elizabeth_s, Sep 2026
Great dam tour
Hoover Dam is amazing and it’s been on our bucket list a long time. So we were thrilled to be with a bunch of others who felt the same. Nice camaraderie in the bus. Comfortable bus. Trevor, our guide was great- good disposition and gave us a ton of information, all very interesting , not just about the dam, but the history of the area leading up to the dam being built. Really a bit of US history because that’s one reason how it was built so quickly - the manpower was available because of the depression and jobs were needed. But also , why the Colorado River was being diverted by the Hoover Dam, so some history dating back to about the 1850s of how the area was “settled” as well as the vast length, power and extreme value that the Colorado offer offers to, I think it’s seven states. A history/geography lesson that stays with you. all fascinating,— and tge controversies of who gets that water is of course, a huge topic still today. Trevor explained everything very well and with liveliness . Micael, our driver was also very pleasant, but even more importantly, a very smooth and safe driver. Everything did go very smoothly — tickets, lots of water being offered, and some discussions about the fact that you were in an extreme desert climate, the dangers of heat stroke, and how to prevent. All actually very necessary because people don’t understand generally about the chemical process that creates heat stroke. Trevor actually went all through that and it was a really good reminder of how our bodies work in extreme dryness and heat. So that was much appreciated . Nobody wants to be an emergency. The dam itself was , of course , fascinating. Love the power plant tour with all the workings explained, the sheer magnitude of how the power is created, the channeling of the Colorado River , and what it does - mind-boggling and important to shake ourselves out of our everyday complacency sometimes. We absorbed
( water!!) and the iconic views of the dam from a couple of different angles, and walked over the bridge. The vastness of what was accomplished and how still works today ! The museum was interesting but I didn’t get to the artifacts part showing more about the men who actually built this structure , etc. Discovering more about the people involved in the nitty gritty so to say, makes history come alive. So I do think we need more time after the power plant part of the tour to discover the museum, the observation deck, and then the bridge. 45 minutes was just not enough to explore all of those things. So more time should probably be added to that portion . I know it makes lunch later, but hopefully people have brought snacks and will not starve. On the way back , a nice lunch, where we talked with some more of our fellow travelers, was a pleasant way to end the event. We always enjoy smaller group tours because of the chance to ask other people where they’re from. It turns out our dining companions were actually from about 12 miles from where we live. So that was hilarious. That is one of the really fun things about Las Vegas is if you’re open to mildly talking to people, you find people are from all over the world and it’s really fun to hear their experiences of what they’re doing in Las Vegas, where they came from where they’re going next. So all in all, it was a really great day . A big thank you to Trevor and Michael.
