Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Gilbert AZ

 Tami Baumgartner invited me a on a girls trip to do a 12 mile paddleboard adventure with her and 13 of her friends.  Carrie, one of my old neighbors was also there, but I didn't know any of the other ladies.  

I flew into Las Vegas around 3:00 on Saturday afternoon and Tami and friends picked me up at the airport.  We headed to our hotel, hit the pool for a bit, and then after getting ready for the evening we went to dinner and walked around the strip for a bit. 

I saw the volcano for the first time!

Sunday we got all our stuff packed up and loaded in the cars and then hit the strip for breakfast and a little shopping.  We had an hour and a half wait at Hash House a Go Go, so we walked down the Linq side street (my favorite part of the strip b/c it feels like I'm in California not in Vegas :)) while we waited.  

So.  Much.  Food.  

That afternoon we headed to Boulder City.  Once we got to the cute little town we were so bummed we had spent time on the strip that morning, we should have just headed straight there.  We went directly to the Hoover Dam thinking we were trying to make a 5:00 tour, in the end they weren't even offering tours due to Covid, so we rushed for no reason, but we were glad we made the trip b/c it was pretty amazing to see.  

We didn't know it at the time, but we were hopeful, that we would leave from right below the bridge on our paddle boards the next morning.  We lucked out and sure enough that is right where we started.  

Carrie's dad works on dams and he has repelled down this wall many many times.  He even sent us some pictures.  Pretty cool!

There was a car fire on the freeway near where we were:

The dam from the bridge.  

Fox BBQ was yummy and fun!

Our hotel was the cutest!  They even use real keys still, that hang on a little peg board behind the check in desk.  

Sunday night we hit the grocery store to buy water and food for our Monday adventure.  We would be on the river for 8 hours and needed enough food and water to get us through the day.  I had brought most of my own food with me, but gladly went in on the PBJ sandwiches and grabbed a protein drink, a banana, and a gallon of water to use to fill my water bottles.  

Monday we were up at 6 getting ready for the day.  We had to be all packed up and ready to leave by 6:45.  We met the company we rented the boards from at a nearby hotel and they drove us to the launch spot.  Because we were so close the dam we had 15 minutes to unload our gear and the boards and get on our way.  We could see the snipers that protect the dam and had to drive through a secure area to get down to the water.  We also needed special permits and show our driver's licenses to access that area.  

It was a fun day and we saw some beautiful things.  The water was so clear, and so very cold (which was so surprising to me b/c of the high temperatures there).  The water was 50-60 feet deep in parts and we could see all the way to the bottom.  We saw and felt a waterfall that comes from a hot spring, that was really weird! It was so hot it actually melted the soles off of one of the ladies shoes b/c she was standing in it for so long.  I don't love hot springs (or hot tubs or taking baths) so I didn't' spend much time in it (especially with the high outside temps), but I did walk in the part that met up with the river.  It went from hot, to warm, to cold.  So crazy!

There were times it felt hard, but over all it wasn't too bad.  I had plenty of food and water.  The sky was overcast for the 1st half which saved me b/c the heat was the hardest part.  Even with the clouds I was dripping sweat.  I probably would have loved one more cold water bottle, but I was prepared.  We only stopped twice (once at the waterfall and once for lunch and the option of using an outhouse (I used it).  Other than that we were paddling.  I found that I went faster if I was kneeling, but still spent more than half the time standing.  My toe didn't bother me at all, which I was so grateful for!  It was fun paddling with different ladies throughout the day and getting to know them.  

Hot Springs Waterfall:

The canyon was so tall...we look so tiny compared to it!

One of the little caves we stopped to check out:

Lunch time:

Outhouses in the dessert:

The color of the water was unreal!

Our adventure planner Tami...."Tour guide Tami"

Waiting to check out Emerald Cove:

Too many of us in there at one time.  It became hard to even see the pretty water...the reason we were in there 

3 of us waited in line to go back in when it wasn't so crowded:

Right after this was taken I police boat drove by and I laid down on my board real quick b/c I didn't have a life jacket on and we had been threatened with a $150 fine if we didn't wear a jacket.  This part of the water was closed to motorboats so I figured I was pretty safe that no one was going to see me.  After this I put it on though b/c I figured they might come driving past again :)

Pulled in with 10 minutes to spare!

All but one of the ladies (she doesn't do pics on social media so we often had to take two pictures one with her and one without :))

After loading back up we started making our way to Gilbert Arizona.  We stopped for some In and Out, which tasted great b/c we were so hungry!  Tami dropped me off at my parent's new home, the one where Sam is living now, and I was so happy to see Sam!!

I wasn't there for long so we basically just went shopping for some things they wanted and to get some food (mostly smoothie ingredients for the blender we bought).  We went to lunch with Tami and then it was time to head to the airport.  So glad I got to see Sam and where they are living!