HPI Racing - 2003 HPI Challenge World Finals

VIP Tour

Monday, October 13th

One of the greatest "traditions" of the HPI Challenge World Finals has been our post-race VIP Tour. During past tours, we have taken our invitational racers from Asia, Europe and the US to Southern California beaches, castles in the French wine country, ancient Shinto shrines and other fabulous places. The VIP Tour helps to wind things down for the visiting racers and bring them together after a weekend full of close, tense battles on the race track!

Because of the close proximity of Las Vegas to one of America's greatest technological feats, this year's tour was centered around the fantastic Hoover Dam, which was built in the 1930's at the height of America's Great Depression.


Our Vision Holidays tour bus	One more group picture!	Another annual tradition - Greg sleeps on the bus ride!

The morning started off with getting picked up by the tour bus. On the way to the first stop on the tour, the bus driver pointed out celebrity homes like Liberace's house, Mike Tyson's home, Wayne Newton's large compound and other notable points of interest. A surprising number of celebrities maintain homes in the Las Vegas area, even if they are not regular performers in the city.

Our first stop was the Ethel M's Chocolate Factory and biological garden. The working chocolate factory featured large glass windows overlooking the assembly lines, conveyor belts and ovens used to make the delicious Ethel M's delectables. Although HPI Europe's Greg Hill was disappointed they did not make marzipan, they did offer many other types of great candies and chocolates (even ice cream!) in the large candy store at the end of the tour line.


The Ethel M's Chocolate Factory	mmmm... chocolate-covered strawberries!	The desert botanical garden

Outside the factory building was the diverse biological garden, assembled to show the amazing diversity of life that is in the supposedly barren desert. Visitors to the desert from other climates initially see a bland, tan and gray landscape until they get close to the plants and animals and understand what the flora and fauna have had to do to keep alive and propogate their species.

Back on the tour bus, the next stop was Hoover Dam itself. Traveling through Boulder City, we found out that because it started as federal land, alcohol and gambling have never been legal, which boosted the early town of Las Vegas, where all sorts of vices were legal at the time of the building of the Hoover Dam. The workers building the dam lived in Boulder City, which was built to accomodate the staff and workers, but on the nights and weekends they would flock to Las Vegas and spend their wages in the early casinos and saloons on Fremont Street, the first stretch of casinos in Las Vegas and the current "old town" portion of the burgeoning city.

Riding down the windy canyon roads to the dam, we were able to get vista views of Lake Mead, the water reservoir and recreation area created by the Hoover Dam. Lake Mead covers a huge area of land and serves as the power and water source not just for Las Vegas but for a number of large metropolitan areas in the southwest United States.

A relatively low fee of $10 gets you inside the dam and access to several exhibits that show the practical uses of the water and power the dam provides. Because of the terrorist attacks on the United States that occurred on September 11, 2001, internal access to the dam is limited to a brief look at some of the generators and a short walk through a damp rock tunnel. Before the attacks visitors could visit the control room, walk among the generators and see many other areas, but now you must pass through metal detectors, put cameras through x-ray machines and experience a fraction of the "old tour".


	The only interior area of the dam you are allowed to see these days

Access to the outside of the dam is still free, however, and the guides let you take as many pictures as you want. Every person on the tour decided to walk along the top of the dam, where you could trek to the Arizona side of the dam (and into the Mountain Time zone) and view the amazing size of the dam directly.


A display showing the extent of the area serviced by the Hoover Dam	A model of a highway that will cross the Black Canyon right in front of the dam	An exhibit showing the area dams and reservoirs and the cities they serve

After viewing the exhibits and touring the dam, it was time for lunch! A stop at the Hacienda Casino Hotel was next, for a buffet lunch where everyone could relax and eat as much as they wanted in traditional Las Vegas style.


One of the Hoover Dam intake towers	A chili pepper Christmas tree - how very Southwest!

The trip back to Las Vegas was relatively quiet as many of the racers and their family dozed off with full stomachs and contemplated the trip home (or for some racers, the rest of their vacation in Las Vegas!).

And that was it! The foreign racers exchanged their goodbyes and slowly headed off to their hotel rooms to figure out how to ship their souvenirs, prizes and trophies back home. With the rest of the HPI team already on the road and probably home by the time the tour ended, we grabbed a bit to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe across the street, then it was time to cram the last bits of luggage into the car and start the 260 mile journey back to Orange County.


One of Frank Sinatra's suits from the Rat Pack days at the old Stardust	A cape worn by Jimmy Hendrix, plus one of the few guitars he burned onstage

Let's hope we see YOU next year at the next HPI Challenge race in your area!