Las Vegas Adventure-Week Five

Time seems to fly by when you are experiencing interesting and unique things and I realize that I am approaching the halfway mark of my winter sabbatical in Las Vegas. I had hoped to have a creative firestorm like I experienced last winter in El Paso, but that hasn’t happened here. Last year, I had a definite book project that I was working on and that provided a lot of focus and direction.

This year, while I have enjoyed my visit to Las Vegas so far, my overall experience don’t seem as exciting and stimulating as last year. So, I decided to sit down with a notepad and try to sketch out the good and bad points of Las Vegas and how I am reacting to them. Implicit in all this is that I will be comparing my experiences last year to this year. Ah yes, we’re back to the old “compare and contrast” assignments like in high school English class. But, it can still be a worthwhile exercise.

At the top, the overriding premise for Las Vegas is gambling and how much fun it is. I have to confess, I can be a little tight with my money and gambling doesn’t appeal much to me. Once a month when I am home, I do play poker with a group of seven other friends, but we play “poor man’s poker” so the most you lose is five bucks. I usually come out ahead only about 20 percent of the time, but I enjoy the time with my friends so I don’t fret over losing a couple of dollars.

I have bet on horse racing about a half dozen times, including the Kentucky Derby once, and enjoyed placing an occasional two-dollar bet. But, I wouldn’t do that on a regular basis. I used to buy Super Lotto tickets on occasion, but my favorite “package” store closed a few years ago and now I buy my Bourbon at Giant Eagle, but I don’t buy lottery tickets. So, gambling just doesn’t hold a cachet for me and that’s an issue living in an area where it is so pervasive.

Another reason I looked forward to coming to Las Vegas was that UNLV (The University of Nevada Las Vegas) offered classes in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), the same program I enjoyed immensely last year in El Paso at UTEP. I signed up for three courses this year, one about the American West, another on Nevada History and the third on comedy in films. So far, the comedy in films course has been the best and the other two courses have been so-so. The comedy in films instructor has a degree in film studies from the University of Southern Cal, but the other two instructors are “self-taught” in history because they had careers in unrelated fields.

Last year in El Paso, two of the three courses I took were from retired UTEP faculty who continued to teach in their field of expertise—the history and culture of the El Paso area and music conducting. The other course on law enforcement was taught by a retired DEA agent, so he really knew his topic too.

Also, the classes at UNLV I am taking are larger and last for an hour and 45 minutes. The large class size inhibits discussion and the longer class time doesn’t work except for the film class.

Now, some good news about my current situation. The casita I am renting is relatively spacious, more like a one-bedroom apartment. It has a washer-dryer combo, a nice bathroom and a courtyard outside the front door that I can use. While I am staying on a cul-de-sac in a quiet suburban neighborhood, a lot of amenities are not more that a five-minute drive away.

The best of these is a city recreation center that accepts Silver Sneakers so I can go there and do weight training a couple of days a week.

The good news is my breathing issues from asthma are a lot better here in the lower elevation of the Las Vegas area compared with El Paso. And the temperatures are about the same and the low humidity have made me feel better here.

I am about a 15-minute drive from the center of Las Vegas, so I haven’t explored other areas of the city that much so far. Part of the reason is that the drivers here are kind of wacko. There are a lot of younger drivers and a lot of large pickup trucks. I am driving a compact Kia Rio that is a rental and I get nervous when see nothing but a huge grill in the rearview mirror when I am going 70 mph on the freeway. A lot of these truck drivers pull up very close behind you before pulling around to pass.

Also, because Las Vegas is at the eastern edge of the Pacific Time Zone, sunset here is relatively early, at 5:30PM, but the sun disappears from my casita about 45 minutes earlier because of Black Mountain immediately to the west. And, when the sun goes down the temperature drops quickly in this dry, desert climate. So far, it has been too cool to sit on the patio in the evening after dinner.

My final observation about Las Vegas concerns littering. As I drive out north of the city on Interstate 15, I am appalled by the amount of trash I see by the side of the highway, bottles, plastic bags and other articles strewn along that highway for miles and miles. And, the strong winds carry the trash hundreds of yard into the desert. I’ve also observed this on several streets in the city

The only other city I recall seeing this much littering was when I visited New Orleans 20 years ago. I also noticed a lot of trash strewn by the side of major highways there. Maybe the reputation of both cities for entertainment and partying gives people license to toss trash out of their cars, something I don’t see nearly as much in the Akron area.

So, my stay here has been very much a “good news, bad news” situation. But, I am looking forward to the remaining five weeks of my stay and the new experiences I will have.

See you next time.

Week Four in Las Vegas

My fourth week in Las Vegas started with my second visit to the United Church of Christ in Henderson. This time, the crowd seemed smaller and less enthusiastic. The pastor’s sermon was longer and I noticed several people, me included, nodding off at times. It was sunny, but cool day and it just seemed like a lazy Sunday.

That afternoon, I spent some time in Starbucks researching shows that I might go to and take Pam to when she visits the third week in March. Because it is spring break season, a lot of the name entertainers’ shows that week are already sold out or close to it. There is a same day discount ticket service and we may take our chances with that.

That evening, I decided to watch the Academy Awards ceremony and part of the red carpet lead in. I had seen over half of the best picture nominees, so I was curious to see how they would do: “The Irishman”; “1917”; “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”; “Marriage Story” and “Little Women.”

Later that evening, I started watching a Netflix series called “Messiah” and it is an interesting concept. The series opens in an embattled part of Damascus, Syria, that is being heavily shelled during the current civil war. As residents try to stay under cover to avoid the bombing, a mysterious man appears and begins to preach in a square as the bombs and gunfire surrounds him. There is a lull in the shelling and hundreds of people gather to listen to him.

The man talks about peace and love and has an engaging quality about him. He has long, dark hair, a beard and a compassionate yet serious looking gaze. He strongly resembles the paintings and drawings of Jesus we are used to seeing and his message sounds much the same. Eventually, he leads a group out of the city and across the desert to the border of Israel where they seek asylum. I’ll stop here and recommend you check it out on Netflix.

That night, I heard some rain and looked outside to see the patio was wet. I was the first rain I had seen in over two weeks in Vegas. This area only averages about 10 inches of rain per year compared to the 40 inches or so that I am used to in Ohio. I’ve noticed that the definition of partly cloudy here means a few clouds in the sky, not what we think of in Ohio.

Monday, I found an interesting coffee shop in downtown Henderson called Public Works. It has an interesting vibe and free refills of coffee. Plus, they play a very eclectic mix of music including jazz, Motown, folk and so on. I have been there a couple of times and plan to go more.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, I attended my second week of classes at The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UNLV. Two are related to history, one about the American West and the other about the history of Nevada. The third class is about comedy in film and it is my favorite. This week we saw “It Happened One Night” starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert.

After the film, the instructor expressed surprise that the class didn’t laugh as much at this film as we did the week before at Mae West’s “She Done Him Wrong.” My opinion is the Mae West’s film was funnier because it had a lot of zinger double-meaning comments that were bound to provoke more laughter among an older crowd.

After class, I took a drive around the UNLV campus that is located a couple of miles away from the famed Las Vegas Boulevard, a.k.a., “The Strip.”  The campus is very compact and surrounded by an urban neighborhood full of all kinds of restaurants, shops and other businesses. It reminds me of the area around the University of Akron.

I saw an In-Out Burger restaurant and decided to make my first visit to this West Coast staple. I was not disappointed by the delicious double hamburger and fries. I now see why this chain is so popular.

On Thursday, I drove an hour north through the Lake Mead Recreation area to The Valley of Fire state park. It is a stunning area with the road lined with red sandstone formations. Driving up the the highest area in the park, I could see all kinds of different colors and layers in the hills and rock formations. It was well worth the trip.

On Friday, I got a little taste of home when I found a Panera Bread restaurant not too far from where I am staying. I enjoy the soup there and also free coffee refills.

More to come next week.

Week Three in Las Vegas

I began my third week in Las Vegas by attending church at the United Church of Christ Community Church in Henderson. It’s not a large church and it seats about 150 and was about half full for the service. The pastor came and greeted me right after I sat down and I learned he grew up in southeast Ohio and his brother had played football and graduated from Mount Union University in Alliance. So, he was familiar with Northeast Ohio.

It was a warm, sunny day so I went back to my casita and sat in the sun on the patio. I worked a little on an outline for my next writing project.

The Super Bowl was due to start at about 3:30 local time and the game was actually pretty good. I really didn’t have a favorite, although the Chiefs are from the Midwest and I was thrilled by their fourth quarter comeback to win the game. Even more thrilling was the halftime show featuring (or should I say “ft.”?) Jennifer Lopez and Shakira. These two Latina women are dynamic and accomplished performers who put on a memorable halftime show.  Also, they were a lot more interesting for me to look at than last year’s performers, Maroon 5.

Than evening, the wind really started to howl and the temperature dropped about 40 degrees overnight. The noise from the wind and the change in weather made it hard to sleep.

The next morning, I went to the Black Mountain Recreation Center and rode the Exercycle. I decided to try the Public Works coffee shop in downtown Henderson for lunch, but they had sold out all of their sandwiches when I arrived in early afternoon. So, I tried a Cruffin, a croissant rolled into a muffin shape and baked. It was actually pretty good.

On Tuesday, I woke up a little early and read the Akron Beacon Journal online. Then I headed toward downtown Las Vegas for my first day of classes at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UNLV. I arrived a little more than an hour before my first class and found the lounge area where there was free coffee or tea and some snacks. I was able to sign up for a guest account on my computer to use UNLV’s Wi-Fi and I talked with several other students

My first class was “The American West” and I was amazed that the classroom, which had about 100 seats, was full. The instructor said he was a retired railroad manager. Most of the class consisted of two videos from a series called “Great Courses.” Actually, they were pretty good videos and the instructor summarized the main points after each.

During the lunch period, I went to an orientation session about OLLI and heard about the origins of the program. They showed a video with brief classroom scenes of students waving from various campuses that offered OLLI. There was even a brief shot of OLLI students at UTEP.

The second class was Nevada History and it was a little more engaging. The instructor concentrated on the geography and environment of the state while making the point that Nevada’s growth and development was a product of its natural resources. He finished about 20 minutes early and I was pretty tired after about three hours of class time. One good thing, he provided free maps of Nevada as a reference tool for the class.

On the way home, I stopped at Von’s supermarket and bought a large bottle of Evan Williams bourbon. It was too cool to sit on the patio, so I watched some news until the Kentucky-Mississippi State game came on at 6PM. I cooked a frozen pizza for dinner and watched the last few episodes of “Grace and Frankie” on Netflix.

On Wednesday, I only had one OLLI class but I think it will be my favorite and it is called “Comedy: What’s the Point?” Each week we will watch a comedy feature film and then discuss the film in the remaining time. The instructor is a graduate of the University of Southern California film school with a masters from Indiana University. I had a very nice conversation with her in the OLLI lounge before the class started and I think this course will be a lot of fun.

Pam will be visiting me in Vegas the third week of March and I’m looking forward to taking her to class to watch “The Producers” that week. We have seen the film numerous times and it cracks both of us up every time. What can you say about a film that has a stage musical song called “Springtime for Hitler” with young women dancers in SS uniform jackets and dance shorts performing a routine like the June Taylor dancers who were regulars on Jackie Gleason’s TV variety show in the 50s and 60s.

In the first class, we watched Mae West in “She Done Him Wrong” from 1930 and it was so much fun. The film featured her at her man-baiting best and was full of double entendres that the class laughed at heartily. After the film, we discussed the beginnings of the Motion Picture Code that was established in 1930 and how this film might have been fared with the code committee.

The weather the next three days was sunny and warmer and I decided to put some miles on the rental car and explore the area around Las Vegas. On Thursday, I drove about an hour west of the Las Vegas area to Red Rock Canyon Park. I took the 13-mile Scenic Drive loop and was not disappointed. The colors of the layers of rock making up the hills surrounding the canyon are spectacular. The red color of layers is caused by iron that leached into the limestone as the whole area emerged from the the bottom of the sea 180 million years ago.

The speed limit on the one-way road was 35 mph, but I went a lot slower than that to take in the scenery. Fortunately, the road was wide enough that mostly younger drivers wanting to go faster could pass me. Every two or three miles, there was a small parking area where I could get out and take pictures. I highly recommend this drive when you visit Las Vegas.

About an hour after I left Red Rock, I was driving up towards the summit of Mt. Charleston, a peak of over 11,000 feet about an hour northwest of Vegas. As I passed the 6,000-foot level, the ground was covered with snow and the road ended at about 7,600 feet. The Mt. Charleston lodge has a couple of dozen cabins for rent and a large restaurant at this spot. I decided to have lunch and was able to look at the mountainous terrain out the large windows on three sides of the restaurant. By the way, my lunch of Quiche Lorraine and broccoli cheese soup was very good.

After lunch, I drove back down the mountain and went north on U.S. 95 for about a half hour. The land was very much a desert with mountains off in the distance on all sides.

The next day, I worked out fairly early in the morning (for me!) at about 9:30AM and then decided to explore the area south of Las Vegas. I took U.S. 95 to Searchlight, NV, and then went east towards Cottonwood Cove, a small village on the Colorado River downstream from Hoover Dam. On the way, there was a National Park Service toll both, but it was not staffed and a row of orange cones directed drivers around it. The desert landscape was full of Yucca plants that were beginning to sprout yellow blossoms, a sign that spring was coming to the desert.

When I arrived at the town, it was virtually deserted even though there were dozens of boats docked at the marina. I thought about stopping at the snack bar, but it was only the size of a small trailer.

There were dozens of house trailers and manufactured homes lining the only road in and out of town, but most of these looked unoccupied. Later, my landlord Ernie explained that this is off season and that area would be packed during the summer. After I reached Searchlight, I headed east for about 30 miles and picked up U.S. 93 heading back north towards Henderson, where I am staying.

As I approached Hoover Dam, the late afternoon sun provided wonderful shadows and colors on the hills. The last part of the drive, I was driving directly into the sun and that made the final few miles of the drive somewhat difficult. But I arrived home in time to relax on the patio with a couple of bourbons before dinner.

After a couple of days of sightseeing, I decided to take it easy on Saturday. Las Vegas is on Pacific Time and I am adjusting to the early start time for some sporting events. So, I watched Kentucky play Tennessee at 10AM. That afternoon, I spent a lot of time on the patio getting some sun and working on a couple of projects. In my three weeks here, it has been sunny just about every day and the low humidity is helping my allergies and breathing.

I will have more next week. See you then.

Week Two in Las Vegas

My second week in the Las Vegas area began with a very laid back Sunday. I thought about checking out a local church, but I was very tired when I woke up and didn’t do much. One shortcoming about the casita I am renting is that all of the lighting is overhead in recessed fixtures. When I do desk work, I like to use a table lamp and turn off overhead lights to reduce glare on the computer screen.

So, late Sunday morning I went to Wal-Mart and found a nifty LED desk lamp for about $20. I plan to take it home with me, so I wanted something that would fit in my suitcase. I put on the table in the kitchen where I do some work and also use it to provide some base light while watching TV in the evening.

The afternoon was sunny and not too cool, so I went on the patio and proofed chapters in my book. I watch a little of Brian’s Akron Aviators play in Syracuse. Just as I turned on my computer, my phone had a bulletin about Kobe Bryant and his daughter dying in a helicopter crash along with 7 others. Brian texted me about that moments later.

For the rest of the day and evening, there were constant reports about the crash and mourning by fans. That evening, I wanted to watched Netflix to get away from the coverage, but the internet connection was bad, so I had to settle for cable fare that wasn’t too good.

Monday, I decided to go to Death Valley National Park, about a 2.5-hour drive northwest of Las Vegas. I didn’t leave until after 9AM to avoid the morning rush through the city. I drove for an hour and stopped at a convenience store in Pahrump, NV. Leaving that town, I missed the turn to go to the park. I drove about 20 miles before realizing that I needed to turn around and go back to Pahrump and make the turn. I took almost another half hour to reach the park Visitor Center. I used the National Park pass I bought last year to get a pass for Death Valley National Park.

The visit was well worth the drive. The valley floor is very flat and dotted with large white patches of salt interspersed with various plants. I visited two sites, the Artists’ Circle and Badwater Basin.

The Artists’ circle is a drive of about 13 miles along a one-way, one-lane road that takes you up into the hills on the east side of the valley. The rock formations and layers of colors are spectacular. The road twists, dips and turns between the formations and at times there were only a few feet of space between the rocky cliffs and the side of my car. It was almost like a slow-motion amusement park ride because the speed limit was 10 or 15 miles per hour in some places.

My next stop was Badwater Basin, the most crowded area of the park that I saw. Here a young couple took my picture as I posed near the sign that says this point is more than 280 feet below sea level. I then walked about a quarter mile out on the hardened salt out towards the middle of the valley. The salt flat extended hundreds of yards further out. The air was very dry and the temperature was 76 degrees and my lungs felt great. I have been battling asthma for years and the higher concentration of oxygen and dry desert air really felt great.

After leaving Badwater, it took nearly an hour to drive out of the park. But, I didn’t mind at all. It was warm enough to open the car windows and marvel at the scenery while driving on the east side of the valley. The drive back to Vegas also was scenic as the setting sun provided different hues to the Red Rock Mountains as I approached the city from the west.

When I arrived in central Las Vegas at rush hour, I missed my exit and got off the freeway in the heart of the Strip. I saw a couple of the large hotel/casinos and the new stadium for the Las Vegas Raiders. The outside is covered with dark tinted glass and it looks like a giant space ship. Fortunately, the traffic wasn’t terrible and my phone’s GPS guided me back to the casita. I slept well that night.

The next day, I went to a city recreation center called Black Mountain and signed up to use the facility through Silver Sneakers. It has a small, but very well-equipped fitness room with loads of machines. I had just eaten lunch so I waited for the next day to work out.

It was cloudy and cool, so I decided to drive to the UNLV campus to find the location of my classes in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute program. The area is on the very southern edge of the campus and looks like it might have been an elementary school at one time. There is a large parking lot and about a half dozen one-story tan stucco buildings with the classroom doors opening outside.

I am taking three classes, “American West: History, Myth and Legacy”; “Nevada History” and “Comedy: What’s the Point?” I am looking forward to the classes and meeting my fellow students. Up to this point, I have been fairly isolated and I am looking forward to some interaction.

After I drove around the campus area a bit, I headed back to Henderson. I visited the campus of Nevada State College outside Henderson. My Airbnb host Lori is taking graduate courses in Speech and Hearing Therapy there. The campus has about a half dozen buildings and looks brand new.

Wednesday, I decided to try out the Black Mountain Recreation Center. Silver Sneakers participants are permitted to use a workout room off the main lobby. The machines were a different brand than I was used to, but I was able figure things out and I had a pretty decent workout. I had a bit of a crisis when I went to leave my casita, the electronic door lock didn’t work. I rang the doorbell on the main house and Ernie, my landlord’s husband, came out after a couple of minutes. After a couple of attempts, he determined that the batteries in the lock were dead and replaced them. So, I went on to my workout.

After my workout, I showered and went to lunch at the nearby Starbucks. It was located on the corner of a busy shopping area and I was surprised how large it was. I got there at the end of lunch hour and the place was extremely busy. Normally, I don’t have any problems with noise and motion as customers come and go.

But, there was one guy 40-ish and dressed in shorts, a white t-shirt and flip-flops who sat near me. He was on the phone constantly the whole time I was there, sometimes using a louder than normal voice. To make things worse, he would get up out of his seat and pace up and down the aisle while talking.

I’m okay with short phone conversations in public places as long as there is some consideration for others nearby. But, this guy was out of line.

The next day, I decided to go to see “1917” because it is getting good reviews and is up for several Oscars. Some years, I’ve only seen one or two of the best picture nominees, but I’ve seen several of them this year, so I’ll be more interested to watch the TV show.

This film blew me away. It is shot in such a unique manner totally with a single camera and the scenes are put together to make the story somewhat continuous except for one fade to black late in the film. It’s an amazing accomplishment to see long tracking shots following the main characters through a maze of trenches. The costumes, set design and effects give the viewer the true horror of World War One. It’s pretty amazing.

On Friday, I decided to go on another road trip. This time I drove two hours north of Las Vegas to explore the town of St. George, Utah. The drive up on I-15 was spectacular, especially the 15 miles or so where the road ran parallel to the Virgin River. There were twists and turns among the rock formations that were fun to drive.

St. George is nestled against a range of red hills that overlook the center of town. It had some very nice neighborhoods and a stunning roadway and bike trail up on the red hillside overlooking the city. There is a large, white Mormon temple near the center of town and this city is said to have been the summer home of Joseph Smith.

After lunch and an hour or so of sightseeing, I headed back to Vegas. I hadn’t noticed it on the drive up, but on the last 20 miles of highway entering Vegas, I noticed a lot of trash by the side of the highway and a lot of it had been blown into the desert hundreds of yards from the road. It was disgusting and put a damper on the otherwise good scenery I had seen that day.

Also, on the way to St. George that morning, I was driving east on I-515 before turning north toward Utah. Central Las Vegas is located in a valley and even though the skies were bright and sunny, there was a layer of brown haze over the center of the city. Obviously, the middle of the city has an air pollution issue, but I am staying far enough out of town to avoid that.

The week ended with another workout at the city rec center. This is one advantage this area has over El Paso, where I couldn’t find a place I really wanted to go to keep up with my weight training.

I’ll have more next week.