September 1st & 2nd, 2021 … Summer of Fun continues! Viva Las Vegas!

While at the Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort, we certainly enjoyed our time in their pools! We also enjoyed a few meals in their café!

Jim & Mary took us on a tour of the Las Vegas lights … or at least that is how they got us into the car … we did much more walking than we did driving, but it was a load of fun! Although it technically is outside the Las Vegas city limits, The Strip is what we think of when we dream of Sin City. 

Las Vegas was founded in 1905 with most of the early development flowing from the train station Downtown along Fremont Street.  By the 1930s member of organized crime started to look for properties outside of the city limits where there was fewer taxes, less regulations, and more room to do business regardless of their reputation.  Las Vegas Boulevard (formerly Arrowhead Highway & HWY 91) quickly attracted some of the biggest names from mob syndicates around the country looking get in on Vegas’ entertainment business. 

The iconic Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas Sign was designed by Betty Willis in 1959 and marks the official southern end of the Las Vegas Strip.  The 25-foot-tall neon-lit sign is one of the best photo opportunities.  The image of the timeless sign has been adopted as an unofficial logo for Las Vegas and can be found on everything from t-shirts and magnets to postcards.  It is interesting to note that the location is technically 4 miles south of the city limits Las Vegas as the sign and most of The Strip are actually in the village of Paradise.

We parked the car at the Mandalay Bay Resort. We got our veteran’s players cards here. The 43-story-tall Mandalay Bay opened in 1999 and is one of the few true resorts on the Las Vegas Strip.  The grounds were formerly home to the historic Hacienda Hotel.  Walking through Mandalay Bay led us past numerous slot machines, but not many players. Tragically a 2017 concert at the Mandalay Bay became the deadliest lone gunman mass shooting in US history when 58 were killed and another 546 were wounded.

We rode the monorail past the Luxor Casino. The Egyptian-themed Luxor Casino with its iconic black pyramid.  The resort opened in 1993 and is named after the city of Thebes (modern-day Luxor) which was the capital of ancient Egypt.  The resort has many Egyptian monument and statue replicas including a giant Sphinx at the entrance.  After dark, look for an enormous white beacon of light shooting straight up out of the pyramid into space, where it’s said to be visible by astronauts.  Known as the Luxor Sky Beam, the beacon uses 39 lamps and curved mirrors to create the strongest beam of light in the world rated at 42.3 billion candelas.

We got off the monorail at the Excalibur Casino. The Excalibur’s castle exterior with tons of towers and a huge drawbridge dominates the block.  Whether you visiting during the day or while it is beautifully lit up at night, the exterior will make you feel like you are visiting the fabled castle of Camelot.  While it is now just outside the top 10, when the Excalibur opened in 1990 it was the largest hotel in the worlds with 4,000 rooms. One of the biggest draws to Excalibur is the timeless Tournament of Kings jousting show.  In the 900-seat theater, you eat Medieval-style with your hands as valiant knights ride mighty steeds and prove their chivalry amongst special effects and pyrotechnics. While the Bee Gees Tribute Band on Saturday nights is a huge hit, many people visit the Luxor for the not-so-family-friendly fun entertainment.  This ranges from being insulted during dinner at Dick’s Last Resort or some heat from Australia with Thunder From Down Under, the top-rated male stripper performance in Las Vegas.

We walked up stairs and escalators and back down and passed the New York New York Casino. No casino facade on this Las Vegas Strip walking tour is as cool as the elaborate faux skyline of the New York New York Casino.  Complete with skyscrapers plus replicas of the both the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge the property’s exterior will make you feel like you’ve arrived in the Big Apple.  Opened in 1997, they spared no expense in creating the immersive New York theme both inside and out of the casino. If you like thrill rides don’t miss The Big Apple Roller Coaster, which Mary wanted to ride, at NYNY which zips amongst the skyscrapers at up to 67mph, with 150 foot drops and negative G’s. 

The shiny green MGM Grand is truly a massive building with 6,852 hotel rooms which takes over 9,000 employees to run.  When it opened in 1993, the MGM Grand was the biggest hotel complex in the world (until 2006, still #4) and remains the largest single hotel building in the United States.  While the size of the MGM Grand dominates your first impression, the property is best known for its entertainment, concerts, sports betting, and professional boxing matches.

A mini-tour of Europe starts with the French-themed Paris Casino which has the most iconic exterior of any of the properties on the Las Vegas Strip thanks to their wonderful attention to detail. The focal point of the Paris vibe is the 500-foot-tall half-scale replica of the Eiffel Tower, complete with an observation deck.  To get to the observation deck you ascend 460 feet up a glass elevator for what has been considered the best view of the city.  Housed within the exposed lattice of steel beams is the Chateau Bar which is one of the coolest clubs on the Las Vegas Strip. The inside of the casino is a little dull although they have tried to make it feel like you are walking in an old French village of thatch-roofed houses.  If you are looking for a great place to eat during your travels up or down the tower stop into the Eiffel Tower Restaurant on the 11th floor.  For a breath-taking 360° panoramic view taken at night in front of Paris click here.

We found our destination! The Bellagio! Yeah!!!! The world-famous Bellagio is a truly massive hotel which has been featured in many hit films including Ocean’s 11 & 12.  

We visited the stunning lobby whose ceiling is literally a work of art.  Covering a 30-by-70-foot section of the ceiling of the lobby are over 2,000 handblown Murano glass flowers make up a magical work of art called the Fiori di Como.  The colorful installation was added by artist Chihuly in 1998 and is valued at over one million dollars. 

Near the lobby is another artistic treat inside the Bellagio called the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.  Each season, the enormously talented Horticulture and Engineering teams transform the 14,000-square-foot Botanical Garden into a showcase of inspiring sights, sounds, scents and colors. Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter are all featured.

Paying homage to the elements needed for life to flourish, with more than 30,000 flowers and plants, the garden beds are artistically designed to represent earth, wind, water and fire. You are transported into an extravagant rainforest as you enter the Conservatory. 

Welcomed by an array of blooming flowers, bright greenery and seven whimsical animal sculptures. Designer Ed Libby and Bellagio’s horticulture team carefully curated “Eco: A Season of Earthly Awareness,” bringing to life the importance of keeping our planet beautiful.

“Eco: A Season of Earthly Awareness” was inspired by MGM Resorts’ commitment to being a global advocate in the fight against climate change. Through sustainable design and construction. 

The Conservatory team is committed to responsible operations including the recycling of water, repurposing plant materials and scenic props and utilizing a green waste procedure that separates plant material and soil matter before it’s transported to a local compost. This waste procedure alone eliminates 90% of landfill diversion.

Out of all the amazing aspects of this casino, the Bellagio Fountain Show is the most spectacular.  Taking place in the huge 8.5 acre mini-lake facing The Las Vegas Strip. The shows feature hundreds of fountain spouts shooting water up into a dance choreographed to music. I took an awesome video, but can't get it to upload :(  

We also took the thirty minute drive from the Las Vegas Strip is a scenic wonderland filled with beautiful rocks and diverse stonescapes.  It's the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, one of only 17 areas of public land in the United States with that designation. The Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area encompasses 195,819 acres within the Mojave Desert. Red Rock Canyon is an area of worldwide geologic interest.

We drove the 13-mile scenic loop through Red Rock Canyon and enjoyed the sights along the way! The great sandstone cliffs at Red Rock, thousands of feet high, are made up of the Aztec Sandstone.  This formation, about 180 - 190 million years old, is comprised of lithified sand dunes that formed in a vast desert that covered a large part of the southwestern United States during the Jurassic time.  Lithification is the process of changing unconsolidated sediment into sedimentary rock.  Massive cross-bedding, typical of wind deposits, is a result of the shifting wind direction across the Jurassic dune field and is seen in the Aztec Sandstone rock outcrops.

Be sure you go the Visitors Center. It is fantastic and full of information. The facility balances into the landscape nicely and native plants adorn the gardens. Inside, there is a video about the park, exhibits to check out and a gift shop. Out the back door are more open-air, outdoor exhibits, and interactive areas with sculptures and excellent views.

We left the Visitors Center and circled back to the Scenic Drive which is a one-way, paved road. Though it is not painted as two lanes, it is wide enough for those in a hurry to get around those that are taking more time.

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The first stop on the road is the Calico Hills parking area known as Calico I. It's probably the most popular stop on the loop as that's where the rocks transition from pink to red. If you'd like to hike, it's a one mile hike from the Calico I parking to the Calico II parking which is the next stop on the loop. But then you have to make the return trip to get to your car.

Calico II seems to have fewer people than Calico I. But the ability to explore the rocks is just as good if not better.

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The next parking area is Sandstone Quarry. Sandstone Quarry is at the end of the Calico Hills where the red sandstone transitions to white sandstone. It's also the trailhead for the popular Calico Tanks and Turtlehead Peak hikes.

The next stop is at the highest elevation on the loop at 4,771 feet, and it is appropriately named High Point Overlook. It provides a panoramic view of the Calico Hills and the mountains on the opposite side of the valley. From there, beyond the red rocks, you can see Las Vegas in the distance.

Next, there is a rough gravel road that most people skip. If you take it, it leads to the White Rock parking area where several trails begin. If you skip the White Rock side road, you will start to descend in a curvy section and there is another side road.

But this road to Lost Creek and Willow Spring is paved, at least to the Willow Spring Picnic Area, and it's a more popular spur due to some flowing water and, therefore, higher odds of seeing early-morning wildlife. On this road, you'll first come to the Lost Creek parking area on your left where you can walk the half-mile Lost Creek - Children's Discovery Loop Trail.

Back out on the main scenic loop road, you come to the parking area for the Ice Box Canyon, a popular 2.2-mile trail into a shady, cool box canyon. It's especially popular in the hotter months.

The next stop is the Red Rock Wash Overlook. Here you can see the best exposure of the thrust faulting is here in the Red Rock Canyon. As you look at the escarpment to the west you see older gray Paleozoic limestone resting on top of the younger buff and red Jurassic sandstone. This is a result of the Keystone Thrust Fault. Near the end of the Mesozoic Era, about 65 million years ago, the oceanic plate began “subducting” or moving beneath the western edge of the North American Plate. This resulted in the intrusion of the Sierra Nevada granite batholith, which set up compressional forces in the Earth’s crust that caused the older limestone to be thrust east up and over the younger sandstone. The limestone cap served to protect the weaker sandstone from erosion for millions of years, eventually eroding back to its present location. The compressional thrust faulting at the end of the Mesozoic Era can be traced all the way up into Canada.

And then we came to the Pine Creek Canyon parking area and trailhead. Pine Creek Canyon is the last designated place right on the paved road to stop on the Scenic Drive, but there is one more potential stop back a decent gravel drive - the Oak Creek Canyon area. Not far past the Oak Creek Canyon turn, the one-way Scenic Drive ends at Nevada Hwy 159.

On our way back, we were hungry. We explored a small town called Blue Diamond and found a restaurant, Cottonwood Station, and some history! Tucked away at the base of the Spring Mountain Range in Red Rock Canyon is a small community of 385 people called Blue Diamond. A place that takes you back in time, where burros wander the streets and rock climbers sit in the shade of cottonwood trees. 

It was originally established some time in the 1940s by a mining company. The company provided housing and a community for miners who worked in the Blue Diamond Mine. It remained a company owned town until 1965. You're even bound to see some free-roaming burros out and about!

Cottonwood Station, the restaurant we found, is hidden in the small village of Blue Diamond. You would not know it’s there unless you went to visit the village. We drove past it and saw a sign in the neighborhood that said “no café parking” and we figured there must be food here somewhere! 

     

It is a cozy small café style restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating. You order at the counter, select your seating preference and they bring it to you! They have brick oven pizza and great sandwiches, salads, coffee and craft beer. We both got the burgers and they were delicious! The cold craft beer and cider was good too!

We enjoyed time with our granddaughter and great granddaughter. We enjoyed a pizza party and time in the pool! What kids don’t love both of those things! They both are growing up so fast! But it is always great to spend time with them! Hoping they come to Florida soon to see us!

We had a great time in Las Vegas, but it is time to move on!