THINGS TO DO AND HISTORY

THINGS TO DO Southern Nevada

Awesome One Day Get Aways (With Potty stops noted.)
Cheap Tickets (Nationwide)
Culture & Performing Arts
Farmers Markets***
Finding Lost Money Nationwide
Fung Shui
Genealogy (digging up dirt, family style :)
History (just the good stuff)

The Farmer’s Markets tend to move around so check their website to be sure. www.lasvegasfarmersmarkets.com See Interesting Web Sites for Nationwide Mkts.


AWESOME ONE DAY GETAWAY’S
Just a few hints before you jump into the car and take off.

TRAVELING
Take care, always! Go prepared!

It’s a MUST, YOU JUST HAVE TO DO IT, check your car fluids and tire pressure. Bad tires cause a lot of accidents, low air pressure wastes gas by the gallons. Get some of those little goodies that screw on to your tire valves and turn red when the air pressure is too low. They work, I have them. Something new that I like. Now you can have Nitrogen put in your tires, like the race car drivers have. It keeps the pressure even for as long as 6 months and that saves wear and tear, and money, on your tires. I found it at Costco Tire Center.

If you have automatically locking car doors, be sure to always leave a window down when “hopping out of the car” for a quick look at something. It is MUCH MUCH to easy to lock yourself out of your car even with the motor running.

ALWAYS carry extra water for your car and you. Take snacks and always always always carry a few extra pills that are vital to your well being. You know what they are. The huge traffic jam you get stuck in due to someone else Being
stupid could get you a ride in an ambulance too. Especially true for those with diabetes or low blood sugar. I carry nuts and beef jerky.

Put these in your car in a small carrying case to keep it neat.
1 or 2 small blankets, I LOVE micro fleece. Small but warm.
A first aide kit A flashlight with extra batteries, Check it often

TRAVELING
Take care, always! Go prepared!

An umbrella, bright yellow is best
A cheap air horn and a whistle
An insulated windshield sunscreen, or even 2
Sun screen, a cheap hat, gloves
Whatever else that would make it easier for you if you were stuck between a rut and a worse place.

Basics are fine, BUT add those things that meet your needs if you get stuck somewhere based on the weather.

AWESOME ONE DAY GETAWAY’S

Cell phone? Usually they don’t work if you are REALLY stuck in an out of the way area. I love out of the way areas, my motto is “any old road will do.” So I carry a walkie talkie and fresh batteries.

If you have to take a walk you’ll need tennis shoes and socks. When you buy a new pair put the old ones in your trunk or bag. Don’t forget comfy socks. Heels or open sandals just don’t cut it. Add what ever else that you know you would want if you got stuck somewhere. I carry a bottle of stuff to get the water out of my gas if I need it. It has happened, usually in the middle of the boonies, but not since I started carrying a little bottle of prevention. It’s cheap too!

You are in the desert. Really, in the desert. Anyway you go there will be more desert before there is anything to see or do. So………. A few suggestions.

If you like music while you drive, you will need to take it with you. CD’s or cassette tapes unless you like to sing or enjoy silence, a lot of it. As an example, I drove Death Valley and the only thing on the radio was drumming, Native American drumming. I enjoyed it BUT I always carry CD’s in my car now. I listened to the drums for a very long time. They are beautiful but almost hypnotic after a period of time.

Travel with drinks, water, a thermos of coffee and snacks like nuts, cookies, fruit, you know what you like. On long drives, take a lunch, pack a picnic lunch or heavy snacks. It can be a long way between places where you can buy food and sometimes you don’t want to buy what you see. That is a hint. There are usually lots of places to stop and fix your own goodies, if you brought them. I like to carry mustard and mayo in my cooler so I can pick up some fresh rolls and deli meat at a market just before leaving town. Don’t forget your drinks. AND take any medications you need with you.

A lot of places to see are in National Parks so just go ahead and buy a pass. If you are over 62, it’s only 10 bucks for a
life time pass. Otherwise it’s 40 big ones every year and it is still a good deal. In most cases you can get a discount pass if you are handicapped. It is worth asking.

Go forth, seek, find and ENJOY!

SOUTHWESTERN UTAH
Lots of terrific things to see and do year round

BASIC DIRECTIONS: Take the I 15 North to Utah. It’s about 120 miles or 1 ½ to 2 hours, depending on how heavy your foot is.
POTTY STOPS:
1) Take the Speedway Exit to the truck stop restaurant. If you park in back it’s must faster!
2) Moapa Smoke and Fireworks Shop

3) Mesquite, either exit. Try McD at the first one and Burger King at the second one.
4) Rest stop just inside Utah. Behind the truck inspection.

FOOD STOPS:
Shoney’s at the St. George exit (go right) is almost always good. I like their breakfast buffet. Taco Time (go left) is good for lunch or whatever. They are closed on Sunday’s. There are a lot of places to choose from on both sides of the I 15.

1st Trip
Get off on Bluff St, go left, follow signs to Santa Clara. Enjoy the history, roadside stands with fruits, nuts, jams, & honey. Take your time and fool around. You’ll want to come back many times.

2nd Trip
Get off on Bluff St, go left and follow the road past Santa Clara to Snow Canyon sign and make a left. You won’t need directions to find this interesting and beautiful. Just follow the signs.

3rd Trip
This time keep going past the Snow Canyon turn off to the Pine Valley turn off. Go right, keep following the signs. When you see a small white church on your right side and you have to go either right or left, go right. Park by the church and check it out. It has guided tours from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend. It’s built like a wooden ship upside down. Take your time, then when you are finished turn around and go to your left. It’ll cost you a few bucks to get in the park but it is more than worth it. This is where you will want to have a picnic lunch or come back and camp or fish or walk or hike or anything that feels good. It is a beautiful place, I love the reservoir. Sometimes just silence and trees is about as good as it can get.

4th Trip
Head for St George, again, have lunch and then get back on the I 15, go right at the Zion turn off. Zion is incredible any time of the year. The shuttle runs from early spring to fall. Take it late at night around 10 or so and star gaze with someone
friendly. During the winter time you can drive all the way back to the River Walk.
You definitely want to take this walk, God’s handiwork is everywhere and the saying “leaving it right where HE threw it works for me!”

5th Trip
After the Riverwalk you can go back or, do this. Make a left at the road you turned on to go to the Riverwalk, going away from the way you came. You will go through an incredible tunnel. There is no way this tunnel would or could be built in this day and age. Keep going, following the signs to Bryce Canyon. The best viewing is in the afternoon. That is when
You can see the “Who Doos” best.

I have done, Zion, Kolob, Cedars Break and Bryce in one day, BUT I had seen each before. It’s a great trip but it’s a lot of driving for just one day unless you stay overnight somewhere.

6th Trip
Back on the I 15, go past the Zion turn off to Kolob, go right. This one is a short trip but very pretty. It should take about an hour at an easy pace. There is an out house at the end of the road for those who need to know or go.

7th Trip
Back to the I 15 Go to Cedar City, watch for the Brian Head turnoff, turn right and follow it. Great for skiing, but not very much to do in the summer. On the way back to the I 15, watch for a small sign that says “Vermillion Castle and Cliffs,” make a right and follow the road. Keep your eyes wide open and look every way possible because it is mind boggling in its beauty. The road is small and turns to dirt after 5 or 6 miles. There are some camping areas. The “castle” is on the left and I have no idea what those cylinder things are in front of the castle. They reminded me of something from the 1960’s movie “Time Machine.”

When you turn around and head back to Vegas, a good stop for dinner is one of the Mesquite Casinos, if for no reason other than just being cost effective. Provided you don’t “play” your way in and out of the door.

NEXT TIME
After leaving LV, again take the I 15 toward Utah, turn left on Highway 93 and go North. It’s a bit too hot to do in summer but the rest of the time, especially fall, it’s very nice.

Take food and drinks as there are very few places to buy anything. About 90 to 95 miles from LV there will be 2 rather large lakes on your left. Between the huge old cottonwoods and the lakes with many birds you just don’t normally see, it is a treat. There is fishing and picnicking. This is the Pahranagat Lakes National Wildlife Refuge and just on the other side of the road it is pure unadulterated desert. Just amazing! If you are in the mood to go further, follow the signs to Caliente (it means HOT, and it will be) and have a nice lunch at the beautiful train depot. If you are still game, go south through Rainbow Canyon back to the I 15. You will miss the lakes taking this route. It’s a beautiful ride once you get to one of the places. Going further, follow the signs, and it will lead you to Rachel, the home of the Lil’ Alien café. They have pretty good food there too. At least you can say you’ve been there.


MORE GET AWAY’S!!!

Overton, Logandale, Valley of Fire, Lake Mead, The Saddle

Potty Stops. Just a couple, the first two I mentioned, there is always one “somewhere” near a park or museum.

This one is easy in one day unless you take a long hike. Take the I 15 to the Overton turn off, the one past the Valley of Fire exit sign at the Moapa Smoke Shop turnoff. The fair is out here also. Check out the Lost City Museum, then follow the road to the Valley of Fire. There are lots of things to check out and do here. It’s a real good idea to wear good walking shoes like tennis shoes or hiking boots if you like that kind of stuff.



Do them all or save some for the next time. You can go back to the I 15 and come out at the Moapa turnoff or go back to the road to Lake Mead. If you go back to the road by Lake Mead, you can get back to North Las Vegas by going through the Saddle. It looks like a saddle! As soon as you go through it pull off to the left and look for the Zone of Unconformity. Dirt on one side of this virtually invisible line is a few million years older than on the other side due to massive earthquakes. Frenchman’s Mountain USED to be 50 miles on THE OTHER SIDE of the valley. That is a mind boggling thought. It’s makes the song “A Whole Lot of Shaking Going On” sound like it is a major understatement when referring to Mother Nature.

Hoover Dam, Wilson Beach, West Rim of the Grand Canyon
Nelson, and Laughlin
Go South on 95 to the dam. You have probably already done the dam. If you know what a dam is and does, drive across it. PS it’s very pretty at night from the Arizona side. About 7 or 8 miles further make a right at the Wilson Beach sign. At the bottom of the hill is the Colorado River and a beautiful beach. You can fish, swim, boat, picnic or just watch the river roll by. There should be a color called Colorado River Blue. It is beautiful. They even have palm trees

Back to the 95, make a right and go South about 22 miles to the Dolan Springs sign, go left and keep on going to the end. It will take you to the lesser known West side of the Grand Canyon and a neat old town. Recently there has been a change, an expensive one, now it costs $35.00 or more, for a ride on a shuttle to the canyon’s edge and soon there will be skywalk. That is just plain scary! My feet will never touch it. That or you can take a flight for a bit more. They just out priced me. It is Indian territory and they can do what they like and they are, apparently.

When going back, or another day, take the South turn that goes to Laughlin. that goes to Nelson, an old mining town. They have an interesting tour and some neat stuff to look at. Take your time then go further down the road and park at the overlook of Lake Mojave.


Beatty, Goldfield, Tonopah
There isn’t much between here and Beatty, except for Indian Springs . It’s a good lunch and bathroom stop. Next stop is Beatty, a small mostly retirement

community. More places to eat and get relief. There are several small ghost towns nearby to check out, like Rhyolite and Belmont, just beyond Tonopah. Then on to Goldfield. It too is mostly a ghost town but more and more people are moving out there to join them and it’s looking better and “more lively.” Not much further to Tonopah, a little bigger city with a tremendous mining history to it. Drive to a high spot and look it over. Check out the museum and mining park. The mining equipment of yesteryear is something else, I can’t even imagine making it much less using it. If you stay the night, try the Jim Butler Motel. It has the yesteryear feel but with the cleanliness and friendliness that is seldom found in the newer hotels &
motels. USA Today listed Tonopah as the #1 viewing spot in the nation for stargazing because they have the least light pollution of the entire United States. Since it is not close to much of anything it makes for some awesome viewing. They like to say they are “centrally isolated.” Check out www.tonopahstartrails.com

Pahrump & Scotty’s Castle

Don’t do Scotty’s Castle in the summer or when it is hot. If it’s hot here it’s more like Hades there. They don’t call this Death Valley for nothing. It is a neat trip when it is cool.

They have 2 tours, in the castle and under the castle. I really enjoyed the one in the castle and can’t wait to go back for the one underneath, called the “technology” tour.

Take the I 15 South to Blue Diamond Road, go right, West, over the “hump” to Pahrump. It’s about 55 miles to Pahrump once you are on Blue Diamond. This is an extremely dangerous road, drive very careful and stay alert. They call it “widow maker” for a reason. Most accidents are fatal and are caused by unsafe passing.

Pahrump is where a lot of people live that just want away from the city, LV. But their city is growing by leaps and bounds. “Pah” usually means “water” and “rump” has been said to mean “rock.” Or maybe something else, however, the locals have another name for it, at least the ones with a sense of humor. It has something to do with elephants and flatulence noises. You can figure that one out.

Leaving Pahrump, still going West, but sort of North, you’ll probably see a couple of “mobile” trailer ranches. They don’t “raise” anything that can be sold at a market. However it can be an expensive day for gentlemen callers. You get my drift.
Keep going until you see the sign for Scotty’s Castle, make a left. It is really a castle. Take the tours, both of them. It’s terrific.


REAL CLOSE THINGS TO DO

Red Rock National Park, Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, Floyd Lamb State Park (Tulle Springs) & Mount Charleston

Take Charleston Blvd. West. You’ll see the turn off. The views are incredible. Those big red rocks are petrified sand dunes, they are red due to iron oxide, rust, and the white parts are where the oxide leached out from water. The results are magnificent for us. Lots of hiking trails, even one for children, plus a 13 mile loop to drive so you can get a real good look. Picnic areas and potty’s are through out the drive. It is a favorite area for rock climbers, bring your binoculars!
Leaving the 13 mile loop drive, make a right and you’ll come to Spring Mountain Ranch State Park. The name, Spring Mountain, comes from the 50 or so natural springs that are in the mountain range. It doesn’t seem like something this beautiful could possibly be in the desert much less so close to LV. We are the lucky ones because it is. Enjoy it completely, many times. Better yet, volunteer to work there, I did and it was wonderful. Take the walking tours if it isn’t too hot for you. There is a lot of history here to be enjoyed. Soak it up. The park has plays in the evenings during the summer months. It is a local’s favorite. Lum of “Lum and Abner” radio fame (Way back!) built the ranch house to be used as a vacation home.
Get cheap tickets to big shows in town?


Call Las Vegas, Tickets2nite (702) 968.8800 or go on line to www.tickets2nite.com

Here are a few more last minute ticket sites and numbers.
Boston, Bostix (617)262.8632 www.artsboston.org

Chicago, Hot Tix (312)554.9800 www.hottix.org

Los Angeles, La Stage Tix only www.lastagetix.com

New York, Tkts (212) 221.0013 www.tdf.org/tkts

San Diego, Arts Tix www.sandiegoperforms.com/artstix 9619) 497.5000

San Francisco, Tix Bay Area www.tixbayarea.org
(415) 433.7827

Seattle, Ticket/Ticket (206)324.2744 no website L

Vancouver, B.C., Tickets Tonight www.ticketstonight.ca
(604)684.2787
Washington, D.C., Ticketplace www.ticketplace.org
(202) 842.5387

CULTURE AND …PERFORMING ARTS

DANCE
LV Civic Ballet 229.6211
821 LV Blvd. N.

Nevada Ballet Theatre 243.2623
1651 Inner Circle

Theatre Ballet of LV 458.7575
3265 E. Patrick Lane

MUSIC
Brown Bag Concerts 658.6741
6301 Malachite Bay Ave.

Charles Vanda Master Series 895.2787
UNLV Performing Arts Center

Community Concert Association 648.8962
1620 Stonehaven Drive

LV Flute Club 895.3377
UNLV Dept of Music
4545 Maryland Parkway

LV Jazz Society 313.5778
P.O. Box 60396

LV Music Teachers Association 877.1743

The Las Vegas Philharmonic 258.5438
1289 S. Torrey Pines Drive www.lasvegasphilharmonic.com

ARTS CULTURE AND …PERFORMING

LV Youth Orchestras 385.2838

Myron Heaton Chorale LV, Inc. 433.6007

Nevada School of the Arts 366.2787
315 South 7th

Southern Nevada Bluegrass Music Society 594.6422
Or 564.5455

Southern Nevada Musical Arts Choral Society 451.6672

Sweet Adeline’s International 223.7893

THEATER

Actors Repertory Theatre 647.7469

Boulder City Art Guild Gallery 293.2138

Cashman Center 386.7100

Charleston Heights Arts Center 229.6383

Clark County Library Theater 507.3400

Community College of S. NV Theatre 651.5483

LV Little Theatre 362.7996

Nevada Theatre Company 873.0191

Rainbow Library Amphitheater 507.3710

Reed Whipple Cultural Center 229.6211

Rosel Seastrand Arts Foundation 649.7837

Sammy Davis Jr. Festival Plaza 229.6328

Sign Design Theatre Company 391.3877

Summerlin Library & Performing Arts Center 256.2217

Super Summer Theatre 594.7529
Outdoor theater at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park FUN!

Theatre in the Valley 558.7275

UNLV Dept of Theatre Arts 895.3666

West Charleston Library Lecture Hall 507.3940

West LV Arts Center 229.4800

West LV Library Theater 507.3980

Whitney Library Concert Hall 507.4017
FARMERS MARKETS

BROADACRES
(This is a large outdoor swap meet with several fresh food areas)
2960 LV Blvd North North Central part of the Valley Appx 900 vendors of which 7 to 10 of them sell produce

3940 Schiff Drive 2 to 6 central
Thursdays Near Spring Mountain Rd & Valley View

1600 N Rampart Blvd/ Vegas Drive N/W
Wednesdays Trent Park 4 P to 8 P From Oct.26, 2 to 6P

10401 Garden Park Drive Gardens Park N/W
near Town Center Dr/215 Tuesdays 4 P to 8 P
Winter hours as of 10/26 will be 2 P to 6 P

1300 W Sunset Galleria at Sunset Mall S/E
Fridays 11 A till sunset Fruit & Honey

Boulder City Farmers’ Market at Sundial Park
Thursdays 9 A to 1 P Boulder City

9510 W Sahara Ave In the Village Square N/W
12 to dark Wednesdays

8878 S Eastern Ave in the Colonnade Square S/E
shopping center Saturdays 9 A to 4 P

Las Vegas Farmers Markets (they tend to move around check their website at www.lasvegasfarmersmarkets.com


FARMERS MARKETS

These kinds of markets tend to move around and their hours may change, especially when we change to daylight savings time or go off of it. So you might have to ask where they moved to and then hunt for them. Check them out on their website listed in the index.

A real treat is Gilgrease Orchard. 645.1126 Call for directions. They grow it and you pick it. The tomatoes go real fast! So does the Okra. The peaches are awesome! They are in the North West part of the valley and now they are surrounded by homes. Call for directions or take a ride out by Tenaya and Centennial off the 95. Better go quick because it’s being sold off piece by piece and they are building houses REAL fast.



When LIFE gives you LEMONS. . . .
Ask for Tequila and Salt
If you don’t drink
Ask for Lemon Meringue Pie J

Don’t settle for lemonade unless you’re just thirsty!
FINDING LOST MONEY UNCLAIMED FUNDS)


Most of us have moved and left a small account somewhere or forgotten about a child’s small bank account or maybe have had money left to you and not realized it. Possibly even a tax refund that you were not aware you had coming. The problem, until the age of the Internet, has been finding it. Especially if you aren’t aware that anything is missing. This is how to find it. Do it yourself or ask a friend with internet experience, don’t pay someone to do this for you. Treat your friend to an awesome meal if you recover something.

It is a pretty close guess that at least 1 in every 8 people have something owed to them and it is just waiting for them to claim it. Now is the time.

Why would anyone hold money for you for a month much less years? Because it is the law. BUT the law is being changed so they can get and use your money if you don’t claim it within a certain period of time. DO IT NOW!

Every state has a web site with a database of missing funds available to anyone with web access. Where do you start?
The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators www.unclaimed.org This is a non-profit organization affiliated with the National Association of State Treasurers. If some one owes you something, this is the place you will probably find it. Once you are on the site, go to your state, click on the link or button for unclaimed property and fill in the information. Use all forms and versions of your name, don’t forget maiden and all married names. Check every state that you have lived in or may have had relatives in.
If you feel you should have something in a certain state but can’t find anything. CALL THEM. Ask for the treasury department and the person in charge of the unclaimed-property division. You may have to send a formal letter with what ever information they want or need. AND proof of who you are, and why it should be yours. Are you the legal guardian, representative owner, heir, or what ever your status is?

Gift Certificates.
This is a sore spot to me. Most stores are allowed to put an expiration date on gift certificates. That is like saying the American Green stuff is no good after 90 days or such. That is not good and I will not buy gift certificates at any store that puts a time limit on theirs. I’ll just give the good old green stuff. It’s good anywhere. And if it doesn’t get spent at the store I would have picked for them, it is no big deal. If you have an expired gift certificate, check with the treasurer of your state or the state it was issued from, again ask for the unclaimed-property division. Some states have outlawed the expiration of certain types of gift certificates. At writing time those states are: California, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Maine and Rhode Island. Now the rest of the states need to get it in gear and do the same thing!



FUNG-SHUI
(Shui Sounds like Schway) My knowledge is limited so I’ll share what I have done. Try the library, the web, or the book store.

I don’t know a lot about this mystical but apparently powerful tool of the Asian culture. I do know that when I put some of its principals into effect, they worked. At least things improved in the areas I was trying to improve. Could it have happened anyway. Maybe, but I am not one to fix what isn’t broke but I am ready to try a little bit more.


If you stand at your front door, looking inside, the farthest left corner is the area that represents your wealth and prosperity. Take care of your money in this area. That corner is a long way from my desk, so I bought a coin ball, very pretty, at a World Market store, and hung it in the corner of my family room. If nothing else, it is a conversation starter but I think it has worked.

Keep your toilet lid down and your bathroom door shut so the good fortune you have doesn’t go down the drain. I STILL forget to do this!

“Bad” areas can be fixed by adding mirrors and wind chimes and other things. A good entry mat for enhancing your life would be black. I did that too. It is sort of like a lucky charm or something that can attract good fortune your way or even repel bad luck.

This is just a tiny bit of information, just to get you curious if you are interested. Certainly check it out. It can’t hurt.
GENEOLOGY
“digging up the family” (history)

Genealogy searches are fun but can get very frustrating. Here are a few suggestions, and web site addresses that may help make your search easier and hopefully faster.

www.Familysearch.org
Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness www.raogk.org This is a neat way to run an organization. If someone helps you then you offer to help them. It keeps the expenses down and builds friends.

Message Boards: People looking for other people leave messages here for others to read. This is good for looking for adoptive parents and children that were adopted.
www.Genealogy.com or www.Ancestry.com
Try www.rootsweb.com or www.cyndislist.com

Try www.usgenweb.com for information about starting your own family website for lost members to find you.

Check out www.familychronicle.com for stories about how others have solved their searches.

Other places to check out.
State and county court records for death certificates, and other records.
Probate Judge’s office for old wills, land records, etc.
Library: for old directories for addresses, death records

Also at the library, ask about microfilmed records of old newspapers.
ok for marriage, engagement, announcements, birth notices and major anniversary announcements. Don’t forget to look for obituary notices, they usually list relatives and the city they live in.

Check community histories, just incase your lost relative was a “somebody” in a small or large city.
Check the cemeteries for a known relative then look nearby for relatives.

Check the Masonic Lodge. They have immensely detailed records that would give a wealth of information. Check their website too. Go to www.Google.com and type in Masonic Lodge and hit search. And you are in and running. The Rotary, Lion’s Club and Kiwanis are worth checking out too.

Check out the antique stores in any city where relatives may have lived. Look for high school year books. If they attended church, ask for old church directories. But most of all, just ask if any one remembers the person you are looking for. Talk to the towns old timers. They usually love to talk and seldom get the chance or the company. Take a recorder, the kind with tapes you can save, not the new digital ones. While you are at it take pictures, just for the memories. If there is an “old folks” home, check them out.

Native American and other tribal communities all over the world have long had one person who knew the history and stories of their people. “Tribal knowledge” can be a wonderful thing and many people have that ability, (sometimes they were called the “town gossip”) to remember things and people. These are the people you want to find. They know the “stories.” Some stories “age” well.
History, Nevada Style!

Yes, we are a different kind of state and we like it.
If not “in the beginning,” at least a LONG time ago, salt water lapped at the edges of the mountains leaving the still visible stair stepping ridges and curls of ancient tidal pools through out the southern valley. The huge but shallow sea left so many fossils that our “land locked” state has a “State Fossil,” that could be appropriately called a sea monster. Technically it is an Ichthyosaurus. But some preferred to call it a sea dragon.
Details
Sea +/- one half billion years ago
Ichthyosaurus sort of a sea dragon that lived between 100 to 200 million years ago weighing about 1 ton per foot and being 50 to 60 feet in length. Believed to be the largest in the world.

The little piece of the earth, that would one day become the State of Nevada began to change. Violent upheavals of land caused the sea to drain away and stranded the enormous sea dragons. They would not be discovered, as fossils, until the late 1920's and not excavated until over 30 years later. The Sea giants ate other sea creatures that were either giant fish or maybe giant lizards, (Their fossils tend to make one believe that the whole bunch of them were incredibly ugly) and anything else that couldn’t get out of the water fast enough.
The drive to this State Park is a “bear” but if you like fossils, this is as good as it gets! It’s near Berlin, Nevada in the North West. Way up there! There is a lot of dirt road to drive. But you don’t need a 4 wheel drive in good weather.

Nevada is still an active area of the earth and an inland (Eastern edge) of the “Pacific Ring of Fire.” Our ranges are still in their youth. We have almost no foothills, which is a sign of old mountains, and most of our ranges are at odd angles to the earth, not at all like the Sierras that appear to stand straight up from the ground.

We live above a volatile part of the earth and there is evidence to prove it near Lake Mead Boulevard and Frenchman Mountain. Technically, it is called the Las Vegas

Zone of Unconformity. Looking at it, you will see two separate pieces of earth that should not be anywhere near each other. You have to look hard because it is difficult to see, especially the first time. Sort of a case of “old” earth and “young” earth in the same place. There is an excellent description of the area and what took place there millions of years ago, written by a UNLV professor. (That might be gone now due to vandalism.)

Nevada is a state divided by deserts, but no where equally. One, the Mojave, in the southern part and, two the Great Basin, which encompasses the lions share of the state. It is almost as if some one decided exactly where the two deserts would meet and it is easy to see driving north on 95 a few miles before you Tonopah. The world around you suddenly becomes “different.” Most will notice it whether or not they are looking for a change. The difference is in what grows. There will be trees, green ones and the little grey bushes will vanish. The change is in altitude and as you go higher, different kinds of plants grow. What grows in the Mojave doesn’t grow in the Great Basin and vice versa. A seed catalogue with growing zones is a great way to easily demonstrate what grows where and sometimes when.
How Big is Our State?
Nevada is the seventh largest state out of the 50.
Just over 100,000 square miles.
That is more than 70 million acres.
Over 80% of those acres is owned by the Federal Government and managed by the Bureau of Land Management. That is usually where the burros and wild horses roam. At least until it gets auctioned off to build a housing or business development. It is also where A LOT of inactive mines are located. Rattlesnakes LOVE abandoned mines. The gold & silver is gone. Stay out. Stay out. STAY OUT. Because the rattlesnakes have staked their claim.
We have 23 state parks.
We have the least rain of any state and obviously the lowest humidity which accounts for our “dry heat” that so many people say they don’t mind– from the inside of their air conditioned cars and homes!
Most of the land of Nevada is in the Great Basin. Most of the people live in the Mojave Desert. It is a version of the old 80/20 theory. (80% of the people live on 20% of the land area, that means 20% of the rest of the population live where there is a LOT of land)
The same goes for the government. It owns about 80% and 20% is in the private sector.



The Great Basin
It is a part of 6 states. Nevada has the largest section, Utah is next and then Oregon followed by California, Wyoming and Idaho. It is a major geographic feature of the United States. It is as wide as 500 miles from California to Wyoming and as long as 750 miles from Oregon to just below Tonopah in Nye County.

John C. Fremont is responsible for the name. It was in 1844 that he discovered a very unusual fact about this area. None of the rivers that flowed into this area flowed out. They either dried up, became a lake or just disappeared into the ground in a “sink.” That is where the basin part came from and the great was because it really and truly is a great area of land. From the air in a 747, it doesn’t look at all like a basin but Fremont didn’t have one available to him. It is really a huge area of land that just has ridges around it high enough to keep water from flowing out in a manner that gravity would dictate, so it found somewhere else to go.



Things that are in the earth of Nevada
Minerals, lots of them and nearly all of them have been mined at one time or another resulting in the large number of abandoned mines, the prefab home of preference for rattlesnakes that love their privacy. Don’t even knock. Miners left a dollar bill with a rock on it just outside of a cave or mine they were investigating, just to let passers by know someone was in there or where to look if they were missing.

Copper coins, jewelry, art, decorations
Lead coins, bullets, arts, pipes, pans
Salt to eat, make soft water
Silver jewelry, dental, art, to purify water



Gold jewelry, dental, art, money
Diatomaceous earth Used mainly for filters
Iron steel mills, rebar for construction
Brucite can be used as an antacid or a laxative
Gypsum wall board for home building



Things that grow in Nevada
More than you would think. There is a LOT of sagebrush. So much that it is the state flower. I think state bush would be a better call. Joshua trees grow through the Mojave. It is a desert marker. That is, if you see a Joshua tree, it means you are in the Mojave Desert. Service berry bushes, salt lick plants, yuccas, desert almond, creosote bush, Mormon tea plant and Mesquite trees and all sort of cacti are all in the Mojave. Cross the line of elevation and you find all manner of growth in the mountain ranges including: Pinon pine, juniper, mountain mahogany, aspen, fir, assorted varieties of fir and pine trees including the ancient bristlecone pine that was thought to be the oldest living organism in the world. The real and oldest is (was) also a tree. It was called the Prometheus and it was cut down to see how old it was. There do not seem to be any more. It was more than a thousand years older than the pyramids.
Pinion pine can be seen on the walking tour at Spring Mountain Ranch Park at an elevation change that is easily recognized. Mountain mahogany can be seen just past Hill Top camp on the road between Mt. Charleston and Lyle Canyon. It is a beautiful tree. There is a change of seasons which gives a short “colors display” of fall leaves that is well worth the drive up to Mt. Charleston to see. Take a look in early autumn. Evenings bring wildlife out. If you are lucky you might see deer, chipmunks, rabbits, pronghorns, and maybe even a bobcat.



Our Mountains and their ranges
How many mountain ranges are there in Nevada?
A lot and the people that count that sort of thing frequently use differing criteria in describing what a mountain range is. Probably over 200 would be a safe guess. They tend to be small but we have lots of them. From the air it looks like something is tunneling towards Lake Mead. Maybe it was the miners.

What is their most common feature?
Most of them are about 100 miles long and plus or minus 10 miles wide.
It may seem odd to have so many mountain ranges and for most of them to lean in the same direction but that is what young mountain ranges look like. They were pushed up not that many millions of years ago so they are young and still have a few sharp edges and won’t stand straight for what could be another few million years. They might not even be teenagers yet. But you can drive around them in just a few short hours. The closest range with a road around it is the Spring Mountain Range to the west of Las Vegas.


What makes a mountain?
Pressure inside the earth from the “plates” that keep redesigning where our continents are located. The Pacific Plate bumped up against the North American plate in the Sierra Nevada Mountains along a well known line called the San Andreas Fault. When push came to shove, Nevada’s mountains and ground work took a beating but was laid out pretty much like it is today. At least until another pushing match comes about. Nobody knows when that will happen.
Mountains are made out of a lot of things, plain old dirt, rocks, sand and lava from volcanoes. When a volcano erupts and spews lava, it was the beginning or the building of a mountain. If it was in the ocean, it was building an island. If the lava cooled quickly, it formed basalt and rhyolite, two less hard rocks formed from lava. If the lava cooled slowly, it formed granite. This is the really hard stuff that is beautiful and expensive when used as kitchen counters. Most of the Sierra Nevada mountains are built from lava that cooled slowly.


How high are our mountains?


The two highest are just over 13,000 feet. They are Boundary and Wheeler followed by several that reach the 12,000 feet mark. Those are Arc Dome, Pyramid Peak, South Schell Peak, Mt. Moriah, Mt. Jefferson, and our nearby Mt. Charleston.
What happened when the sea drained away?
We had a lot of sand dunes that evolved into a few spectacular places. Red Rock Canyon is one of these places. So also is the Valley of Fire. The sand dunes actually became petrified from the weather. Huge sand dunes turned into gently mounded sandstone rocks. Iron ore, in the area colored the sand making them a reddish orange, very much like the color of rust, with some white areas where there was no iron, or it had been leached away by water, and leaving us with some beautiful scenery. The technical term for rock that used to be sand is polychrome sand. Lots of years of wind and water finished up their design, quite beautifully.

It’s easy to make a mountain. Just take a molehill and add dirt.

Rivers, real, myths, vanishing and borders.
It is hard to believe that Nevada is the driest state when it has ten rivers. The river that was thought to run from the Rocky Mountains through Nevada and to the ocean in California was called the San Buenaventura and it neither started where they wished it would have nor ended at the Pacific Ocean. Never mind running through Nevada, especially through the Great Basin.
Rivers meant beavers and beavers meant trapping for pelts for the myriad of things they used beaver fur for. Mostly for warmth in winter and income the rest of the time.

The Colorado River forms a ragged edge for a border to Arizona that is almost 150 miles long. It’s a really big river and has a really big dam across it. Hoover Dam is responsible for forming the largest man made lake in the country. It also provides an incredible amount of power to the Western part of the United States. If it were commissioned to be built today, it probably wouldn’t happen due to so many ecological studies and requirements. The Truckee, Walter and the Carson are rivers that start in other states and flow into Nevada. The Owyhee, Salmon and Bruneau flow from Nevada to other states . Two, the Humbolt and the Reese start and leave within the Great Basin. At one point in time, the Humbolt was called the Unknown River, possibly because of its origin and demise and lack of usefulness due to its foul taste. Last but not least by any means is the Amargosa which flows only briefly in the Mojave before dropping beneath the ground where it goes all the way to Death Valley. Of the 10 rivers, all but three have had dams built on them.


The Colorado River wasn’t always the Nevada border. Prior to 1866, the river was considered to be in Arizona. A new survey relocated the border of our hot state to the river. It would prove to be a great boon to the Nevada economy in the not too far off future and for many years to come.


Lakes in the dry state.
Lake Mead is the largest, of course, and man made by the completion of the Hoover Dam.
Lake Mojave has an earth-filled dam. Others are lakes by means of being reservoirs with a bit of, hopefully clean, fun going on on top. They are Rye Patch, Wildhorse, the Lahontan, and South Fork Dam. Pyramid lake is popular and just one good look at it and you know why and how it got its name. The best for last, Lake Tahoe. Just go see it.


STATE FACTS
Animal desert bighorn
Bird mountain bluebird
Colors silver and blue
Flower sagebrush
Fish Lahonan cutthroat
Fossil Ichthyosaur
Gemstone Blackfire opal
Metal Silver
Motto “All For Our Country”
Nicknames Battle-born, Sagebrush State, or Silver State
Reptile desert tortoise
Rock sandstone
Song “Home Means Nevada”


HOOVER DAM FACTS
Started in April of 1931, a town for the workers had to be built before the dam could be started. Thus Boulder City. Four tunnels through canyon walls of rock had to be dug, bored and scraped out. Each tunnel was 56 feet long and would be used to re-route the river water while the dam was being built. It took 16 months to complete this phase before starting on the dam. The river had to be re-routed so as not to interfere with the work. This was most important because the Colorado River was not a force to be reckoned with at certain times of the year. It got big and nasty fast. For two years the workers poured concrete until the dam was 726 feet high and 45 feet wide at the top. Wide enough for a lane of traffic to move in each direction. They didn’t plan on the huge trucks we have passing over it today, or at least until 911.
The base of the dam was 660 feet thick. 3.2 million cubic yards of cement were used to build the dam. At that time, a concrete mixing truck held only 9 cubic yards of cement. (There is a math problem in there somewhere.) The top is 1,244 feet long, joining Nevada to Arizona and crossing a time change line from Pacific Time to Mountain Time. A tower clock on each side of the lake shows each states correct time. Changes are made to the Nevada side to account for day light savings time. Arizona does not participate in day light savings time. 17 monstrous turbines began generating electricity in March of 1935.
Cost to build the dam. $175 million.
A bargain at today’s rates.
Workers needed to build the dam. Over 5000
Working conditions Could not have been worse.
Month to completion 46
Number of workers that died. 94
Number of workers “buried” in the damn. 0 none

Lake Mead stores around 60 million acre feet of water depending on rain amounts. This is 2004, so probably less!
An acre foot of water is 326,000 gallons
The turbines supply 4 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity yearly.
Odd but true, unless changed recently, Nevada gets the least amount of water from the Colorado River of the states that rely on it. Even Mexico gets more, but they should, they lost a lot of water when the dam was finished.

BEST BUSINESS NAME in the Valley?
“The Dam Helicopter Company”