The Valley of Fire

The Nevada parks system was started in 1934, and The Valley of Fire was the first park. For some reason, it's not as we'll known as Red Rock Canyon. My guess is convenience. RRC is much closer to Vegas and more accessible. 

But The Valley of Fire is, by far, more spectacular. The landscape looks as though giants had dropped blobs of red Play-dough all over the landscapes, sometimes small dribbles, other places, huge globs of it. 

The red color comes from the iron content in the rock. 

In the 1930's, the CCC built some cabins out of the rock. 

Red Rock Canyon

Most everyone had heard of Red Rock Canyon. It's a national preserve (park, monument, whatever) not too far from Vegas. Gorgeous natural beauty. We had arrived shortly before sunset, which made for pleasant temperatures, but not much light. After the sun dropped below the ridge of the western mountains, we only had an hour before it got too dark to see. 

Here are some of the pics I shot. 

The Strip at Night

Seeing the strip from the top of the Stratosphere is almost a "must do". So we did. My middle son,Ted, rode the ride that hangs you over the edge. Yikes! 

Hoover Dam

Hoover Dam is a fantastic engineering marvel! Massive project, unprecedented numbers of workers, and all that math done with slide rules. 

Below is a picture of the room with the turbines. 

Our Sights of the Las Vegas strip

We walked part of the strip in Las Vegas. Here are some shots of the Bellagio. 

And your sights are not complete without the famous sign: