Last year, my family and I traveled to Las Vegas and made a stop at Hoover Dam. This was the fourth time for me since the beginning of the construction of the bridge over the dam. The construction was aimed at diverting traffic away from the dam for security reasons. It was a massive undertaking which took time, labor and money to complete. In March 2012, the American Society of Civil Engineers awarded the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge with the 2012 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award, is also known as the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge. From my previous blog you probably know that we crossed the bridge on our way to Las Vegas from the Grand Canyon. Last week, we decided to make another trip to Las Vegas from the Grand Canyon where we had ... read more

Hoover Dam is one of the top 100 Wonders of the World. Located between Arizona and Nevada, it is a straddle for the Colorado River, a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the River. An engineering and architectural wonder it was the world's largest dam in 1930 when it was constructed. It is a Historic landmark and one of the most visited structures in the United States. After the September 11 tragedy of 2001, the security of the dam became heightened. Nothing to be feared, it’s nothing like boarding a plane security. In late 2010 the construction of a bypass bridge over the dam began. The bridge was to divert the overwhelming traffic away from the dam. The original two way highway crossing the dam could no longer handle that much traffic. With a ... read more

The Joshua Tree Forest highway is also part of the US Scenic Byways, from the little town of Wikieup a small community in the Mohave country starts the Joshua Tree Forest scenic drive. The backdrop of the rugged mountains ranges of the Hualapai and the Aquarius cliffs. A beautiful drive indeed; from Tucson to Las Vegas, we drove through the southwestern desert landscape. During the 400 plus mile drive, the country- side changed from the fairly flat typical desert terrain to the more rolling area and then the hillier landscape with its canyons around Lake Mead. But the most beautiful of the landscape came with the Joshua Tree Forrest, the rolling and winding road ahead, and the beautiful mountains in the distance. The Joshua tree National Park is named after the 'Joshua Tree', it is a ... read more

Iceland was on my “Bucket List” up until October of 2010 when Mark and I, decided to make the journey. The main aim was to see the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) and bath in the Blue Lagoon. Since we were meeting some Travbuddy friends in Reykjavik, we decided to join them on the Golden Circle Tour. The tour includes a total of 5 stops including 2 geothermal power plants. Hellisheidi Geothermal Power plant was our last stop on the Golden Circle Tour. Located in South West Iceland, the power plant is a combined heat and power generator. It sits on one of the largest wet geothermal systems also known as high-enthalpy in Iceland. The purpose of the plant is to meet the increasing demand for electricity and hot water for space heating for the Icelandic people. ... read more

Of recent, I have started traveling more and more with my family. Years past so me travel mostly alone and sometimes with my daughter. But as the years have gone by, I find I long to have companionship and reassurance in having people close to me when I travel. It is of course a big challenge traveling with the family, because each individual wants something other than what you personally want. My family (Desire and Mark) both hate the fact that I spend such time taking photos when we travel. They are getting better with it since I will not be retiring photography any time soon. I'm learning to accommodate them better as well. I however refuse to let them get away with not taking time to take in the surroundings, cultures and the people of ... read more