From Paradise to “the Mansion”

Last year, during our Snowbird Experiment, I told a friend we were wintering here, and she said, “Why Las Vegas?  Are you gambling away your life savings?!”

I wrote back, “I know Las Vegas is called ‘Sin City.’ And people come here and do things they probably wouldn't do in their ‘real’ lives.  But, it isn’t all Neon and noise, glitz and gambling.  Yeah.  That happens on The Strip.  But, where we are, in Paradise, it’s quiet – and beautiful actually.  There’s a mountain, which we see every day.  And, you think because it’s permanent it’s not changeable.  But, it’s different every day.  I thought I’d be trading one desolate environment for another.  (February in Minneapolis can be bleak.). But, the desert isn’t desolate, it's a different kind of environment and different kind of beauty than I’m used to at home, but it really is beautiful. ” 

And in that response, I realized I had fallen in love with Las Vegas.  Tom was way ahead of me, so we started talking about finding a place for “next year.”  To make a long story short, long term unfurnished was the most cost effective.  We found a place on the Legacy Golf Course and LOVE it. 

We had Tom’s grandsons here in October, for the MEA school break, and because of the gate and the pool (and the golf course) they asked, “Papa, do you live in a mansion?”  Of course, we don’t.  But, they called our place “the mansion” while they were here, and the nickname sort of stuck. 

I do miss seeing “Paradise” on my weather app, but "the mansion" is in a much quieter neighborhood, has ore space and better views, and we have our own furniture.  We've both said we can see staying here long term.

Happy New Year!

It’s my first New Year’s Day in Las Vegas! Tom and I went to “our” casino (the SouthPoint) for dinner last night and then played craps for a bit before coming home to watch the fireworks extravaganza from the comfort and quiet of our patio and dining room.  (We agreed the view was much better from the dining room!)

While we were getting ready to go out last night, we talked about resolutions.  Tom laughed when I mentioned my sister’s perennial resolution to “floss more.”  A worthy goal, even though it is not quantifiable or measurable.  As I had my coffee this morning, I thought that two things on my list for 2017 are read more, and write more. 

The thing that I like best about these goals is that they are ways of staying connected while being away.  I belong to two book groups – neither of which I attended regularly in 2016 because I was trying to get ready for being a snowbird.  Luckily, both groups post their next book online, so I can read along, even though I can’t attend gatherings to discuss.

I’ve been wanting to write regularly for months and haven’t just sat down to do it.  My head is crammed full of stuff, waiting to spill out of my fingers.  So… here is my commitment/resolution for 2017.  I pledged (on Goodreads, so it’s official) to read 50 books this year.  That’s about 1 per week.  If I pick a good mix of murder mysteries and stuff of substance, I should be able to achieve my goal.  I also pledge to write and post 200-300 words per day.  I was able to do this in 2010 (has it really been that long?!) and hope I can do it again this year.

I’m working Central Time hours while living in the Pacific Time zone, so writing in the morning isn’t really an option.  But, I’m hoping I can find a new rhythm in the afternoon.

I'm soooo behind!

It’s Monday.  I’m so behind on our adventures and our thoughts about life here in Paradise.  And, it really is Paradise.  I promise to catch up in the next few days.  

Today’s surprise is this Olive Tree, right here in the complex!  Tom and I saw it when we took a loop around the complex this morning.  I don’t know much about Olive Trees.  I don’t know whether birds eat the fruits (like they do for other fruit trees) or whether they leave the olives alone.  I don’t know whether you can harvest the olives (pizza anyone?!) or if they’re ornamental.  But, it was cool to see.

Grand Canyon West

Today’s “Harley Map” location was Grand Canyon West.  This is Grand Canyon access via the Hualapai (pronounced Wall ah pie) Indian Reservation.  It’s not the National Park, another couple hours to the east.  

Grand Canyon West is home to the Skywalk – that horseshoe shaped, glass floored, heart attack waiting to happen.  As we entered the skywalk building, where we needed to leave our belongings (not unlike at the Stratosphere’s Big Shot), there was an image of tall things in the world compared to the Skywalk.  I didn’t get a snapshot of it, but found one online.  The Stratosphere’s 112 floors (my first Las Vegas heart attack) look miniscule compared to the Skywalk’s 4000 feet above the Grand Canyon riverbed.  (The Stratosphere is the buliding closest to the canyon wall in the image.)  

Tom strolled around the horseshoe like he was walking down the block – looking both out across the canyon and down through the glass floor.  I, on the other hand, gripped the handrail like a lifeline and looked down only once – briefly.  But, I did it. This photo was taken BEFORE we did the skywalk!

You take a bus at Grand Canyon West to three different points.  The Skywalk is at Eagle Point.  

The Native American village is also at Eagle Point.  We saw examples of several dwellings.

Another stop is Hualapai Ranch, where we saw a couple of burros and some wood carvings.  

Tom went to Jail.  

I visited the undertaker.  Tom thought about riding the mechanical bull.

The third stop was Guano Point.  We walked all the way around the point and took some snapshots from the abandoned tram.

On the way out, we saw hitchhikers!  This excited me much more than it did Tom.  After the “no hitchhiking” signs we saw in Nebraska, I’ve been on the lookout for them. 

And, we saw countless “watch for animals on road” signs.  My response to these signs was, “puh leeze” and “promises promises.”  We took some (small) comfort in the fact that most desert wildlife is nocturnal and we were traveling mid-day.  On the way out, we saw flashing lights and wondered if someone had gone off the road.  What we saw, instead, was a sheriff shepherding a herd of cattle safely across the road!  I was driving, so Tom got a quick snapshot!

The Reservoir

Today, I decided to see how long it would take me to walk to “our” South Point casino and back.  I figured I wouldn’t have enough time to do it at lunch, so as soon as the afternoon meetings were over, I grabbed my sneakers and I was off!

One of the things Tom has remarked on more than once is that the speed “limit” here seems like much more of a “suggestion” than a “limit.”  Even on residential streets, where the sign says 35, it’s rare than ANYone is actually heeding the sign.  So… you can imagine my trepidation about walking on busy streets – even on the sidewalk.

Luckily, I found a quiet street, where there was almost NO traffic! It runs right along the reservoir across the road from our complex.  The reservoir is a landmark that helps us identify our apartment when we’re looking at a map of the area.  On the map, it’s HUGE… yuge!  And, it looks like it’s filled with water.

However, when I walked by, it was dry.  If we hadn't had rain on Sunday, I'd say it was "valley of dry bones" dry.  I couldn’t believe it.  But, then I remembered how low the water was at Lake Mead and was reminded about the drought conditions in this part of the country.  Here in Las Vegas, the NWS issues a Drought Information Statement on the third Thursday of the month.  The January statement says “extreme drought conditions continue…..”  The next statement is due on February 18^th. 

It’s drizzled a couple of Fridays since we’ve been here, and Sunday night, we had a good thunderstorm (which dumped some good rain, but dried up almost immediately).  The stats from Lake Mead say the water is going up, but I don’t think the reservoir across the road is going to hold water anytime soon.

Golf Week and Ordinary Time

It’s been a few days since I’ve posted – partly because we’ve been busy, but partly because we’re settling into a routine – sort of “ordinary time,” and there doesn’t seem to be interesting stuff to write about every day.  But, here are a few noteworthy items from the week.

Monday night we had a full moon, and here it is outside our apartment on Tuesday morning!  Can you think of something more lovely than “Full Moon in Paradise”?  I can’t.

Tom is a keen observer.  One of the things he pointed out to me the other day is that the cell towers here don’t look like cell towers … they look like palm trees.  Here’s the one in the parking lot of the corner store.

When Tom drives, I check out the scenery and read road signs aloud.  We’ve seen a lot of interesting signs so far in our adventure, and here’s one we saw at Red Rock Canyon on Sunday, which I forgot to include in that post. 

Note that we haven’t seen ANY wildlife thus far, save a bald eagle in Nebraska, but the signs (and scat) keep telling us they’re near.  We saw the bighorn sheep sign in Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada.

A friend of Tom’s has been in town this week, and they’ve golfed three days!  I had the car one afternoon and shopped at the outdoor mall in Green Valley!  (Working Central Time hours has some advantages for spending time outdoors in the sunshine!)

I talked to a casino worker and discovered that there are only two “Frog Prince” slot machines in the entire casino, and I’ve won money at both of them!  (Yes, I lost a dollar one night, but overall, I’m up about 15 bucks, which isn’t bad, I think, for the penny slots!)

Oh…. and, I’m starting to feel a little more like a “local” than a tourist!  I’m not relying on Siri to get from point A to point B, and am experimenting with “alternate routes.”  It feels good to start getting my bearings.  

Red Rock Canyon

We’ve been eating out a good deal – mostly because I’m working from the apartment and it’s a chance for me to leave the complex.  We had breakfast at home this morning – which was a nice change of pace. 

I had been studying the “Harley map” yesterday afternoon, so when Tom asked what I wanted to do today, I knew!  I said, “Let’s go to Red Rock Canyon.  It’s a short drive, it will get us out of the city, and closer to the mountains.  And, we can do it before we have dinner with Phil and Mary.” 

The weather was GREAT, too--sunny and warm-ish.  (Hey, it’s January, and we’re Minnesotans.  Anything over 40 is warm!)  We stopped at the sign for our first photo op.  Tom calls this one “Mr and Mrs Hollywood.”

We decided to stop at the overlook before going into the park.  I love the historical information at these overlooks.  And, today, I learned about the “Old Spanish Trail,” which spanned 150 miles in Nevada.  The sign told us that the artesian springs at Las Vegas made it one of the most dependable stops on the journey through the desert.  As we looked out over the valley, Tom and I wondered how worried cowboys on horseback and pioneers with wagons were about water in the desert.

At the Visitor Center, we heard a ranger telling another couple about a place to see petroglyphs and pictographs, and decided that was the trail for us!  Unfortunately, I hadn’t brought my hiking shoes and was wearing only sandals, so we didn’t get very far before we thought it wise to turn around.  So…  the petroglyphs and pictographs will need to wait for another time.  This might work to our advantage, because we read that Mojave Max, the tortoise who lives in the canyon, would be emerging from hibernation before we head back to Minneapolis, and we thought we’d go back in late February or early March to see if Max would be out and about.