Rain, Rain, Go Away

Can you believe it, we had a little rain yesterday. Yes, even in Las Vegas we get rain - less than 10% of what we got in the midwest, so when we get rain here it's like driving on ice for the locals. They all slow down - well most of them anyway. When we got up yesterday morning we looked out and there was only a low gray cloud cover to see. We thought, "Well that's not so bad. It's nice to have a little cloudy weather and some rain." However, by the time mid-afternoon rolled around the comment from the front room (the alternate quilting room) was, "Where's the sunshine?" It didn't help that we had this little drizzle (or what we like to call a Las Vegas downpour) going on all day and night.

This morning we got up to another day of predicted rain showers. Thank goodness the weather forecasters in Nevada aren't any better than the ones in the midwest. As it started to clear we went out to get the last of those Christmas packages mailed and the sunshine was peaking through. As we looked east to the strip it was shrouded in a low fog that made the hotels and casinos appear as more of a distant mirage. It was sort of cool. As we looked west the mountains behind our home had a light snow covering and those further away in the Red Rock Conservation Area had snow, clouds and the like. It is absolutely beautiful to see the sun, clouds, and snow on the mountains.

By the time I left for work at noon we had beautiful cumulus clouds with breaks of sunshine coming through. Yes, living in Las Vegas with its 300 plus days of sunshine is wonderful and we certainly enjoy it.

I took this a year ago, but this is the view we often see in the winter when we
look west.

Good Morning Las Vegas! It must be January...

One thing consistent about Las Vegas is its weather: Sunny, warm, and dry. Well, that's usually the case, but this winter it has been wet and cloudy. We keep thinking we could live in Indiana and it would be no different - except of course for the snow. That was before this morning. I was out late (around 6 am) for my morning walk and as I left I noticed a skiff of snow on the roof of my car. By the time I got home it had started snowing and they were big wet drops.

The cat and I went out back to investigate and take a photo. I loved it, but the cat decided she had seen enough and couldn't wait to get back inside. To make it a real snowstorm, however, you need school closing, road closings and lots of accidents. Pharump, about 60 miles from here has closed their schools and the highway west out of Las Vegas is closed as well as a portion of the beltway near our home. And accidents - wholly cow - they are everywhere. You would think these folks had never seen snow before.

I finally thought it was time to get JoAnn up so she could see the snow and we took this photo from the kitchen window.

Now we realize for you northerners and easterners this doesn't hardly count, but come on, every 700 or so days we get one of these and we really don't know what to do with it. The TV announcer suggested everyone keep 5 to 8 car lengths apart. We looked at each other and asked, "What planet is he from?" When you are in a community that can barely handle rain, snow is a disaster of biblical proportions.

Oh yes, I'm working from my home desk today. I'm not venturing out on the roads with all of those fools ... at least not for a while.

Saturday Morning Dreams

Two weeks ago I wrote about "Saturday Night Lights" in Spanish Fork, UT. I meant to followup with this blog right away, but somehow time just got away from me. Not that that's unusual. So here I am on Thursday evening playing catch-up.

If you are a boy and play baseball on Friday night then you should be allowed to sleep in on Saturday morning. Donna's "baby" believes that wholly - even if he doesn't play ball on Friday night.


And like any 9-year old he has his room set up the way he wants it. For example, all you can see of baby is a little hair. That other batch of multicolored hair on the far side of the bed is "Tank," baby's sleeping partner.

To be honest, I haven't seen a leaf canopy over a bed in an awfully long time (like forever), but it gives the room a certain ambiance. It's my understanding that middle child picked out the colors. I didn't count pillows and quilts, but I think he is set for a long spring sleep. If you could have seen outside you would note that the snow was down pretty low. I guess I should have cuddled up like that also (in my own bed).


Note the flashlight on the stand to the left. Standard Army issue from about 1950 to 1990. It looks good, but when I checked it there were no batteries. But then, he sleeps with a light on.

It took a little prodding, but he finally came out from under those covers. Okay, it took a little tickling rather than prodding. But he was all smiles ... which is what we Grandpas look for.

Gotta Love Spring Travel

I truly have become a Las Vegan. If it isn't sunny, warm, and nice I don't much care to travel. Well in the last week I flew to Salt Lake City and upon arrival I picked up my car for the drive to Provo and the woman at the rental counter says, "We are expecting 5 to 8 inches of snow tonight and tomorrow." My response was, "If that's the case, I won't be back tomorrow." Not that I don't like driving in the snow (I don't), but especially not in Salt Lake City or any other big city. And, I'm just a little out of practice. Not much snow (or rain) in Las Vegas.

Jeni, Craig and the kids came for spring break and I promised to drive Jeni and the kids back to Denver since Craig had to go back to work. As I watched the weather (remember I just dodged a storm in Utah) I noted that Denver was set for a Friday-Saturday snow event (that means .1" to 24" depending on how mother nature feels). So we opted to go through Albuquerque to Denver. Yes, it is a little longer, but the scenery is still new to me and with David & Krissie in Albuquerque it makes for a nice stop.

We got off moderately early (5 am), saw Hoover Dam just as it was getting light. Noted the new bridge is making great progress and then headed south to Kingman, AZ and Interstate 40. Off we were east to Albuquerque and making good time. We stopped for gasoline in Flagstaff, noted the wind was getting brisk (how about just plain hard) and got 17 miles east and hit a standstill. We made 1.2 miles in 2 hours. I could see our "good time" going right out the window. By the time we got to the off ramp - yes the road was closed - we were informed all roads east were closed due to high winds (gusts up to 65 mph). So, we turned around, back to Flagstaff, found a hotel with an indoor pool (lukewarm water and cold indoor space, but still indoors) and after everyone quit shivering we were off for lunch. Back in the room we looked outside and yes, the wind was blowing, the side roads were filling up with trucks (nowhere to go) and then the snow hit. It was horizontal (a good Iowa snow) and whiteout conditions.

It really did look a lot colder and snowy when I looked at it. Photos make a car look like it lost 10 pounds - or more.

By comparison the rest of the trip was uneventful. However, as I was driving east on Saturday through eastern Arizona and western New Mexico I thought more than once about the movie Cars and how much scenery we must be missing. Remember the scene with all the traffic on the interstate. Well, that was us! I decided to save that detour for another trip. After all we will be going to Albuquerque 2 more times this summer - on the way to Denver. Thank goodness I don't have to go to Boise to get to Denver.

We had dinner at a little Mexican restaurant on Saturday evening in east Albuquerque, close to the Air Force base, and it was truly a mom and pop operation. The food was superb. It may have helped that we were all starved, but we did have a great time. I had a photo of Jeni expressing just how HOT the red sauce was, but had to censor it (for fear of my own health).

This shot of Alyssa came as she was being a bit of a teen and not wanting a photo taken. I set my iPhone on the table, propped it up with hot sauce container and shot a series of time lapse photos. This was the point where she asked what I was doing. Of course I told her nothing, but I don't think she believed me.

Now, as I sit in the Denver airport waiting I'm excited to go home and see my lover. I've forgotten what it was like to have kids at home and how little of JoAnn I really got to see.

We've Seen Snow...Again

We have had such a beautiful winter (sorry kids), it seemed almost bitter-sweet when the temperature dropped into the 30's for lows over the last 10 days. Even more so we have experienced quite a few rain days (which of course we need). We even had a real midwestern rain day, as noted in a previous blog.


A week ago today, however, we knew rain had just passed and weather was still southern Nevada cold. We had no snow, but as I drove off to the dentist for a 7 am appointment I noticed a little snow on the front mountains, but it wasn't until 90 minutes later when I drove out of the parking lot looking west and I saw the full impact. No, it is not a Wasatch snow and it's not much good for snow caves or cross-country skiing, but it is a Red Rock snow and it is beautiful.

Go to my flickr account to see this panorama as well as other photos, or click on the photo and it will give you a full-screen (width) representation.

We feel fortunate to live so close to the Red Rock Conservation Area and to be able to go out and visit it on a regular basis. We have photos from multiple seasons, but I didn't really have any good snow photos. I was tugged to go work, but also tugged to take some photos. I rationalized, since I did have writing to do, and drove home, picked up my camera and was out the door. The photos in this blog are of Red Rock shortly after the storm and before the sun got too much hold on them. I think they are gorgeous. By the way, I did get some writing done, so no guilt.

Adventures in Traveling: Part 2

It seems like just yesterday we were sitting in the Las Vegas airport waiting for our airplane to be deiced and wondering if the previous day’s snowstorm and airport closure was a premonition of what was to come. It was. We flew into wonderful weather, if you recall, leapfrogging our storm so we could experience it twice. During our stay in Iowa we were not disappointed by winter. We experienced snow, fog, rain, ice storm, sunshine (I’m not sure I remember sunshine), windchill down to a -30 F and a January thaw in December when it got to 51 F. Quite the swing. And of course the ice storm had to wait until the day we left. In terms of an ice storm it wasn’t a big one, but it doesn’t take much of an ices storm to mess things up.

So here we are at an airport once again, this time in Des Moines, Iowa waiting or our airplane. We are hopeful the delay will be short. Delay you say? Yes, not only was their an ice storm in Iowa, but frost on the planes in Las Vegas and we all know how efficient deicing is in Las Vegas.

An ice storm is not my favorite kind of storm, but fortunately the airport is functioning and our airplane is coming in from Las Vegas and won’t be on the ground too long - at least we hope. I just took a photo of a United Airlines aircraft with icicles on its wings. I later found out that one of the deicing trucks was broken and folks were waiting for another plane to be deiced before they were going to have their plane deiced. They had been waiting for over 4 hours. I even saw the pilots get up and leave, shaking their heads. Maybe the keystone cop thing is not reserved just for Las Vegas, but Des Moines has their own keystone cops.


At one point while I was in the restroom I heard from the stall next to me at the “little boy’s urinal” a small boy ask his dad, “Why doesn’t if flush?” (They were auto flush urinals).

Dad responds with, “Let’s not worry about flushing, let’s just get your pants up.” [That sounds awfully familiar. The boy was maybe 4.]

Boy, “Dad, I think you broke the toilet, it won’t flush.”

Dad,with just a touch of frustration, “Let’s go.” As they turn to leave the automatic urinal flushes. No response from either of them, Dad was moving too fast.


Home again, home again and how good it feels. Bright sunshine, beautiful red rock hills, our own home, a cat anxious to spend as much time on our lap as she can. It is always good to be gone, but it is also good to be home. We already miss the kids, but know we left a spoiled grandson behind as a reminder. It was a great trip.

It's what they don't tell you. . .

When we moved to Las Vegas we were prepared to experience, or as some locals say, endure the Strip; live in a beautiful desert; and expect moderate winters. Last winter was just wonderful. After 35 years of midwestern snow and winters we have really enjoyed our new snow-less environment. All these expectations were true, right up until this morning.

Today we got 2 inches of snow. That's the part they didn't tell us about. I'm really not upset, it just was a surprise to us. Now we know, it's what they didn't tell us we need to be listening for. Of course, we didn't ask questions either.

The snow was beautiful and the best part is that it will be gone tomorrow. Then we can get back to normal - dry and beautiful.