This is the Hoover Dam with Lake Mead behind it. If you look at the white band above the lake you can see how low the water level has dropped with years of drought. The original Boulder Dam was built in the 30s during the Depression. Thousands of workers flocked to the site for work. The Dam was renamed after President Hoover – it provides hydroelectricity and water.
This photograph shows the scale of construction with the original road. There is now a bypass which makes it safer for tourists to look at the dam. Although it is a miracle of modern engineering, there is always an ecological cost to pay when you divert a river (the Colorado River). We waste so much of our most precious resource on the planet – water.
When you visit or live in arid places you become very aware of how much we need water. I wish we could send a little of our excess water in Houston to our dry neighbors. After a 10 year drought we are now in the throes of a wet decade. There is moss in my garden!!! I left that behind in Scotland…
I am standing in Arizona looking at the impossibly blue sky of Nevada. None of my photographs have been altered. The light is fantastic.
This is my first glimpse of the Grand Canyon through the bus window. More on the trip from hell next time.
What a beautiful country we have!
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Indeed we do. Thank you, GP. 😘
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Yes, water is precious and people take it for granted and are wasteful until there will be scarcity across the globe soaring temperatures are soaring all over the world, therefore, creating droughts. Some people say we will go to war over water in the future. For now enjoy the water.
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I think we will go to war over water unless we can learn how to conserve it.
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I agree
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My home state of Arizona! Thank you for the visit!
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I will let you know the next time I visit!
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cool pictures
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Tak!!!
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Great views of the dam. Thanks. Been ages since I was there. So long that the water level wasn’t nearly so markedly dire. We get our share of that water here in L.A. The story of the west IS the story of water, in many regards.
I’m dreading what you’re going to reveal at the Grand Canyon that makes it the trip from hell.
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Ha, ha! It was just the bus trip to the Grand Canyon and my companions… Will post soon.
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Kerry:
Last December we did our annual road trip and took the train into the Grand Canyon. On the way out of the Grand Canyon that night (cold, still at the Grand Canyon) the train broke down and we were stuck on it for over six hours in the dark, with two small kids. What a wonderful bonding experience for my family. We take those kind of trips- we are http://www.LiveFree2SailFast.com- Thanks for the pics, awesome-
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LOL! My bus came to a halt after a car accident closed the road so it turned into a ‘ are we there yet?’ trip
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Sad to see how low the water level is. Please may it rain—lots!
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I think we might have to wait for another weather change and perhaps less people should live in the desert…
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Evaporation is a challenge in the southwest. Seems to be a marvelous trip, from your excellent photos.
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It really wasn’t a marvelous journey but the photo opportunity was amazing.
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Oh, I reread the picked up the “trip from hell” reference.
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Very interesting photos Kerry. I’m painting the one you took of the crow silhouette at the Grand Canyon. I hope you don’t mind?
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Of course I don’t mind! It is a wonderful compliment, Liben. ❤
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Gorgeous pictures!
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Thank you, Margarisa!
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De nada, mi amiga!
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Great Pics Kerry. Been to the Hoover Damn years ago. .
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Thank you, Gary. I was shocked at how much the water level had fallen in a decade or so.
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Great pictures, Kerry! What an impressive monument. But it’s really shocking how much the water level has dropped. 😦
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It is really shocking.
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