Yesterday we headed south for the long haul from Reno to Las Vegas. The last time we did this trip I remembered it as a whole lot of nothing. There is still plenty of that, but there is also quite a lot to look at. The landscape is very empty, but there is also great beauty as the light plays on the striations of the treeless hills in the distance. There was also more water than I remembered, lakes and the remnants of recent rain. There were also the cultural aspects, from the ammunition depot at Hawthorne to old mines and mining towns and bits of Americana like the Desert Lobster Diner pictured here.

Once in Vegas we found our condo where we will be for three days. It's a big place and we have a nice one bedroom unit. We are located a couple of miles west of the Strip on Las Vegas Blvd. There is a very large Casio/hotel right next door. It's got lots of casino stuff and also 16 movie theaters, a variety of restaurants a huge bowling alley, Bingo parlor, and an indoor horse arena. Linda has always been into horses so we spent some time watching some western equestrian activity. Later we drove down the strip where we got trapped in traffic due to an O'Bama motorcade.

Tomorrow we will bus to the strip and explore some of the outrageous casinos downtown and on the strip.