LA, LV, LA

This leg of the California adventure took us to the Los Angeles area where most of my cousins live. Last Saturday was my cousin's debut (pronounced dey-boo by Filipinos), so we all got dolled up for the big night. It is basically a cotillion ball for only one debutant. Anyway, I'd never been to one before, so it was all new to me. Good times.

My family takes opportunities such as this one to have huge family reunions, so good times are had by all. This year everyone decided to take a vacation to Las Vegas, where we could eat copious amounts of food (methinks Las Vegas is the capital of all-you-can-eat buffets), feed money into slot machines and enjoy each other's company. This was my second time in Las Vegas, but my first since I've turned 21, and thus been able to actually stand in the casino area, rather than being watching from the child friendly aisles. Having seen it from up close, I'm not quite sure what the big fuss is about. It seems to me like a city created for the sole purpose of taking your money. Keith and I saw Spamalot our first night there which was pretty much amazing. I got a bobblehead "Knight of Ni".

My family and a couple of my uncles took a break from the city Wednesday morning and drove out to Hoover Dam which was pretty awesome, to say the least. Not only is it a marvel of engineering, but it also boasts some lovely art deco architecture. Here are some pictures.

The turbines that harness the power of the Colorado River.

The view from half way up the dam.

View from the top looking down.

Looking across the face of dam.

That art deco architecture I was talking about applied to the water intakes on the upstream side of the dam. This also reminded me of Starwars. Just saying.

An angel in the art deco style. Again, pretty awesome.

We're now back in the LA area. Tonight: Wicked. Tomorrow: Disneyland.