Travels 2019

London Bridge in Lake Havasu, Arizona. There were several bridges built over the same section of the Thames River in London.  The Old London Bridge of nursery-rhyme fame was built between 1176 and 1209, replacing an earlier timber bridge.  The bridge survived more than 600 years.  Then this bridge was replaced by a new one in 1831.  But as time passed, the new bridge began sinking at the rate of an inch every eight years.  The bridge could not withstand the impact of 20th century automotive traffic.  In 1967, the City Council of London placed the bridge on the market and began to look for potential buyers.  On April 18, 1968, the winning big went to entrepreneur and Lake Havasu City founder Robert McCulloch for $2,460,000. Dismantling the bridge in London.  Each block was numbered so that reassembly was easier. In Lake Havasu, the bridge was built with lighter hollow steel supports versus the granite that was ...

3 nights on the Vegas Strip.  3 shows:  Celine Deon, Terry Fator (the ventriloquist), and Cirque du Soleil (The Beatles).  Great shows.  One night we went down to the Freemont Experience just North of the Vegas Strip.  This huge canopy with the LED screen was spectacular. We chose not to do this zip line, but looked fun. Love the mimes.  Seemed like we saw several doing their thing for tips. Celine's husband (Renee) died 2 years ago.  She kisses his picture before each performance.  He was the one that found her and made her career.  He was 26 years older than her. Caesars Palace (below) was fun to walk through, as well as the Venetian and Bellagio.  Didn't have time to do any others. Very interesting Mob Museum.  Told the history of the Mob in the US.  The Mob had a prominent role in the Vegas scene early on.

Above:  downstream from Hoover Dam.  Colorado River supplies water to an amazing amount of people including Los Angeles & Las Vegas, and most of Southern California.  Water is pumped out of Lake Mead and Lake Havasu to irrigate crops and orchards around Palm Springs. Lake Mead side of the dam.  Interesting the shape of Hoover Dam.  I always thought it was straight.  Towers are intake columns to operate the turbines. Below:  they had to divert the river by building these tunnels.  Above:  they were able to build the dam in 4 years using a technique of cooling the concrete after it was poured.  This made the concrete harden faster. Hourly wage doesn't sound like much, but it's like $12 an hour at today's rates. The museum had a time-lapsed film showing the progress from start to finish.  Down river side of the dam. It's 726 ft. tall.  Isn't that 2 football field lengths? Memoria...