2003 May Pictures
May 02, 2003. The MGM Grand Hotel/Casino lion habitat in the casino lobby was a place where guests could watch trainers work with over twenty lions. While we were watching the lions and their trainers one evening, several aliens arrived from different galaxies to see the lions and do some gambling. One group even arrived in their own private spaceship. They must have had a wild and crazy pilot because they were wearing seat belts and one alien looked a little airsick. Another alien from a different galaxy glowed in the dark. (The Lion habitat was open from1999 to 2012 and then closed. One of the trainers and the pride of lions moved to a ranch outside of Las Vegas.)
May 10, 2003. 2003 was a great year for wildflowers, so we drove out to China Ranch and hiked around the area. China Ranch is where they filmed part of the 2002 movie "The Sum of All Fears" and the location where the terrorist found the atomic bomb that had been lost. Some of the movie props were still found around the site. Along with the wildflowers, there were some hollyhocks growing by a small store where we purchased date milk shakes. China Ranch was originally founded as a date farm. (See January 10, 2013, Blog #0036 for more information on China Ranch.)
On the way home we stopped by Zzyzx Resort. Unfortunately, the resort was closed and the lake was dry. Sometime you can ask Kolohe about her speculation concerning the jeans under the Zzyzx sign. (See March 15, 2013, Blog #0046 for more information on Zzyzx.)
Even the flowers in our yard did well in 2003.
May 13, 2003. Drove the backroads to Goodsprings while on a work assignment, so I managed to stop for a few pictures along the way.
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| I let BLM use this picture on the front of one of their publications |
May 15, 2003. In 2003 there were no roads to Sloan Canyon and high-clearance four-wheel-drive vehicles were need to follow a rocky trail that was in poor condition to the canyon entrance. However, residential development was quickly approaching the area, so one afternoon a group from work made the trip with a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) archeologist to learn more about the petroglyphs. Sloan Canyon contains some of the best preserved petroglyphs in the Las Vegas area. (See June 3, 2012, Blog #0005 for more information on Sloan Canyon.)
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| The petroglyph on the left is used on several BLM publications. |
May 18, 2003. Red Rock Canyon NCA is beautiful any time of year, but in the spring of 2003 there were wildflowers throughout the area. While I was taking pictures, a group of bicyclists rode by on their way around the 13-mile loop Road.
After leaving Red Rock Canyon NCA we drove over to Wheeler Pass to see the historic beehive-shaped stone "coke ovens." The small dirt trail that leads up the canyon passed by a number of hoodoo rock formations. (See RonnieAdventures July 12, 2019, Blog #0368 for more information on the Wheeler Pass "coke ovens.")
May 22, 2003. Darcy was in town on a work assignment, so we drove over to Sunset Station to have dinner with her.
May 25, 2003. On May 12, 2003, we had a new addition to the family, so we drove over to Long Beach to see Ashley Jordan.
May 28, 2003. At our May Cub Scout Pack meeting, the Cubs worked on art projects and then we gave out awards. Kendal and Christian also received their Arrow of Light awards and crossed over the bridge to Boy Scouts. The scoutmaster was on the other side of the bridge and welcomed them to his Boy Scout Troop.
