Road Trip! Pahrump

About an hour west of Las Vegas is the town of Pahrump. There isn't really anything between the two places except beautiful mountain ranges and vast deserts. Las Vegas is an oasis compared to Pahrump which was very dry.

Nopah Range (I think.)

Lots of cacti

Pahrump

A small selection of casinos.

Pahrump is pretty much of a crossroads town.  If you hang a left in the middle of town onto Highway 372 you'll find yourself passing Area 51 Fireworks. 

I'm pretty sure when the aliens come for him, Dan will be waiting!

Side trip to the road trip.  Guess what? California is only another 30 miles away!

My first time in California.

Just after we crossed into California the sky opened up and it poured.  They so badly need rain in California.  There wasn't even any green on the roadsides from runoff water.

And the rain comes.

So dry!

After a 30 mile drive we arrived in Shoshone, California.  Good thing we didn't need gas!

YOWZA!

 We were planning to stop in Shoshone for lunch but decided the only restaurant looked a little crowded. (On a side note the desert smells really funny after a rain.  Kind of like wet animals.)

Most of these bikes passed us twice on the way over. (They stopped once for rain gear.)

CHiPs was nearby should things get out of hand!

 We were a pretty short drive from Death Valley but we weren't prepared for that trip today.  (They advise a real compass, a paper map, lots of water and a full tank of gas!)

Lunch was in order when we got back to Pahrump. We stopped at Saddle West Casino and Conference Center.  Pretty sure we were the youngest people in the building!  The buffet was a soup, salad and sandwich affair.  Not bad.  I liked the mini ice-cream sundae for dessert.  Of course we had to spend a couple of bucks at the slots.  Dan was lucky and won us enough to pay for lunch. Winner, winner.    

I would like to see this one after dark.

Loved these mountains on the way back.

One more stop just a few miles from home. We will for sure stop here again for some shopping.

Suzanne Pearl, I thought of you! Rainbow glass - $4 a pound.

Pomegranates? 

Saguaro!

I told Dan he could buy my Christmas present here!

What a great trip.  It's all about the journey!

Have a great weekend!

Nancy and Dan

Desert Flora and Fauna

Greetings from the sunny West.  It is another beautiful day in the neighborhood.  I just got back from a walk around the block.  The grounds crew is out mowing, trimming and cleaning up.  They do a great job (and I don't have too!).

I thought I would share today some photos of the local plants and animals we have seen so far.

On the way to the Hoover Dam is a little park in Boulder City called Hemenway Valley Park.  The Big Horn Sheep come down out of the mountains in the hot summer months to graze and hang out in the shade. We saw about 25 the day we were there. Pretty amazing.

There are lots of animals in Summerlin, too.

This little guy is a desert cottontail. He hangs out in back of our house.  Actually there are many of them that come out in the neighborhood every evening.  There is a canyon across the street from our house behind the neighbors.  We haven't been down into it yet but we have heard there are tortoise, snakes, rabbits and turkey vultures in the area. Take a walking stick with you! There actually is a beautiful well lit walking path through the canyon. We'll get down there as soon as the temperature drops a little bit and my ankle heals.

Cottonwood Canyon

There are a lot of birds in the area as well.  We saw a road runner up in Red Rock Canyon but he moved too fast for a photo op.  Maybe next time.

A few of these birds I haven't identified yet but I wanted to get them up for you to see.  There are a lot of Humming Birds in the area.  It's hard to get a good shot of them without scaring them away. But I'll keep trying.

I think this is a female Blacked-chinned Hummingbird.

American Robin - I'm pretty sure!

I went out and bought three Hibiscus plants the other day. This is the only one currently blooming. Every plant in my back yard has it's own drip and right now gets watered for 20 minutes three days a week.  (I sometimes bring my dish-washing water from the sink and give them a little extra.)

There are several Lantana bushes in the yard (and all over Las Vegas). Very pretty. Their leaves have a lemony smell.

Lantana

If you drive a mile or two past Red Rock Canyon you might just see a few wild burros.  There is a $500 fine if you are caught feeding them! The road was fenced to help prevent accidents.

Here are a couple of shots of the not so wild life!!

Tough life!

I think Taigo has no backbone!

We will have some visitors from Vermont next week.  Can't wait to show them around the area.

That's all for today.

It's all about the journey.

Nancy and Dan

Settling In

Sooo. We've been busy. Finally everything came together and we got the keys to our new home late afternoon on Tuesday, September 2. YAY!

Wednesday was a day of cleaning and getting things lined up. Dan rented a ladder from Home Depot so I could wash the walls. 

Those ceilings are pretty high! (It took gallons and gallons of water to clean up a smoker's home!) 

Dan had a long honey-do list. Most important was getting a mesh covering for the back gate. 

The kitties are so happy. They love being outside!

We checked out of Extended Stay America bright and early Thursday morning, our first delivery was scheduled for 8 am. Dan's office furniture finally showed up at 11!

But in the meantime the Cox cable guy showed up to install our internet. Shortly after that the moving van arrived as well as Moving Brothers. Steve and 'Teller?' helped us unpack. (I can't remember his name but Dan called him Teller because he never said a word! Haha)

A lot of the boxes were somewhat crushed. We think a month in storage in the Nevada heat had something to do with the boxes failing.

We had to park in the driveway for a few days. 

On Saturday as we were trying to clear the garage I had a minor mishap and we got to check out the local medical facility. Summerlin Hospital is a short five minute drive. (Note to self: put broken glass in something solid before you put it in a trash bag!) 

A little glue and we were back in business. (I really should have had a stitch or two as the glue failed in a day. Dr. Mom is now treating it with steri strips and liquid bandage.) 

Just had this little visitor as I am sitting on the patio to write the blog.

A week has passed now and we are much more settled. We love our new kitchen table. Perhaps I will actually start cooking at home soon so we can use it.  ; ) 

We bought it and some room dividers at The Furniture Place on South Rainbow. 

We visited Barry at Jubilee Furniture in Chinatown to purchase the reclining love seat. There are actually USB ports in the console of the couch. Too funny. Probably be obsolete in a couple of years!

Dan's office. He's in there working right now.

The cats are stylin' with their new planter litter box. They don't kick nearly as much litter on the floor. Sweet!

Here are a few shots of our new place.

The Vermont Room is now ready for guests!

We still have a few more things to do like hanging pictures but we are quite comfortable for now. 

I had to go buy a vacuum cleaner to replace my central vac. Just in time too. After historic rain here (more about that in a minute) we discovered about a million teeny tiny red ants everywhere inside the house! The new Dyson and Ortho Home Defender spray took care of the problem! Thank God. They were disgusting!

On Monday the Las Vegas area and areas east of here received historic amounts of rain. 4 inches in some places in a very short amount of time. Parts of Interstate 15 northeast of the city were completely washed away. The rain came from what was left of a hurricane in the Pacific. The crews are working round the clock trying to rebuild the road so they at least have one northbound and one southbound lane open! It reminded me so much of hurricane Irene.

My new neighbor, Marie, invited me to join the community book club Wednesday evening. Such fun! Even though I hadn't finished reading 'The Husband's Secret' by Laine Moriarty I was able to participate and most importantly meet some of my other neighbors. (I only had one day's notice on the book so thanks to Kindle I was able to read about half before we met.)

Marie was a school guidance counselor. I think we will have lots to talk about when I have a bit more time. There was a professor, a game publisher and an author in the book club as well.

Yesterday, Thursday, we spent most of the day getting our Nevada licenses and registering our car. 

Apparently there are perks to being a 'local'. Discounts on tickets, food and entrance fees. I am happy because now I can go get my library card!!!!

Wow I guess that is enough for today. The kitties and I say have a nice day. 

It's all about the journey.

Nancy and Dan