I say "home," because my maternal grandparents spent just about their whole lives in the Southwest, namely in El Paso, TX. My mom and her brothers were raised in El Paso. I spent the first three or so years of my life in El Paso. After my parents and I moved away, I still took many, many trips back to the Southwest to visit my grandparents regularly. I've even got a number of family members who still live in the area. Plus, I was stationed in the Southwest on two different occasions during the years I spent in the Air Force (in Tucson, AZ, and Alamogordo, NM).
Even when I was stationed elsewhere, I found myself in the Southwest, either for work or more often, on vacation.
So basically, the Southwest like home to me - my first home, my original home. (Chicago - or Arlington Heights, more specifically, is my "home of record" for the military, because that's where I'd been living when I'd gone on active duty . . . but that's a whole 'nother story.)
Anyway, when Andrew and I were stationed in Massachusetts for four years, we found ourselves in Las Vegas, NV for a week-long conference for work (October 2004). After we'd wrapped up on the last day, we had a bit of time for sightseeing; we took the opportunity to go to the Hoover Dam, a nice day-trip distance from the sensory overload known as Vegas (which I really enjoy, by the way). Not only was the Hoover Dam impressive on its own merits, the scenery to and from the Hoover Dam was spectacular!
So here are a few photos I thought I'd share. The quality isn't the best - I'd used one of those single-use "disposable" cameras (with film in it); anyway, their quality declined even further after I'd uploaded the photos and had them transferred from one online storage site to another. (The negatives, sadly, were lost/ruined in my numerous moves from one part of the country to another.)
(Again, you can click on each photo for a somewhat larger view.)
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| The reservoir, on one side. |
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| The river, on the other side. |
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| Andrew's looking down that dizzying downward distance. |
9 comments:
I think the photos are very good. Interesting that you were in the military. I finished my working career at an AFB.
I wanted to go to the dam but we weren't able to work it in. Cool pics!
Beautiful shots!
That's a great place to explore. Nice shots.
We visited Hoover Dam in 2001 when in Vegas to get married. Awesome!
An interesting account of how the southwest has had a significant place in your history...and still does with relatives there. Nice shots of this impressive dam. I have yet to cross the new highway bridge there.
An interesting account of how the southwest has had a significant place in your history...and still does with relatives there. Nice shots of this impressive dam. I have yet to cross the new highway bridge there.
How nice you have been to so many interesting places! I have visited the Southwest several times and think it's a photographer's dream. :)
My husband is retired navy so I understand about the reference to "home of record." His was a small town in Arkansas for most of his career even though he lived in California for most of that time.
Enjoyed reading this post. I have lived in Missouri since I was five but before that I was in my mothers home state of alabama and I still have an affinity for that part of the county.
Thanks for visiting my old barn this week.
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