Lake Mead as seen from our campsite

As we drove the last miles on the first day of our NW trip, we fully expected to cross over the Colorado by driving over the top of the Hoover dam as we had years ago. Well, somehow we missed the dam altogether. We traveled on and made our way to our first RV park of the trip, situated on the western side of Lake Mead. Not seeing the dam totally confused us. How could you miss the Hover dam. Not a small or trivial item.

So, after we got our campsite set up, we took the car and drove out to look for the dam. It had to be somewhere. After following a maze of signs, we finally came to the western entrance of the road that goes over the Hoover dam.

Soon we found ourselves being questioned at a security check point, by guys with guns. I asked these fellows what happened to the original highway that went over the dam, and their single answer was... "9-11." It turns out after the September 11 attacks, a new bridge was built to divert the highway traffic away from the dam for security reasons. This is why we missed the dam on the highway. It was a different highway.

Well, the old road over the dam is now used as a kind of tourist location. You have to go through a check point to drive over it, and the road doesn't go all the way through to the main highway anymore. After you drive over the dam, your only option is to turn around at a closed road sign, and return all the way back over the dam, and through the same check point again. Still, there is ample parking on the eastern side of the dam, and they allow you to walk back across after parking your car to take pictures, tours etc.

The sight never fails to amaze me. It is large, on an Egyptian pyramid scale. Here are a few views from the top of the dam.