......Hence the name.

Las Vegas means "the meadows" in Spanish.

In Nevada, there are more than 209,000 slot machines normally operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The first neon sign appeared in Las Vegas in 1954 at the Boulder Club.

The bell is the oldest symbol still used on today's slot machines.

The average annual temperature in Las Vegas is 66 degrees.

It would take 288 years for one person to spend one night in every hotel room in Las Vegas.

Shrimp consumption in Las Vegas is more than 60,000 pounds a day. That's higher than the rest of the country combined and adds up to 22 million pounds per year.

The Stardust was the first hotel in Vegas to add a sports book to its casino.

Nickel slots on the Strip pay back anywhere from 86.9 percent to 92.8 percent of what they take in.

Las Vegas casinos never use dice with rounded corners.

It's estimated that every day Las Vegas casinos give away $3 million of freebies (more than $1 billion per year) just to get customers through their doors.

It's against the law to pawn your dentures in Las Vegas.

The Horseshoe was the first Las Vegas casino to install carpeting.

A vagrant once turned a $400 Social Security check into $1.6 million playing blackjack in a Las Vegas casino.

According to suppliers, purple is the favorite ink color in daubers used by Las Vegas Bingo players.

The beam of light atop the Luxor in Las Vegas is made up of 39 individual lamps. Each xenon lamp costs $1,200 and will last about 2,000 hours. The electric bill for the Luxor beam is $51 an hour.

Las Vegas has the highest number of unlisted phone numbers of any U.S. city.

The iconic, waving neon cowboy, located at Vegas' Pioneer Club downtown, is named Vegas Vic.

Frank Sinatra was the first Vegas headliner to earn $100,000 per week.

More than 110,000 marriage licenses are issued in Las Vegas each year.

Elvis and Priscilla Presley were married at the original Aladdin hotel.

The Silver Slipper was the first casino to hire female card dealers on the Las Vegas Strip (in 1971).

Valley of Fire

Valley of Fire State Park is Nevada's oldest State Park. It covers an area of 34,880 acres (141 km²) and was dedicated in 1935.

Valley of Fire is located 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Las Vegas at an elevation of between 2,000 and 2,600 feet (610 and 790 m). It abuts the Lake Mead National Recreation Area at the Virgin River confluence. It lies in a basin 4 miles (6 km) wide by 6 miles (10 km) long, 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Overton, Nevada.

The rough floor and jagged walls of the park contain brilliant formations of eroded sandstone and sand dunes more than 150 million years old. These features, which are the centerpiece of the park's attractions, often appear to be on fire when reflecting the sun's rays.

The Valley of Fire derives its name from red sandstone formations, formed from great shifting sand dunes during the age of dinosaurs. Complex uplifting and faulting of the region, followed by extensive erosion, have created the present landscape. Other important rock formations include limestones, shales, and conglomerates.

-WikiPedia

The geology here is just mind bending, any which way you look at it. 150 Million years old. Erosion patterns that dont seem to make sense. It looks like the surface of mars, and has portrayed the Red Planet in many TV shows and movies just for that reason.
The highlight for me were the Petroglyphs left behind by Ancient Pueblo People, or the Anasazi who were farmers from the Moapa Valley 300 B.C. to 1150 A.D.

To stand in the same place as they did when they were marking these rocks, without velvet ropes or barriers keeping you away from the rock face is an unforgettable experience.

Some other pics from the day....




JR in the Valley







As always, the proof.

The Backyard

Climbed the mountain that sits outside my front door today. Proved to be quite a challenge, but the payoff was good....

Halfway up

I dont know the name of the mountian. Noone seems to know. i've taken to calling it Mount Delaware.

Lots of cool looking vegetation in the desert.

While coming down proved to be much harder, going up was tough at times, too. Lots of scratches and scrapes. Theres so much loose rock, it's easy to lose your footing, and the rock here is sharp an unforgiving. Reaching the top made it all worth it, with spectacular views of the city to the east, and of the further mountains to the west. The ridge of the summit is maybe 3 feet wide, so the view is panoramic, and unrestricted from the highest point. Amazing!

Looking south over the 215 toward Summerlin.


Due east. Note the red roof buildings at the bottom. My apt complex!


A better look


looking west into the valley from the summit.


The strip above the summit ridge line.


The proof.