Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, and St. George

August 1st-4th

After driving several hours from Capitol Reef, we spent the night in Cedar City.  They had also had recent flash floods.  We ran into some muddy water over the roads when driving to get dinner.  One special thing about the restaurant where we ate- hummingbirds!  Lots and lots of hummingbirds, at least several varieties.  The restaurant had several feeders hanging outside the windows.  It was great entertainment.

We were able to contact Tim, my nephew, and made arrangements to meet with them for dinner on Friday night.  That having been decided, we decided to go on to spend the night in Henderson, NV, just outside Las Vegas.  We drove in, visiting the Fremont Experience, which was pretty crazy.  We ate lunch, then returned to the hotel, intending to visit The Strip that evening.  We began to discuss Kate and Tim's schedule and realized, according to their last blog, they were going to Las Vegas.  Since that was several days previously, we thought they would have left, but they had decided to stay a few extra days.  They were camping about 4 miles from our hotel.  We drove over to meet them, than went in to Vegas, where we spent time wandering around the Venetian.  What a spectacular building!  We watched the indoor gondolas, watched some of the entertainment, than went to dinner.  What a fun evening!  It was great that Tim and Kate had already been in, and had great ideas about what to do.

On our way back to St. George, UT, the next morning, we drove out to Hoover Dam.  We had visited the dam in 2009, so we decided not to tour this time.  Our primary reason to visit was to see the completed bridge over the ravine just below the dam,which was under construction on our last visit.  It looks great, and eliminates the need for all travelers between this part of Nevada and Arizona of having to travel over the dam with its security checks.  I'm sure that has improved travel significantly.

Back in St. George, we met with Tim, Jenn, Lexie and Austin at the Anasazi Steak House.  It was a great restaurant, with a unique twist.  You could opt to "cook you own"- they would bring you your meat just seared along with a "stone", an 800 degree hot surface on which you cooked your meal.  The food was excellent.  It turns out Lexie was an expert on this place, as she works there.

New bridge at Hoover Dam

View of Lake Mead

Everyone looked great.  Lexie is turning into a beautiful, very athletic young lady who loves rugby.  Austin is growing fast, and proud of how tall he is now.  Jenn is working hard, trying to decide whether or not to change jobs, and Tim is working, but dreaming of a change.  It was wonderful seeing them, they are a really nice family.  Unfortunately, I did not get pictures this time.  After a great evening, Dale and I made plans to drive up to Great Basin National Park in the morning.