Hoover Dam!



The white mark on the shoreline is the normal waterline.



The Hoover dam was only 45 minutes from our Las Vegas campground so we took a day trip to this man made wonder.  Upon arrival, we were informed that Norman, our dog, was not allowed in the parking garage attended or unattended or on the dam itself. We also researched and found that if the police caught a dog in an unoccupied vehicle they could take the dog and fine you. This through a monkey wrench into our plan!  The kids were in full movie mode in the back of the truck and didn't really want to see the dam up close.  Normally, this would of upset me, but the kids have seen their share of the USA and they are flat burnt out!  So...... we found alternate parking and I took it upon myself to see the dam in all its glory, by myself, while Karen, the kids and Norman stayed in the truck.  We had taken the tour previously of the Glen Canyon/Lake Powell dam and this was very similar in size, so I skipped the tour and just walked the bridged over the dam and listened to a very interesting recording that was playing at the monument on the side. A planetary star guide of star positions and star sizes is given in a circle on the floor around the flagpole, that gives the star positions when FDR dedicated this Hoover Dam in 1935. The purpose of this star guide acts like a map for anyone, in the future, who might come across the the Hoover dam if the human race were to become extinct. I spent an hour walking the dam and reading about it's construction! Sometimes its nice to just take in the sights all by your lonesome! If you haven't seen the Hoover Dam, its definitely worth the trip!

Viva Las Vegas!

"What happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas"......... except when you go to Vegas with your kids!  Going into Las Vegas I had the "Been There Done that" attitude. I had been to Las Vegas several times on business meetings. I commented to Karen about only staying a few days, but she had different plans. I wanted to go somewhere that had the Christmas feel and I didn't think Vegas would be that place.  Boy, was I wrong! 

We had so much fun at the city of sin!  The 1st day we headed to the strip and started walking through the hotels New York-New York, Aria, Crystal, Monte Carlo, Excalibur, Luxor, MGM Grand and a few others.  Six hours and probably 5 miles of walking later we called it a day.  The Hotels are so big and spaced out you need to plan your attack, which we did for next few days.  We hit just about every big name hotel there was, and even ventured down to the old original hotels such as The Golden Nugget, and Binions. We even found the "Pawn Stars" shop in down town Vegas.  They have a show on the history channel if you don't watch much T.V.  Needless to say their shop is very small and dumpy nothing like its portrayed in the show.   Karen's much anticipated and favorite hotel was the Venetian!  The Venetian has a canal system that runs throughout the hotel and you can take gondola rides and be serenaded in Italian! This is also the hotel where I found Christmas carolers.  We stopped and enjoyed a few songs sung a capella!  To my surprise and enjoyment Las Vegas is a great place to be around the Christmas season.  It seems like no expense is spared from massive Christmas trees to giant wreaths and more lights than you could imagine!  The beauty is all the hotels allow you to drive right up and valet park for no charge!  We tipped our valet staff each time, which I thought was a deal compared to some previous parking fees in California, New England and so on. 

We enjoyed the lighted water show at the Belaggio and also their second to none Christmas decorations with animated ice skating penguins and giant polar bears made of carnations!  The kids got an opportunity to get their picture taken while petting a lion cub, at the MGM Grand.  We even went to a magic show, in which Bryson had numerous questions on how it all worked!  Las Vegas was a pleasant surprise and probably one of the top 20 places we have visited on this trip and if you can stay out of the casinos it can be very affordable!

Sunny Southern California!

 

Its official!!!  We are starting getting burned out of traveling!  Although we have seen so many amazing things, the whole family is getting tired! We have found ourselves spending more and more time just hanging around the trailer and relaxing!  I think we feel obligated to check out any new area we come to and lately we are not as eager to do so. If you had asked me a year ago if I thought I would get tired of traveling I probably would have laughed in your face! 

Well, onto our stay in Southern California.  We found a campground in San Diego and setup the camper!  Right off the bat, I noticed how many more people are in this area of the country.  I also noticed a much higher cost of living.  Our campground cost is 50% higher not to mention the fuel cost! We have been talking about the San Diego Zoo to the kids throughout the trip, so it was the 1st place we went and it didn't disappoint! We spent over 6 hours at the zoo and still didn't see the whole thing.  If anyone knows my wife, this is a no no when it comes to parks!  This is a sure sign of The Cobb Family being tired!  Luckily our stay in San Diego is a lengthy one and we had plenty of down days to just relax.  Our stay here is also for Karen and Norman to get some practice surfing, because they are going to be in the Rose Parade on the Natural Balance Pet Foods float. The surf lessons went well and Karen got a nifty new wetsuit also.  After a week or so in San Diego we moved the trailer north to Anaheim, where we were greeted by even more people and traffic, but we stayed within walking distance to Disneyland!  Heck, we watched fireworks from the rv park every night!  Truth be told that if we didn't stay up and watch them, Norman was quick to give us a reminder bark when they started! So our nightly regiment was to watch the fireworks @ 8:45pm, and then put the kids to bed.  We spent a week or so here, had fun walking through Downtown Disney and even going to the park for a day!  It was nice with it being decked out with all the Christmas decorations. We also had a chance to go watch Karen and Norman perform at Universal Studios and then on to Dick Van Patten's house where they shot a spoof video of a guy dressed in a dog suit to look like Norman riding a scooter! We all met Dick Van Patten and family, which was cool considering Karen and I used to watch him in the show "Eight is Enough". 

While at the zoo Karen noticed that Natural Balance was a sponsor of the zoo!  During some conversation  with Joey Herrick of Natural Balance, Joey offered free tickets to the San Diego Safari which is different from the zoo.  We gladly accepted them and a few days later we went on a behind the scenes Safari tour!  Needless to say the kids were extremely excited!  We spent a few hours walking through the Safari until our tour time came up.  The tour started with a visit from a pigmy hedgehog which the whole family loved so much that the Cobb family may get a new member when we settle down!  From there we loaded into a 4 wheel drive safari vehicle and went in the pens with the animals!  The real treat was being able to hand feed the Giraffes!   The whole family had a blast with that! Next stop Las Vegas!

Lake powell

After the trip to Four corners and Monument Valley we were glad to land in Page, Arizona and get a good nights sleep! We woke the next day and decided to see Lake Powell/Glen Canyon.  We were a just minutes from the dam so we drove down just to check it out.  Once we got to the dam we found out we  had only a short 30 minute wait for the final tour of the dam for the day.  We figured it would be neat to see the inner workings of a dam so we took the tour.  The tour was great and Kaylee did the Junior Ranger program so she could get a badge.  The program has kids looking for special things on the tours to keep the youngsters interested while Mom and Dad are learning also!  After the tour was over we met with the ranger and Kaylee got her badge!  We also asked if there were any other things in Page, Arizona that would be of interest.  The ranger pointed us to a place called Horseshoe Bend.  The next morning we got up and headed that way!  What a beautiful sight Horseshoe Bend is! We walked right up the edge and took in the beauty!  It amazing to the the Colorado river in the deep green color winding around the red rock.  On a side note the phone has started ringing with Job offers from the company I left in Atlanta!  It is safe to say though, Karen and I are are starting to get a little homesick and tired of being on the road!