Our Dam Vacation: Las Vegas

Daphne and I haven't been to Las Vegas in over a decade, and we both agreed that the city seemed cleaner. I was pleased to see that the guys standing on every corner handing out "adult advertising" were all but gone. They have been replaced with guys in superhero costumes and women dressed up like chorus girls asking for a $20 tip when you take a picture with them. The scantingly-dressed cocktail waitresses handing out free drinks to players were also gone. The casinos we walked through were much quieter, and families walking around with young kids were not out of the ordinary. 

We chose to stay at the MGM hotel because their pool area has a lazy river. We could also get two beds instead of only one. We didn't know it at the time, but the MGM is the largest hotel in Vegas. That might explain why the check-in on Sunday afternoon was such a zoo. The lines were longer than anything we saw at the airports. Daphne skipped the hour wait by using the unweildly MGM app to print room keys at a kiosk... she's my hero. 

We researched family-friendly shows and chose to see the magician Shim Lim on Sunday night. We had watched Shim Lim win America's Got Talent (twice) and fool Penn and Teller (twice) on TV, so we were excited to see him in person. 

You can't take pics during the performance. But here's our view of the stage. 

Then we discovered that we were in the wrong section. I thought the correct ticket holders were more self-righteous than understanding. We apologized and moved to the correct section of the theater and sat in much better seats. Take that, Karen.

There was an audience participation trick that was pretty cool, but I won't spoil it for anyone.

Mind reader Colin Cloud, another AGT act, was also performing in the show, and to be honest, Char enjoyed him as much or more than Mr. Lim. 

We saw the Blue Man Group for our second show on Monday. 

We all had fun, but the painfully bright lights flashing at the end of the show put the BMG slightly below Shim Lim and Colin Cloud on Char's ranking.

We didn't need tickets to see the show that Daphne most wanted to share with Charlotte. Seeing the Fountains of Bellagio for the first time is one of Daphne's favorite memories from our honeymoon. Char was dubious, but when the fountains exploded to life during Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA", Char was very impressed. During our three days in Vegas, we watched the fountains perform five times. If it had been cooler in Nevada, we would have seen more than that.

You can plan out a vacation all you want, but it's usually the fun surprises that make the best memories. I had not heard of Shake Shack, but it looked like a safe bet when were searching for something to eat after getting into our room at the MGM. 

It was a mid-afternoon on Sunday after spending a long morning at the Grand Canyon, and we were all a bit hangry. But, dang did these burgers, fries, and chicken nuggets taste good. I thought that might just have been our hunger, but we went back on Monday afternoon and the meal was just as good. 

The closest Shake Shack to us is in the Mall of America, so if we get there this fall, you know where you will find us. Char will now be comparing every shake she has against the high bar set by the Shack. 

Another surprise drove under us as we crossed a walkway from one side of the strip to the other. We saw a truck sporting the ads for this show:

FYI: "Potted"

Potted Potter was the show Daphne was most excited about when we were brainstorming this trip, but the show was closed at that time. She was really bummed about that. When Daph saw that the show was back in action, so was she. Daphne booked tickets for Tuesday at 8 PM when we got back in our hotel room. We didn't tell Charlotte until the day of the show. 

Our last day in Vegas was literary our busiest. We spent over four hours at the pools and lazy river, and then checked out The Hunger Games: The Exhibition at our hotel. 

Down with President Snow!

You can sit in his chair, though. 

They also have interactive trivia. Just jump on the circle with the right answer.

Char wasn't too impressed with the authentic costumes and props from the movies, but she sure got into the shooting range. After a week at the "Archers and Arrows" Girl Scouts camp, she was ready to hit the stationary, moving, and disappearing targets. We all agreed. This was the best part of the exhibit. 

Then we were off to Bally's to see the Potted Potter show. We were early enough to have dinner at Buca Di Beppo. We had our wedding rehearsal dinner at Buca, but that Des Moines location closed years ago. It was fun to revisit. 

The Potted show is just two actors, a few stage props, and simple costumes changes (think: hats). It took a couple of minutes for the audience to understand what kind of a show we were in for. After that, the Potter show was great! The two actors did a great job on mixing lines of dialog with improv. The theater was tiny for Vegas standards. There wasn't a bad seat to be had. I wondered if this is what off-Broadway would be like, and it turns out this show had played there.

We ended up in the front row, and one of the guys kept telling Charlotte she had to play keeper in the upcoming quidditch match. The 70-minute show flew by, and the jokes came at us so fast and so often we struggled to remember them later. On the way home each of us repeated lines from parts of the show the others had forgotten. I especially enjoyed the self-deprecating humor.

At end, the actors ran back onto the stage for a final round of applause. One had three stuffed animal owls that he threw out into the audience. He tossed the last "Hedwig" to Char. Had he known her love of stuffed animals, he would have understood that he had created her favorite moment of the summer. She just beamed.

Random Vegas pics:

Turns out that the only gamble we took was actually just going to Las Vegas. 

I like to watch local news when we travel. It solidifies the fact we aren't at home. But it was a bit disconcerting to watch the reports about major US cities like Chicago warning citizens to not travel to Las Vegas. We had booked this trip at the end of June when the COVID numbers were really low. Had we planned to take our trip much later, we might have had to cancelled it. 

Daphne and I did our best to keep Charlotte safe. We all masked indoors and did our best to keep Char out of long lines and tight places. Still, we worried if we were doing the right things in the wrong place. 

Man, we can't wait for a vaccine that's approved for children under 12. 

Our Dam Vacation: Grand Canyon

The drive from our Hoover Dam hotel to the West Rim of the Grand Canyon is about 90 minutes. Half of the trip is on the interstate, but the rest of the drive is on beat-up roads with speed limits that vary from 55 to 25 to 45 mph with no discernible reason. The scenic mountain views more than made up for the speed traps, and driving through a forest of Joshua trees was a new experience.

The park opens at 9:00, and we were among the first to arrive. It was a relief to see some cars in the parking lot because I didn't see any other cars going our direction. For awhile I was worried that Covid had closed this part of our vacation, too, and we would arrive at a locked gate.

Here's Char pointing out the unofficial "Dog Rock." (It looks more like a dog in person.)

Eagle Point needs no pointer.

The star of the show is the Grand Canyon Skywalk. Cameras are not allowed on the exhibit, so this isn't my picture.

It is a bit unnerving but also thrilling to walk on the glass floor and see the earth 4,000 feet below your feet. Char was a good sport, but I could tell this was not her favorite thing to do. She was more than ready to get off the Skywalk and browse the gift shop. Items personalized with the name "Charlotte" are getting easier and easier to find.

Char ended up with an oversized hoodie which is exactly what she wanted. What she didn't want was to stay at the Grand Canyon much longer. She was frustrated to discover that the tour bus had another stop to make.

Her attitude changed when we arrived at Guano Point. Climbing rocks is one of Char's favorite things to do. When she saw the mount of rocks that created “Highpoint Hike” she said, "Ohhh. I want to climb that!" 

Daphne replied, "I think we should!" And they were off. 

Here they are at the top. 

I also made the climb. The 360-degree view from up there is quite a sight.

Char would've given the Grand Canyon 4 out of 10 before Guano Point, "It was pretty boring for me." After climbing the rocks, she bumped her score to 11 out of 10. "it was sooo much fun!" Really, that's all a parent can hope for.

Our Dam Vacation: Hoover Dam

In a way, this vacation was my fault. 

I thought that Char would enjoy the Percy Jackson book series. I had taught the first book, The Lightning Thief, so I knew the story well, but Char wasn't impressed with my description. Undeterred, I borrowed the audio book from the library for Daddy-Daughter night. On the drive to the McDonald's drive-thru, I hit play and Char shot me a dirty look. I said, "Look, this whole trip takes about 20 minutes. If you don't like the book by the time we're back home, we'll forget all about it."

That, as they say, was that. "This is sooo good!" Charlotte exclaimed. We continued to listen to the audio CD on our Blu-ray player during dinner that night, and then in the car on the way to school. 

On a later Daddy-Daughter night we reached Chapter 14 in the third book in the series, The Titan's Curse.

Percy and his friends end up at the Hoover Dam in this chapter. Zoë Nightshade has been a Hunter for Artemis for over 2000 years, and she doesn't understand that in the modern world the words dam and damn are homophones: they sound the same but have different meanings.

This section of the story really made Char laugh. When we got inside McDonald's Char giggled and asked, "Hey Dad, can I get some dam French fries?" 

An older woman snapped her head around and stared at my daughter. I replied, "Sure! I'm gonna get some dam burgers for myself!" We both laughed, and the lady turned and fiercely stared straight ahead. She wasn't amused, but Char sure was. It became a family joke. Daphne even gave Charlotte this shirt for Christmas. Char couldn't wait to wear it to school.

More than once Charlotte has declared that going to the Hoover Dam is now on her "bucket list." 

We had hoped to carry out our 2020 summer plans to explore Nova Scotia this summer, but that couldn't happen. While brainstorming locations to visit within the US, we kept coming back to the Hoover Dam. In the end we decided, "Why not? Let's have a Dam Vacation!"

It only takes two and a half hours to fly from from Des Moines to Las Vegas. We wore doubled-masks in the airports and on the planes.

I warned Charlotte that as soon as we touched down she'd hear the Ding!-Ding!-Ding! of the slot machines, but that wasn't true. The new slot machines and much quieter. We stayed at the Overlook Hotel Hoover Dam Lodge and Casino. It was a nice place, and like the slot machines, it was also very quiet. In fact, we did not see or hear another person on our floor. I kept expecting to see a kid on a tricycle. 

"Hello Danny. Come and play with us. Come and play with us Danny." 

I did not shared my Shining fears with anyone else. Our room was huge, comfortable, and had a small fridge and a microwave. What else do you need?

We had dinner at the Boulder Dam Brewing company (twice), and I was so hungry I forgot to take food pics both times. 

Boulder City is a funky town with a laid-back attitude and a cool, vintage style. I said to Daphne as we drove into town, "What's up with this place? All the stores and fast-food places look like they were jettisoned out of the 70s." She agreed. The downtown hotels had a 60's vibe going on with their old-school Vegas signs and single level rooms. 

Figures. We fly across the country, and Char chooses cotton candy... 

... that we can buy at home.

Speaking of homemade products: the builder of the "Zoltar" machine in Big lives in Boulder City, and he has similar machines in various local establishments.

Random street pic:

The Hoover Dam reopened their dam tours about a week before we left. We were really excited about that. Daphne called on Wednesday to see how early people were showing up for the 9:00 AM tour, and she was told to get there between 8:15 and 8:30. Nevada time is two hours ahead of Iowa, so getting up "early" on Saturday morning was not a problem. We trotted down these stairs and were in line at 8:15. We weren't the first people there, and as the clock ticked by the crowd grew bit by bit.

20 minutes later a Dam employee emerged from the Visitor Center to remind us that we had to wear masks inside and that the Dam tours had been cancelled. What!? Yep, Covid canceled the tour as of Friday morning. We didn't even think to check the Dam website. Char was extremely disappointed until she learned that the tour was not for people with claustrophobia and there would be long moments spent in crowded elevators. She decided the visitor center would be good enough. Besides, Percy and his buddies hadn't taken the Dam tour, either.

The Visitor Center is cool. We watched a informative documentary in their theater. Daphne correctly pointed out, "It's our first time to be in a theater this year!" Then, to make up for the cancelled tour, we had the option to watch a slide presentation given in another theater by the person who would have been our tour guide. It was interesting, and he added quite a bit info that wasn't in the film (many men died during the Dam construction, but no one is buried in the Dam cement, for instance.)

After the slide show, we were able mill around the center. Here's Char in front of a cement bucket.

This video of the Hoover Dam rising is pretty cool.

"All the great opportunities the Dam will provide..."

Then we went outside to explore. The Winged Figures of the Republic also play a role in The Titan's Curse. Char was excited to rub their toes, but I don't want to give anything else away. 

You can't see it, but Char's mask sports a Percy Jackson reference, too,"You hit the Lord of the Titans in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush.” Points awarded to you if you get that. 

This is the closest thing I had to a Dam shirt.

Okay, here's the real reason we were here. Charlotte had to visit the Dam Gift Shop...

... and eat some Dam fries in the Dam Cafe. She's posing with "Dammer the Rammer" who followed us home from the shop.

Now Char can check off one box on her bucket list... we should all be so lucky.