Hoover Dam

January 2 we left Layton, stopped in Lehi to caravan with Gramma J--Paul went in her car and Glenn and I were in the CR-V.  We drove down to St. George and spent the night at her house there.  Audrey and Lane had also come down and were spending the night there too, so we had another fun night of family and games.  We had dinner together and played Qwirkle, Fantasy Forest and Dominoes.  It was a fun evening.

The next morning Gramma J wanted us to stay and visit longer.  We wanted to, but we had a long way to go.  And Glenn was really struggling to breath.  She has a cat and Glenn's allergies was making it really difficult for him to be comfortable.  Sorry Gramma!  We sure loved spending the time that we could with you!  We love you and are grateful you opened up both your homes to let us stay with you!

One of the fun things about driving to and from Utah from Texas has been the opportunity to see things along the way.  We took the fast way going there, but because Paul had some extra vacation days from work, we decided to make the most of it.  We took a slight detour over into Nevada to see Hoover Dam.  

There is a new bridge--walking path and freeway--that gives a great view of the dam.  We parked near there and walked along it, reading about how it was built and why.

Seeing the ham from this view was incredible!  It really is huge!!

We loved seeing the angled power towers and the shadows of the bridge across the dam.

And our shadows on the bridge!

We walked all the way across it--just to say that we did and it was really great!  I liked the view of the dam.  I didn't like the view looking down though.  I'm not a huge fan of heights and when I look down, I get slightly queasy.  But it was still a great way to see the dam!

Then we drove down and across the dam.  We got some great views of the bridge from down there.

We parked in a far--but free--parking lot and walked back over to the dam.  We took some pictures along the way.  You could see how low the water is and how high it can be.

It was pretty neat being there on the dam.  And the bridge looked really great from this view!

This was on the other side.  We were about to do a one-arm picture when a guy asked if he could take our picture--sure!  He took it and then as he was leaving he said, "Oh, I went to BYU too!"  It's always fun to run into fellow BYU Cougars and Mormons when we travel!

They had some interesting statues and memorial built here as well.  Apparently it was good luck to rub the feet of the statues--so we did!

This statue was in honor of the brave men who helped build this dam.  It really is an incredible feat!  I would not be brave enough to do it, that's for sure!  When I asked Glenn if he would want to do something like that, he shook his head no.  I don't blame him.

We went to the gift shop and found some really fun glasses!

After spending a couple of hours at the dam, we headed down to Payson, AZ where Paul's grandparents live.  We took a couple pictures of the landscape as we drove as well.  We sure have driven across a lot of this country and been able to see different kinds of beauty.