Hoover Dam, DEFCON, Las Vegas,

a Police Shootout and other relaxing activities on our vacation

Sorry that these are a little mixed but hey, what do you want? At least I found some time to put them up on the 'net!

Maggie and I went to Las Vegas for DEFCON where we later met up with a good friend from Germany. We arrived a day early to "relax" and to go to the grand Canyon via 4 wheel drive. The plan was to land in Vegas, go to sleep, wake up early to do the canyon and then be back in Vegas to meet our friend at the airport and then do dinner before the conference started the next day. Like most of Maggie and I's vacation, Murphy had joined us, set down Murphy's law, and the excitement began. We met the 4wd and went over the Hoover dam to the canyon via the indian reservation. We drove down the canyon to the river and then up to some other areas for beautiful views... (See the other 2 pages for more of the canyon). Anyway... we are headed back to Vegas and making good time when we get to Hoover Dam. We stop short of the actual dam and someone said something was not normal down on the dam... This proved to be an understatement. The police in Las Vegas had attempted to pull over a trucker (see photo with truck and smoke below) for a traffic violation. He did not want to stop and the fun started. The police shot out the back trailer tires after they realized he did not wish to pull over. They chased him dragging the trailer on the rims for 35 MILES to Hoover dam. He cut holes in the street the whole way with the rims/axles. By now we noticed the traditional tv station helicopter flying overhead and then the police called other truckers to drive sideways and block the dam (it is also a state border) By now we realized we were stuck and that the trucker must have never graduated school as he started the motor and gave it full gas to ram the trucks at the end of the bridge. He crashed up the side and got stuck on the corner edge of the dam. He kept reving the motor but the tires were spinning and he was "stuck" to the other trucks. The police, (also showing a lack of intelligence) walked up and asked him to get out of the truck, yelling etc. As he stuck a pistol out the window and started shooting the excitement level went up notch or two down on the bridge. After a few hours of standoff and several attempts to rock his truck loose (he blew up the engine in the attempt), he finally gave up. Needless to say, our friend had to make his way to the hotel alone. The rest of the trip was great, albeit less exciting and DEFCON was awesome. It is HIGHLY recommended to anyone who is interested in such things. There are some close ups of the truck as the traffic was finally let through and we drove across the bridge. All front and rear tire were blown out of the truck.