Category: Personal

Seven Magic Mountains

March 7th 2020

Internationally renowned Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone’s Seven Magic Mountains is a large-scale site-specific public art installation located near Jean Dry Lake and Interstate 15, approximately ten miles south of Las Vegas, Nevada. Comprised of seven towers of colorful, stacked boulders standing more than thirty feet high, Seven Magic Mountains is situated within the Ivanpah Valley adjacent to Sheep Mountain and the McCullough, Bird Spring, and Goodsprings ranges of mountains. A creative expression of human presence in the desert, Seven Magic Mountains punctuates the Mojave with a poetic burst of form and color.

Seven Magic Mountains was produced by the Nevada Museum of Art and Art Production Fund. The exhibition opened May 11, 2016, and was originally scheduled to be on view for two years. Due to the incredible success of Seven Magic Mountains since its opening, artist Ugo Rondinone has expressed a strong desire to explore ways to keep the artwork on view at its current site. The Producers continue to work on an extension plan that would enable Seven Magic Mountains to remain on view for several years into the future. At the end of 2018, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued a three-year permit extension for the artwork, allowing the installation to remain on view through the end of 2021. 

Well I don’t normal even mention road side attractions. there are just too many. And most are not worthy of trying to find a spot to park (especially if we are traveling) but Miss Laurie thought this would help fill a Saturday in Nevada. It was a busy spot today with everyone taking a selfie, there was also a desert race going on just behind the display, whether the race helped drive the popularity or not while we were there, there was a number of couples getting engagement photos. This is a free attraction located on the side of an Interstate highway and worthy of a stop as it is only a few miles and a few minuets out of your way.

A day at Red Rock Canyon

March 3rd 2020

The view from the visitor centre

So it is a beautiful sunny day in Nevada and we are venturing to Red Rock Canyon. Again after being in Las Vegas as many times as we have it is a little hard to believe we have never found our way here before, I know we were at Red Rock Casino a number of years ago but we just never made it to Red Rock Canyon.

Our trip photographer hard at work

Located just 15 miles (24 kilometres) north west of the Las Vegas strip through the suburb of Summerlin, we arrived at the visitor centre for Red Rock Canyon. There is a scenic loop through a section of the park that passes by a number of amazing rock formations. We went on a Tuesday expecting the park not to be as busy, (that was incorrect) it was very busy throughout the park, the scenic loop is 13 miles (21 kilometres) and is one way, and should be a beautiful drive but there seemed to be some sort of a rush as we were passed by numerous vehicles. If you take the time from your busy schedule, pay the entry fee to the park, why the hell would you rush around the loop as if you were late for work? But that seems to be pretty common at a number of attractions we have visited, maybe it’s just because we lots of time now to enjoy what nature has created, but I don’t remember ever rushing like so many do now…just saying

The formation of that red rock is compressed sandstone, and gets its colour from the iron content, causing the colour, we found the variations in colour amazing, especially when you realize that this was underwater at the time.

This National Conservation Area was established in 1967 and encompasses close to 200,000 acres, the large red rock formations were forced 3,000 feet (910 meters) into the air now called the Keystone Thrust. The highest point in the park is La Madre Mountain at 8,154 feet (2,485 meters).

This is a very busy National Park, it is a popular bicycle route around the scenic loop, over twenty hiking trails, rock climbing areas, there is a large visitor center, with a detailed information centre, to explain the formations, the wild life, the washes, and history of the area.

Notice the tip of the mirror … this is why Miss Laurie is the photographer … just saying