Monday, July 6, 2009

Not many Stars and much less Spangles

Our long Fourth of July weekend was rather uneventful. Purposely so. We were thinking of spending the weekend in Los Angeles, visiting friends or family. But we decided not to. The last few weeks were so excruciatingly busy at work. And George had his hands full with studies for his classes on top of that.


We felt drained.


Driving on the I-15 freeway through the hot Mojave Desert with a bunch of idiot drivers for a few hours certainly was not my idea of rejuvenation. The thought of being surrounded by hordes of people, celebrating Independence Day for all the wrong reasons, just gave me the willies. Peace and quiet, spent leisurely at our comfortable home was way more attractive.


And that’s exactly what George and I did. It was so relaxing. We caught up on movies and shows that we’ve recorded on our DVR over the last weeks. And made delicious dinners and yummy desserts.


However, we did occasionally leave our little paradise to join the rest of the outside world. On Friday we visited my parent’s grave at the Veterans’ Cemetery in Boulder City. Afterwards we hiked along the old Railroad Trail which overlooks Lake Mead and then continues on to Hoover Dam. We didn’t hike all the way to the dam though. But it was nice to be out and about and to take in a different scenery for a change. We haven’t been on this trail for years.


Most of the following images were taken that day.



Pine tree detail


Tunnels along the Railroad Trail at Lake Mead National Recreation Area. In the longer tunnels one can hear the bats as they are resting during the heat of the day. We even saw a few flying around inside the dark cavern.


Overlooking Boulder Beach and Lake Mead Marina Complex


The signs of the on-going drought is becoming more apparent with each passing year


Lake Mead


It was way over 100º F that day. Just like any day in July in Southern Nevada




Desert Colors



Even the desert has regulations


Back home we made this devil’s food cake, filled with cream cheese and fresh berries






2 comments:

Mike said...

The Mister and I also stayed in for the 4th. We drove over the fireworks, but immediately headed for home when the crowds were unusually large. We're homebodies anyway.

How is the Hoover Dam bypass coming along? Last we saw, it was a long way from completion.

Mike and Rob in Michigan

Jeff said...

Sounds like an great way to spend the 4th to me! Great ouics as always, and I'd like a piece of that cake, please! :)