After celebrating a wonderful Christmas in Del Mar with the Jackson/Harrison clan, Bob, Eric and I drove to Las Vegas in our Jeep. It took almost 7 hours to drive there, and when we arrived on the Strip the traffic was not moving. Everyone and their Uncle was in Las Vegas for the holiday week. We stayed at the Tropicana Hotel on the Strip and walked down the Strip for dinner and then to the Beatles Cirque de Soleil show. What an amazing spectacular non-stop show featuring the Beatles music to acrobatics and light show. The next morning we stopped by the Jeep Dealer to look at the Rubicon 4-door Jeeps and to get a price for ours on a trade-in. Bob just happened to find a bright fire-cracker red 4-door Rubicon, so we took a test drive in it. Then it was on to the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation about 17 miles west of Las Vegas where we did a short hike and enjoyed being away from the maddening crowd.
At night we walked the Strip and experienced the multitude of Casinos from the side lines. Too many tourists here getting ready for the New Years celebration. On Monday Eric left for the airport and Bob and I went back to the Jeep Dealer and YES we came back with a new Rubicon 4-door Fire-cracker red Jeep!
The next morning we drove 55 miles NE from Vegas to the Valley of Fire State Park; dedicated in 1935, the Park is Nevada’s oldest and largest state park. We hiked several trails: Balancing Rock Trail, Petrified Logs Trail, Mouse’s Tank Trail, White Domes Trail and the Beehive Trail. Eric was in his element running up and down the huge sandstone formations and peeking through the many carved out holes in the cliffs. The sandstone cliffs appear to be on fire when reflecting the sun’s rays, a beautiful light show.
On our way back to Vegas we drove by Lake Mead Recreation Area and made our way across the Hoover Dam in the Jeep. Amazed by the level of the water because of the lack of rain in CA for too many years.
