We took a trip to Las Vegas to watch the WCC Basketball Conference Tournament.  We had a blast! It was so fun and relaxing.  We spent most of our time watching basketball.  My husband was afraid I might get a bit restless.  It was four nights in the same hotel room.  Something we’ve never done before.  My daughter kindly suggested bringing a tent if that would help me feel better.  Surprisingly it was no problem.  We didn’t spend much time there.

It had been a long time since I’d been to Vegas, in fact I think I’ve really only driven through.  I didn’t know how many fun recreational activities are available there. When we weren’t watching basketball or trying new eating establishments we visited a few fun places.

We first went to Red Rock Canyon. This is a National Conservation Area.  I loved how it was set up.  You drive into the park and the first place you reach is the visitor center.

                                                                            It was full of great information and the people working at the desks were so helpful.  There is a one way 13 mile drive that takes you through the whole park.  Along the drive their are lots of different trails you can take to explore the area.  I wish we would have had more time.  It is definitely a whole day adventure or more.  We were only there for 5 hrs.  It wasn’t enough.  We did two of the shorter hikes.  We stopped at the Calico II spot on the map and explored and hiked around for a while.  We were able to see one of the trails that takes you to the top of some of the Red Rocks.  We also saw climbers. We pulled over several times just to take in the views along the drive.                                           The next hike we took was on the Lost Creek trail.  We picked the right season to go because this trail has a waterfall if you time it right.  This trail was easy.  You are suppose to be able to see ancient pictographs but we couldn’t find them.                                            This is a place I would love to revisit and do more exploring.

We didn’t have enough time to visit the Hoover Dam so we chose to go to the Lake Mead National Recreation Visitor Center.  We walked along the Historical Railroad Hiking Trail.  This was a very easy walk and had great views of the Lake.  Once again not enough time to see everything we wanted to.               The hope is to return to Vegas again next year and plan a little better so we can fit in more outdoor adventures.