West of Las Vegas

It was raining, but I finally got my picture of the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Sign.  What would a trip to Las Vegas be without stopping and taking pictures in front of the most recognizable sign in the world? Standing over 25 feet tall the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Sign has been a landmark since its construction in 1959 and was designed by Betty Willis for only 4,000 dollars.

The rain brought with it some wind and about a 30-degree drop in temp since yesterday.

Al Capone's Car, a "bulletproof gangster car", owned at one time by mobster Al Capone, and Bonnie and Clyde's car.  There is a mini-museum of artifacts that is interesting.


Pioneer Saloon - Established in 1913, the Pioneer Saloon is a local watering hole that "may be the nation's oldest stamped-metal building".  

I had the Carol Lombard for lunch.  It was really good - basically a breakfast burrito, but it hit the spot.  I passed on the hamburger because they were 1/2 lb or more and I didn't want that much beef.  Service was slow, mostly because the food is prepared in another building and they had to carry it over through the rain.

The weather report showed a couple hours of rain overnight; it rained very cold rain all night and all day.

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area - These colorful sandstone palisades, only 17 miles from the Las Vegas Strip, are among the area's most impressive sights. Hiking trails and a 13-mile scenic drive provide dramatic views of the cliffs and canyons.
  
Several signs remind you to be aware of the desert tortoise crossing the road.  If you ride, I image seeing the canyon from horseback would be awesome.

The “red” rock formations are Aztec Sandstone.  What you see is the fossilized cores of old sand dunes laid down during the early Jurassic Period.  The sand slowly changed into sandstones as subsurface water percolated through the sediments, depositing iron oxide and calcium carbonate in the pore spaces between the grains.  These sandstone formations were slowly uplifted thousands of feet to their present elevation and exposed to weathering and erosion.

The “white” rock is Limestone.

The “golden/brown” rock was caused by the Keystone Thrust Fault.  The Pacific plate began moving under the North American plate, causing compressional forces to push up older limestone rock layers over younger sandstone rock layers.  At Red Rock Canyon, this is visible as grayish carbonate or limestone layers over red and buff colored sandstone.

Seven Magic Mountains, a desert art installation featuring 7 painted boulder totems up to 35 ft. high by Ugo Rondinone.  He did this in April 2017. 


I did find an alternative to using McDonald's as my pitstop.  Circle K - good price on gas, cheap soda, a clean bathroom - what more can a girl ask?