I will attempt to assimilate my perception of the Las Vegas culture!
I was surprised when I heard that 500 planes land at McCarren Airport every day, I knew it was a lot because we are in the flight path and every time I look up I see a plane coming in and it goes on all night! After 6 weeks I am more in awe than annoyed!
Where are all these people coming from? All you have to do is go anywhere, anytime and you will see all these people! There is a casino on every corner and that doesn't even include the "strip"!
They are always brimming with people, the parking lots are full of cars, am I the only one who finds this fascinating? That's a lot of money changing hands, it boggles my mind! The point I am trying to make here is, this place is humming 24 hours a day!
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| The city that never sleeps! |
Where I come from they roll up the sidewalks at 9pm, dinner is served in restaurants from 4pm
to 9pm, end of story! The entire population of South Florida is tucked in and asleep before the
11pm news!
The 24 hour society that exists here in Las Vegas is a phenomenon I am completely unfamiliar with! Grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, they are all jamming 24-7! I guess it makes sense when you consider the service industry that exists here, if you work all night you gotta shop for groceries after work. My internal clock shuts down at 10pm so extended hours at the neighborhood grocer would be lost on me!
A wonderful benefit of living in this locale is that you can take some amazing day trips! Last week Jay said, "lets go for a ride". In my world that means, down to the beach or over to the mall. Here it's possible to see Red Rock Canyon, Death Valley, Lake Mead, even the Hoover Dam.
We hopped in the Jeep with Savannah and headed south towards Boulder City, when we entered the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and paid our fee Jay asked the Ranger how far to the Valley of Fire? 63 miles around the lake! What?! I said to myself, or maybe I said it out loud, 63 miles?
Jay's response to me was, "It will be worth it, trust me!" I had my doubts... I've seen a lot of rocks around here lately, not sure I wanted to spend the next two hours in the car looking at more rocks!
I decided to grin and bear it and I'm glad I did!
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| Lake Mead |
The Valley of Fire was dedicated in 1935 and is the oldest and largest state park in Nevada.
Petrified wood and red sandstone are two of the natural features formed from great shifting sand dunes during the age of dinosaurs, 150 million years ago.
The weather was pristine and it was an amazing trip! I am so glad I was patient and that we didn't end up at the mall because the view were indescribable!
