Yeah, that's right. A hulking wall of concrete. I guess I don't score points for originality. The Wife and I skipped Hoover Dam 15 years ago, mainly because we'd already taken a tour and rafting trip at Glen Canyon Dam upriver, but also because The Wife had "already seen it" ("already seen it" is a refrain as predictable as Old Faithful when it comes to anything west of the Mississippi with The Wife, pictured below. And yes, she's seen Old Faithful, too).
Just how severe the drought's been in the southwest is apparent by looking at the levels of Lake Meade. All that white rock around the lake? That's submerged when the lake's at normal levels. I shot these in infrared, but botched the aperture, so they're softer than I'd like. Nobody's perfect. I include the first image unprocessed beyond a little sharpening because of the odd phenomenon of the clock faces on the intake towers coming out bright blue in infrared. Quite odd.
Having skipped the Glen Canyon Dam and raft trip this time around, The Wife and I thought it'd be fun to take the kids on a tour of Hoover Dam. Until we saw the $30 price for tours. Egads! Then we saw the $8 admission just to get into the visitor center! The Wife couldn't get over how much the place had changed in the 20 years since she'd last been there. Before, there were just two pull outs on the side of the road for tourists to park and take photos. Now, those pull outs were cordoned off, with tourists channeled into a big parking garage connected to a snack bar and gift shop, with a big (and fee-charging) visitor center a short escalator ride away. Go ahead and call me cheap. Everything's a racket these days.
The Bug had plenty of fun, though. He picked out a Hoover Dam hard hat with a light on the front as his souvenir. As any kid can tell you, a hard hat with a light on the front is pure awesome. That hat made him "official" and he took command of the chains in front of the art-deco doors on top of the dam.
Last year a new bridge, bypassing the narrow, two-lane bottleneck over the dam, opened just a little way down river. It's visible in my photos. You see it, and say "Oh, a bridge." In person, though, it's terrifying. It spans an enormous chasm and only in person is it apparent how tiny the vehicles are that cross it, how high it is above the river below, and how freakin' windy that canyon is at all times. And get this: There were people walking on that bridge, going halfway out, taking their snapshots, and walking back. I've mentioned before how I'm not normally afraid of heights, but just watching them got me woozy. We did not drive across it.
The false-color infrared image of the dam and visitor center, below, reminds me of the miniature set pieces from Japanese monster movies. I expect to see Godzilla or Megalon attack the dam at any moment. Must be the colors.
I have to finish by saying that the Winged Figures of the Republic statues are quite impressive in person. The dramatic art deco look really added an extra oomph to construction projects back in the 30s, don'tcha think? The shot is, of course, infrared.
After gawking and photographing as much as we could without paying $38 per person for a tour, we piled into the car and stopped at Dairy Queen for Blizzards all around. Then I discovered my beloved 50mm lens had stopped functioning. The aperture was locked in place, seized up with grit in the mechanics. Geeze, where could that possibly have come from. I was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain my positive outlook.
The next day we left Las Vegas behind, headed out for the tourist Mecca of Lake Havasu City. And no, I didn't stop at the Chicken Ranch brothel on the way out of Nevada.
A full gallery of road trip photos can be found here.
The 2011 Griswold Family Adventure pt. 1
The 2011 Griswold Family Adventure pt. 2
The 2011 Griswold Family Adventure pt. 3
The 2011 Griswold Family Adventure pt. 4
The 2011 Griswold Family Adventure pt. 5
The 2011 Griswold Family Adventure pt. 6
The 2011 Griswold Family Adventure pt. 7
The 2011 Griswold Family Adventure pt. 8
Now Playing: Peter Gabriel Peter Gabriel 2
Chicken Ranch Central
No comments:
Post a Comment