Red Rock Canyon

Good afternoon.
Yesterday, we drove over to the west side of the valley and went to Red Rock National Conservation Area . It is literally just a couple of miles from the Las Vegas sprawl.

Here's a pic from the visitors center. That is Craig in the shadows....   :-)
The 13 mile driving tour goes right along side all that red rock...

One of the many trails you can walk at the park.

We had a nice time. Very scenic and way busier than we expected for mid week. But it is so close to Vegas and a very popular destination.
Another weather front is blowing through the valley taking our 90 degree weather back down to 70. That's one thing we've noticed out here is there is a lot of windy days. I'll take those over cold and snow anytime.     :-)
I spent most of today cleaning the house. It's looking good!   :-)

flowers blooming

Good morning.
I've just returned from my morning walk.
The weather has been beautiful! Sunny and highs in the 80's. My morning walks in the low 60's.
Things are blooming!

Roses are starting to bloom all over the neighborhood. especially the climbing roses.

And the cactus are just starting to bloom also.

I love the brilliant colors some of the cactus's  have.
And yesterday, I spotted a Robin on the neighbors wall...Took the pic through the bedroom shades. Didn't want to scare it off.

I still can't believe they are nesting here. Maybe they heard it's still snowing up north and are hanging around till it warms up.  Who knows...    :-)
Had lunch yesterday at Big Dog's Tavern. They have really good smoked sausage sandwiches. And a patio to enjoy the beautiful weather.
That's about it for now.

backyard pics.

Good morning.
I've just returned from my 40 minute morning walk. It's a mild 67 out this morning. Warmest morning we've had so far.   :-)
Here's a few pics of our ever evolving back yard.....

Our Bougainvillea made it through the winter and is blooming already! It should look a lot better in a few weeks as it has numerous new leaves starting to emerge. The purple creeping Lantana has pretty much bloomed all winter, but now is really starting to put out the flowers.

I've added a few pots of annuals this year.

We'll see how l;long they can take the heat.   :-)
Also, I went to the dentist and had my 6 mo. cleaning. All is good there. Craig and I gave each other haircuts, and a neighbor had a little patio party yesterday evening.
I've also started the process of looking into different medicare plans. Trying to figure out what I want to do. I have to sign up in July. At least it looks like I'll have my Obama care until then.   :-)
Well, that's all for now....

community pics.

Good morning.
Some random pics from my walk this morning....

Our communities 'Doggie Park'. The only grass in our community out side the golf course and main entrances.

As you leave our community from Widewing Rd. across the street is the giant parking structure for the casino, Hotel and the 16 screen theater.

This is on both sides of the main entrance into our community.

Here's a couple of pics I took of the casino/hotel from across the street as I walked down Elkorn toward Aliante Blvd.

 Above is a fountain/pond near the corner of Elkorn and Aliante.
Here's one of many drainage ditches that run along the edges of the golf course fairways

And this is the entrance to our community center. The board just approved expanding the center and joining the 2 sections together. It won't cost the homeowners anything. It's being paid with surplus cash. We have a very good/frugal board that manages our finances.

We also managed to wash and wax the Hyundai and I trimmed up the weeping rosemary bushes.
Life is good in the desert!   :-)

Monday update.

Good morning.
 Craig and I did a different afternoon walk a couple of days ago. We were going to walk Nature Discovery park which is in the top middle of this pic, right across the highway from our community.

 But we forgot it was Easter weekend and the park was packed with picnickers and parties. So we parked at the library at the south end of the park and walked to a linear park that starts near the middle of the top pic and runs to the bottom right. That long narrow green space on the map.

It's technically a drainage channel for the neighborhood, but they grassed it and added trees and shrubs and a walkway along the one side.

It was really a nice walk! it snakes through a neighborhood. Homes back up on both sides of this 'park'. There are 4-5 throughout  our master community so we'll be doing more of them in the future.
And on my early morning walk, I had to take a pic of what I call the baldies....

They are a large group of ornamental grasses that they cut back every spring to a round mound. They do grow grass, but it's very sparse.  Looks kinda funny!   :-)
We also went over a neighbors for a patio dinner party on Sat. About a dozen neighbors and a lot of good snacking food. Easter Sunday we had pork steaks on the grill. Yummy!
And that's it for now....