Stan and Connie Spielbusch's Web Site

StanAndConnie.com

May 2002

Lake Havasu

On the way to Las Vegas, we stopped for a couple nights at an RV park on the California side of Lake Havasu. We didn't do any sightseeing except for walking around the park, but the view from the RV was beautiful -- we were up on a hill overlooking the lake. I think it's the first time I just sat in the front seat and enjoyed the view.

(Click photos to enlarge)

Being in a remote area in the hills (the 9-mile "driveway" to the park takes 30 minutes to navigate), they have a constant problem of wild burrows coming to their golf course to eat -- but we didn't mind, we don't play golf and we enjoyed watching them!

Two weeks in Las Vegas...

...and we still have some money left!

Actually we did very little "playing" (we don't "gamble", we just play with the machines a little). But that's not why we came here. It had been several years since our last (and first) visit to Vegas, so we were anxious to check out the new hotels and a few attractions we missed before. The only thing we didn't plan very well is the time of year -- since we were a couple months late getting out of Mesa, we had to endure temperatures from the 90's to a record high of 105.

Because the hot weather, we took advantage of the RV resort's beautiful pool -- Connie actually got me into swimming trunks and into the pool! Actually, I enjoyed lounging next to the pool more than the swimming. Can you find me hiding in the shade?

(Click photos to enlarge)

(If you're wondering why the pool is empty -- it's 8:00 in the morning when it's only 80 degrees out!)

Hoover Dam

Our first excursion was to see the Hoover Dam. Since it has been mentioned as a potential terrorist target, that somehow made it even more interesting to visit.

Here's a quiz for you -- what percentage of Las Vegas' electricity comes from Hoover Dam? Give up? None!

I had always thought that the Hoover Dam was a major factor in the existence of Las Vegas. Well, in a way, it is...but as a souce of water, not electricity. In fact, electricity is just a by-product of supplying water (and used to power the pumps to get the water to their customers). However, it is by far the cheapest source of electricity for Los Angeles and other customers, so they will supply whatever electricity they can generate when moving water. However it's much more important that they maintain the level of Lake Mead and the down-river flow, which at times means that very little electricity is generated. So, as a power plant, they're more of a source of cheap surplus power, not a primary supplier.

OK, enough lecture. In addition to the outside observation areas, they have a movie about the construction of the dam and some museum exhibits. I enjoyed the detailed model of the whole colorado river with its various dams. The Hoover Dam portion of it is shown below. They also give you a "Dam Proud America" sticker.

Judging by the white rim around the lake, does it look low to you? It is, but actually they said it's only about 4 feet lower than the average for this time of year. It has only covered most of the white area 4 times, mainly when El Nino comes through (like 1993-95).

The current tour does take you down to see the generators, but you can't get up close to them like you may have seen in movies. Nevertheless, they are impressive.

By the way, for you RVers out there, they do allow RVs over the dam now. They do stop them and possibly do a search, but we saw quite a few RVs crossing while we were there.

Las Vegas Hotels

We enjoyed visiting the new hotels and imagining all of the money being poured into them. Only in Vegas could they afford to have so much magnificent architecture. Even the restrooms were amazing. The Paris hotel has porcelain bowls in the lavatory. The Bellagio has gold-plated plumbing, even on the urinals! (Sorry, not photos of that...)

I'm sure you've seen pictures of the hotels all over the place, and we took plenty. Here are a few of my favorite shots: New York, Paris and Mandalay Bay:

We made good use of the many free and low-cost attractions. Some of the ones we visited: The King Tut museum in the Luxor hotel (with a replica of Tut's tomb as it was discovered), and an amazing acrobatics show in the Alladin shopping mall:

Penguin feeding at the Flamingo's bird habitat (these were African penguins, so they don't mind the heat), and an amazing conservatory inside the Bellagio.

Gondolas inside the Venetian, and also outside.

...and of course a wooden Ferrari in the Venetian:

The Star Trek Experience

Of course my favorite was the Hilton hotel's Star Trek Experience, and to be honest this was my primary reason for the stop here (Connie had different ideas...). I've been eager to visit this ever since it was built. In addition to designing their whole casino with a Star Trek motif (including futuristic restrooms with all stainless steel fixtures), they have Klingons walking around to talk to you, and you can visit the Deep Space 9 promenade for some shopping and snacks at Quark's bar. If you win big in the casino, you might even want to buy some of the limited edition Star Trek artwork, from signed TV show props to a full-size Borg Queen replica (only $5000 ;-).

Of course the best part is the museum & "ride". The museum contains a variety of detailed information about the shows and movies, and of course a lot of actual props from the shows.

The ride features actors in costume ("Next Generation" era) who take you through a 20-minute scenario. This ends in a great motion-simulator ride where you battle with the Romulans. It also beams you aboard the Enterprise-D (I won't tell you how they do that) where you walk through "real" ship corridors, a turbolift, and the bridge. That was a real trip being on the bridge -- of course I was studying their computers more than I was following the plot of the scenario!) Unfortunately no photos were allowed on the ride portion, but if you're a Star Trek fan, don't miss it when you're in Vegas.

Red Rock Canyon

Finally, we drove out to Red Rock Canyon. This park is only about 15 miles from Las Vegas and has a nice 11-mile scenic drive. I think it's mostly of interest to hikers, with dozens of trails available, but the scenery is a nice change from the chaos of the Las Vegas strip.

That's all for now...we'll be heading up through Utah to Idaho, Oregon, and Washington this summer. Gotta cool down!

Thank you for visiting our travel site. Please visit our other sites too:

Campground Master -- A tracking program for your campground or inn. Easy to use and learn, but modern and powerful. One of the most inexpensive systems, great for small campgrounds. Designed by campground owners and full-time RVers.

MysteryPhotos -- Every week a new photo is shown, which may be a close-up of something, or a section of a common object or sight. Guess what it is and you might win a prize. Lots of fun for the whole family! Free screensaver and wallpaper too.

Awesome Screen Savers -- Cool photographic screen savers of the highest quality, for Windows PC's. Download FREE Lite versions of them all. Some are created with photos from our travels, some are awesome photos from NASA. (Contact me to have a screen saver made with your own photos!)

Cottonwood Software -- My shareware business site, currently featuring File-Ex 98: a Windows 95/98 dialog enhancement tool. Great for people who work with a lot of files.

Free -n- Cool -- Tons of Freebies, Giveaways, and Cool Sites -- all in one! You'll find a large selection of free samples you can get mailed to you, free games, screen savers, internet services, etc., plus hundreds of contests of all types, and a unique "intensely cool sites" list.