Hoover Dam

From Las Vegas we travelled to the Grand Canyon. On the way we stopped to look at the Hoover Dam. 

The Hoover Dam was completed in 1936. It is in two states, Arizona and Nevada.  In 1936 it cost $49 US to build. It is 221 metres high and 399 metres long. It dams across the Colorado river and creates lake mead. Lake Mead is the reservoir and it is used for water storage and power as well as flood control

The last few years, California, Arizona and Nevada have been in drought. The levels of Lake Mead are so low that even with small rainfall it is not able to get back to the levels that Nevada and Arizona need. There are lots of ways that they are trying to save water.

Las Vegas

After a long hot trip through Death Valley we got to Las Vegas! Wow it was busy! We stayed in a hotel that had a casino attached to it. It was bright and noisey!

That evening we went in to the city to see the sights. There was bright lights and music everywhere and lots of people!

On the second day mum and dad surprised us with tickets to Cirque de Soleil. The show was incredible there were so many things to see and the acrobats were amazing. Sometimes it was hard to watch just incase they fell! We saw rope climbers, trapeze artists, strong men, tumblers and a very funny clown!

It's hard to believe, that when there are huge buildings all around you that you are actually, in the middle of the dessert!

June lake loop track

We decided to go on a day tramp in the Yosemite National Park.  We chose the June Lake Loop Track.

It was about 15km.  We started walking from the parking lot, where there were signs warning us about bears!

We tramped up the hill and through some bush until we reached a beautiful lake. Here we had a picnic. We could see fish in the lake and we saw more garter snakes and lizards.  We also saw heaps of chipmunks and ground squirrels.

Death Valley

We traveled from Yosemite through Death Valley to Las Vegas. Because it was such a long way we stayed the night in Lone Pine. Lone Pine is a small town, which is famous for being the location of many old western films. 

After a swim in the pool and a good nights sleep we started our journey through Death Valley. The further in to Death Valley we got the hotter it was! There are many things to see in Death Valley, we saw  the artists palette. This is a rock face that is coloured from all the different minerals in the rocks. There are some pictures below.

We travelled on to Badwater Basin. This is one of the lowest places on earth. It is 85.5 meters below sea level. Because it is so hot and dry there is only a little bit of water there which is really salty and the basin has a salt pathway where the water has evaporated and left behind the salt.

By now it was 111 degrees Fahrenheit!

This is the salt footpath!

Reno!

When we were in Lake Tahoe we found out that the famous air races were happening in Reno. We decided to go.

Reno was really hot and in the dessert.  We went to a huge air field where there were lots of planes of all types.

 

We also saw lots of military aircraft including fighter jets and huge planes. my dad loved this beacause he used to be in the army and used to travel in the big aircraft and jump out of them!

The races started and it was really exciting! About five or six planes would take off one after the other and then circle back in to the racecourse. The course is about 8 miles long and they go around the course three times. It was so cool to watch airplanes racing!

At the end of the day we got to see the breitling aerobatic team put on a display. It was amazing!

Yosemite

Sunday 20th September 

The other day we went to Yosemite national park. We Had to pay to get in to Yosemite and the lady gave Me and Lydia a form to fill out on our walk to become a junior ranger. We drove to the visitor centre and had a look around . It said in this part of  California there are black bears there real name is ursusamericanus. We went for a walk on pothole dome. When we were walking we went a bit of the track to go on an adventure and look for foot prints. We saw some deer foot prints and maybe some mountain lion and bear prints as well. When we were walking mum saw a garter snake go past her foot. A garter snake is not poisonous unlike the rattle snake. We didn't see any rattle snakes because it is to high for them. When we go to death vally we will see some there because it is below sea level. When we finished our walk we went on another 2 hour walk with a ranger called Eric. He talked about the native Americans because the place we were in was Tuolumne meadows witch was a meeting place  for the Awahnechee tribe and the Paiute tribe. In the summer they would meet for four months and trade their goods like:acorn flour, pine nuts, and obsidian. To make the acorn flour they would bring them up I little hole somewhere in the valley I am not aloud to tell you exactly were though. Then they leave and wait till the next summer. They went in summer because if they went in the winter they would be in snow. After our walk he singned our paper and we went to the welcome centre and got our badges. When we got our badges we had to swear an oath. Here are some photos.

This is us with our badges.

Lake Tahoe

We left San Fransisco on Wednesday to drive to Lake Tahoe. When we got there it was quite late so we went straight to bed. When we woke up we had some breakfast and went for a walk by the lake. There we saw a man called Chase who was asking people to sign a petition to stop the development of Squaw Vally. For more information go to www.sierrawatch.org .