MUSAP ~ Martha's United States of America Photos: Nevada ~ Hoover Dam

Hoover Dam Upgrade Tour

One Day 4 of my adventure in Las Vegas I took a Pink Jeep Tour and was happy to get away from the Strip. I had planned to take a tour on Sunday but it was canceled because I was the only person who had signed up. I was disappointed when I got that news on Saturday and was wondering if I had made a good choice prior to heading west, but they had good reviews on TripAdvisor so I tried to think positive thoughts about the remaining two tours that I had booked weeks earlier.

This was a tour to see Hoover Dam and it was worth the time and money. Our guide was Jerry - what a fun guy! It was about a 45 minute drive to dam. Jerry shared lots of info during the ride - facts about Las Vegas and about Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. Pink Jeep has coolers of water available so we could help ourselves every time we got in or out of the vehicle - it’s really dry on Las Vegas so keeping hydrated is important.

We got to the dam a little earlier than expected so we crossed over to the Arizona side and parked at an overlook for photos and more info. We learned about increased security since 9-11 and the new bypass bridge that diverts a lot of traffic away from crossing the dam.

I signed up for the ‘upgrade’ tour because it included rafting at the base of the dam. We had to switch to different bus for ride down to the river because the rafting portion was with a different company and it’s a restricted road to get to the launching spot. An added bonus was seeing big horn sheep as we drove down the steep winding road. We had a short raft ride around the base of the dam - not too close because of security. Our guide on the raft was Jeff, again lots of info about the building of the dam and the natural features of the area. Being in the raft offered some unique photo ops.

After rafting we got back in the bus and Jeff drove up back up to top of dam and our Pink Jeep.

Next we walked around the top of the dam with Jerry before our Power Plant Tour. Because we were with Jerry we learned about things that other tourists probably never discovered - the dog that became the pet of the guys who built the Hoover Dam back in the 1930’s and the Celestial Map and other artwork by Oskar Hansen.

Next the four of us left Jerry and went inside for our Power Plant Tour. There was a background movie before we went down into the depths of the dam with another guide from Dam. The dam is an architectural wonder! I doubt it could be built in today’s world with all the regulations from the EPA and from OSHA.