Red Rock Canyon

January 4, 2009 – 9:25pm

Hello! Well not too bad of a new year so far for us. I hope everyone’s year is going great and you are still with me. Today we headed out in search of Red Rock Canyon. This place is too cool. I went wild with the camera but I wanted to show you everything I saw today!! Red Rock Canyon is located 21 miles from the Las Vegas Boulevard and very easy to get to, right on Charleston Boulevard. If you have a car available to you when you are in the Las Vegas area, you have to go, I highly recommend it. Absolutely beautiful. There are 13 mile scenic road that you can travel and see all the beautiful sights of the red rocks. There is so much to say about this place. I would say that you can easily spend a good 5 to 6 hours there looking around. Let’s see here. Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area (let’s get a website link up for this, click here) has alot to see, most of it is free. The only charge that we incurred was for the 13 mile scenic route to go around the red rocks and mountains, that was $5 dollars to enter that conservation area. We drove into Red Rock Canyon looked around, basically sight seeing. There are alot of people there hiking and rock climbing. Then they have this little town in the middle of Red Rock Canyon that is themed an old town, actually I really think it was an old town and they kept it authentic (they call it “Old Las Vegas”, how it began) with the cowboys and saloons. It’s called Bonnie Springs, you have to know the name Bonnie Springs because the Red Rock Canyon is so big and there is so many places to visit. But to go to the little town and see the shows and petting zoo, it’s in Bonnie Springs. They have mocked gun shoot outs and mocked hangings outside…..Heck, I can’t explain it….here’s some pictures!!!

See that little speckle of white in the center of this next picture here. Take a closer look then look at the following picture……

He’s actually rocking climbing. I mean, people do that all the time, but not this girl….Noooo, thanks…..I’ll pass :)

Here’s that little “Old Las Vegas” authentic town in Red Rock Canyon. Fun little place. They really cater to the little kids, but it was really nice to walk around and check things out…..

Is he pointing a gun at me??? Maybe I should of asked him if it was okay to take a picture?? Maybe he thought I had a gun too?? Nahhh, everyone’s cool here. Really friendly…..

This next picture is from, like, it was like a museum with old slot machines and tables they used in the casinos, or saloons back then…..But the outside said “General Store”

I wanted to get a picture of this sign above the door….

Here’s their little show. Doesn’t last too long, maybe 10 minutes but neat. Especially for kids12 and under…..

Oh, here’s their restaurant in town. I love this place. We didn’t eat here, but people sat around this indoor fire pit in really comfy chair kicking back with good company and a beer. Hey, that’s my kind of place……

Right outside the restaurant there was this little pond that you can get some duck food and feed the ducks and swans. They had a few a those food dispensers that you put a quarter in and crank the little knob and the food comes down the slot….well, you know how it works…….

Here’s their visitors center! We went here last. Great store inside. They sell t-shirts and books and nik-naks everywhere. In the same building was a little learning center about the animals out in the Red Rock Canyon and the history of the canyon. We probably spend almost an hour in there looking around…..

And Of Course…..Of Course they have a casino (Did you expect anything less from THEM). It’s right off the highway (I-215 highway) and it’s right before you enter Red Rock Canyon conservation area. This is a really nice casino. We ate dinner here and spent some time in here (Did you expect anything less from US – ha!) before heading home.

Well that’s what we did today. It was a great day. A little on the cool side at 40 degrees. At the Red Rock Casino (which IS a Station Casino) we ate dinner, played around a little on the slot machines (I actually broke even leaving there, I can’t complain), we headed back home to watch some TV. I think tomorrow we are going to hit a mall on the outskirts off the Las Vegas Boulevard and a flea market making it a day of shopping. Someone had emailed me this morning asking me if I checked my $10,000 Keno ticket yet. HA! No, not yet. I really don’t know what I’m waiting for. I should check that ticket to see if I won all that money so it can collect interest in MY bank! Have a good night!