Las Vegas, NV

Random Thoughts in May

We arrived in gale force winds and chilly temps, April 29. "Hope it warms up soon!"

Since then, we've had very hot afternoons with little or no breeze; rain (yes!); more wind; cool mornings and evenings, a lovely sunshine most days. I'm quite certain that ol' sol will get quite hellish before long, but for now it is nice to have such bright skies, most of the time. One morning this week, I was actually treated to a full rainbow! It made the chilly, dampness all worthwhile.

We have driven back out to the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge. Very strange experience. Coming in, we could see the dam and Lake Mead behind it, breath-taking. Going back in the Saturn, nothing, just concrete sides. We couldn't tell if we had crossed the bridge or not! We had to turn around and go back after traveling a few miles into Arizona. We really do sit higher in the RV! Never realized just how much.

We did enjoy the walk across the bridge. Pedestrians are allowed on the dam side only. I would like to see the river and south view as well, but there is no access on that side. We were all alone to walk the bridge going east. It was so peaceful and lovely. The colors were deeper at that early hour than when we saw it at noon. As we made our way back west, a small crowd had arrived. The last of the group was a man with his bugle. His mournful sound carried over the bridge and into the canyon. Just amazing!

I was very unhappy however, that I couldn't capture all of this on our new camera. I figured it was a dead battery, but it was really broken and getting repaired. I miss having it.

On Mother's Day we took a drive to the ski area an hour to the west. We found a nice campground, lots of snow, a few hikers, and 3 girls wearing jackets, shorts and sandals flying kites. The road ends on top of a cliff that caught the winds perfectly. We walked a short bit on a beautiful trail at 7000 ft through the pines and 40 degrees before descending back to sparse cacti and 80 degrees at 3000 ft.

We followed that with a walk through the historic Sahara Casino which closes its doors on May 16 for the final time. It was opened in 1952 for the glamorous and rich to play. On May 9, 2011 it was skeletal at best. Today's big draw - $1 hot dogs. I wish we could have seen it at its peek instead of just imagining its former glory.

Otherwise, our days are rather mundane. We see the sites of Albertson's, Lowes, and a few buffets. I did win $2 on the penny slots last night, not bad on a $5 investment! The pool calls our names, but so does the laundry room. All things returning to normal.