The Finishing Touches

After our helicopter ride we still had half a day to do something so we set out in the truck to find some of the scenery we had seen from the air.

You never know what you’ll find in the desert but you can bet it will probably be interesting.

Only problem is, it can take quite a bit of hiking to get near what you want to see.

At least there are places to rest in the shade. Oops, this one is taken.

I don’t know what kind of bone that is beside the plant but it makes for an iconic desert picture.

Maybe if  you lived here all your life the scenery wouldn’t be so fascinating, but I didn’t and it’s fascinating.

We contemplated getting in that hole to take a picture but it was pretty crumbly and was almost 100’ straight down in front of it.

This rock at the bottom looks just like concrete with chunks of orange stone mixed in for decoration.

Just to much to see and to little time.

These next few shots were just some interesting scenery on the way home from Vegas.

Like power poles at sunset.

Or a salt flat at sunset.
My next post will most likely be from Maui next month. See you there.

Isn’t it Grand

We’re home now but there are to many good pictures left that need to be posted.

Dave and Cheryl arrived in Las Vegas on Tuesday so Dave and I needed to find something to keep us occupied on Wednesday. What better than a helicopter ride.

We lifted off from the airport in Vegas and the first shot was looking down the strip. Then over to Hoover dam and Lake Mead. That bridge over the canyon was under construction last time Connie and I were here.

There is no end to the wondrous colors and textures you’ll see in the desert. I loved to zero in on some of the better spots.

Here is another of the shore of Lake Mead.

I’m sure glad I have pictures because I can’t absorb all of this scenery during a short 2 hour trip.

Besides, when you cut out a piece of a huge sweeping landscape and examine it a little more thoroughly you’ll get so much more out of it.

If you click on this image to see the larger version you may be able to tell that the speck on top of the cliff in the center of the photo is a place know as Skywalk. It has a glass floor that sticks out over the canyon. Google it if your curious.

Now comes the good part, the Grand Canyon! Between the glare on the helicopter window and the fact that we were flying into the sun it was tough to get really good photos.

Here is a one handed  guess shot of Dave and the pilot. It turned out pretty good considering.

What could I say about this? Incredible!

On the left side of this photo about half way up, you can see the 3 other helicopters that had land just before us.

And now some photos from on the ground in the Grand Canyon.

That’s Dave on the left. They served some snacks and drinks during our 20 minute stay here. I spent all of my time taking photos.

How often do you get the chance to be in a remote location in the bottom of the Grand Canyon? 20 minutes wasn’t near enough time.

Quite a trip! do it if you ever get a chance.

Landscapes and Manscapes

So yesterday I drove out to Lake Mead, that’s the lake behind Hoover Dam. I looked up at the sky and realized it would be pretty easy to know where Las Vegas was from here.

Anyway, I wasn’t lost so here are the pictures of Lake Mead. It’s only 30 minutes from town.

I hope you will click on these to see them larger. I just love all the colors in the rock. Then use your BACK button to return.

A lot of the scenery here just begs for a panorama.

This is Hoover Dam, formerly Boulder Dam, completed in 1936. I took this one from the nearly new bridge that allows traffic to avoid crossing the dam.

The last photo was a mixture of landscape and manscape, but the rest of these are pure manscape.

I know, the correct term is cityscape but I like the distinction between manscape and landscape.

And if it’s not obvious, this is the Vegas Strip.

The weather was perfect last night.

I walked around for 3 hours and never went into a single casino.

They just don’t interest me that much other than to look at them.

They are something to look at though.

This is the fountain show in front of the Ballagio.

The water dances to music and photos don’t do it justice.

I thought about doing a video but that’s not my forte and you probably seen one or could see one on TV.

Connie and her good friend Alice are cellebrating Alice’s 60th here at the Flamingo along with their daughters and friends.

The fountains at Caesar’s palace always make me think of Evel Knievel.

If you want to help the poor guys pay their electric bill you can just drop your donation in one of those slot machines.

Death Valley

On the way to meets some friends in Las Vegas we spent a couple of days in Death Valley. For all my Shiloh friends, I found a field that needs a little rock picking!

There is a place now owned by the Forest Service called Scotty’s Castle.  We took the tour.

It’s not a castle it’s a home built in the 1920s by a very rich man and his wife and they only used it a few weeks out of the year.

We hit it just right. Our tour included one other couple and us. The tour guide is dressed in period costume.

It’s quite an elaborate place complete with its own generator and water system.

If you ever get to Death Valley, be sure and take the tour.

Ubehebe crater is was created by a volcanic explosion and it’s 600 feet deep. There are people on the trail to the the bottom which might help with perspective. Click to enlarge, Back to return.

I spent several hours wearing myself out on the sand dunes but the light was not cooperative.  I did get a couple of descent shots though.

I suppose most of you have heard of 20 Mule Team Borax. Well they did mine borax in Death Valley with wagons like this one so I imagine it would take 20 mules to pull it. The tall wagon wheel is about as tall as I am.

You think gas is high where you live?  If you ever do get here, fill your tank before you head in. 100 miles from here, in Nevada, I bought gas for $3.89.

I walked about a mile and a half up a canyon taking pictures and got good and hot. The temperature hit 89 both days. At least it’s not summer.

I didn’t go to the top of this trail. I forgot to take water, not good, and I Connie was waiting for me. Just to get an idea of the size of things there are 2 people near the bottom center of this picture and 2 more on the trail just below the sharp peak.

I hiked up to the base of this rock and then turned around.

Believe it or not, that’s a one piece rock Connie is sitting on. We’ve never seen anything like it.

Yep, that’s how we roll.

Water…….water…… wa….. w……..

God used Death Valley to practice working on different colors and textures for rock and soil.

Yeah, it’s salt. I tasted it. But that’s not the most interesting thing. This is at 240’ below sea level. That little tiny mountain in the background there is over 11,000’. That means it’s over 2 miles tall!!

You can tell it’s the USA right? Red, white and blue.

I guess mud doesn’t last long here.

It’s one of the harshest places on our continent and one of the most beautiful too.

As we were leaving we came across this coyote and I’m pretty sure he knows that Obama is in office because he was sure looking for a handout.