Picture(s) A Day – 17 October 2009

Today was a pretty good day.  I managed to get some required stuff out of the way and do a couple of enjoyable things for a change

My first stop was the insurance place to get stuff handled with my new renter’s insurance policy.  That took about 15 minutes and happened to be fairly close to a Big 5 sporting goods store.  A store which just happens to carry some interesting guns

It was not without the exercise of considerable willpower that I left Big 5 without another rifle.  Mosin Nagant 91/30s are on sale for $99.99   But they also have M44s back in stock which means that they’ll be on sale for about that price before long 8)  And I do love the M-44.  It really wouldn’t hurt to have another one around the house, now would it ?

What I was really looking for was some 2.75″ #4 buckshot rounds for defending the domicile.  The 2.75″ shell also has less recoil than the 3″ with either 00 or #4 buckshot so follow up shots (which will likely not be needed) will be quicker. The #4 buckshot is smaller than the 00 buck and therefore each pellet carries less energy, but will still accomplish the mission against bad guys.  Carrying less energy means it will go through fewer walls if a pellet fails to strike an intruder.  I do care about my neighbors

17 October 2009 - Wild turkey at Bass Pro Shops

17 October 2009 - Entrance at Bass Pro Shops

17 October 2009 - Entrance at Bass Pro Shops

17 October 2009 - Entrance at Bass Pro Shops

17 October 2009 - Entrance at Bass Pro Shops

17 October 2009 - Custom knives at Bass Pro Shops

The only #4 buckshot loads Big 5 had were 3″ magnums, so I decided to head on down to a place I figured would have what I wanted – Bass Pro Shops

Sure enough, Bass Pro had exactly what I was looking for and at a very reasonable price, too.  I picked up 15 rounds of my sought after ammo along with a second hard sided pistol case.  The total came out to about $20 which worked for me.

I took the opportunity to get some fun and interesting pictures while I was there, too. The entrance at Bass Pro has some really great examples of game animals and fish. There’s even a functional fireplace and plenty of chairs and they don’t mind at all if you kick back for a while in the winter to enjoy the fire they build

About those knives… The blades may be beautiful and the handles superb, but I didn’t ask about the price for a good reason

17 October 2009 - Marker at the Welcome Sign

Is anyone surprised that I wound up at the Welcome Sign again ?  I didn’t think so

Yeah, I’m a sucker for most touristy things, especially when they’re free.  Driving up the Embarcadero in San Diego to check out the Star of India, the rest of the Maritime Museum, and the USS Midway was also a common occurrence.  Vegas is nice in the way that it has so many touristy things to do around town

17 October 2009 - People watching at the Welcome Sign

17 October 2009 - People watching at the Welcome Sign

17 October 2009 - People watching at the Welcome Sign

One of the cool and fun things about the Welcome Sign is the people it attracts.  You never know quite who or what you’ll see there other than you can be guaranteed to see newlyweds, limos, and tourists from all over the world.  It’s fun to stand back a ways and watch.  Don’t be surprised if you get asked to take a few pictures while you’re there, too

17 October 2009 - Details you probably never thought about at the Welcome Sign

Yep, that’s the address of the Sign and the electric meter.  What’s funny is that the sign went dark for about a month back in 1999 when the company that had been paying the bill was purchased by another company and someone forgot to pay it.  The sign was built back in May of 1959 by Western Neon, but is now owned and maintained by Young Electric Sign Company which is known to locals as YESCO.

17 October 2009 - The seldom seen back side of the Welcome Sign

I’m a huge sucker for going to the parts of famous places that are less visited and I figured most people have never seen the back of the welcome sign

Something pretty cool for collectors is that you can buy one of the yellow bulbs that has been used on the perimeter of the sign and the proceeds go to charity.  Click here to go to Las Vegas Lights if you’d like to pick one up 8)  Oh yeah, you can even choose the date on which the light was on the sign

17 October 2009 - USMC F/A-18 Hornets at McCarran

17 October 2009 - USMC F/A-18 Hornets at McCarran

17 October 2009 - USMC F/A-18 Hornets at McCarran

Seeing as how the Welcome Sign is so close to McCarran, I just had to go there to check out some of the aircraft.  People might worry if I missed out on that opportunity   And just look at what I found – two F/A-18 Hornets from the Black Knights of VMFA 314

Who says you need an airshow to get good pics of military jets ?

17 October 2009 - An unconventional view of the Strip

Looking north from where I took those pictures of the F/A-18s you can see the Strip from a different perspective than you normally would.  I can really see this location as being a great one for a TV or film production like CSI or Casino.

That balloon in the sky appears to have some sort of a passenger gondola, but I didn’t look into it farther than that.  I might go back down there at night sometime to look into it further.

17 October 2009 - Luxor hotel and strangely stacked rocks

Leaving McCarran, I saw that I had a pretty good line of sight to one of my favorite hotels on the Strip – Luxor.  They really did the theme right on that one.

While I was taking the picture, I noticed the rocks in the foreground.  I don’t know who did it, but I think they had to either be very bored, very intoxicated, or just intent on messing with the minds of the strange sort of person who would wind up in a place like this.  Yes, that would be me

17 October 2009 - Interesting and creative billboard near McCarren

You actually see some creative thought in the billboards around this town.  Most are lawyers.  I’m thinking that might be due to the fact that people don’t realize that what happens in Vegas may wind up on the internet, but people who do stupid and illegal stuff wind up staying in Vegas longer than they had originally intended.  O.J. Simpson might be a good example of this.  Yes, he’s actually incarcerated somewhere else in the state, but the principle holds

17 October 2009 - Planet Hollywood

17 October 2009 - City Center

I was going to go to Paris for some baked goods, but the traffic was worse than I can recall in recent memory.  That includes L.A.  I finally found a way out, but the Strip was gridlocked and the back streets were parking lots.  Yeah, it was that bad.

17 October 2009 - Heading home with mountains in the distance

I finally did escape from the tourist trap of the Strip and got headed back home.  The temperature was about 93° and the sky cloudless.

I like to put videos at the end of posts like this for some reason. I figured that there are quite a few people out there who never get to make it to places like Las Vegas, so I thought it would be kinda cool to just take five minutes of video at the Welcome Sign as a way of giving those people a brief sort of vacation. I hope y’all enjoy it

I’d say it was a pretty good day

Have fun, everyone

————————————–