Daytrip hoover

October5: We got a late start for the day, and had little in the way of a plan, but Hoover dam was close and something we agreed should be seen.
Traffic outside of the city was hellacious- oncoming lanes flowed free but as we neared the Dam we rolled slower and slower. Neither Kelly nor I had a clue as to what was creating the miles-long line. Then there was the sign: "Police Security Checkpoint ahead". Windows were left down, sunglasses removed, smiles and all of the rest of the police-protocol was done and an hour or so later we were waved on and not pulled aside to be sniffed or searched or whatever they wanted.
The creep down to the Dam continued until we found that it would cost us some sum of money to park. Kelly offered to pay, but opted to be cheap with me and I did a quick U-ey to catch the lookout that we'd passed not to far back. They're building a new bridge over the river that offered better views than the famous dam- still Hoover was exceptional! Our adventure was had after we split for the turn-off to Lake Mead- we found a cool little beach to walk and the water was SO blue! Kelly and I picnicked-it out of the bed of the truck before a nice stroll down the waterline. Families played in the water- it was a little cold for me! I caught interest in the Zebra-muscle shells that littered the beach. She recognized the name and associated it with problems that she'd heard of before. Look at the little buggers: its too bad theyre so cool-lookin'! I spotted a wharf/lookout-thing that needed to be visited- we took the short drive and started walkin-

Kelly thought same as I did. "It sure is further than it looks, huh?"

I played with the cool schists and crystals that I found along the way and she pretended to be interested in learning about them. There was one final climb to do and we found ourselves looking over hundreds of miles of shoreline, including our green beach! We talked philosophy and got deep into wondering how life can take you places. I got to thinkin' about the future and Kelly settled my mind with an awesome john Lennon quote that Id not heard before. "Life" she said, "is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." I like it. Kelley smiled for a photo and we figured out that another night in Vegas was what was to be had.