Snow in Las Vegas

 Yep, it snowed here in Vegas.  We went hiking up by Mt. Charleston and the snow was pretty deep especially where it had drifted.  On average it was knee deep, but a few spots were waist deep.  Surprise!

The first two pictures look like they could have been taken anywhere, but the next two really are in the desert.  It was already starting to melt.

President's Day Weekend

So we had great plans for the weekend, but the weather was not cooperating, so we decided to drive to LA instead.  It was a beautiful drive and so so green.  We drove down to the beach at Santa Monica and had a great time chasing seagulls and walking in the freezing water.  The ocean was beautiful. 

Skipping rocks...

We ate Sunday dinner at the Winspear's and Brooke and some of her friends came too.  Chris also told us about some caves that we went to look for on Monday.  Jeremy worked on Monday because he got permission to take work off when everyone else is working instead (we got the better end of the deal).  So I went with Brooke and her friends to find the caves. 

They were pretty big caves, but it was sad how vandalized they were inside.  Lots of broken stalactites and spray paint.  Brooke went into a really small hole to try to get further in and her feet were all we could see until she disappeared.  She luckily had enough room to turn around and come back.   It was tons of fun and we had a great time finding yet another thing that most people don't do/know about in Vegas.  Jeremy got to go hit some golf balls once he got home from work, so he had fun too.  Happy President's Day!

Weekend with the Gibb's (the other ones)

Jeremy's parents came and visited us here in Las Vegas and here are a few of the fun things we did.  They got here on Thursday and we started off by going to dinner at a place called China MaMa.  Its a very popular, tasty, and authentic Chinese restaurant.  We went a little early and didn't have to wait which was very nice.  We got adventurous and Ron even tried the Thousand Year Old Egg. 

On Friday, Jeremy had to work part of the day, so we went to explore at Red Rocks.  It was awesome and we just tried to get to the top.  It was harder to pick a route than we were expecting but we did a lot of scrambling and made it to the top!  Then we realized we weren't at the true top, but felt pretty good about it anyway.  We went down a different way and had fun exploring in the sandstone. 

 This looks like an alien to me...

Next we hiked up a canyon called Icebox Canyon to a waterfall.  It was true to its name and we saw ice in several places.

 On the way down we passed this spot and there was a couple taking a picture of the ice.  He told us that they were from Minnesota and his wife was actually taking pictures of ice (its ok, I took one too).

 

Here's the "Waterfall." 

On Saturday, we went to Hoover Dam and walked over the new bridge that is so high up and huge.  It is a bit scary looking over the edge because the Colorado River is sooo far beneath.  Then we walked on the Dam and decided not to do the Dam Tour. 

Here's the huge hole for extra water. The picture doesn't show how big it is.

Here's Jeremy's "I am being forced to smile in a picture" look.

Saturday night was great...We saw Phantom of the Opera!  We got there early and walked over to see the Bellagio Fountains and ran back to get into our seats.  Let me just say that the special effects and the actual theater itself were Awesome!  The chandelier moved around in pieces right above us and there were fireworks and hot flames.  The music was beautiful and everything about it was amazing.  I would highly recommend it.  

On Sunday, we went to church and Ron and Susan were so nice and taught the Sunbeams class (I couldn't find a substitute).  They had fun and told the wide-eyed kids stories about living on a farm and playing outside on the grass.  Both of those things are very impressive to 3 year olds in a hot place like this.  

They finally had to go, but we had such a great time with Jeremy's parents.  We were so happy their flights worked out without too much headache and are glad they got home safely.  Thanks for visiting us!

Arizona Hot Springs

Last weekend's adventure was going to the REI Garage Sale in Henderson, and going on a hike to Arizona Hot Springs.  The garage sale wasn't near as good as the ones in Utah because I think the Utah REI's sell a lot more in the equipment area while Vegas people buy mostly clothes.  This means that there aren't as many awesome deals on returns.  With this said, we still found some biking gloves for me and some Chaco sandals for Jeremy for a total of $21.  After that, we headed across Hoover Dam to Arizona.  There is a hike that goes from the freeway down through a number of narrow canyons to the Colorado River below the dam.

 Here is the Colorado River looking upriver towards the dam.

 It was amazing how clear the water was here.

After reaching the river, we headed back up a different canyon and the water started getting warmer and warmer.  It was pretty hot by the time we headed up this ladder.

I took off my shoes to walk through the pools and this is the end when I was putting my shoes back on.

On the hike out, we saw real live wildlife!  It really exists here, but I would've migrated if I were these deer/goats.

We thought this rock was the inspiration for the "All-Seeing-Eye" in Lord of the Rings.

Skiing!!!

 We went to Utah for the week because Jeremy had a business trip, so I went too and skied a lot.  I went to Snowbird on Tuesday and the visibility was so bad that I couldn't distinguish up from down and got dizzy.  On a different run, I looked down and couldn't tell if I was moving or not.  It was a very weird sensation.  Luckily, Wednesday at Solitude was much better.  The first three pictures are of Solitude.  My parents went with me and we had a great day.

 On Friday, Jeremy was done working, so we all went to Deer Valley.  It was another wonderful sunny day with great snow.  Jeremy is always trying to get me to ski with my hair down so that it will blow behind me.  It was warm enough that I finally consented.

 These last four pictures are at Snowbird.  The valley was very foggy, but it was beautiful in the mountains.  Jeremy's feet hurt too much from his ski boots, so he went snowshoeing while I went to ski at Snowbird.  Jeremy hiked the Red Pine Lake Trail and loved it.  I had a wonderful day and the snow was just how I like it, firm and grippy.

Red Rocks

Two weekends ago we went rock climbing at Red Rocks.  We also went mountain biking after that because there was still some daylight left.

 I couldn't take any pictures of us actually climbing because there were only two of us and I didn't want to drop Jeremy ;)  This route was pretty cool and had holds that I always thought were fake when I saw them in the climbing gyms (handle and pinch holds).  Sandstone is very different.