After two days in Kingman, AZ it was tirme to pack up our belongings into the pickup and head further west toward Hoover Dam and Las Vegas. We used US 93 which travels northwest and is only about 100 miles from Kingman. This is true desert country. A few cacti, millions of sage and many yucca plants. Overall the area is beautiful in its own way, you can see for probably 30 miles from one plateau across a huge valley to another high desert plateau. 
 Upon arrival to Hoover Dam, we followed the signs toward the visitor center and was directed to a security checkpoint . Because we have a "Topper" (what they call a manufactured cover over the bed of the truck in the Midwest) or a "Cap" (what they call them on the East Coast) with tinted windows, I was directed for a more thorough search. We're not carrying any contraband or anything illegal, but our 9mm Luger is safely tucked away in a back seat under a flip up seat - and that was on my mind. The security officer came up to the truck, I unlocked the "topper" and he looked inside.  "Good enough for me," he said, and that was it - we were on our way. We then pulled into the designated parking area, climbed some steps and walked down a LONG concrete walkway adjacent to Highway 93 with a view of the Dam. Wow! I can't imaging the work it took to construct the Dam or build this bridge in front of the Dam. This walkway was constructed between 2005 and 2010 and his securely anchored into the rock at the Arizona / Nevada border. While taking pictures though, as 18 wheelers roll by just a few feet from you, the entire bridge shakes, rattles and rolls . We did not drive over the dam itself and chose to continue toward Las Vegas another 30 miles away.  
 One of the movies I remember from years ago was "Leaving Las Vegas" with Nick Cage and my longtime love - Elisabeth Shue (sorry Dolly). When driving into Vegas, the movie portrayed coming off the high desert and instantly into the bright lights and huge casinos of Las Vegas. Not so. After driving through Henderson, its all built up places to eat sleep and have fun into "Sin City." Because we had made reservations for the Family Camp at Nellis Air Force Base, we entered the address into the GPS and rolled through Las Vegas well off the strip. We could see the huge buildings to our left a couple of miles away. After a couple of turns (and turn arounds) we entered Nellis AFB, got to the camping area, checked in and set up our site.