Just the other morning as I headed down the street on my way for some shopping, I was struck by the incredible view of the Spring Mountains just 15 or so miles west of Las Vegas. It was 70 degrees here in town, but Mt. Charleston still had lots of snow – after all, it's over 11,000 ft in elevation (compared to about 2200 here in town) and Mt. Charleston looked so close as if it were just around the corner in the next block.
Clara, Sheral and Linda are all taking an embroidery class at one of the local quilt shops. Clara needed to learn so she could do up an Oregon light-house quilt that calls for "red work" to outline the light-houses; so Sheral and Linda decided to join her. Here they are all hard at work – the instructor had the audacity to give them "homework" to be done for the next class.
Las Vegas got its name from the Spanish for "the meadows" because right near the center of town there is a spring that waters the area, hence creates "the meadows." Originally, the town was founded as a railroad watering stop because of this spring and the availability of water for the trains. Finally the city is getting around to memorializing its heritage by creating the "Springs Preserve," a combination natural area and meeting place complete with a small (but Wolfgang Puck operated) restaurant.
Clara and her friends were there for lunch one day, and just the other evening, we all went there for a light supper and the evening "Café Concert," featuring an
excellent lounge singer who
was also expert on the harp.
The view of the downtown skyline gave me pause – viewing "New Vegas" from the site of "Old Vegas," where "New Vegas" is even decorated with the Nevada State Bird atop the largest, but as yet unfinished, building on the skyline. [For the uninitiated, the Nevada State Bird is the (construction) crane!]
The Stratosphere Hotel and Casino, shown here after dark, is somewhat reminiscent of Seattle's Space Needle, although it's nearly twice as tall. That building at the bottom is itself 24 stories high. Here's a note from Wikipedia:
the 1,149 ft (350 m) Stratosphere Tower, the tallest free-standing observation tower in the United States[1] and the second tallest in the Western Hemisphere,
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