Introduction

Pictures

Our Plane

The small jet on which we travelled to Las Vegas from San Jose.

Flight of a Raven

Not only was this the first time I'd flown for nearly four years, something I love, it was the first time we'd been on more than an overnight holiday. You betcha I was grinning!

The Sierra

Views of the Sierra Nevada mountains, far below

Las Vegas Strip

Our first glance of the Vegas strip, close by the McCarran airport. If you look carefully, you might be able to see the Stratospheare tower, which is at the north end. We stayed a bit further north than that.

Room Service

Room service to die for. Don had worked in Vegas on a project or something, years ago, and knew about Golden Nugget room

Don and his Room Service

Bon appétit!

Downloading

My only use of the computer this trip was to download pics from my digital camera. I left my modem at home ;-)

White Raven at Lake Mead

Standing in front of the glorious blue lake and in front of some pretty nice real estate too ;-)

Lake Mead

Blue in the desert - can't really see the real estate, which is one reason this pic was taken.

My Favourite Blue Man

Don, at Lake Mead. Look at all that glorious blue!

Switch Farm

Coming down the hill to the Hoover Dam, you pass a big old collection of giant switches in the rocky hillside. Hoover Dam provides both electricity and water, and is why a million people can survive out in the otherwise inhospitable (to humans) desert.

Pylons

Some of the many pylons clustered in the region. It also gives you a sense of both the heavy traffic on that road, and how narrow it is by American standards.

Visitor Centre (1)

A view of one of the visitor centre buildings, but not the one where you go do a tour. Security is steep: you can't take bags into any of the workings...

Drainage Chute

It just goes down... and down... and down...

Angel

The Other Angel

A couple of angels guard the dam...

Star Map

And you can walk over the star map too.

Time Zone Towers

One clock is on Pacific Time, one is on Mountain Time. Except in the summer, it is the same, because Arizona doesn't do Summertime. I'd never done a walk-across-timezone-line before.

The Hoover Dam

It's huge!!!

No Pets

Got a cackle of laughter out of us, this one did! We could not imagine bringing Gracie here...

Visitor Centre (2)

You go down to take a guided tour... and up for drinks and souvenirs. Hmmm....

Dam Valley

Looking downriver from the dam, there's still a lot of evidence of the power supply industry. Somehow that makes it even more impressive. I couldn't bring myself to look down - this picture was taken by Don.

The Pretty Car

Rather than hire a motorcycle for one day, we chose to hire a convertible Mustang for the three days. It cost about the same (bike hire is way expensive). It was fun to have, but we wouldn't choose this as our normal car. It's not really meant for driving long distances. But, it was pretty.

Luxor Sphynx

In true Vegas excess, the Luxor Hotel built a giant sphynx so that new arrivals would have shelter as they drove to check in ;-)

Obelisk

And this is the Luxor's road sign.

Pyramid

The pyramid is 30 storeys high and is one of two large hotel buildings. As I discovered on a later trip, the views from it are magnificent and the lifts go up at a weird angle which upsets your balance. The inside is hollow, so you can look down into the casino and shops and see people scurrying around. It also makes you dizzy.

Take It Already!

Don took so many shots that by the end I was wondering, "Finish already!" And they all ended up with a heavy shadow over my face, too.

Raven, Car and Pahrump

Just a glimpse at the shopping strip of Pahrump. It was about 106° F that day - over 40° C. Phew!

Don in the Desert

Don with the car, with highway 160 in the background and the desert beyond.

Snowy Mountains

There are mountains around that are over 10,000' tall, which means they have snow on them most of the year round. They can also be seen for miles and miles. This sort of desert is a series of ranges and valleys, stretching out for miles in all directions.

Long Road

Driving along highway 160, the road just seemed to stretch on and on forever. This is outside Pahrump, heading toward the junction for I-95 which is lonely itself, despite being an interstate freeway. It's a good kind of emptiness, though.

Desert

Just some of the desert we passed. You have to understand I had never really explored the desert before. It did hold a certain... something for me.

The Fremont Street Experience

You walk through a mime field, and gawp at Glitter Gulch. The covered roof bursts into a light show choreographed to Vegas music each hour, and then you get back to your shopping and gambling.

Neon People

These two figures are famed in Vegas, and the neon lights come up real pretty ;-)

Lucky Horseshoe

Another neon excessed and bright old casino.