Boulder City's Art in the Park & The Las Vegas Festival Season

It's that time of year again--the temperatures are steadily inching below 100, Halloween (also known as Nevada Day around here) is approaching, and it's festival season in Las Vegas! While the economy has cooled things off a bit--Summerlin's sidewalk chalk art festival has been cancelled this year, for instance--this is still the season for festivals of all kinds. Now is the time of year to check the RJ's Neon every week. Last weekend, the Super Run Car Show took over Henderson's downtown. This weekend, October 3, visit the granddaddy of all Southern Nevadan art festivals, Boulder City's Art in the Park. Admission is free; park on the outskirts of town and pay the small charge to take a shuttle to Bicentennial Park. Next weekend, the Age of Chivalry Renaissance Festival takes over Sunset Park. Costumes are welcome. And First Friday, which operates year-round, is celebrating its seventh anniversary this Friday, October 2.

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My picture of Art in the Park from a couple of years ago.

Dinosaurs in Las Vegas

No, I'm not talking about bad lounge shows or aging Mafia bosses. The real thing—a collection of incredibly rare fossils—is on display at the Venetian through the end of this week. The amazing array of fossils will be auctioned off on Saturday, October 3. The T-Rex, nicknamed “Samson,” is one of only three specimens ever found in such a complete state. The exhibit is housed in the space formerly occupied by the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum. Admission is free.

Read the RJ’s article here:
http://www.lvrj.com/neon/dinosaur-invasion-59603207.html

Photo information: My pictures of the exhibit. Top to bottom, clockwise: "Samson," the T-Rex; fish fossil (according to the placard, the largest ever found); wooly mammoth; triceratops.

Big Dune at Amargosa

When my hubby first asked me if I wanted to go with him to Big Dune in Amargosa, I hesitated. He loves to zoom over the dunes on a quad, and I'm just not the zooming type. He batted his baby blues and told me that his sister, Sandy, and our brother-in-law, Randy, would be coming (thus giving me someone to hang out with) and that they'd be bringing a Mule. "You can drive the Mule," he cajoled. We really don't have a good history on the whole dune thing. When he talked me into going to the Dumont Dunes with him, I spent the entire day sitting around camp, bored out of my mind, with nothing to do but watch other people zip around on their noisy little machines. I went twice, and both times it was the same dull experience. I agreed to give him yet another chance, so last weekend we spent Saturday in Amargosa.

When we got to Big Dune, I got the basic Mule driving instructions from the men. A Mule is kind of like an off-road golf cart with a tiny little pick-up styled bed. It doesn't go that fast (especially when I'm driving), and it's meant for flatter areas of the dunes (again, especially when I'm driving). Sandy and I were on the same page as far as the Mule went. "Do you want to drive?" I asked her after I'd taken it for a spin around camp. "Nope," she said. We became the refreshment vehicle and camera crew, which suited us just fine. It also made my dune experience actually enjoyable... I guess the third time was a charm, as they say. Here's a video clip of what the zoomier-types were doing as Sandy and I were puttering along.

Amargosa's Big Dune ATV/OHV area is about 90 minutes outside of Las Vegas. On non-holiday weekends, it's not very crowded. It's involved in a bit of a controversy right now since a field of solar panels has been proposed nearby, close to Amargosa Valley.

Las Vegas Rain

Ah, what a rare treat in Las Vegas -- rain! Today we even had hail. In Peccole Ranch, the walking paths double as flood channels. Here are a couple of pictures I just took of the "Peccole River"; within the hour (barring more rain), this temporary stream will be gone.