About a month ago I was able to tag along with Katherine on a work trip to Las Vegas. I guess there are worse places to have work training. We made a stop at the Hoover Dam, a marvel of civic and government effort. The public works project was amazingly finished two years ahead of schedule and underbudget. Fun Fact: Herbert Hoover wasn’t invited to the dam’s dedication. Not Fun Fact: The dam was once a bombing target for Nazi agents in the 1930s. We also went to Death Valley, the hottest place on earth and dryest place in North America. The highest and lowest elevation points in the United States are in neighboring counties. On the right day, you can see Mount Whitney, the highest peak in North America, from Death Valley. Next was the hike to Fire Wave, a remarkable geological formation in Valley of Fire State Park. Lastly, we visited Rhyolite, a desert basin ghost town. Rhyolite sprang up in 1905 as part of the infamous gold rush. With a peak population of around 5,000, the oasis faded away just as quickly as it was built. The mine closed in 1911 and the town was desolate by 1920.