We got to see a lot of amazing sunsets on our trip at least half a dozen I'd say. I remember ever seeing two sunsets in Portland and I may be making one of those up! The dry clear air of the other parts of the country (and in the latter part of our trip driving west toward mountains) were just the perfect conditions to watch that giant ball of fire temper into the spectrum of rainbow crossing the whole sky. sigh. so wonderful.
At some point we actually looked at one of the plaques on the bridge we were on and this one had a timeline on it of the design and construction. The bridge opened to the public in October 2010, we were surprised. "Where did cars go before this was built?" I kept asking. "Across the dam," Ian would say. "Noh. No way," I'd exasperate.
You could just stare at it for ages. I still didn't believe cars had to wind down the road that I couldn't even see and all cross the dam and wind back up the other side. "Where did the cards used to go?" I'd ask again. "ACROSS the Dam" Ian would reply. "No, I just can't imagine it. We're going to have to add that to our list of things to look up." I thought aloud. "Sounds good," Ian said.
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| Every couple on the bridge seemed to be doing pull-aways even with the myriad of other people with expensive cameras that I'm sure would have been more than happy to take a picture. When in Rome though. |
It wasn't until somewhere in Florida that I thought "Oh! we should have taken pictures of all the state welcome signs along the way" then again Ian's voice said in my brain said "Why take a picture of something you can just find on the internet" When we saw the Nevada sign right near the ped crossing Ian said "Go over there! We'll get a picture." I told him I only had pictures of 3 of the state signs and my internet theory. "What we should'ave done is pull over and jump out in front of the signs and take a picture." "Oooh! Yeah! that would have been awesome! I could always photoshop us in?!"
As we were leaving the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge eI stopped in the little circle were all the informational plaques were. "What are you doing?" Ian asked since I had just said I wanted to get a move on. "Trying to see if it says where the cars went before the bypass was built." Ian skimmed the plaques on his side and said "Here. . ." The following text is actually pulled from the Hoover Dam Bypass website so imagine the same information more concise and prettier in metal: "Prior to completion of this project, the existing route of U.S. 93 used the top of Hoover Dam to cross the Colorado River." "SEE!" Ian pointed out. "Okay, huh, wow. No wonder they finally built a bypass that must have been slooooow."
continued from the Bypass Website:
"The traffic volumes, combined with the sharp curves on U.S. 93 in the vicinity of Hoover Dam, created a potentially dangerous situation. A major catastrophe could occur, involving innocent bystanders, millions of dollars in property damage to the dam and its facilities, contamination of the waters of Lake Mead or the Colorado River, and interruption of the power and water supply for people in the Southwest.
By developing an alternate crossing of the river near Hoover Dam, through-vehicle and truck traffic are removed from the top of the dam. This new route eliminates the problems with the former highway--sharp turns, narrow roadways, inadequate shoulders, poor sight distance, and low travel speeds. "
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