RonniesPictureJournal 2023-004 April Pictures

Historic April 2003 Pictures

April 01, 2003. A group from our field office spent the day at Red Rock Canyon NCA. Mojave Max was out sunning himself.

April 02, 2003. The next day we toured the BLM Desert Tortoise facility where adult tortoises that have contacted Mycoplasma are kept. There were also some baby tortoises at the facility. (Not open to the public.)

April 03, 2002.  Some Arizona friends that Linda worked with were in town, so we stopped by the Bellagio, Venetian, and viewed the Mirage Volcano. 

April 04, 2003. For years Helen Berry volunteered time every day at an elementary school because she liked to help children learn. In 2003, Kristin nominated her for a Jefferson Award and she was selected as one of the winners. Unfortunately, she passed away before the award ceremony. The award was presented posthumously to her husband Jerry in Washington, D.C. Kristin was able to attend the ceremony and we took Jerry to dinner in Las Vegas when he returned.

April 05, 2003 - From our house it is only about an hours drive to Mojave National Preserve where there are lots of off-road trails to follow. Mitchell Caverns is located in the Preserve, so we stopped for a tour. The cave contains some unique cave formations. On the way into Baker we drove by Kelso Sand Dunes and then had dinner at the Mad Greek Restaurant. We typically stop to eat at "Bun Boy," but this time we just stopped for a picture. (See RonnieAdventure March 29, 2013, Blog #0048 for more information on Mojave Desert National Preserve and RonnieAdventure March 8, 2013, Blog #0045 for more information on Baker, CA.)

April 06, 2003. One afternoon I worked at an excavation site, but that is another story that I will tell about in more detail at a later date. 

April 11, 2003. Nik was in town on his way to a work assignment in northern Nevada, so we met with him and his friends at the Bellagio. 

April 12, 2003. The desert wildflowers were great in the spring of 2003, so went on a desert wildflower trip to Buffington Pocket. After going through a dry wash I came to a "T" in the road and did not have a map to indicate which direction I should go. I went right when I should have gone left, but I made back to a paved road before dark.

April 17-20, 2003. The grandkids were in town for Easter weekend, so we shot model rockets, spent some time hiking at Red Rock Canyon NCA, played in the hot tub, found Easter eggs at the park, and then found more Easter eggs in our house. On Sunday morning, the grandkids took a bath, put on clean clothes for church, and had their picture taken with Grandpa and Grandma. 

Over the next few days I also found time to take a few pictures of flowers in our yard

June 24, 2003. The Ernst family was in town, so we went down to the Strip to visit with them.

April 26, 2003. Followed an off-road trail that led up to the historic Christmas Mine. There were a lot of wildflowers along the trail. 

April 28, 2003. Performed a site inspection on the proposed Ivanpah International Airport location, which is on the south side of Interstate 15 near Prim. There was a large hole on the site that was loosely fenced. Not something that a person would accidently want to drive into if not watching where they were going.

April 26, 2003. Held the annual Cub Scout Pack Pinewood Derby that was always exciting.

RonniesPictureJournal 2003-003 March Pictures

2003 March Pictures

March 01, 2003. It was a beautiful spring day so we spent the day exploring Wee Thump Joshua Tree Wilderness Area in Southern Nevada.

March 07, 2003. Spring has sprung. Blossoms are on our Cherry Tree. 

March 08-09, 2003. We made a weekend trip to California and on the way we drove past the Interstate 15 exit for Zzyzx. Zzyzx is not a secret code for a government facility or a directional sign for aliens passing through the area, but it does have an interesting history. 

In 1944 a flim-flam man started bottling spring water at the site and sold it as a cure-all for everything. He even started a health resort at the site. Unfortunately for "Dr. Springer" (he was not really a doctor), in 1974 Federal Marshals arrested him for FDA violations and put him in jail. The Federal Government then took possession of the site. (See RonnieAdventure March 15, 2013, Blog #0046 for more interesting information on Zzyzx.) 

Peggy Sue's 1950s nostalgic dinner near Yermo is a nice place to stop for ice cream because it is almost exactly half way between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. The original restaurant opened in 1954 and was constructed using Union Pacific railroad ties and mortar. 

When Interstate 15 bypassed the restaurant, it closed for lack of business. However, there was interest in the site because of its location, so it reopened again in 1987. 

The restaurant is now decorated with 1950s and 1960s memorabilia and their slogan is "Eat to the Beat," featuring Elvis and Betty Boops. This is now a popular stopping point for tourist and other people traveling on Interstate 15 through Yermo.. (See RonnieAdventure March 28, 2014, Blog #0093 for more information on Peggy Sue's.)

While in Long Beach we went to dinner with Randy, Kim and expectant baby.

 

On the way home we stopped by the Early Man Site east of Barstow. There is probably not an archeological site anywhere in the world that is more controversial than this site. In 1963 Dr. Louis Leakey obtained a research grand from the National Geographic Society to investigate possible early human activity in the area and continued to be involved in the excavation until his death in 1972. At that time the site was taken over by the Bureau of Land Management and excavations continued on a limited basis. Guided and self-guided tours are available and the public can participate in site excavations the first weekend of each month. (See RonnieAdventure August 29, 2013, Blog #0063 for more information on the Early Man Site.)

We typically stop in Baker on the way home because there are a lot of restaurants for such a small town and then it just an easy two hour drive to Las Vegas. The World's Tallest Thermometer is a major tourist attraction in Baker, along with the Alien Fresh Jerky store.  (See RonnieAdventure August 8, 2013, Blog #0045 for additional information on Baker.)

We were about two miles out of Baker when traffic came to a complete stop on the Interstate. After two hours, traffic started moving slowly and after six hours we came upon the accident that was causing the traffic delay. Two tour busses had collided at a road construction site where traffic had narrowed to two lanes. The two busses had hit almost head-on and there were numerous injuries and deaths. The drive from Baker to Las Vegas took eight hours that night. 

March 14, 2003. Picture taken at an Octavia meeting in Phoenix. I was not invited - they just used my new digital camera.

March 22, 2003. Andrew came to Las Vegas to help Grandpa with the Cub Scout Rocket Derby. He brought his own rocket that he had received at Christmas and participated in the rocket launch along with the Cub Scouts and their families. (See RonnieAdventure March 26, 2021, Blog #0457 for additional Cub Scout rocket pictures.)

While Andrew was in Las Vegas, we went to Burger King to get free toys with the kid's meal, played at the new park by our house, and went swimming in the hot tub.