Photo Essay from Las Vegas, Part 1

A blog post about Las Vegas should include lots of photos of the Strip, of lights and glitz, shows and show girls, booze and buffets.  This post will have none (or very little of that). We did spend time in several casinos--some we'll even tell you about--but for us the trip was filled with golf, hiking, Native American art, and a few other surprises.  I have too many photos for one post, so I'll let the photos tell the story of our Las Vegas holiday in two posts.

It was an icy, dicey drive to Portland airport to start our trip.

A good flight from Portland to Las Vegas on Southwest got us off to a good start.

Our digs for the week were at the Worldmark (timeshare) Las Vegas Blvd. about four miles south of the MGM Grand and the Strip.

We stayed in a one bedroom unit. It looks a little empty because they leave room for the murphy bed to drop down out of the wall.  We could sleep four in the unit.

Our first golf of the trip was at a course new to us, Desert Willow GC in Henderson. The executive (par 3s and par 4s)was in excellent condition and was both relatively easy and yet challenging.  It's a course we will plan to play again.

A friendly local watched us tee off at Desert Willow.

We were impressed with new housing development just off the course. In the future the course will offer a view of a stair-step hillside of multi-million dollar homes.  That may change our mind about playing it more.

The next day we visited Red Rocks Canyon National Conservation Area a few miles southwest of Las Vegas proper. Being so close to the city, it's a busy park with a plethora of hiking and climbing trails.  The weather was less than perfect with rain and low clouds all morning.

Even with little sun, this jumping cholla cactus was lovely--just don't get too close.

Anne leads the way on a short hike from the parking area at the Willow Springs Picnic Area to get the small group of petroglyphs.

This site is one of the smallest we saw during the week, but several of the petroglyphs (pictures carved into the rocks) were different than we saw elsewhere.

Anne at the information plaques near the Willow Springs petroglyphs.

Not all the rocks at Red Rocks Canyon are red.  The park has a nice variety of geological formations with easy access.

The wind at Red Rocks was really howling. I'd estimate we had gusts of 80 mph or more at times. At the High Point Overlook this lady was being held up by the wind as she leaned into it.  I had difficulty holding still enough to get a picture.

At the Lost Creek site I hiked out for a view of an unusual water feature--a waterfall spouting directly out of the rocks. The trail was easy for about half a mile and then quite overgrown for the next half mile. I found a good view without going the whole trail.

After Red Rocks Canyon we visited a nearby site that was supposed to have petroglyphs,  Red Springs. We hiked the mile boardwalk trail without seeing any petroglyphs.

One of the locals at Red Springs.

A highlight for me was a tour of the Pinball Hall of Fame on Tropicana. Pinball was an almost weekly activity at the Blue Moon Tavern in McMinnville when I was in college at Linfield. They had machines where you could actually win money (they paid off like slot machines) as long as the local copper wasn't around.

I didn't find my favorite old machine, but I plunked in a few quarters in this oldie. And where in the hell did my reflexes go, anyway?

Our second round of golf was at Las Vegas National GC in Las Vegas. This old course is lined with homes once owned by stars of stage, screen, and sports.  We passed a house owned at one time by Dean Martin and another owned by Sugar Ray Leonard, the boxer. Besides the interesting surroundings, the course is made up of classic good golf holes. 

We had an encounter with one of the current residents. Sorry the picture of the coyote is a little fuzzy; I was driving the golf cart down the hole, holding the camera in one hand, and Wiley was running by. As a grab shot I don't think it's too bad.

One day we drove about an hour out of town to the Valley of Fire, Nevada's first state park. Named for the red sandstone formations, the park has numerous types of geological features, many hiking trails, and several areas with fine Native American petroglyphs.

The lighting in the Valley of Fire was great this day.  I had fun with the play of sun and shadow on the rocks and vegetation.

An example of the red sandstone formation giving the park its name.

This formation is known as a bee hive.

The dead plants, live plants, and small rock caves create some interesting effects.

I was fascinated by the bush skeleton framed by the red sandstone.

Anne on the 3/4 mile round trip trail to Mouse's Tank (aka petroglyph canyon).

On the trail to Mouse's Tank, a natural basin where water collects, we encountered our first petroglyphs at Valley of Fire.

This rock, covered in what's called "desert varnish," is covered with petroglyphs.  Rocks with numerous carvings or glyphs are often called "Native Newspaper."

A closer look at one of the "newspapers" along Mouse's Tank trail.

Here's an example where most of the "Desert Varnish" and its carvings has worn away leaving only a little of what once was probably a large collection of petroglyphs.

About the photos: All photos taken with either a Lumix DMC-ZS100 (point and shoot) with 25-250mm zoom, or Lumix GX85 (interchangeable lens mirrorless) with 14-140mm or 7.5mm lens.

Next: More of the Valley of Fire and the end of the Las Vegas trip.