I’ve had 3 very hectic weeks re-connecting to my family since I came off the road but during the chaos I was able to take a couple side trips alone. I sure miss driving and seeing something new everyday.
I was always sorry that my dedicated account did not take me out west more often. I was living in Las Vegas at the time of the 9/11 attacks.
I remember calling my Father as I watched the second plane crash into the World Trade Center and expressing my concern for the Hoover Dam.
I lived a short distance from it and went walking along the old railroad trail several times a week with my dogs. It was my special place to enjoy the solitude of the Desert and Lake Mead. I often found myself thinking about what it was like for the Pioneer families who came through this rough terrain in wagons and also those who came during The Great Depression to create the engineering marvel that is “Hoover Dam”.
Until you have experienced the incredible heat of the Great Basin during summer it is hard to grasp what these workers and their families endured just to have a chance for employment during the worst economic crisis in America.
No town existed at the time the project began; the workers and their families endured extreme living conditions which is aptly put on the “Arizona Leisure” website: “A Living Hell to Bring it all to a Reality”. Nearby Las Vegas had only in the past few years been connected to California with a road. The population was about 5,000 but growing and attracting the sort of… well … you know … the type of capitalists who benefit from the vice of others. Not a great place for your workers to be hanging around town during their downtime, especially during the prohibition era which spanned from 1920-1933.
Given this challenge, the decision was made to create a government controlled town. If you can imagine the outrage we would hear today if such a suggestion was ever made!
“Ragtown” was the precursor to present day Boulder City. It was a shanty town of tents, cardboard and anything else that would shelter the workers and their families from the extreme temperatures. The pay was low, the work conditions were extreme but they were “DAM HAPPY” to have a chance for a job while so many others in the United States were suffering from the consequences of “The Great Depression.”
I have extended family in Boulder City, “Pete” who you might have seen in the movie “Las Vegas Vacation”, portrayed the “Dam Guide” and in real life he gave the best Dam Hard Hat Tour you could ever imagine. Pete is retired now, but he and his Wife still live in Boulder City where they raised their family.
I had driven over the Dam since 9/11 in a vehicle but as many of you big rig drivers are aware, truck traffic had been diverted until a bypass bridge could be completed. My fascination for the Dam and my curiosity to walk over the new Mike O’Callaghan-Pat-Tillman Bridge to see the view prompted me to suspend any further interaction with human beings who might complain about my perpetual tourist behaviors. It was SPECTACULAR!!!
How hot was it you ask? Imagine simply inhaling oxygen and feeling as if you singed your lungs for breathing. It was brutally hot but even though I wanted to get back in the nice air conditioning, I was compelled to climb up the stairs and walk over the bridge. Along the way I met a couple who was resting in one of the 2 shady rests. I asked them, “Is it worth the heart attack to see it?” they replied in unison “YES”!
The Hoover Dam brought jobs during a time when the economy was crippled; the project to control the Colorado River had its detractors as all new projects do in Government. According to the Bureau of Reclamation website, “Hoover Dam generates, on average, about 4 billion kilowatt-hours of hydroelectric power each year for use in Nevada, Arizona, and California – enough to serve 1.3 million people”.
I am sharing some of my personal pictures with you here so you can see this beauty and I am including links for you to read more about this marvelous engineering jobs project that occurred during one of the darkest periods in American History.
You know I have yet to meet a trucker that did not love seeing the sites across America but often we have no time to stop an appreciate where we are because of scheduling of appointments or we had no idea we were going to end up in a place where something so special is just a short distance away.
While I was heading back to town I noticed the Hacienda Hotel on the narrow road that connects the new bridge to Boulder City and I saw on the Marquis it said “Free Rooms For Truckers”.
WOW! How cool is that? When so many places are less than accommodating to truck drivers, here is a hotel on the edge of Lake Mead ,about 5 miles from the Hoover Dam and Tom O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Bridge that provides abundant big rig parking and free rooms too! The Hacienda Hotel also has several discounted menu items for truck drivers.
Another neat thing is a helicopter pad right on the property where you can take a tour over the Dam. (Link: Dam Helicopters ) What a great place to run out of your HOS!
Lake Mead which is a man made recreational area that resulted from the construction of the Hoover Dam, is as bright a blue as you would see in the Ocean on a clear day, and most are.
I called the Hacienda to ask them about the “Free Rooms for Truckers” deal and they said you must be in your rig to receive the free room deal. It is also “One night per stay” which means if you were staying 2 nights, you would have to pay for one of the nights and you need to have a day in-between before you can get another free room night.
For example: If you had a load going south on Hwy 93 and you stayed there one night but got a load back north, you could get another free room night if you had a night in between. (No 2 nights in a row).
The Hoover Dam was a fantastic job creation program which founded a town and an economy that continues to thrive in a place few would ever venture if not for this project. It is a gift that keeps giving!
Today over a million visitors come just to see the Dam and the new Tom O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Bridge and I hope some of you truckers are able to plan your load so that you can stop one of these days to enjoy this place and take the tour.
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