Two Days - Las Vegas, Henderson to Beatty

THURSDAY - (No entry yesterday because the Four Queens charged $9.00 per day for internet access - ridiculous!) Left Ely on schedule this morning, after a nice breakfast at the Silver State Restaurant, which seemed to be a hot spot. Took photos of the many murals adorning buildings on Main St, reminding us of Vail, OR. Headed south on Rt 93, continuing at elevation, going to about 7700 over a pass, absolutely no traffic - we never saw another car going in our direction for nearly 200 miles, going at 80mph! Just north of Caliente, stopped at Cathedral Gorge State Park, another one of those facilities left to us by the CCC in 1934. Arrived at Four Crowns at about 2:30; called Brother to meet tomorrow morning at his house in Henderson.

Once settled in hotel room, we headed out for a tour of the Fremont Street Experience. A walk up and down the 6 block area is wonderful for people watching. Our walk included a relaxing sit by the pool at the Golden Nugget, complete with an aquarium. We had dinner at the buffet at GN then watched a very energetic show by musician, impressionist and comedian Gordie Brown. By the tine the show was over, it was dark outside so we went back out to witness the Experience at night. WOW! Not only are there many odd, unique characters roaming about, but the ceiling & music show was awesome.  We decided that we like the Fremont Street Experience better than "The Strip". Much better for people watching and a fairly small area; it was all in good, clean fun!

FRIDAY - A walk before breakfast took me down Fremont (away from the Experience) where I discovered a unique thing: The Life Cube Project. In an empty parking lot, for the past month, artists young and old have been decorating these 4x4x4 plywood boxes. In the middle is a large, complicated structure, covered with drawings, which has a "mailbox"  into to which you write and deposit your dreams, goals and concerns. Then, tonight as it happens, the entire thing is set ablaze, sending these wishes into the sky!

After breakfast (which included Dunkin Donuts coffee and munchkins), we headed out for Henderson to meet up with Linda's brother, "Sam". We found his house in a nice subdivision where he has lived for 14 years, with his little dog Duffy. Jane had passed away about a year ago. Sam is now 82 and appears well, even though he's recovering from having part of a lung removed for cancer. This area is known as Green Valley, a Del Web project of about 2500 homes and retail parks, Its really very nice! We had a nice lunch at a local Casino/County Club. Linda and Sam must do a better job of staying in touch (I heard them promise they would!) Sam looks, sounds and moves so much like "Pop" its uncanny!

We left Sam's about 2:30 and headed west along I-215 around unbelievably sprawling Las Vegas - building everywhere! Once we got out of town, we detoured up to the Spring Mountains Recreation area and the Mt. Charleston Ski Area (who knew you could ski near Las Vegas?) there was still a bit of snow and the elevation at the base was 9,000 feet! Then back down the mountain to US 95 and on the Beatty where we checked into the Death Valley Inn (very basic motel), quick dinner at the Sourdough Saloon down the street, then back to the room to watch NCAA Basketball!

Off to Death Valley in the morning....its just about 40 miles. Our weather is perfect. Sunny and mid 70s.

Boise to Ely

Beautiful sunny day! Left Boise at about 10:00AM, after the Rotary Board meeting. Took a scenic detour around Twin Falls, going through Bliss, Hagerman and Buhl. Saw the Thousand Springs and made a note to come back some day in late summer; and stock up on famous Hagerman watermelons! Continued South on Rt 93, through Jackpot (there's no town, just a bunch of casinos over the state line). Picnic lunch just south of Jackpot (discovered we had forgotten to pack the cold cuts and cheese). Stopped in Wells for coffee - what a miserable place that is....a soon-to-be ghost town. Great sunny weather, although chilly mid 50s. Interesting that all the way down through the Great Basin, our elevation was about 6,000 feet.

We arrived in Ely about 4:30 and checked in to the old Jailhouse Motel, across the street from the old Hotel Nevada in the old downtown section. Had a nice dinner at the Nevada. In lieu of dessert, lost two bucks in the slots.

Plan to leave early in the morning to arrive in LV by about 2:00PM and arrange with Linda's brother to have dinner.

Getting Ready!

Looking forward to our winter getaway! We've leave tomorrow morning (Wednesday) and drive as far as Ely, Nevada, about 400 miles. There is nothing between here and there. We'll be in Las Vegas at the Four Queens in the Fremont St area of the old downtown. We've been to Vegas several times before, but always on the newer "Strip". We'll just be there the one night and then head down to Death Valley. We hope to catch up with Linda's brother Albert either for dinner on Friday or Lunch Saturday. We haven't seen him for a long time - not since Janet's wedding.