THE JOYS OF FLYING AND OTHER STUFF

April 29 – Marsha arrived home (Las Vegas) last night but not without experiencing the “joys of air travel.” The first leg of her flight was delayed in Akron/Canton, OH, by about 30 minutes, putting reaching her Denver connecting flight in jeopardy.

She flew Frontier. This was her pilot.

The site below.

Upon arriving in Denver she only had a few minutes to run the length of the terminal to the gate for her next flight. Upon arriving at the gate, she found this flight too was delayed. Well, at least she didn't miss the flight!

Her pilot for this trip.

Marsha was able to get some great mountain pictures out of the airplane windows. Look at all the snow in the mountains between Denver and Las Vegas.

Just gorgeous.

After finally arriving in Las Vegas, passengers were notified to remain in there seats due to a medical emergency. A passenger had passed out during the flight, and an EMS crew would have to help remove him from the plane before anyone could disembark. No word on how the passenger was medically. Eventually, we were united and made the short drive back to Boulder City and the motorhome at the Elks Lodge.

We had some excitement in the sky over the Elks Lodge this morning. First event was a flyover by six military helicopters. They were heading in the direction of the Hoover Dam. How neat would that be to see them flyover the dam.

The next surprise was skydivers parachuting just to the SE of the campground. This goes on several time a week. There must be a jump club at the nearby general aviation airport.

On Marsha's last day in Ohio, she spent a wonderful afternoon having lunch with her dad, his sister, Lois, cousin Phyllis and friend Dini. This picture is for Phyllis. She said she had never had her picture in a blog.

L-R: Dad, Marsha, Dini, Phyllis, Aunt Lois.

A couple of happy pictures from Marsha last night in Ohio. The family went to a local winery.

Dad

Kelly

Marsha brought back a souvenir from Ohio. Her brother, Rod and his wife, Katie, found this neat beer holder emblazoned with the Cleveland Indian Logo. Cool.

Update on the Tribe…They end April in FIRST place in the Central Division of the American League. GOOOOOO Tribe!

Our next blog will be about our visit to downtown Las Vegas and the Strip. Come on back and see if the slogan, “What goes to Vegas, stays in Vegas,” is true!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day.

WHAT IS GOING ON WITH MARSHA IN CANTON, OHIO?

Thursday, April 26 – While Paul is back in Boulder City, NV, Marsha is enjoying precious time with family and friends. But first things first.

Marsha's back was not good on her long flight back to Ohio. She took a pain pill from Nevada to Atlanta, GA, which knocked her out…she is a lightweight when it comes to pain medicine. Once she left Atlanta and landed in Canton, OH, she headed for a long nap. Kelly came to visit her along with other family members Friday night.

Finally Saturday morning, she had had enough. Kelly drove her to Stat Care where she found out she had pulled two muscles and had Sciatica. Sciatica is a symptom of another medical problem, not a medical condition on its own…a result of either an injury, back problem or muscle pull. She received an injection of two anti-inflammatory meds….one short-term and one long-term. She did receive relief from the injection. Dr. Dang also gave her a NON drowsy pain medicine which after she took one promptly passed out for three hours. So much for the NON drowsy part.

Sunday found her enjoying her church family and diner with Kelly, Dave and his parents.

Left-right: Dave, Kelly, Marsha, Jackie, David

Thanks Dave for buying lunch for us all.

She was sooooo happy when Monday came. She got to have her favorite all-time hair dresser, Krista, color and cut her…as she calls it…mop! Krista just opened her own salon, and Marsha wanted to give her something for the shop. So she whipped up a new basket and presented it to her. Marsha said Krista loved it. Marsha gave her a big bag of mints to put in it.

Besides visiting with Kelly, dad and family, she has been enjoying several evenings out with her good friends. The photo below are with her "Jackson Divas plus one." She has divas all over the country. This group all taught together except Joyce, who was also a teacher but in a different school district. Of course they all had tons of fun and laughter.

Front: Stephanie, Leigh Ann, Cindy. Back: Joyce, Marsha, Sharon

She is SUPPOSE to be sitting on the heating pad, doing stretches and TRYING to relax. She says she is as much as she can. BUT…Thursday finds her back at Stat Care. She said the hip and back just won't stop. Again Dr. Dang was on call. He pinched, pulled, twisted and tapped everywhere. He heard no cracking in the hip joint, and Marsha told him that she had no pain when he was rotating it. Conclusion…going to take time before those muscles heal. Even though she told him the last pain meds knocked her out, he wrote a prescription for Vicodin. He said…don't drive if she takes one….NO DUH! She got the prescription filled but won't take it unless she is in dire need.

We will skip hiking Red Rock Canyon this time around. Paul will continue is two-a-day bike rides. We will walk the streets of Las Vegas when Marsha arrives back on Saturday.

For all of you that fell for Paul pitiful attempt for sympathy, Marsha agrees with Margery…Hey, Paul...just how much mess can one person and one cat make? Please don't feel sorry a moment for him. He puts a Walmart bag on the counter, throws his garbage in there, walks all of 30 steps to dispose of it.

Also here is a picture he sent to from his phone.

Sitting outside in the gorgeous weather watching the Cleveland Indians on our new TV.

Now I, Marsha, ask you…how much work do you think is really getting done?

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day.

ANOTHER GREAT RIDE…RIVER MOUNTAIN TRAIL

Saturday, April 21 – Paul has been riding many of the bike trails here in the Boulder City Area. One he has found exceptionally nice is the River Mountain Loop Trail. Planning for the River Mountains Trail began back in 1996.

It is a paved trail, 35 miles long, around the River Mountains. There are many trail heads where you can park the car and enter the trail. Remember, this trail system is in the mountains around the Boulder City, City of Henderson, Lake Mead, and Hoover Dam areas.

Formed by fiery lava erupting from small volcanoes nearly 5 million years ago, the River Mountains have been chiseled by water down cutting its way to the Colorado River.

Being a “flatlander,” Paul is not use to riding in the mountains, and it's taking some conditioning to get use to the many hills.

He goes out twice a day, for about an hour each time riding.....remember his Dear Marsha is in Ohio visiting family. Poor guy! He's getting use to some of the trails but there is one he will NEVER try. That's the 5-mile up the hill (7+percent grade) from the Hoover Dam to Boulder City. That would definitely be a killer!!!

Looking towards Railroad Pass.

He's also using the time, home alone, to get some maintenance chores done around the motor home. Of course, he's doing double duty, working outside and doing daily house work chores.....a man's work is never done!

A note from Marsha on Paul's above paragraph…BOOOOOO HOOOOOO!

Marsha took this picture of the Las Vegas Strip from her plane.

Looks like such a big area on the ground, but so small from the air.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

GREAT BIKING/HIKNG TRAILS IN BOULDER CITY

Thursday, April 18 - Paul rode his bike on the Historic Railroad Tunnel bike path this afternoon.

A look from above at one of the entrances to a tunnel.

You park near the Lake Mead Visitor's Center where the 35-mile River Mountain Loop Trail splits off toward the Hoover Dam. This is one of two most difficult sections of track to construct.

The gravel trail passes through five tunnels carved through the mountain. The first tunnel is about a mile down the trail and then passes through the other four within the next mile. All tunnels are approximately 300 ft. in length, and 25 ft. in diameter. The tunnels were oversized to fit penstock sections and large equipment being transported to Hoover Dam.

These are old railroad tunnels that were dug through the mountain prior to construction of the Hoover Dam so gravel, concrete, and parts for the electrical generators could be delivered to the construction site.

Being a former railroad bed, Paul assumed the trail would be fairly level. Like most of the roads and trails in the Boulder City area, this trail has some challenging hills. They get the lungs and heart working overtime.

This unique and historical trail is a must for hikers and bike riders while in the area. It takes about an hour to ride from the Lake Mead Visitor's Center to the Hoover Dam area. Don't miss it if you visit the area!

Paul dropped Marsha off at the airport at 8:30. She is taking the red eye to Canton, Ohio with a layover in Atlanta. She is going to be one tired girl. She will lose three hours once she reaches Ohio. Maybe a little nap is in her future.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

TOWERING RED CLIFFS…RED ROCK CANYON

Tuesday, April 17 – After our visit to Hoover Dam, we then headed to the other side of Las Vegas to drive the beautiful Red Rock Canyon.

The Canyon is located in the Mojave Desert. 

The area is 195,819 acres and is visited by more than one million people each year. A National Conservation Area allows free admission with the Golden Age Pass otherwise it costs $7 per vehicle.

It is a 13-mile one way drive through the Canyon. The drive circles the canyon floor at the foot of the Rainbow and La Madre Mountains.

View of the drive.

There is a beautiful visitors center with plenty of displays and learning opportunities about the living desert. There are indoor and outdoor displays. One could spend several hours here, but we came for the drive through the canyon, so only stayed briefly.

The area is full of hiking trails. Over 19 trails ranging from Easy to Strenuous. There are even mountain climbing opportunities for those looking for that type of excitement. Unfortunately, Marsha's back pain has moved to her hip and hiking was out of the question for this trip. Maybe, next week!

Tons of opportunity to do some serious rock climbing.

If you are looking for awesome scenery and fabulous hiking trails, do not miss Red Rock Canyon. Beauty all around!

Not far from Red Rock is Nevada's Mt. Charleston, 11,916 feet. We were really surprised to see snow on the top. We were told that the week before we arrived there was a big rain storm in Vegas and the Mountain got about six inches of snow.

Marsha is flying home this evening on the "red eye" out of Las Vegas. She will be in Ohio visiting our daughter, Kelly, her dad, family and friends for 8 days. Since we won't be back in Ohio until probably early fall, she wants to see our daughter and her dad.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

TAMING THE WILD RIVER…HOOVER DAM

Tuesday, April 17 - We headed to Hoover Dam this morning to checkout the new bridge from a tourist vantage point and to visit the Dam. We had previously taken the dam tour many years ago on a vacation to the area.

We started our visit by walking across the new bridge, Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge.

 

Mike O’Callaghan was a former Nevada Governor from 1971 to 1979 and later became an editor of the Las Vegas Sun newspaper. Pat Tillman was an Arizona State University graduate who left a lucrative NFL football career to join the Army in 2002. He was killed in Afghanistan from a friendly fire incident in April of 2004 at the age of 27.

To get to the bridge there are tons of steps or a paved walkway to tackle.

They needed to reinforce the walls along the walkway.

The bolts are 20 ft. into the side of the mountain.

Looking across the walkway.

The bypass bridge (new bridge), located approximately 1,500 feet south of the dam, is 1,900 feet long. The arch span stretches 1,060 feet, and the deck stands 900 feet above the river. It is the world’s highest concrete arch bridge.

The road on the new bridge.

Paul was amazed that people are permitted to walk across this bridge in this day and age. We didn't even see any cameras watching the pedestrians on the bridge (I'm sure they were there somewhere).

Marks the middle of the bridge.

It sure is an awe inspiring walk looking W A Y down at the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. Another engineering marvel to partner with the dam.

If you would like to see some amazing photos of this bridge being built, please click on this link.

Hoover Dam is named for Herbert Hoover, the nation’s 31st president. After he left office, the names “Boulder Canyon Dam” and “Boulder Dam” were frequently used, allegedly because the new Secretary of the Interior did not like the former president.

Hoover Dam is 726 feet high, 45 feet thick at the top and 660 feet at the bottom, and is larger than the Great Pyramid of Cheops.

Hoover Dam is filled with 3.25 million cubic yards of concrete, enough to pave a strip 16 feet wide and 8 inches thick from San Francisco to New York City.

The total cost of the bypass bridge is $240 million, $100 million in federal funds, $20 million each from Nevada and Arizona, and $100 million in state bond funds.

Backside of bridge.

The lake surface is far below the high water mark, surrounded by a broad, white "bathtub ring" of mineral deposits left along the shoreline by the retreating water.

Spillway area.

We then returned to our car and drove across the Hoover damn and parked on the Arizona side. We walked back across the damn to view the new bridge from below and to see the sights and memorials on the dam.

Drive on dam.

View from Dam.

Two winged figures, 30 feet tall and made of bronze, stand on the Nevada side’s approach to the dam. Legend has it that rubbing their toes brings good luck.

Paul trying to get some good luck.

No we didn't need to use the dam restrooms, talk to the dam tour guide or do any other dam activity…we just couldn't resist.

A special thanks to Rick, Rick and Paulette's RV Travels. In a comment he suggested we get there early. We were there by 9 and beat the crowds. As we were making our way across the new bridge, a huge bus load of people got off. Thank goodness we arrived early!

We made a brief stop to look at Lake Mead. It also has is very low and has the "bathtub ring."

On our way back up the mountain toward Boulder City, NV, we saw three groups of Long Horn Sheep grazing on the green grass between the highway and a couple Little League Fields. The sheep evidently know where to find some grass that gets watered.

Another great day and great visit. 

Correction:  Our apology to Mike and Pat, Mike and Pat's Travels. We called their Angel kitty Megabyte instead of Megabyte2. Their kitty by any name is just beautiful.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!