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So, this past week I was in Las Vegas for a work related conference. There isn't much to be said about that, except that I lost a couple hundred on the craps tables and took this sorta cool photo of a storm rolling towards the city.
Before I left for this trip I googled "ADV rider las vegas" and found a thread from someone who was in a similar position. A day to kill and a desire to get out of the city.
Yesterday I took a cab to BMW of Las Vegas, a really nice dealership that has a well run rental program going on.
Their cheapest rental was a 650 GS but I wanted a little more umph so opted for the R 1200 R.
After a brief orientation with the bike, I hit the road. I had to have this thing back by 5pm so I could make it to the airport and catch my ride home. I brought my Zumo would with me and it made the navigation a million times easier.
First stop... The Mike O'Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge.
This brand new bridge has been under construction for 6 years and just barely opened for full traffic 2 days before my arrival.
I'm afraid of heights and the many signs warning of strong crosswinds had me spooked. No issues though, and I crossed over into Arizona.
The bridge is ridiculously high. You can see rafters on the Colorado below.
I'm amazed that there is no suicide fence in place. Pedestrians are allowed to cross the bridge and there is only a 5' railing keeping you from jumping to your death 900 feet below.
After the bridge excursion, I headed down the road to check out the Hoover Dam.
THE HOOVER DAM IS AWESOME! See this before you die. It's an engineering marvel. The tour guide said that there's enough concrete in the damn to string a 4' sidewalk around the earth's equator.
These pictures do no justice to the scale of everything. You have to see it in person.
The water is fed through 4 of these large inlets and directed at 13 turbine generators below the dam.
Don't fall, you might get churned up and turned into electricity.
8 turbines. The three that have illuminated lights on top are currently generating.
After the 45 minute generator tour, it was around 1pm and I knew I was going to have to hit the road if I wanted to put any miles on. I headed back to the bike and took off along Lake Meade and towards the Valley of Fire State Park....