November 11a day of gray skies and wispy clouds with about 11 drops of rain. The desert we traveled through could have used a few buckets. I am amazed at how a plant can grow in the soil we are passing by. I have a new respect for cacti and other drought tolerant plants that exist in this no man's land.

Somebody cut a channel through a mountain and we got to drive through it this aft. It was amazing. It is the top picture.

Name this type of tree; it loves high altitudes.

We slipped into and out of Vegas in 25 minutes by taking the bypass. Marg and I had already gambled ourselves out at the gas and lunch stop which just happened to have a very smokey room full of slots. Marg spent $5 and made it back, and I left $2 behind out in the middle of the desert. The roads and surrounding surfaces are very pretty and cost a few pennies—concrete. Signs all over the place tempting you to step into their wonderful life. There was a very heavy yellow smog cloud over the city. We could see it for miles and from miles away.

The big excitement of the trip was the Hoover Dam. The bridge that will bypass the dam is coming along nicely. We had to pull off the road to have the mh searched for hazardous materials—a bomb maybe, Iraqis. We opened all compartments and they came aboard. One of the nice officers was going to charge Marg with interstate smuggling of coke!

The dam looks smaller than it is because much of it is down below and one cannot see its depth. It is in a narrow canyon. The area is spectacular as one winds down the road and across the dam and then up the other side to the lake lookout. The craggy sides of the canyon are many coloured. One can park and walk around for $7. There is also a parkade which has food and souvenir shopping on the north side which is tres modern compared to the old single-wide mobile home building on the south side—wrong side of the dam. So, sports fans, what was the dam called before it was called Hoover Dam?

Lake Meade is huge with little hill tops in it that were too tall to be covered by the flood. There is a lot boating activity there as it doesn’t have much competition in the desert. The only river we saw was Virgin River. There are lots of dry river and creek beds that are bridged and you drive over. In Arizona they call these a wash.

We are in Utah tonight. Don’t even mention the g word. Marg could be within reach of a few scrap book stores tomorrow—hold on to your wallet, Marg.

CBC was our source for a few minutes of the Remembrance Day Service. One can choose whichever city has a station. So what station did I choose?

We went into the Pacific time zone for 40 minutes and then out of it again.

Cheers.

This for yesterday as it is part of a question.

November 11