Hello from Mesquite, NV

Hello from Mesquite, NV

Monday evening August 26,  2013   (Fourth travelogue of this trip).

Sunday we flew from Seattle to Las Vegas.  We had booked a one stop flight in an effort to keep the cost down.  It turned out to be pretty smooth.  The stop was in Sacramento and we did not have to change planes.

After landing in Las Vegas we drove to Hoover Dam so that we could see the new Hover Dam bypass bridge.  From Wikipedia:  The bridge was the first concrete-steel composite arch bridge built in the United States, and it incorporates the widest concrete arch in the Western Hemisphere. At 840 feet above the Colorado River, it is the second-highest bridge in the United States, following the Royal Gorge Bridge. It is also the world's highest concrete arch bridge.

From an engineering standpoint, it is awesome!  There are a large number of websites that document the building process that almost defies description.  The first one that I chose is (here).  This sites show several photos taken during the construction.  Pay particular attention to the huge towers that were constructed to support the cables for fabricating the two halves of the arch.  After the arch was finished, the towers and cables were removed.  The second site I have chosen is (here).  This site is quite technical, but has some great detail drawings of the bridge.

We then drove north to Mesquite and are currently at the Virgin River Casino(map).  We had seen advertising for this casino that said the rooms were $30 with one free breakfast.  We did a search for reviews and most said it was a good value and clean.  The rooms are what you would expect out of a 60-70s Motel 6.  Pat has really enjoyed the casino.  The buffet is $11.99 and is among the best we have found.  Our breakfast this morning was fantastic.  The non-free meal was a huge ham steak and eggs for $3.99.  All in all a pretty good place to relax for a couple of days.

I say that we are relaxing and that is partly true for me.  I spent a good part of the day catching up on paperwork for NTT and some other projects.

That is all for now.