Back to Vegas, 28 Years Later
The last time we visited Las Vegas was in 1996. Back then, we were on a camping road trip down through Baja, Mexico. Swinging by Vegas on the way home, camping in a tent at a KOA campground. Fast forward 28 years, and here we are again—back at the darn KOA, but this time off the ground in our camper. Vegas sure feels like it’s doubled in size, but is still the same. The brightly lit, colossal casinos, continue to lure people to pour money into the bottomless house pockets in the most dazzling fashion. Gambling’s not my thing, but the peoplewatching? Unmatched. Vegas remains the city where everything and anything goes.

Our first night, we walked the Strip, eating dinner at one of those hole in the wall Turkish takeouts, delicious and cheap, ahem, nothing is cheap in Vegas, 4 yummy donair cost $60. They had a constant flow of customers, we estimated they had made a small fortune while we were there, open 24hrs, as this city doesn’t sleep, and they just may be making as much as the casino! haha. The kids were wide-eyed, taking in the chaos, though they didn’t love crowds. Charley found the candy store and was in heaven. The city was in full swing preparing for the upcoming Las Vegas Formula 1 Grand Prix, with scaffolding and fencing everywhere. Iconic attractions like the Bellagio fountains were partially obscured, not wanting to peering over a sea of heads just to catch a glimpse, we gave it a miss.

Day Two: Chores and Cirque du Soleil
The next morning was all about routine: schoolwork, laundry, and camper tidying. Charley finally got a response from her online teacher but still no access to her learning portal. She’s forging on with the Grade 8 workbook we brought along, staying up to date with her travel journal & piano theory.  Avoiding math at all costs. Jaxon, on the other hand, is flying through math and science and has not yet started his travel journal.  They truly are opposites.

Tim spent the morning trying to track down parts for Bruce, focused on the mysterious whistle sound we’ve been hearing. Unfortunately, no luck yet—fingers crossed it’s not too serious.

Tonight we have tickets to Cirque du Soleil’s ‘O’ at the Bellagio. We’d been dreaming of this show, and it did not disappoint. A mesmerizing blend of acrobatics, synchronized swimming, high dives, and surreal characters played out on a water stage. The athleticism, precision, and creativity left us in awe. Splurging on better seats was worth every penny. Venturing down the other end of the Strip, the boys wrapped up the night with double laps on the New York-New York rollercoaster, which left Jaxon buzzing from the adrenaline rush.

We’re up early, parked right next to a busy road, traffic builds at 5am, desperately trying to ignore the sound and keep sleeping, I’m able to push it till just after 6, it’s cold. We’ve been cold since leaving home, I was expecting it to be warmer in Arizona, but not, it’s winter here too. Time for a hot shower.

Check out is 11 a.m, we leave right on time, a couple of supply stops, including a Soccer store for Jaxon who was wanting a soccer ball. Arriving at the Hoover Dam mid afternoon.

Hoover Dam: A Lesson in History and Engineering

Built between 1931 and 1935, the dam was a marvel of engineering in its time, standing as tall as a 60-story building. The scale is staggering: its base is as thick as two football fields are long, am told the amount of concrete used could pave a road from San Francisco to New York!

It also forms Lake Mead, the largest manmade reservoir in North America. The lake has gained national attention recently because of its rapidly declining water levels. It iss now the most visited dam in the world, and draws 7 million tourists a year. There were three main reasons for the construction of the dam, and the first, most vital one, was flood control. The second was water supply. About 40 million people depend on water from the Colorado River. The third is electricity. Producing about 4 billion kilowatt-hours of hydroelectric power every year for about 1.3 million people living across Nevada, Arizona and California.

We started at the Memorial Bridge for a bird’s-eye view before driving across and parking on the Nevada side. Walking back across the dam, we admired its preserved Art Deco details while soaking up all the history and science we could.

By evening, the iOverlander app showed us a perfect wild camping spot away from traffic noise. After dinner, we snuggled in together to watch the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight. Honestly, the women’s fight beforehand was far more entertaining—the main event was disappointing, surely it was rigged, felt like a big Netflix promo. It’s a beautiful full moon tonight. Coming up over the hills it appears closer than ever. By the time we go to bed it’s almost light enough to read by.

Tomorrow we continue East…