Picture(s) A Day – 9 August 2009 – MOM & DAD and Fabulous Las Vegas!!!

Today was the day and I’m completely worn out  Mom, Dad, and I had a great time all over Las Vegas

We started out the day with breakfast, shooting in the desert, and a quick stop in Indian Springs to look at Creech Air Force Base.  Mt. Charleston was next, then the Welcome sign, and finally Mandalay Bay for Shark Reef and dinner

Oh, you were expecting pictures, weren’t you ?  Well, then – on to the pictures

9 August 2009 - Mom & Dad

9 August 2009 - Dad & Me

9 August 2009 - Mom & Me

Firearms for the fun in the desert included Dad’s M&P 40C, my Hi-Point C9, Heritage Rough Rider, and my Ruger 10/22.  Everyone had a turn on all the guns.  Mom did not like Dad’s pistol or mine either, but that’s OK.  Dad and I had a blast with them.  Mom did, however, really like the Rough Rider and the 10/22  What made everything even better was that the temperature stayed down in the 80s until we left at around 1030 hours

I do have to make sure to say that yes, I did have the muzzle of Dad’s .40 pointed in a very safe direction in that picture with Mom

The cans and plastic bottles never stood a chance

9 August 2009 - Dad & Me

9 August 2009 - Mom & Dad

9 August 2009 - Mom & Me

Everyone wanted pictures with this beautiful backdrop  Yes, that’s what it looks like when Dad smiles  This was just after we’d gone to the desert overlook seen in earlier posts from Mt. Charleston.

9 August 2009 - Horses on Mt. Charleston

You never know what you’ll see up on Mt. Charleston and this was a treat

9 August 2009 - It's Smokey the Bear's 65th birthday!!!

I’d heard about this, but forgotten about it.  Today was Smokey the Bear’s 65th birthday  They had free cupcakes, birthday cake, and a birthday card for everyone to sign.  The food was quite good

9 August 2009 - Dad's Tahoe

With a couple of quick edits to protect Dad’s privacy, I’m able to show everyone his wonderful Tahoe Z71  Yes, I sold him this vehicle way back when I was still in the car business and it’s still going strong.  The four wheel drive and ground clearance sure came in handy out in the desert on the roads that can only be called interesting fun challenging terrifying in my HHR.  Yes, I’ve driven the same roads paths stretches of desert mostly without joshua trees in my HHR, but I much prefer Dad’s vehicle

9 August 2009 - Floyd Lamb State Park - Peacock!

9 August 2009 - Floyd Lamb State Park - Peahen!

9 August 2009 - Floyd Lamb State Park - The friendly dog

9 August 2009 - Floyd Lamb State Park - Horses!

9 August 2009 - Floyd Lamb State Park - Albino peacock!

After cruising around the mountains, we stopped by Floyd Lamb State Park.  None of the buildings were all that old, but it’s where one of the first settlements in the valley was located.  Later, it became one of the Las Vegas divorce ranches where wealthy soon to be divorcees waited for Nevada citizenship to take effect so they could take advantage of Nevada’s lenient divorce laws.

We saw horses, peafowl, and a very friendly dog

9 August 2009 - Mom and Dad at the Welcome Sign

Anyone who knows me understands that there’s an inexplicable gravitational attraction to the Las Vegas Welcome Sign  Of course, we had to stop here so I could get a picture of Mom and Dad there

9 August 2009 - Golden crocodile at Shark Reef

9 August 2009 - Komodo dragon at Shark Reef

9 August 2009 - Pirhana at Shark Reef

9 August 2009 - Shark Reef foliage

9 August 2009 - Lionfish at Shark Reef

9 August 2009 - Lionfish at Shark Reef

9 August 2009 - Horse shoe crabs and stingrays at Shark Reef

9 August 2009 - Jellyfish at Shark Reef

9 August 2009 - Sharks at Shark Reef

9 August 2009 - Barracuda (and Buffett reference!) at Shark Reef

Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay is a really cool place.  What made it nice for us is that it’s nowhere near the 100° it was outside  That said, we did see some pretty cool animals, too

9 August 2009 - Rum Jungle at Mandalay Bay

9 August 2009 - Rum Jungle at Mandalay Bay

9 August 2009 - Dinner at Rum Jungle

9 August 2009 - Dinner at Rum Jungle

9 August 2009 - Dinner at Rum Jungle

I remember seeing Rum Jungle the second night I was ever in Las Vegas.  I’d come to Mandalay Bay to see Shark Reef and Rum Jungle is right inside from the parking garage.  I’d always wanted to eat there (OK, I also wanted to try all 140 types of rum, too ) but it’s always been ungodly expensive, even for someone with my definition of expensive

But in these tough economic times, Rum Jungle has cut their prices as have other restaurants on the Strip.  You can see the price that drew us in, but what we didn’t know until later was that they’d lowered the price  on this meal by $20 about two months ago.

Don’t let the lower price fool you into thinking that they cut back on the quality of the food or the service.  The food was absolutely phenomenal and RUM JUNGLE HAD BY FAR THE BEST SERVICE I’VE EVER EXPERIENCED IN A RESTAURANT AT ANY TIME – EVER!!!

That was pretty much the end of the day for us.  We were all tired and decided to call it a day.

Yeah, that’s the way to spend a Sunday – family fun all over Las Vegas

Have fun everyone