Chloride, Hoover Dam and Las Vegas
Today was another driving day. I stopped off at the Colbaugh Processing Turquoise shop again and grabbed a few more pieces of turquoise and some other stones before leaving town. Now I have to find the time to make jewellery out of it and start selling.
We drove from Kingman to Chloride for a quick look around. Chloride is still inhabited and is a self-described Living Ghost Town. It has a kind of faded and dusty charm but also feels deserted. You really need to know what you want to do and see as you won’t see many people about to ask.
After that we drove over the Hoover Dam. There’s a lot of road construction going on so check the Hoover Dam Bypass website for updates.
The Hoover Dam has a few places to stop and look at the reservoir and take tours of the dam itself. We just stopped to take a few photos but didn’t go for a tour. Beware that the parking lot nearest the entrance is very expensive but further up the hill you can park for free and walk down.
Finally we made it to Las Vegas. The traffic was terrible once we started getting close to Vegas, despite it being a 6-lane freeway. After fighting our way through traffic we ended up with a room at the Stratosphere – much nicer than I expected. I guess the Stratosphere has been renovating their rooms to better compete with the newer complexes in the Strip.
We stopped off at the Premium Outlets center so the Pregnant One could get some more baby gear and maternity clothes. The Pregnant One bought a few tops and a couple more pairs of the stretchy maternity jeans (at about 30% discount to what she paid back in Canada).
The selection of baby clothing was much better and the prices are lower than back home so we bought a few baby jumpers, bibs and other knick-knacks in preparation for Peach’s arrival. Personally I had moments of hyperventilation and irritation buying baby supplies… I think its time to have my mid-life crisis.
After a quick walk around the casino we both arrived at the conclusion that we don’t really like Las Vegas at all. The overblown sleazy glitz is just not our style, and when you add in the omnipresent ding-ding-ding of the machines and lingering stench of cigarette smoke it’s just too much.
We went down the Strip to the Bellagio where we had a positively HUGE dinner in the buffet there. The Ms. Pregnant ate at least 30% more than I did – and scared me when she went up for dessert and wanted to try one of everything. This after she had 3 big platefuls of dinner!
We collapsed back at the hotel and got sorted out for our flight back home tomorrow. I’m pretty sure she’s not going to sleep well after eating all that food!
