Natural extremes (not naturally occurring)…biggest man-made lake…day 3

We woke up to something we haven’t had for a while: significant snowfall. Although our current and previous locations get snow, it’s usually what we would call a “dusting”. Flagstaff went from nothing to a few inches overnight. Thankfully, they’re used to getting snow, so all the roads were clear.

We drove to our next stop, Hoover Dam, stopping only for gas and lunch in the car.

We took the power plant tour, since the longer one doesn’t allow little buggers. It was ok. We went down in an elevator to see some by-pass pipes, then up to see the turbines. Probably the most interesting thing was learning where the power goes: 56% goes to Southern California. Less than 1% goes to Las Vegas. We got some pictures from a little viewing area, then we walked out on the dam itself.

All the information we saw talked about managing the water and using the resulting electricity; the federal government seems to be ignoring the recent Transformers exposé. They were especially proud that the dam – by selling its electricity – has paid for its construction and continues to cover its operating costs. In government that’s something to brag about; in business, it’s called minimal competence.

Here’s the relatively new bridge, named after the Cardinals’ Tillman; you used to drive across the river on the dam itself.

From Hoover Dam, we continued into Las Vegas (well, Henderson). Malachi chose fish for dinner, since it’s his birthday, so we went to King’s Fish House. Next door was a Ben & Jerry’s place, so we went there for dessert. Then over to our hotel, where we checked-in and Malachi opened presents.

The boys ended the day by going to the Boise State v. UNLV game as Malachi’s birthday present. Justin asked a high school friend who lives in Las Vegas where was the best place to get tickets (scalper, school itself, etc.), but he did one better: he said he could easily get tickets through his work. So they met at the stadium and all watched BSU eventually dominate the Rebels. Being used to games in Ann Arbor and South Bend, UNLV has a different feel to it: the 30-member band and stadium that doesn’t go all the way around makes it feel like a high school game. All the manufactured noise and fireworks and beer seemed like a pro game. Malachi insisted on staying until the very end. His aunt’s legacy seems to have died out: we saw no flag girls.

Elisha isn’t much of a sports fan, but with free tickets, Justin asked if he wanted to come, too. He enjoyed the first half, just being out with the boys. Later in the third quarter, he fell asleep.