Sunday April 23rd 2017

The wind was back today, but so was the heat. Las Vegas made it into the 90s for the first time this year. In defiance of the weather I choose an outdoor activity. I went to the Springs Preserve and got blown around and cooked in the sun.

Desert cactus in bloom

Las Vegas strip seen from the Springs Preserve.

The Springs Preserve has botanical gardens and museums in a natural setting. It is located in the area of the original springs that drew people to the valley. The museums, including the Nevada State Museum, provide information on the history, geology and animal life of the Las Vegas area. The preserve is focused on education, recreation and entertainment. There was evidence of several weddings and receptions that took place yesterday or would take place later today. One wedding party was having pictures taken at various points in the botanical garden.

More desert plans in bloom.

Ostrich sculpture made from old oil drums.

This is my first visit to the Springs Preserve. I have heard about it on the local TV just about every time I’ve been in Las Vegas. There is always some event going on that gets advertising or news coverage on TV. I can see why. It is a very nice facility with many venues for exhibits, meetings or even shows. I got the sense that visiting on Sunday was a good day to avoid many of the extra activities.

Rose with very tight petals.

The botanical garden area had a mixture of typical desert plants and some plants that I don’t consider native to the area. For example, there were several varieties of roses and large bed of snapdragons. It was nice to see all of the colorful flowering plants.

Joshua tree

Blossoms high in the air on top of the cactus

There was a butterfly habitat inside a green house like structure. It was a separate admission exhibit. I passed on waiting in line to get in. I’ve found butterfly exhibits at other locations disappointing. Little flying pieces of color in a huge area are often difficult to see.

Flower lined walkway to the Nevada State Museum.

One exhibit hall in the Origen Museum had a strange temporary exhibit on the science of Ripley’s Believe It or Not. It had typical Ripley stuff like a two headed calf skeleton, a film on how to shrink a head and reproduction of the jaws of Megaladon, the prehistoric shark. I found the contents of the exhibit and the presence of the exhibit at the Preserves strange.

The Nevada State Museum that shares the site had a permanent exhibit on the state’s history, culture and geology. A temporary exhibit celebrates the costumes and performances of the Folies Bergere show. It was a large scale production show that ran a the Tropicana Resort from 1959 to 2009. I saw the show a couple of times before it closed. Seeing the costumes and head gear up close was interesting.

It was a pleasant few hours on a Sunday. This was the right season to see desert plants in bloom. I wouldn’t hesitate to go again to see what other times of the year have to offer at the museum.

Saturday April 22nd 2017

The weather was beautiful again today. It was in the mid 80s with full sunshine. No complaints from me.

This is a tail of a frustrating start to the day and a productive end. I left camp without having breakfast. My thought was to stop at a McDonald’s for breakfast. That was easier said than done. I was on the wrong side of the intersection for the first McDonald’s so I thought I’d find another one down the road. Twenty minutes later I was still looking. Since when isn’t there a McDonald’s on every other block? I consulted my smart phone for directions to a McDonald’s on the back side of mall parking lot.

Engine and tender on display at the Nevada Railroad Museum in Boulder City.

After breakfast I found my self in a traffic jam on the freeway trying to get through Railroad Pass on the way to Boulder City. The road is being rebuilt and widened through the pass. This morning it was down to one lane as the road crews paved an area. The traffic crawled for more than two miles. It seemed like I was in the slow down for over an hour, but it had to have been less than that.

My destination was the Nevada Railroad Museum at Boulder City. This museum is on a section of rail line donated to the state by the Nevada Southern Railroad. It contains a number of Railroad stock from this area and the west in general. On weekends the museum runs an excursion train on the section of railroad line from Railroad Pass to just before the center of Boulder City.

Tracks the excursion train follows.

The museum has a great deal of potential. There are number of pieces of rolling stock in an open pavilion for viewing. Other cars, a ways down the track, are waiting for restoration. What I missed was the story that connects the pieces together. I think they get many donations of random old equipment to restore and display. The excursion train goes north from the museum, then backs up to return to the museum. I assume this is the big draw at the museum. I missed taking a ride on the train by a couple of minutes thanks to the traffic jam.

This afternoon back at the RV park, I had the productive part of my day. I got the laundry done including the towels and bedding. The holding tanks got dumped and the dishes got washed. Oh, and the TV got watched.

Friday April 21st 2017

The high temperature today was in the upper 70s with a good breeze during the first half of the day. It was a very comfortable day. The dip in temperature from the previous couple of days is short lived. The forecast for the weekend is for higher temperatures. In fact, the area is forecast to have its first 90 plus degree day. I’ve already had more 90 degree days during March in Arizona than I used to experience it a full summer.

I extended my stay here in Las Vegas for another week this morning. This will allow me to use the show ticket I bought by mistake for Thursday night. I will also be able to see a few more of the area sights and take advantage of the services the area provides. I’d like to get the RV washed while I’m here and I should do some shopping while I’m in a city with a good selection of stores. I have a list of things I need, some I would like and a few dreams that I might buy sometime. The problem is I really don’t like shopping.

The lines in the Bass Pro parking lot are fish silhouettes. It’s over the top cute.

To get started on the shopping I went to the Bass Pro Shop this afternoon. Some of the things on my list could be bought there, but I really wanted to check out the fish tank exhibits and taxidermy displays. Finding items on my shopping list was a secondary mission. I may go back for a couple of things, but initially the price scared me off.

The Bass Pro Shop is at the Silverton Casino south of the strip off I-15. It is about 14 or 15 miles from my RV. It took me over an hour to get back at 3:30 in the afternoon. Rush hour in this city seems to start around three and go until seven or later. Once back at my RV home, I was in for the night.

Thursday April 20th 2017

Today was a little warmer and a little breezier than yesterday, but overall a beautiful day in the mid 80s. After a couple of full tourist style days today was a much slower day. I’m sharing a few more pictures from yesterday’s trip to the Valley of Fire State Park in this blog entry.

Rock formation at Valley of Fire State Park.

I spent the morning reviewing my plans for the next couple of weeks. The plan has been to leave Las Vegas on Monday. I introduced a wrinkle to that plan when I bought a ticket to a show for next Thursday my mistake. If I don’t want to throw away the ticket value I need to consider staying in town. Luckily I don’t have any commitments in the near future.

White rock formation at Valley of Fire SP.

There are still plenty of things I’d like to do in this area. I haven’t been out to Lake Mead, Laughlin or Pahrump this trip and I have never been to the Mob Museum to name a few. I had given some thought to coming back in November or December, but I could easily use the time at the end of the year in new areas. Tomorrow I’ll check to see if I can extend here without moving. If I have to move I’ll probably leave on Monday. Otherwise, I’ll stay for another week.

This afternoon I took a drive to check out my escape route from Las Vegas. I haven’t been on US95 northwest from the center of the city since the limited access highway replaced Rancho Drive as the path of the route. I wanted to see how much construction was underway and get a general feel for the road. It will be an easy exit from Las Vegas assuming I hit the traffic right. Now I just need to find a gas station with easy in and out access.

Wednesday April 19th 2017

Today was a beautiful day. Yesterday’s wind was gone and the temperature peaked in the mid 80s with full sunshine. I took advantage of the good weather to tour the Valley of Fire State Park.

The valley floor transitions quickly to rock.

These rock structures are called beehives.

Valley of Fire State Park is Nevada’s first State Park. It was established in 1935 to protect the outstanding scenic, geological and archaeological attributes. The park is located about 40 miles north of Las Vegas. It can be accessed from I-15 or from the Lake Mead National Recreation area. I entered from I-15 on a very dramatic approach. The road crosses the desert climbing gradually then goes up onto the ridge around the valley area. The decent into the state park is steep and through a narrow canyon area. After the registration booth the valley area opens up again.

Stairs up to some ancient petroglyphs. 

Petroglyphs on the stone face.

I’ve included many different pictures in this blog entry to attempt to show the diversity of the terrain. I drove deep into the park and walked a couple of trails. In the areas of red rock the trails are covered in red sand. In the areas of white rock the trails are covered in white sand. The sand makes walking in some areas very taxing. If there isn’t sand, you are scrambling over bedrock.

Narrow steep winding park road. Meeting a rental RV was not fun.

There were many visitors to the park today. Find a place to park in the parking areas took some patience. Many of the visitors were speaking non-native languages. Around here, I consider Spanish as well as English a native language. The other thing that stands out are all the rental motorhomes that are traveling the park roads. Experienced RVers would stay away. I didn’t see any privately owned motorhomes on the side roads. I suspect the rear overhang on some of the bigger RVs bottomed out going through some of the washes that turn the park roads into roller coaster paths.

White sand on along the trail in the area of the white rocks.

Steep decent into a bowl area that has been used for several movies. 

Overall I spent about 4 hours in the park. I got back to my RV home in time to rest before going to the Las Vegas strip for the evening. I had a ticket to Absinthe. It was similar to the first time I saw the show when it was new. I recall three of the acts. The tight rope walking final was probably exactly the same act. The jokes and by play with the audience were different but just as raunchy.

Tuesday April 18th 2017

Today started windy and ended windy. In between it was windy. The sustained wind was in the 20mph range with gusts in the 40mph range. Other than the wind, it was warm in the 80s.

My day started out early. I was up earlier than normal in case “before noon” meant before breakfast. The phrase “before noon” was the schedule for the mobile lube guy. I had an appointment to get my RV home’s oil changed. He showed up around 11AM. I was his third appointment of the morning. My oil change was a quick job. He was done by 11:30.

While I was waiting for the mobile lube guy, I worked on booking tickets to a couple of more shows. The first thing I discovered was the ticket I booked for Cirque de Soleil Love for Thursday night was really for next week Thursday. The show is dark this week. It resumes shows next Thursday. A call to the box office confirmed I was out of luck. They were willing to change the show to another date, but not to refund my money. I have no idea when I’ll be back in the area. I’ll stop by the box office tomorrow on the off chance that an in person appeal will be more successful. I also booked at seat for Absinthe for tomorrow night.

Wind blow Las Vegas RV Resort. My RV Home is tucked in beside the laundry building in the center of the picture. I get a little shelter from the wind.

Once the lube guy left I needed to figure out how I was going to spend the rest of the day. I had a quick lunch then drove over to Sam’s Town Casino. Sam’s has a shuttle to the casinos in downtown Las Vegas. I took the 12:45 shuttle downtown to avoid having to find a place to park downtown.

The Fremont Street area is home to all of the older casinos in Las Vegas. A two and a half block area of the street is covered by a canopy of LED lights. The shows presented on the canopy at night are very interesting. During the day, it provides some shade from the hot desert sun. The street is a pedestrian mall with every weird busker and cartoon character imaginable. In one area there was a blues singer. On the next block was a guy singing a ballad accompanied by a guitar. In between there were human statues, playboy bunnies, shirtless cowboys in chaps, a magician and several other stranger yet performances.

Giant slot machine is the launch point for two sets of four zip lines. The shorter set of lines leaves from the coin tray area. The longer set of lines leave from the pay table above the  reels at the top.

I spent a few hours wandering through the casinos and checking out the strangeness on Fremont Street. The Vegas Club casino has closed since I was last in Las Vegas and the old railroad cars across the street have been removed. Those are the only significant changes I saw. The downtown area changes slower than the strip.

I was back at my RV home by five. It hadn’t blown away but mother nature was still trying. Some of the strongest winds of the day came just before dark. Tomorrow is forecast to be calmer.

Monday April 17th 2017

The weather today was Blah! The temperature was OK in the high 70s. The wind was strong, but not dangerous. The sky was cloud covered looking like it should rain. So it was Blah. Nothing is really wrong with the weather, but nothing is really right either.

Panorama of Red Rock Canyon from the overlook.

Today I went to Red Rock Canyon. This area is a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) conservation area to the west of the Las Vegas Valley. The community of Summerlin has built up on the Valley side of the BLM land. The houses and shops now go right up to the start of the BLM land on Charleston Blvd. The first time I went to Red Rock Canyon there was a mile or two of open desert between civilization and the conservation area.

Rock layers visible in the cliff across the desert behind the cactus.

Every time I have been to Red Rock I hope to see the wild Burros and Horses the road side signs warns visitors about. The signs say there is a five hundred dollar fine for feeding the wild animals. It must be working because I still have not seen any of them. My guess is they stay back near the mountains where there is more cover than out in the open near the road.

I didn’t take the thirteen mile loop drive this time. The Red Rock Canyon web site and signs on the access road warn that the loop drive is under construction. They are stripping the pavement and putting down a new surface coat. If the sun had been out creating better lighting for pictures, I might have put up with the aggravation of the construction. It was also too late in the day to do a lot of hiking. Instead I stopped at the overlook on the main road.

Red Rock visible in the outcropping.

From the overlook all of the main canyon is visible across a large area of desert. The red rock layers are visible on an out cropping of ground on the north side of the canyon. The southern view is more vertical cliffs and rock structure similar to others in the Las Vegas area.

I returned to Las Vegas from the south on Blue Diamond road. This area has also been heavily built up since I first started visiting Las Vegas. The ten miles back to Interstate 15 used to be very sparsely populated. It is now housing developments and strip malls all the way. The amount of development in the Las Vegas valley over the last 20 years is amazing.

Flower blossom outside the M casino.

Today’s other major accomplishment was replenishing my refrigerator and pantry. I was out of just about everything. It has been almost three weeks since I stocked up in Arizona and over a week since I have been in a grocery store. I’m attempting to change my habit of grocery shopping every few days.

Sunday April 16th 2017

Happy Easter. It is getting hot in Las Vegas. The temperature topped out just below 90 degrees. That is about 10 degrees higher than the average temperature for the day. The high temperature was accompanied by bright sunshine and a light breeze most of the day. Overnight into tomorrow the wind is forecast to pick up in intensity.

I spent a lazy morning reading and watching television. All I had planned for the day was Easter dinner at one of the casino buffets. I had my choice of several. Each of the outlying casinos that focus on the local residents for most of their business had an Easter buffet special. About 2:30, I went to the nearby Sam’s Town Resort Casino for Easter dinner. I arrived before they changed the brunch menu to the dinner menu so I started with breakfast then moved on to prime rib for dinner. The bottom line is I ate too much.

After dinner I sat at a slot machine while my stomach complained and lost my daily allotment of gambling money. It wasn’t a total disaster, I had the twenty bucks up over forty before I gave it all back. Overall, I got about an hour and a half of fun out of the money and my stomach calmed down. I’m going to blame my stomach for not taking my winnings when I was ahead. I was back home by 5:30 for more reading and TV.

Statue in the Miracle Mile Mall at Planet Hollywood Resort

The picture I’m including in tonight’s blog entry I took yesterday in the Miracle Mile mall at Planet Hollywood on the strip. It is an advertisement for dance lessons (guess what kind?). I think it is very symbolic of the whole Vegas scene. First of all it’s plastic like many of the temporary things in Vegas. Second it is huge. Everything is bigger in Las Vegas except the Eiffel Tower which is half scale. Third this town is for adults. Truthfully, I needed a picture for the blog and I like this one.

Saturday April 15th 2017

This afternoon I headed up to the Las Vegas strip. My goal was to checkout a few more of the Resort Casinos and all of the weekend revelers. Apparently even Easter is treated as a holiday to get down and dirty in Sin City.

Waterfall and Koi pond at Flamingo Las Vegas

Today I checked out the Flamingo, the Linq, Harrahs, the Venetian/Palazzo, and the Wynn/Encore resorts. These resorts are all in a row on the east side of the strip north of Flamingo Road. There are many subtle changes since my last visit. Mostly the changes were reconfigurations of the gaming floor or changes to restaurants.

Garden area between Venetian and Palazzo Resorts.

Closer view of the garden between Venetian and Palazzo.

It’s the people that are wandering the strip and casinos that are the real attraction. I saw around twelve wedding parties. The brides were in full wedding gown and the grooms were in tuxes. In some cases they were accompanied by other members of the wedding. A couple of the newlyweds were accompanied by photographers complete with tripods. Any way you see them, they attract a great deal of attention. Their weddings aren’t slipping under anyone’s radar.

Flower covered carousel at the Wynn Las Vegas Resort.

Flower covered balloon at the Wynn Las Vegas resort.

Another observation about the people on the strip is the total lack of situational awareness that some people demonstrate. In addition to the usual walking around gazing at the sights rather than where you going, there are also groups that seem to think they’re the only people in Las Vegas. It is fairly common to see groups of people stop dead in the middle of the sidewalk to decide where they are going next. Those around them have to dodge to avoid running into them. Today I saw two examples that took this behavior to the next level. One group stopped in the middle of the street so that the cars had to dodge them. Another group stopped in front of me just after they got off the moving walkway. I had no choice but to push them out of the way. I had people right behind me. It appeared very much like a pickpocket scheme, but it was just really oblivious people. Nobody was hurt, but I’m sure they thought I was rude dude. That concludes my soapbox speech.

I was on the strip for close to five hours. During that time the crowds changed from families and groups of twenty and thirty somethings usually in groups of 3 to 6 of the same gender to lots of couples. Sometime during the late afternoon people retreat to their hotel rooms and change into party clothes and pair up for the evening.

From where I parked at Planet Hollywood to the Wynn and back I probably walked more than three miles. I got some exercise along with enjoying the sights. I was back home by eight.

Friday April 14th 2017

Today I took a trip to the Hoover Dam and the surrounding area. This is the trip I’d planned to take yesterday, but the wind caused me to postpone the trip. The wind today was very light.

Mike O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge from the Hoover Dam access road.

Bridge Facts

Hoover Dam is about 25 miles southeast of Las Vegas. It blocks the Colorado River at Black Canyon to create Lake Mead. To reduce traffic at the dam and to address security concerns the Mike O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge across the canyon opened in 2010. The dam, the lake and the bridge are all impressive entities that draw lots of tourists out of Las Vegas every day.

Path to the bridge from the parking lot. Ramp switchbacks and stairs are provided.

Bridge sidewalk and support structure from the Nevada side of the bridge.

US Highway 93 Northbound lane beside the bridge sidewalk.

Hoover Dam from the center of the bridge above and south of the dam.

I took a tour of the dam on one of my first visits to Las Vegas. This was before the terror attacks of 9/11. I understand the tour is more restricted since then. My goal today wasn’t the workings of the dam, but to visit the overall area. It was a very busy day. Parking was difficult to find.

My first stop was at the bridge. The parking lot is located at the base of a butte that abuts the bridge. To get to the bridge you need to climb up to the roadway. There are steps and ramps to keep it handicap accessible. Once at the top, you can walk out on a walkway separated from the oncoming traffic by a cement barrier. The other side has an aluminum railing that keeps you from falling 880 feet into the river. I’ve been out on the bridge before and came back even thought I’m not one hundred percent comfortable. The views are worth it. You can see the dam, the river and powerhouses at the base and Lake Mead in behind the dam.

Bridge across the Black Canyon as seen from the top of Hoover Dam. Picture taken out car window while paused for pedestrians.

View from the top of the canyon on the Arizona side of the Colorado River.

After the viewing the dam from the bridge I continued down into the canyon and onto the dam. All of the paid parking locations near the dam were full. I continued across the dam and up the Arizona side. The first place I found to park was at the very top of the climb on the far side. It’s a good thing I took pictures of the bridge as I crossed the dam, because it couldn’t walk back to the dam from my parking location.

Another view of the bridge from the top of Hoover Dam.

After the bridge and dam I stopped to view Lake Mead from the top of a rock hill. The white bands of discolored rock that used to be underwater continue to indicate low the water level. It’s not just a few feet but tens of feet. With all of the demands on the water from the Colorado, it is unlikely that the flow can be slowed enough to ever get the level back up. River is vital to power generation, drinking water and agriculture irrigation for large areas of Southern California, Arizona and Nevada.

Panorama view of Lake Mead.

View of Lake Mead from the visitors center.

At the Lake Mead National Recreation area visitors center the overview movie focuses on the recreational uses of Lake Mead. It only mentions the uses of the water in passing and the low water level is only discussed in one graphic with little narration. I continue to be impressed with the slant the National Park Service manages to apply to their overview movies. Sometimes it for political correctness and other times it to drive home a message. This one seems to be focused on putting a positive spin on everything. I guess it worked. I departed moderately informed and not upset about what I saw. I’ve been to other National Parks were the movie seemed to try and brainwash me with revisionist history so I’m always on guard.