Lake Mead and Las Vegas-Quite a Contrast

Here we are at Boulder Beach Campground in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Boulder Beach, Nevada. We are about 30 miles from Las Vegas and 5 miles from the Hoover Dam. This area is so pretty. I honestly think it is one of the prettiest places we have been since leaving home. Pictures do not always do it justice, but the lakes are so blue and the mountains are muted shades of many different colors. This country has some beautiful areas, all of which are God's creations. We have found on this trip that the country out here in the west is so different than back east. I've yet to see much green in the mountains and yet they are still beautiful in their own way. Until recently, we haven't seen much grass either as the desert is mostly sand and rocks with just a little greenery here and there. Of course, that beats 3 or 4 feet of snow any day.







Below are some of the scenic views we have seen here, many of which were taken from our truck or along side the road after we pulled up. I hope you enjoy!

We decided to visit Las Vegas, so we headed there one afternoon. These pictures below are not shown in any particular order. Some were taken in daylight and some after dark. We decided to park our car in the parking garage at the Mirage. We walked though the place and believe it or not, we did not gamble. Al and I are just not into gambling. For me, it has a lot to do with my upbringing. My mom was so against gambling of any kind. Now, I have gambled a few times in my life, but I never really saw the fun in it anyway. It was dinner time, so we did decide to gamble on the buffet at the Mirage, and we lost. For the cost of $28 apiece, we would have had a better meal at the Golden Coral.

We are going to a concert here tomorrow night (Thursday). Terry Fator is a ventriloquist, impressionist, comedian, and singer. He does over 100 different impersonations and has 16 different puppets. When he sings through his ventriloquism, he sounds just like the singer he is impersonating. I have seen him perform Garth Brooks, Stevie Wonder, Elvis, Sonny and Cher, Louie Armstrong and many more. He won the "America's Got Talent" contest a few years back and now has his own show in Vegas. I can hardly wait.

This is a little blurry, but I liked how it looks at night anyway.

I just love "The Eiffel Tower" It is a replica of the one in Paris, and is just so pretty at night.

We are having a great time here. Our main reason for visiting here was to see the Hoover Dam, and I decided I wanted to do a blog all by itself on that. It is really magnificent to see, and we have so many pictures, it will take me awhile to sort through them all. So that will be our next post.