Lake Mead, Nevada

Paul and I landed in Lake Mead, Nevada last week, one of the largest man made lakes in the world.  It seemed a suitable place to pull up the RV and park our humble folding ensemble.

We like kicking around town a bit to check out the landscape, the neighborhood vibe and sometimes take in some local history.  We hiked the Historic Railway Trail near the Lake which was originally built to haul supplies from Boulder City, Nevada to the Hoover Dam construction site.  Now you may think that is pretty boring stuff but here's an interesting spin. 

Back in 1931 Boulder City Manager Sims Ely was a crochety old geezer who led the town with an iron fist.  Consequently he didn't allow any alcohol or shenanigans in his sleepy town. Thousands of men flocked to Boulder City to join the crews blasting through Black Mountain to complete the railroad to the Dam site.  Now the men were getting mighty thirsty and were fed up with old Ely's rules so they blasted 5 huge tunnels through almost 10 miles of that Mountain and finished the job in under 4 months. Holy smokes!  I didn't find it in any historical journals but I'd wager their motivation had much to do with bidding adios to old Sims Ely and hello to Mr. Jack Daniels.  

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