White Domes Trail

On our way to more trails to hike, we saw a group of bighorn sheep with a couple of sheep youngsters.  The little guys were jumping with no fear from high up on rock to rock.  Little humans seem to like the same sport in our campground.  The kids scamper away from their parents and in a blink of an eye they are teetering on a ledge.  “Look at me, Dad!  Look how far up I am!”  I know you need to give your kids freedom to explore and fly from the nest, but not literally fly.

The White Domes Trail included a very narrow slot canyon.  Only walking single file will allow you to pass through.  Along the trail are remnants of the movie set for “The Professionals” with Lee Marvin and Burt Lancaster.  Another movie for us to watch and pick out the Valley of Fire landmarks shown in the movie.

Another quick stop for a short walk to the Elephant Rock.  Do you see the elephant?

We were finally able to get cell phone service at this stop.  Made a few calls to the Moms and brother, John, to catch up with family news.

Mouse’s Tank

At the turn of the century there was a real bad dude around these parts (Valley of Fire State Park) named Mouse.  Not a friendly fellow; he had a habit of stealing from miners and homesteaders and then making sure they did not live to tell the tale.  He hid from the posse in the red rock canyons up a particular wash that contained a deep round depression holding water most of the year.  Hence, the name “Mouse’s Tank”.  They did not actually kill him there, but the hide-out name stuck.

Although the outlaw story is interesting, what is really special about the hike up the wash to the water hole are the petroglyphs on the rocks along the way.  (Petroglyphs are carved into the rock; pictograms are painted on the rock.  Something we learned at the Visitor’s Center today.)  The Valley of Fire petroglyphs date back 1,000s of years. 

We had beautiful weather on our outing today, but last night it rained about 1.5 inches.  The Valley of Fire State Park typically gets 4 inches of rain a year.  You do the math.  Not too many more rainy days for this location.

Besides water running in small rivers through the park this morning, we had an unexpected visitor in our campsite.  A desert bighorn sheep.  Seems he was enjoying all the new greenery from the rain.

Technorati Tags: Valley of Fire State Park,Nevada

Valley of Fire

We forgot until today that this is a long weekend with the President’s Day holiday on Monday.  Long holiday weekends can be bad news if you do not have reservations for a RV site.  Our next stop was the Valley of Fire State Park and it is first-come, first served in the full hook-up portion of the campground.  We headed out a day earlier than planned to snag a spot.

Score!  We not only got a full hook-up spot, but the view out our windows, all of them, is stunning.  The sites here are wide, have shaded picnic tables, and fire pits.  Nicely designed.  All the precisely landscaped RV parks we have stayed in over the last few months are lovely, but nothing compares with this wild natural beauty. 

Hiking trails right outside our door and looking at the State Park map there are many more to enjoy.

Look closely at this picture, can you see the faces in the rock?  Feels like we have a thousand eyes watching as we walk by.

Twisted Farm Food

Hash House A-Go-Go was recommended to us when we where in San Diego, but we never made it.  When we saw Las Vegas had a Hash House A-Go-Go restaurant, we made up our minds to have breakfast there before we left town!  This is not your run-of-the-mill scrambled eggs and hash browns.  They have unusual combinations, and surprisingly the meals are very good!

Mike’s pick:  Sage Fried Chicken Benedict with maple reduction, 2 eggs, bacon mashed potatoes and biscuit.

My pick:  Griddled french toast dipped in banana cinnamon cream and pecan maple syrup.  I had loads of coffee to offset the sweet meal.  Love the combination of the two.

This is the first time in memory when a breakfast was so filling that we did not eat for the rest of the day.  Can you believe it?  Look at the size of the meal in the above picture.

Calico Trail

An easy hike turned into a rock climb when we veered off the beaten path.  We opted for the rocky terrain of Calico Trail in the Red Rock Canyon located 15 miles west of Las Vegas.  The large boulders are a bit of a strrrretccch for my short legs.  Mike had…no problem.
As he always reminds me, “No hill for a stepper.”

Hoover Dam

The architectural beauty of Hoover Dam is a feature you cannot deny.  Over the years, we have visited many dams in Washington State on the Columbia and Snake rivers, and they are all business.  There are no flourishes, just concrete and more concrete.  But Hoover Dam is altogether different.  The Art Deco touches on the marble floors, subway tiled tunneled walkways, and bronze statues makes this engineering marvel unique. 

The dam is overpowering in height and width.  Neither one of us can look over the railing without gasping.  Way, way too high. 

We splurged on the deluxe tour of the dam taking you down into the bowels of the structure.  The tour included walking through round tunnels too low for Mike to stand up in, and stairs ascending and descending with no end in sight.  (We just looked; no climbing involved. Elevators provided transportation to different levels of the dam.)

We were led down one tunnel that took you to a louvered window right smack in the middle of the dam’s curved face looking down the Colorado River and up at the new freeway bridge. 

For something built over 70 years ago, the dam is in perfect condition.  A wonderful tribute to American labor and know-how.

Red Rock Canyon – Las Vegas

We must remember to bring our better digital camera.

Our little Canon point-and-shoot camera cannot begin to give justice to the scenery in Las Vegas’ Red Rock Canyon.  But, the pictures do a better job showing rather than have me try to describe.

I am sure, based on what people tell us, the rock colors and craggy canyons keep getting better in Utah and Arizona’s Grand Canyon, but for now, we are loving the land located around the glitzy and fast-paced city of Las Vegas.

The Red Rock Canyon National Conservancy has loads of hiking trails, but it was too cold and windy to make the trek enjoyable today.  So, we wait and research the hikes that seem best suited to us.  We will jump on a future warm, calm day that happens so often in these parts during winter. 

Today, we enjoyed the scenic loop drive—occasionally getting out of the truck to get close to the canyon overlooks, but mostly snapping pictures out the window to stay out of the harsh wind. 

Pawn Stars

Every week we record a new episode of “Pawn Stars” on our DVR.  It is a television reality show based on a pawn shop located in the less traveled part of the Las Vegas Strip.  The owners and employees are interesting characters and the people selling stuff to the shop are often entertaining, too.
 
We decided the store would not be busy early in the day on a Monday; and we could catch a glimpse of Rick, the Old Man, Corey and Chumlee.  We were wrong.  At 9 a.m. the store had a line out the door waiting to get in.  Like all the other tourists, we parked the truck and stood in line.

After 15 minutes, we looked at each other meaningfully…

“Are we seriously standing in line to get into a pawn shop?", Mike asks.

Without saying a word, we just start walking to the truck.  We get in the truck and start laughing. 

What a couple of goofballs.  The magic of television can put stars in your eyes sometimes.  Pawn Stars.

Another Milestone for Mike

Birthdays come and go, and we really do not consider them a big event.  But, they are a wonderful excuse to indulge in dinner out and a little entertainment.  Yesterday, was Mike’s big day.  He picked out the Mandalay Bay buffet for dinner (unlimited prawns) and the Shark Reef Aquarium. 

The buffet, as usual, was delicious—lots of seafood either deep fried, sauteed, or cooked with a calorie-laden sauce.  Our favorite was the calamari/mussel/scallop dish with a white sauce.

Mandalay Bay Casino/Hotel has done a very nice job carrying out their jungle theme throughout the casino, hotel, and the aquarium.   The aquarium contains all the predators of the sea and a very large Komodo Dragon.  What we liked about this aquarium was the portion down the stairs and through the tunnel—a tunnel through the aquarium with big sharks swimming above, below and around.  At the end of the tunnel, the large room was designed like a sunken wreck, with you placed in the wreck looking around at the ocean life. 

Today, we spent deep cleaning our home (defrost the refrigerator, declutter the closet) and making reservations for the next four months.  Glad we did.  The popular spots in the Grand Canyon, Moab, and Bryce Canyon were darn near taken.

Walkin’ the Strip

When you visit Las Vegas, you must walk the Strip.  It can be painful with the number of casinos to walk through, the street vendors attacking you with tickets to “Girls, Girls, Girls”, and the crush of tourists.  Vegas always has such an interesting mix of visitors from the Paris Hilton wanna-be’s to the retirees losing their life savings.  Occasionally, you must stop at a bar that allows you to people-watch, rest your tired feet and indulge in a mind-numbing rum-and-coke which we did at a piano bar in the Bellagio.

We enjoyed a tasty breakfast buffet at the Mandalay Bay Casino (always excellent—ate here 10 years ago).  Mandalay Bay has a large outdoor parking lot for their Convention Center Building and it worked out very well for our oversized truck.  The picture of the hotel was taken from our parking spot. 

Lots of interesting things to see including a giant round eraser!  What possessed someone to sculpt an eraser for the Vegas Strip?  Seems a little out of place, but it was cool.

Vegas, Baby

We arrived at the Oasis RV Resort yesterday located just 6 miles from the Vegas Strip.  Lots to do in Las Vegas, not only on the Strip; but also the surrounding area.  Hoover Dam.  Boulder City historic district.  Death Valley.  Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.  Visit niece, Amanda, and her family.  And, of course, a few Vegas shows and a little bit of gambling.

Looking forward to a fun stay.  We are here until it starts to warm up at our next stop—Zion National Park.