President's Day: Lake Mead

     Yesterday I ventured to Boulder City, Nevada.  Why are there soooo many motels in this small city?  But I digress.  It was a beautiful, sunny, cool day.  The purpose of this visit was to hike the Historic Railroad Tunnel Trail at Lake Mead for the first time.  The trail extends all the way to Hoover Dam, but I didn't go all the way.  It took about 2.5 hours to walk from the parking to the last tunnel and back. Let's hit it...

     As the gravel crunched under my feet, I was passed by the occasional biker and many other hikers.  The sound of helicopters providing areal tours were occasionally heard overhead.

 Ran across a nice glimpse of spring.

Get ya boatin' on.......

 

I thought I heard bats in the tunnels, but when I stopped walking I didn't hear anything.  So I don't know it there were bats in the cave or just bats in the brain.

 

 

There were a lot of people hiking.....families, kids and dogs.  A few were out snapping pics like me.

 

 

 

So...nice day, nice hike.  If you ever find yourself in Boulder City, NV take a walk through the tunnels at Lake Mead.

Chinese New Year!!!

Welcome,
on Sunday 2/10/13, I ventured to the Las Vegas Strip to check out what was happening on the 1st Day of the Chinese New Year. 

First stop was the Wynn.  Here is part of the beautiful display.

 

 

 

 

     Walking down the strip, the next stop was the Palazzo.  This was by far, the most magnificent display honoring the Year of the Snake.  On Sunday, red envelopes were handed out and there was also a fan dance.  Unfortunately I was not able to secure an envelope because of the vast crowds.

 

 

 

 

 



Next stop was in front of Caesars Palace.  This Phra Phrom statue is located right behind Serendipity. I stop by this shrine any time I venture to the strip.



     The last stop was the Botanical Gardens/Conservatory at the Bellagio.  The display is magnificent.  There were sooooo many people here that I was not able to take as many pictures as I would have liked. 

So that wraps up my walk down the strip on Sunday.  Welcome to the Year of the Snake!!!

Moon

     In Nevada, most times you can sill see the entire moon even when it's not full.  The waning crescent on the left is what I'm used to seeing inside of 285.  The moon to the right is what I now see in Las Vegas.   Is it elevation.....low humidity??  Both pictures were taken yesterday morning, but with different camera settings.

Springs Preserve

            Yesterday (2/2/13) I made my first visit to Springs Preserve.  This attraction is located just minutes north of the Vegas strip.  There are many things to do here....so much that I decided to get a 25 dollar membership because I want to visit at least 1 or 2 more times.  There are many different exibits during the year as well as activities, tours, the Origen Museum and the gardens.  For more information just checkout their website. 
       I spent about 4 hours here  yesterday.  It was a nice hazy winter day, with temperatures in the 60's, I was able to spend a lot of time outside taking pictures. 
     I began my Springs Preserve adventure taking in an 8 minute video in the Origen Museum about the natural history of Vegas.  There were only 3 other people here.  Then I proceeded to look at some magnificent art work done by students.  These students were winners of the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards Southern Nevada Region Competition.  Afterwards I checked out the Wings Over Springs Raptor Show.  The kids really seemed to enjoy it.  Some of the birds fly close to your head as they dart from pearch to pearch.  For an extra fee, you can also get a special behind the scence tour.  Here are a few pics from the raptor show.

    After the show, I rented a bike (8 dollars for 1hour, 6 if you are a member) and rode around the trails.  There was not much to see here.  After the bike ride I walked around the gardens.  I spent most of my time here taking pictures, I narrowed them down to my top 10.

If you look closely you can see the little ant.  This plant is called Compass Barrell (Ferocactus Wislizeni).

 

What does this look like???

And last but not least a really big cactus.  This species is cargegiea gigantea.