Rock Climber

Today I went hiking out in Red Rock Canyon with some friends. We hiked Ice Box Canyon Trail and saw a group of climbers scaling the canyon wall. Red Rock Canyon is also well known for it's rock climbing (see the link attached if you want more info). The canyon has world class rock climbing and people will come great distances to climb here. Have a great rest of the weekend! -Wendi

Treasure Island

I went down to the strip last night to see the new Vegas style version of The Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian. I have seen it on Broadway and now on the Strip and it definitely is done Vegas style. They have taken out the intermission so the show is 95 minutes long, added pyrotechnics, and spent tons and tons on a cool theatre, extravagant sets, beautiful costumes, etc... It was fabulous. On the way there, Treasure Island was having its "Sirens of TI" performance out in the front. I honestly have never watched the whole thing, just not my taste, but the fireworks are pretty cool! -Wendi

Bootlegger Trails

This is a photo looking down the teeter totter built for the bikes. This is an obstacle course set up for CRAZY bikers :) I only say that because I am too chicken to ever attempt any of these stunts! Click on the picture to enlarge it, and you will get a better view of the course. -Wendi

Bootlegger Canyon

This is a picture of the mountain above Bootlegger Canyon near Boulder City, Nevada. It is about a half hour from Vegas. This canyon is know for it's extreme mountain biking and it's mt. bike races. Check out this cool link all about Bootlegger Canyon. If you look close you will see a "BC" laid out in white rocks on the side of the mountain. This is a common practice out here in the desert. Towns and Cities will have their communities initials spelled out in rocks on the side of a mountain and then white washed. I think this might be a common practice everywhere, but I am not sure! -Wendi

A First

I had never seen this before.... This license plate had scrolling words underneath it advertising Papa John's pizza! What will they think of next! I think the guy driving got a little nervous that I was taking pictures of his car! -Wendi

LVDP on Vacation!

This is where I was all last week. It's a rough life, isn't it? 10 fabulous days in Hawaii, but I have to admit... I'm glad to be home.
~Christy

Driving into Vegas

I thought I would show you the view of Vegas from someone driving into town. Notice the smog... we usually don't have smog this bad, but with the overcast day the clouds seemed to lock in the smoke. -Wendi

Breaking Sun

Today was a rare overcast day for us in Las Vegas. I decided to go out and attempt some mountain biking regaurdless of the weather. It was a good ride, but I was especially pleased when the sun started peeking through the clouds at the end! -Wendi

Cookie Cutter Homes

Vegas is constently growing. Houses are always going up. We call most of these new houses "cookie cutter" homes, well I think you can see why ;) The homes pictured above actually have side yards where as most of the cookie cutter homes that are built are just several feet apart. There are lots of good reasons to build homes that way, but sometimes I miss seeing unique homes with large yards! -Wendi

Edge of Town

This is the edge of town. It looks like this all around the edge of Vegas, a road separating the desert from the homes. We say wait a year and this will be blocks from the edge!

That's ME!

There I am under the tree... At Canyon de Chelly. So obiviously I didn't take this photo. This is in response to a request to see kind of the size of the canyon in relationship to people. My friend Kara who traveled with me took this picture of me taking pictures at the White House Ruins which are to the right. They are behind the fence. Thanks Kara for sharing this excellent photo with us! -Wendi

More Canyon de Chelly

This is a close up picture of some Anasazi ruins in the canyon, this particular set of ruins is called the white house. There is an upper portion and a lower portion. In the upper portion an Anasazi mummy was discovered years ago and was buried there later. To mark it's burial home they white washed one of the houses in the upper section of the ruins(which from this angle is not shown). The picture below shows the river bed that we four wheeled through. As to respond to some comments from yesterdays post... I am working on posting a picture tomorrow that shows the canyon in proportion! Thanks for all your comments! - Wendi

Canyon de Chelly

This was the highlight of the whole trip! Canyon de Chelly, located within the Navajo Reservation, it is an expansive network of three large canyons. To get in the canyon you have to have a permit and a guide. The guides are locals who actually live in the canyon or farm there. The tour consists of four wheeling up the canyon to look at old Anasazi ruins and petroglyphs, as well as Navajo petroglyphs. It was extremely beautiful this time of year as the trees are changing colors! Look carefully in the picture above and you will see some old Anasazi ruins above the trees. -Wendi

Navajo Rugs

Our trip proceeded onward to Pinon, Arizona, which is situated in the Navajo Reservation. On our way there we stopped to look at an old trading post on the reservation. There were hundreds of hand made Navajo rugs that were beautifully made. I couldn't help but stop and admire the many different patterns and colors. - Wendi

Lowell Observatory

This was taken at the Lowell Observatory and it shows the Clark Telescope. We spent the night in Flagstaff and were fortunate to be able to go do some star gazing up at the Lowell Observatory. It was neat viewing comets, clusters, and galaxies through state of the art telescopes! -Wendi

The GRAND Canyon!

I know, I know, this is NOT Las Vegas. But I went on a trip with my friend Kara and wanted to share it with you! After eatting off route 66 in Kingman, Arizona at a small Cantina we spent the night in Williams, Arizona, which was quite charming. The next day we drove to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was a beautiful day and the sky was amazingly clear, but the air was crisp and cold. So we were thankful for a small overlook house where we could look out over the many great vistas in warmth! The grand canyon is not to far from Las Vegas, it is about a five hour drive! -Wendi

Something that will soon be gone...

OK I totally admit that I stole this photo but I didn't get a chance to go get one of my own!
But, I wanted to join in on today's theme day. The Stardust Hotel and Casino closed its doors permanantely today at noon after 48 years of service. It will be demolished sometime in the next year to make way for a new resort complex called Echelon Place. If anyone is interested in owning a piece of history, items from the Stardust will be up for public auction November 17-21.
~Christy

Stairway to Heaven

I love this staircase in the Tsunami Asian Grill inside the Venetian. What wonders are to behold at the top of those steps? Probably just more dining tables. But it's fun to imagine where those stairs could lead. I love how the reflection in the glass makes it look like a stairway to Heaven.
Happy Halloween everybody!!! Hope you all got lots of good candy. I dressed up like a soccer player (or une joueuse de football if you like) and Wendi was a Parisienne. Good times in Vegas!
~Christy

A Case of the Mondays

What better way to start the week than to take a 2 hour lunch break and go to the Hard Rock Cafe for a free concert by G Love & Special Sauce?! I found out about this show at the last minute so I rushed over and enjoyed a great lunch with a great friend and a great show by a great band. No monday blues for me!This is how close I was. There was only a hand full of people there so every seat in the house was good. Awesome!
~Christy

St Marks Square

I went to Venice tonight! OK, so it wasn't the real Venice. I love the atmosphere in the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian. There were lots of folks milling about St Mark's Sqare so I had fun catching the action.
~Christy

Wouldn't be Vegas without...

For most people thinking about Las Vegas conjures up images of Elvis in a jumpsuit. Well, here he is!! The King was hanging out on Fremont Street. No big deal ;)
~Christy

Risky Business

The clouds ahead looked daunting but I'll tell you, the travel was definitely worth the risk!
~Christy

Tree Lizard (Urosaurus ornatus)

Tree Lizard (Urosaurus ornatus), okay this is the last lizard I will post this week. Obiviously I think they are fascinating. I took this photo in Zions National Park, a four hour drive from Vegas. This lizard is very tiny, unfortunately you can't tell from the photo! -Wendi

Western Whiptail

I thought I would post another lizard photo. This one is of the Western (Great Basin) Whiptail. Unfortunately I don't have any fun stories about this one yet! -Wendi

Leopard Lizard

I took this photo on a trip out to the Valley of Fire, but just found out today that this lizard is called the Leopard Lizard. The Leopard Lizard is not friendly and will bite, not only will they bite us, but they will bite other Leopard Lizards. They are canabalistic! The females which are larger than the males, will consume the smaller males, if they are hungry. So how do they overcome this problem to actually mate? Well, during mating season the spots on the lizard turn red, indicating that it's okay to get close! It's amazing what you can learn on public TV!
-Wendi

When you wish upon a Star!

We went up to Mt. Charleston and watched the meteor shower which peaks now until November 24th. I had to try to take some pictures of the sky. It's amazing how much the sky moves in a 4 minute exposure or should I say how much we move! -Wendi

What we're all about

Golf courses, Urban sprawl and the Strip. This is the what life in Las Vegas is all about. We boast 38 golf courses, 1.8 million residence and 102,000 hotel rooms. What more could you ask for?
~Christy

Where's the Wildlife?

I couldn't resist putting this picture up... What is the wildlife in this picture and how many of them do you see? -Wendi

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

On our way out to the wildlife preserve we got rained on. Yes! It occasionally rains here and decided to do so last weekend! So we were blessed with two full sized rainbows and excellent lighting! We started to look for the treasure at the end of the rainbow, but didn't get there fast enough! Have a great weekend! -Wendi

Serene

Travel north on I95 in Las Vegas and just past the edge of town you'll find the Desert National Wildlife Refuge. At the Corn Creek Field Station we stopped to enjoy the beauties of nature. It felt like a world away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Good for the soul!
~Christy

Out into the Wild Blue Yonder!

Took this on the way to the Desert Wildlife Preserve! Be prepared to be Shocked at what lies 40 minutes from the Strip! -Wendi

Inside a Sunken Ship

After you have perused the many huge aquariums at the Shark Reef you are led to the biggest tank of them all, the SHARK TANK! Here you get the feeling that you are in a sunken ship surrounded by sharks, barracuda, sea turtles, etc... circling, above, below(see the window in the floor) and too each side of you. It's an erie feeling. Oh and by the way, did you know that sharks can hear a beating heart, their eyesight is very poor but their sense of smell and hearing is excellent!
I took this as a long exposure, the blur to the left is my sister walking under the light, kind of turned out weird! Anyway, if you ever get to come to visit my home town of Las Vegas, make sure you stop by the Shark Reef, just for the experience! -Wendi

Jellyfish Dreams

This tank holds jellyfish and is part of the Shark Reef exhibit at the Mandalay Bay. They keep the lights dimmed in the exhibit and light up the tanks, it makes for a cool experience! By the way did you know that jellyfish don't have brains or hearts?
-Wendi

Welcome Inside Mandalay

The interior of the Mandalay Bay is classy, the high ceilings, and sky lights add to the whole ambiance. We are working our way to the Shark Reef, an indoor aquarium. -Wendi

The Road... again

Who knew the road to Manadaly passed through Egypt?

The Road to Mandalay

The picture speaks for itself.

Welcome to the show

This was a pretty cool lookout to the folks walking into the Blue Man Theater. I wonder if they knew what was in store for them.
~Christy

King of the Mountain

Had to take a few shots of these kids on this hill. Brought back many memories of climbing up hills in a race to get to the top. Those where the days! The race is a little bit different now! - Wendi

Snow Canyon

Here's a shot from Snow Canyon in St. George, Utah. Near where the racers ran. It resembles Red Rock Canyon in Las Vegas with the red rocks. I love the red rocks against the blue sky, guess that's why I live in the desert! -Wendi

Harvest Moon

On the trip out to St. George I saw the Harvest Moon rising. I couldn't resist pulling over and taking a picture of it. Kala, of the Honalulu Daily photo, has posted a spectacular photo of a full moon in past months, which inspired me to try to take a night shot of it! So here you go! -Wendi

St. George Marathon

St. George, Utah is about an hour and a half or more(depending on the speed of the driver ;) ) east of Las Vegas. Today was it's annual marathon. I drove out to visit some family, who had friends running the race. It was exciting to see so many people running together. They start the race out in the middle of the desert and run 26 miles into town. This photo was taken at the 17 mile mark, near Snow Canyon. The sign says, Grandpa Rob Way to Go! Love, Kylie! Way to go everyone who ran, you are an inspiration to me! -Wendi

Moon Rise

I know we post a lot of moon shots here but we really do have incredible moon rises. There's just something about the purple sky that makes you want to take a photo!
~Christy

Favorite Escape

Red Rock Canyon is one of my favorite get aways in Vegas. The other day I needed to escape so I drove out there for a bit, did some hiking, and photographed the red rocks as the setting light hit them. -Wendi

Sky on Fire

This is the same sunset I saw through the rearview mirror... except that I was at a point where I could stop and photograph it properly. This was taken on the road into the Village Monte Lago at Lake Las Vegas. I think this is one of my favorite views of the city.
~Christy

Rear View Sunset

The other day as I was driving out to Lake Las Vegas I looked in my rearview mirror and discovered one of the most incredible sunsets I've ever seen in Las Vegas. I couldn't stop and take a photo so I thought I'd just show you the view I got.
~Christy

Sunrise

Monday morning brought a beautiful sunrise! In Vegas if we have clouds in the sky (which is rare) we get some beautiful sunrises and sunsets. If you look closely you will see the outline of the strip in front of the mountains in the distance. Have a GREAT WEEK! -Wendi

Backyard Bliss

Today is Sunday a day of rest. So I did not venture far today to take a picture instead I went into my own backyard to see what I would find. I took some pictures of some birds, flowers, etc... then looked up and found that I was not alone! This cat had been hiding up on a fence behind a tree watching my every move. I don't know whose cat he was but he was quite content to stay up there and cat nap on this restful day! -Wendi