Easter-March 30, 2013

HAPPY EASTER  to each and every one of you.

               Have a very blessed day.

Too many people-March 29, 2013

We were out of our minds again. We tried to go somewhere but got nowhere. The traffic is indescribable. There are even more people on the streets than before. Where on earth are they coming from? And when are they going home?

I have tried repeatedly to take a picture of the mountains that surround Las Vegas on all sides. They are very unique at different times of the day. I just can't get close enough or get a clear shot. The layers are so many different colors and so interesting. Perhaps a perfect picture is not possible. You'll have to take my word for it that they are really pretty.

 

On the way home we passed a car that had a magnetic sign on it which read "Luke 10:19 Pest Control". I came home and read that verse. What a clever man the owner is! Now you can read it for yourself. His license plate read BUGTHUG. Never a dull moment with us.

 



M&M Store-March 28, 2013

Last weekend we knew that it was spring break for Las Vegas city schools. That meant 300,000 kids loose on the streets. So, what were we thinking when we headed to the strip today? Not sure. It was so awful, a gigantic sea of humanity, that we only made it through MGM Grand to the M&M Store and back to the car. It was unbelievable. We will wait until they are all back in school before we go to the strip again. Since we made it to the M&M Store we decided to fight our way to the second floor where there is a huge display of gigantic tubes of rainbow colored candies. My favorite is the mint M&Ms and Jerry's is the raspberry M&Ms. They are mega M&Ms, really large, several times bigger than the ones you buy elsewhere. We got a small bag full of the good stuff and fought our way back to the car.

 

I was too close to get a picture of the entire store front.

 

We did not make it to the Coca Cola store next door. Maybe next time.

 

The streets are full of these human statues as I call them.

All of them are very good at being statues and usually scare the daylights

out of some little child who gets too close. Michael Jackson was on the street today

along with a not so hot Elvis who was trying to teach someone a karate chop. Funny.

 

One of the magnificent lions in the lobby of the MGM Grand.

I did not notice David Copperfield's eye staring at somebody until just now.

The live lions are no longer in the lobby. They are tearing down their habitat.

 

It was a little warmer today, but not hot. And a nice breeze was blowing. Very pleasant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Village Monte Lago-March 27, 2013

Today we went to Village Monte Lago, the place where the prez stays when he visits Las Vegas. It is 17 miles from the strip. The odd part about this beautiful place is that it is built on a reclaimed strip mine. Since "we" have to rent entire hotels for the president and his entourage I can assure you this one cost big bucks. There are several hotels and I am unsure of which one he stayed in. Did not care to ask. When this place first opened there was a cute little village of shops. It is almost totally vacant now. We could not even tell how many hotels are open anymore. Not sure it can stay in business much longer unless the first family comes back for another visit very soon. But do take my word for it, it is a gorgeous place.

Village Monte Lago sits on Lake Las Vegas. I suspect this lake was built

just for this village. Cloudy days make it tough to take good pictures.

 

 

One of the hotels.

 

I don't know what this building is. What caught my eye is all

the pretty green plants and trees in the middle of the desert.

 

The Las Vegas strip from 17 miles away.

 

We passed this house on the way to and from Monte Lago.

It was so huge it really should be a hotel. We were told tonight it has 3 pools.

 

 

And here is the reason the Cute Red Vehicle is yellow.

The mulberry bushes are in full bloom.

 

Another fun day with wonderful weather.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neon Boneyard-March 26, 2013

We made it to the Neon Boneyard today. It has been a goal of ours since we arrived here. It was fascinating. We remember only a few of these signs ourselves. Some are from mafia owned hotels/casinos but most are newer than that. I will hold comments to a minimum so I can post lots of pictures.

Entrance

 

Original silver slipper shoe sign

 

This is the newest sign in the boneyard. It was taken down the day we arrived here.

 

 

 

This is the only sign in the boneyard to be used in a movie.

For the life of me I cannot remember which Dean Martin movie it was.

 

 

 

 

When this sign was in use, it was the largest neon sign in the country.

 

Two famous signs in one picture.

 

From the Ugly Duckling car dealership which no longer exists. Great sign!

 

The Neon Boneyard is built at the site of the old La Concha hotel/casino.

The lobby of the hotel is now the lobby of the boneyard. They kept everything in tact that they could.

 



Believe it or not, there are many more pictures, but I thought this was enough. This was a very interesting place to visit. I am so glad it was a pleasant day weather wise. In the summer tours are only at night. We learned today that only three of the original Las Vegas casinos are still in existence in their original location: Flamingo, Riviera and Tropicana. All others have moved or changed names, or been imploded. 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unplanned-March 23, 2013

Our plans were changed this morning when we discovered we had to buy a new vacuum cleaner. Those things happen and we did not mind. It is supposed to drop to the lower 40s tonight so we had to bring the pomegranate tree inside. Poor thing probably thinks we are moving down the road tomorrow. We are not however. Tomorrow is our day of rest. I hope it is the same for you. Have a very blessed Sunday.

Another windy day-March 22, 2013

This is parked next door to us.

Good looking '56 Chevy, isn't it? Or is it a '55?

 

It was windy today for the third day in a row, but the wind today was much cooler. Tonight will be quite chilly, too. We are not complaining at all. We went to the extreme south end of Las Vegas today and in so doing, not only found a 12 lane highway (not an interstate) but we also found a part of this city we really, really like. Too bad the summers are so hot. Then we got on the interstate to go elsewhere and ended up in 5 lanes of solid gridlock. Then an ambulance had to get through which was almost impossible. It must have been a bad wreck at least 4 miles ahead of us. It took forever to get off the interstate and work our way back to humanity. When we got home our pomegranate tree had 6 new blooms on it. It likes it here also. The weather today was just gorgeous and we were delighted to be able to go out and enjoy it.

It has been windy for 3 days. But today's wind is much cooler. Very nice.

Heart Attack Grill-March 21, 2013

We finally made it to the Heart Attack Grill in downtown Las Vegas today. This sign was posted clearly on the front door.

 

We were greeted by a young lady dressed in a nurse's uniform as are all of the waitresses. We had to put on hospital gowns to be seated. And they were open in the back, too. The menu has a huge statement that they "collect 8.5% tax required by a greedy government so they can squander it". I thought that was brave. They had extra butterfat to their milkshakes. We did not order one. We ordered a single bypass burger without extra bacon. The quadruple bypass has a pound of extra bacon added. Oh my goodness, who would want to eat a 4 patty hamburger with 16 slices of bacon? The burger was acceptable but the french fries were just too greasy for me to eat, so I did not eat them. Now we can say we have been to the Heart Attack Grill though we probably will never go again. There's a group in Las Vegas who's taking pains to restore and preserve the neon signs that have been removed from the formerly mafia owned casinos that are now all gone.

 

The lamp sign came from the old Aladdin casino. We both recognize the

cowboy in the background but can't remember the name of the old casino he guarded.

 

Then we went to the toy store that is featured on History Channel. The owner whom we have seen on television numerous times greeted us and invited us to browse through the store. Again, we did not act like crazed fans. We smiled and said hello, then browsed. He has some fabulous toys in there.

 

As we were leaving the parking garage we saw Elvis waiting on an elevator. Yes, I said ELVIS!! He was going into the building, not leaving it. I almost screamed at him but thought better of it. He was not a bad looking Elvis either. It just seemed off base a bit to see E getting on an elevator all by himself.

 

Though it was terribly windy today as it was yesterday, we still enjoyed being outside in the fresh air. We're talking about what to do tomorrow. It is supposed to cool down a bit. 

 



 



LV strip-March 19, 2013

It was such a beautiful day today we just had to go to the strip and walk. We found the perfect parking spot and jumped on a tram so we could see as much as possible. The major hotels are connected by tram or walkway so you don't have to cross streets. The strip is such a busy place full of happy people who give no hint that Nevada has more foreclosed houses than any other state in the US. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing all that we saw today but we have several more days that we must return in order to see everything possible.

Entrance to the Luxor

 

New York New York. .Yes, that is a working roller coaster

 

MGM Grand.

 

  

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 The Statue of Liberty is in front of New York New York. The flag was in front of us on the walkway to the Tropicana. I thought they made a good picture together.

 

Tomorrow we are supposed to have 55+ mph winds so we are not sure that would be a good day to go back to the strip. We'll see where we end up. Wherever we go we will have fun!

 

 

 

 

 

Great lunch-March 16, 2013

Sign on the back of the fifth wheel trailer parked across the little

street from us. I think it's clever.

 

We went to the other side of town, past the Los Angeles exit, to have lunch at On The Border. You all know we will go to any length to eat at OTB. It was worth the trip, excellent food, wonderful service and a fun atmosphere. On our way back we stopped in downtown Las Vegas to walk under

that wonderful canopy. It's such an electric atmosphere and a perfect place to people watch. We are now trying to buy tickets to make plans for things to do and places to go next week. For the record, tickets to the Terry Fator show are $239 each. And I can remember when he won America's Got Talent. His is the only show we really care to see here, but we won't pay that. Donnie and Marie, whom we do not care to see, cost more than Terry's show. And the shows are sold out or have only a few single tickets left. Apparently there's a lot of money on the loose in this city.

Happy St Patrick's Day tomorrow! Enjoy your corned beef and cabbage!



Clark County Museum-March 14, 2013

To be honest, we would probably never have gone to this museum if we had not seen the administrator, Mark Hall-Patton so many times on the History Channel. We have been very impressed with his knowledge. We could not pass up the chance to see what type of museum he has put together. It is very, very impressive.

Nice looking building for a museum, isn't it?

 

There are some great displays inside the building and there are lots of displays outside which requires a good bit of walking. We never mind walking anywhere. They have built a little community out of houses that were moved from other locations in Las Vegas' history.

 

 

The Beckley house. This was the last house in what is now downtown Las Vegas. The city finally forced it to be moved or destroyed. It was moved in tact to this museum. It is possible to go inside all of the dwellings in this museum settlement. In its day this was a nice house. The furnishings match the house for that period of time. Everything is clean and neat.

 

 

This is a printing press. They had a newspaper folder, too. We've sure come a long way since these things were used. The print shop was really interesting.

 

They had a train station and all buildings and train cars were open to explore. There was a section of mining equipment and a section of farm equipment. Then they had a section of local plants with a walking path through it. Since it was mainly cacti and we have seen lots of those, we did not explore there. However, I had to take one more picture.

 

 

You know a Joshua tree is my favorite desert plant. This is a bloom from a Joshua tree. Maybe it's called a flower. I'm not sure. Isn't it pretty? This is the closest I have ever been to a Joshua tree.





 

As we were leaving we saw Mark Hall-Patton himself, but instead of being crazed fans asking for a picture, we just kept walking. He looks exactly the same on television as he does in person. Seems like a very nice man. Another fun and memorable day. 

 

 

 

Slot Tournament-March 13, 2013

We got wind of a senior slot tournament today. So, after we went to the post office and Smith's grocery store, we headed over to Boulder Station. We got in line, showed our ID and each were assigned a machine. No money required to play. We just sat down and hit the spin button as fast as we could. Jerry spun one game and did not earn enough points. He said it was because he was sitting at machine #13. I was on 14 and was able to spin 3 games, but the most I could rack up in 5 minutes was 2270. It took 2800 points to go to the finals where money is awarded. The man next to Jerry got to 2800 just as his time ran out. We've never heard of anything like this and we surely did enjoy it. We don't often get a shot at winning money for free. They do that every Wednesday for old folks. We might go back next week. Then we came home and went for a nice walk. The weather was really nice today but the weather is warming up a bit.

You know how I detest Daylight Savings Time so I have to share this with you:

Las Vegas!-March 12, 2013

The wind when we left Bullhead City was absolutely horrible. As soon as we dropped down into the valley that holds Las Vegas it slacked off considerably. It is a gorgeous day here. We have all the windows open and are enjoying the fresh clean air. As we drove through the mountains toward this city, my mind could easily see that this area at one time had to be home to more than one volcano. The mountains are not like the Rocky Mountains or the Tetons or the Appalachians. Instead they are gigantic piles of rocks. They are solid, not loose rocks. The colors in those rocks have to indicate what ore is beneath the surface. It is really quite pretty. I never dreamed that a desert is actually the floor of several mountain ranges. I have learned a lot about geography on this journey.

Doesn't this look like a huge pile of rocks to you?

Sorry I took this from my front seat so that car is in this picture.

 

Rocks, right??

 

This is just outside Boulder City, NV. The colors were so pretty.

 

 

Before we put Bullhead City in the rearview mirror permanently, I wanted to share a picture of the Colorado River, taken out of my window, as we crossed the bridge this morning. I'm sharing because of the beautiful color of blue of the water. The word "Colorado" means red color, not blue.

 

 

We are happy to be in this exciting city. We'll be here at least two weeks.

 

 

 

 

River Walk-March 11, 2013

Today was such a pretty day we decided to walk the entire length of the River Walk in Laughlin. It was quite a walk but there were places to stop along the way and enjoy the cool breeze coming off the water. What surprised us most was how clean and clear the Colorado River is. It's the cleanest we have ever seen it.

See how clear this river is. It is also much deeper than it appears on the surface.

 

 

After we finished the River Walk, we went through the car museum that Don Laughlin owns. It is small but has some really nice cars, juke boxes and motorcycles in it. Here are a few.

 

No comment needed, is there?

 

Don Laughlin's personal car. They are both the same age but the car is in much better shape.

That's what the sign said.

 

 

No comment needed here either.

 

We will be moving on down the road tomorrow. It is going to be in the 90s here for the next several days. We are headed to cooler weather. 

 

 



 

 



 

 

 



 

 



 

Bullhead City Museum-March 9, 2013

We stopped at the Bullhead City Museum before we went to Laughlin for lunch. The museum has lots of articles and lots of information in it but it is not professionally displayed. We still enjoyed it. Bullhead City was originally known as Hardyville. Part of what kept the city alive was a power plant on the Colorado River. It was closed three years ago and people are no longer allowed to drive across the dam. What a disappointment.

This is the original General Store. It is on the property but not

open to go inside. That's probably a good thing.

 

We went on to Laughlin for lunch. We walked on part of the River Walk.

 

Here's the water taxi, obviously. We've thought about parking in

Bullhead City and taking the taxi to Laughlin.

 

 

This is a tour boat that goes past all of the Laughlin casinos

and up to the former dam. This boat goes really fast. It made us a bit nervous.

The storm clouds in the background went away this afternoon.

 

It is a gorgeous day today, only in the low 60s. That's our favorite temp. I wish all of you a

very blessed and restful Sunday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rainy day in AZ-March 8, 2013

The rainmakers arrived on Tuesday and it rained today. It is our gift, or perhaps our curse. No matter where we go, it rains. I still think we need to hire ourselves out to take rain to drought stricken areas. We went in search of a good buffet. Did not find one and ended up at the Black Bear Diner again. Great food and fast service.

The Colorado Belle hotel/casino. Isn't this cute?

 

These cute creatures live in the moat around the Colorado Belle.

They look hungry to me, but the sign said not to feed them.

 

Looking across the Colorado River on a very rainy day.

Look closely on the left side of the mountains and you'll see fresh snow.

 

In spite of the rain, it was a nice day. It should stop raining tomorrow and the temps will drop a bit. We like that, too.