Never having been to Las Vegas, NV before, I didn’t know what to expect from the South Point Resort when I picked it for the guys’ stay for two nights. I just knew it was on the south side of Vegas, that it had a lot of restaurants, a large pool and hot tub, and was $52 a night. I flew into Las Vegas on a Wednesday, after the guys had arrived there the previous afternoon, and the hotel’s shuttle service took me to the hotel. It was the first time I had ever been in an airport that had slot machines on every floor. I walked into the hotel and was in the middle of a casino. I called Paul, who was at the pool, and said, “Help.” I joined the guys at the pool and it was hot. I was ready for some Out West travel. But the guys wanted to chill, which I knew would be the case after Paul’s solo driving for one week.
At night we drove along the strip, after taking photos under the famous sign. What an eyeful. We caught the end of the Bellagio fountains (from the car). We saw the building of the Pawn Stars show. Back at the hotel Paul napped, Keegan watched TV and I took Riley and Nolan bowling on another floor. Tomorrow was going to be a huge day.
We hit the road at about 8:15 for Hoover Dam to the SE of Vegas. The new bridge was completed just this past October and it was a thrill to see it and walk across it. But before we got ton the Pat Tillman bridge, I knew we would be stopped at a security stop point. Since we were early, there were not many cars on the road, and the cars in front of us were waved through. But went the family Suburban tripster arrived at the checkpoint, I saw the guard to my right on passenger side say, “They’re carrying cargo!” and so we were directed to pull over and stop. I was dying to get a photo but we all stayed in the vehicle. Paul got out and they asked him to open the cargo back in the back. This means he had to take off the 3 bungee cords that secured the 5 folding chairs and then he had to open the large Highlander zippered cargo bag. Once it was opened they saw a campstove and sleeping bags so luckily he didn’t have to remove everything. One guard noticed our Georgia license plate with its University of Florida special plate and was surprised that Georgia allowed UF special tags. The tag was a gift for Paul for his birthday in February, knowing the ‘Burb would be traveling out West this summer. With the cargo carrier in the back the tag can’t even be seen however.
One guard pointed several times to our lantern carrying case in the back that was pressed up against the window. He demanded to know what that was and Paul told him it was our lantern. Anyway the takeaway item here is that if you want to take something to Hoover Dam that is illegal, drive a car and do not have a cargo carrier in the back. I jest—we actually got a kick out of being pulled over so that the 6 guards could check us out.
The Tillman bridge spans over Nevada and Arizona and they do a great job with many plaques and info about the project, and the history of the two men for whom the bridge is named, and I got teary eyed reading about Pat Tillman and how he was the oldest of three boys. There is a time lapse video you can see on YouTube of the bridge being built over 5 years.
We enjoyed the Hoover Dam tour, which starts out with 25 to 30 of us tourists standing shoulder to shoulder in a large elevator which descends 50 floors in no time flat. The hallways we were then in were original from about 80 years ago. I think Nolan is a budding engineer and all the info was right up his alley. After the tour we walked across the Hoover Dam and it really spectacular. Of course the boys had to lean way over and look, just as they did on the new bridge, which freaks me out and they told me, Mom, here there are railings and walls—we didn’t have anything like that at the Grand Canyon. If you don’t like this height, how are you going to survive that height???” We also got a kick out of stepping back and forth into AZ and NV.
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