricity to 100,000 households.
11. When operating at full power, the 17 generators can supply all the electricity needed by a city of 750,000 people.
12. Each generator weights (4 million pounds) as much as 4 1/2 fully loaded Boeing 747-400's.
13. The Colorado River is more than 1,400 miles long and supplies water to Los Angeles, San Diego, and Phoenix. Las Vegas gets almost all its water from Lake Mead. Lake Mead was made by Hoover Dam when it blocked the Colorado River and flooded the Mojave Desert.
14. Between 1931 and 1936 when the dam was built, 96 men were killed in industrial accidents. None were buried in the concrete.
15. The mascot dog and favorite pet of all the construction workers during the building of the dam was buried at Hoover Dam. The grave is near the Hoover Dam Tour Center and can be visited.
16. It would take $2,000,000 worth of copper pennies to make the copper buses (4 inch in diameter hollow square wires) that carry electricity inside the powerhouse.
17. Every state in the USA furnished supplies and materials for the construction of the dam.
18. More than 8.5 million pounds of dynamite was used to blast the foundation for the dam and 8 miles of tunnels through the canyon walls.
19. There are 2700 miles of transmission lines sending electricity from Hoover Dam to Los Angeles.
This was a very nice surprise during our vacation in Vegas. We didn't know that we would learn so many things by visiting the Dam. Remember the romantic comedy movie "Fools Rush In"? I believe there is a part of the movie that was filmed there and some parts in Grand Canyon too. I was trying to imagine those scenes when we were visiting the places.
It was super hot when we went there but seeing how beautiful it was is totally worth being burned by the heat of the sun lol. I don't normally sweat but man, I sweat like a hog in Vegas especially during our time exploring the beauty of Hoover Dam.
We parked all the way on the Arizona side so when it was time to go back, the kids retreated so hubby decided, he was just going to the car alone and we waited at the bottom of the hill.
Going to Hoover Dam was really educational for the four of us. We did not know much about it till we visited. It's awesome because both of their social studies teacher was telling them about Lake Mead, Grand Canyon, and Hoover Dam and the kids were excited because they know what the teacher was talking about.
If you have a spare time, try to watch the following videos I have included of how the Hoover Dam was completed. Just by watching them, you will learn a lot. Video credits to History.com
Below are short clips I took while we were driving around and enjoying the gigantic boulders scenery.
If you haven't seen this place, I encourage you to do it, you will be amazed. I would suggest not to do it during the summer though, it was so hot when we were there. We thought of going back there during the evening but it wasn't cool either so we thought maybe the next time we visit, we will do it in the Fall or Spring when it is not so hot. I hope you enjoy this Hoover Dam post. Coming up next will be the Hoover Dam bridge.
