Spring Break

Spring Break. It’s over. I enjoyed my time off, but I’m also looking forward to being back in the classroom.

The highlight of the break was a quick trip to Nevada. The main purpose was to visit Hoover Dam. I’d recently read so much about this marvel of engineering (see here and here) that I had to see it for myself. We stayed in Henderson, avoiding the Las Vegas Strip, and arrived at Hoover Dam shortly before the Visitor Center opened. There was already a line, although not a very long one.

We took the Power Plant tour which with a short movie with historical footage. It’s amazing that such a project even got off the ground. I’m not sure that would have been possible in today’s political climate. I learned that they built in huge pipes as condensers to cool the millions of tons of concrete poured into the structure. Then we took an elevator ride down (> 500 feet) to see the large tunnels that were cut out to divert the might Colorado River prior to dam construction. We also saw the huge generators, each weighing over 500 tons.

The tour guide was very knowledgeable both in his explanations and answering questions. I’d always thought that Hoover Dam was about electricity, but that’s a side-product which they sell at cost. The main purpose was to control the flow of the river and provide water consistently to the southwest states. After the tour, we walked across the dam, and saw both sides of the Colorado river. There were tiny boats downstream (part of a river tour, I’m guessing). Just upstream of the dam were the large intake towers. Looking down at the water I could actually see fish near the towers.

Besides Hoover Dam, we also visited Red Rock Canyon northwest of Las Vegas. The driving area is a 13-mile one-way loop with spectacular views. There are also plenty of hiking trails. After stopping at the visitors center we took a slow drive with many scenic stops to admire the landscape and take pictures. Here are a couple of shots: One shows part of the red rock alongside sandstone. The other, I don’t quite remember the rock composition, but it reminded me of the Lord of the Rings movies. I was also reminded that I should get out of my urban settings more often and enjoy nature!

A vacation isn’t truly a vacation without tasty meals. I took advantage of having food I wouldn’t normally find in my local area. I managed to put on some weight even with all the walking, but I will likely lose it all now that I’m back to my normal routine. It’s also nice to be back eating my daily dose of lots of fruit and vegetables after lots of carbohydrates and other fried foods. I also didn’t check my e-mail for at least two days, which is 24 hours more than my usual one-day-a-week Internet-free days.

Vacations eventually come to an end, but I just have seven more weeks to the end of the semester. In the meantime, we can start planning summer travel!