The Dam Squirrel

After two days of casino hopping we were a little tired of that action. So, what to do? Vegas is a huge place that basically offers a whole lot of the same thing wrapped in a variety of packages. You can gamble with a tropical theme, gamble with a pirate theme, gamble with a Hollywood theme, gamble with a classy European theme, gamble with a grungy white trash theme, etc. You get the picture. So, on the third day we decided to try something different. Let's get out of town.

Our guide book and comp book from the monorail station advertised an excursion out to Hoover Dam (or Boulder Dam if you prefer). Using the coupon in the comp book we got a fair price for the trip there. It was roughly a four hour trip. Besides seeing one of the wonders of the modern world we got to do a little sightseeing along the way.

The bus was very comfortable and not too crowded. It also provided the opportunity to do a little people watching. Our favorite two people to watch on the trip were a couple of good-looking German guys in the seat in front of us. I think they were brothers because they looked very much alike. We were calling them Hans and Franz, "The Eurotrash Twins." We think they were speaking German but not really sure. I'm no expert on German. They were about the age of frat boys and just as goofy. I hope they didn't understand enough English to know we were calling them Hans and Franz (or the Eurotrash Twins).

Along the way the bus driver tried to give a little mini-tour. He pointed out various points of interest as we drove along. It was interesting at the time but I can't remember much of it now. Mostly, I remember him making a lot of silly jokes. He thought it was funny to refer to our trip as the "dam tour", himself as "the dam bus driver", and us as the "dam tourists." Personally, I got a little tired of the "dam humor."

The dam bus driver took us around to the Arizona side of the dam because we were able to get better pictures of it from there. On the Nevada side we're so close that all you get is a picture of the dam up close. From the Arizona side we got pictures of the whole complex. While we were on the Arizona side of the dam taking pictures there was a little chipmunk scampered up to us and stopped there. I was surprised at how fearless he was around people. No doubt, people tossed treats to him so often that he had come to expect it. He stood up on his haunches to beg for food. I zoomed in on him and snapped a couple of pictures. I think they turned out well. What do you think? Hence, the story of the "dam squirrel."