I looked up a little bit of the Las Vegas history and found out that it was named by the Spanish, and Las Vegas translates to 'the meadow'. Las Vegas was a bit of a boom town, in that it was a hotspot frequented by the workers during the construction of the Hoover Dam and gambling was officially legalized about the same time. I found it interesting that the Las Vegas we have pictured in our minds came about not by a defined plan, it sort of evolved from the situation and circumstances of the time...
Just for fun, here are some daytime videos of one part of the Vegas strip...
I also decided to make a stop at one of the cannabis dispensaries in Vegas. I had never been to one so it was definitely a different-kind of experience. I went to Pisos, a popular shop in Vegas, and they have the place locked down, you don't just go in and browse, you have to check in at the main entrance where they make a copy of your driver's license, ask you a few questions, and once that is all done there was a man who unlocked the door to the shop and let you in. The place was setup much like a jewelry store with glass cases all along the perimeter and a central rectangle of glass cases in the middle of the area. I browsed around while waiting for my name to be called, you have to wait for your dedicated sales person to assist you. The young lady that helped me was very nice and helpful. I just told her this was my first time so she took the time to explain about the different products and gave advice based on her experience. Overall this experience was very cool, it was interesting to see the diversity of people shopping there, I enjoyed it...
Here's a shot of the inside of the store, taken from weedmaps.com...
After leaving the Vegas strip area I headed back towards Lake Mead Recreational area to see if I could find a decent campsite...
Some shots I took of a small portion of Lake Mead...
My campsite app directed me to a spot that was supposed to be accessible without a 4X4 vehicle yet secluded with nice views of the lake...
The drive towards the campsite... (near the end of the video you will see the narrow road ahead)
As I traveled back the dirt/gravel road it became quite narrow as I traveled up the ridge. That was fine, but as I topped one of the ridges the road suddenly disappeared, at least from my point of view in the van. I stopped and got out to get a good look at what was ahead and realized that the 45 degree angle of the downward slope was not something I could do with the van. The road dropped about 15 feet from where I was standing and although I might have been able to 'slip-slide' down the steep decline, I didn't see any way that I could make it back up...
So... I scouted the road behind me for a wide enough spot to get turned around. I found one place where I thought I would be okay so I backed down and carefully worked the van back and forth, baby steps, until I was finally heading back down the ridge. That was a bit of a harrowing experience as I wasn't sure how solid those gravel shoulders actually were and if they fell away I would likely be gravel-skiing down the side of the ridge, forward or backward, lol, but I made it...
These are photos I snapped AFTER making my way back down from the ridge...
I tried several other camping areas but either you needed a 4X4, or they were already populated with tourists. I spent several hours roaming around without finding a spot, so I opted to head back further south in hopes of finding something less populated. No luck, so I ended up staying in the parking lot of 'Terrible's Casino' in Searchlight NV. Now when you think of a 'casino' you probably have images of a huge multi-storied building with a expansive gambling area. Well, not at Terrible's! I went in to use the bathroom and what it appeared to be was basically a glorified truck stop with a tiny section for slots and games on the side. Could that be why they called it Terrible's? Actually a lot of people liked the place as far as the reviews were concerned, it's just not my thing. There were several other campers already settled in the parking lot and they did allow overnight parking for one night, so I too settled in to get some rest...
Here's a shot of the front of the 'casino', this is from the trip advisor site...
The weather in the area was nice, high 80s during the day with 50s at night, good sleeping weather. I got up the next morning and headed south back towards the Prescott area stopping for breakfast along the way. The scenery was beautiful almost the entire trip back. Funny, I love to stop and photograph the scenery, but I find it difficult to convey through photos what I am seeing in real time. You could literally spend days on the road just photographing the landscape. You just have to experience it yourself, like taking pictures of the mountains in CO, it never does it justice...
That's all for now... thanks for coming along...
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