Las Vegas Day Trips Series
Starting tomorrow, I’m going to begin a series of articles on “While Las Vegas Sleeps…” that will just sort of happen upon occasion, most likely after I’ve recently visited one of the places I will have written about. I’ve been meaning to do this for some time but I am going to make an effort to do so effective immediately.
Las Vegas, Nevada is a lot things. It’s obviously the gaming capital of the world and that is just about all that most people know about Las Vegas. That definitely does influence most everything in the town to some degree, what with so many movie theaters or restaurants inside of casinos or shopping adjoining the resorts in their smaller, more upscale malls. All the local bars, of course, have gaming to a limited degree, even, so it’s true that it permeates “normal” life here in Las Vegas. The point I’d like to make by sharing some things that do not get a lot of attention is that Las Vegas is all that, unique and special in that regard, but it’s also much, much more.
Las Vegas is surrounded by natural wonders. I’ve heard it said many times, said it myself before, even, that Las Vegas is a city that by all normal standards “shouldn’t even exist.” It’s out here in the middle of the desert in what seems to be nowhere, except that – lo and behold – here is this shining, unbelievable metropolis. At a glance, it would seem that it was a complete accident that it ever came into being.
Upon closer inspection, however, other things show a much more interesting, if not obvious view. Geologically – and geographically – Las Vegas is near some very, very important places – almost dead center, in fact. The Spring Mountains making the western boundary of the valley is a wonderful place. It’s like the Colorado Rockies, only completely surrounded by desert. To the northeast there are ski resorts less than three hours away. Closer than that is Zion Canyon National Park, which I will be writing about tomorrow. Very close, indeed, is the Colorado River, now dammed and forming Lake Mead. The Colorado River carved out of the desert what is known by everyone in the world – the Grand Canyon. To the southwest – 150 miles or so – is the lower edge of one of the biggest sections of farmland in the world, producing around 50% of all the fruits and vegetables eaten in the United States, as I understand it.
Las Vegas is a little over half way from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles. Most people don’t realize that the name Las Vegas means “the meadows” in Spanish and was named that because in the heart of the valley there used to be a natural spring, and thus Mormons first noted and began using the area on travels from Utah to the cities of California. Not that they were the first humans around here… not by a long shot. Native inhabitants have lived in this area for a very, very long time, as can be seen by the glyphs in the canyon walls all around the nearby areas.
So with these things in mind I’m going to begin writing my occasional series about what the Las Vegas area is that you might not be familiar with… places you can go to as a day trip while in Las Vegas, even. Las Vegas, Nevada is a lot of things – a lot of things most people aren’t even aware of.
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