Category Archives: recreation

Down Below

informational, personal, photograph, presentation, recreation, scenic, travel, , , , , , , ,

View from the window seat

It’s a three and a half hour flight from Las Vegas back home to Grand Rapids. Unlike many of the other travelers who nap or watch movies on their cellphone, I spend most of this time looking out of the window.

I’ve been an aviation enthusiast since I was a young kid. Later on we had a company that made flight simulator software. So all-in-all I’ve had many opportunities to observe the skies and terrain from above for both hobby and profession. In short, I enjoy flying.

Follow me it you too have this interest.

AAY Flight 2177 from LAS to GRR takes us over the Rockies and the central part of the USA.

For the most part on this January day the skies were cloudless so I had a nice view of the scenery and terrain during daylight.

Here we are taxiing for takeoff. The huge pyramid is the Luxor Casino Resort.
The airport is adjacent to the iconic LV Strip so you can see some of the city’s many casinos.
During takeoff you have a nice view of The Strip
The Sphere is one of Vega’s newest attractions.
As the aircraft turns you can see the Las Vegas Speedway to the north.
Now turning east we pass by the Mountain View Solar facility.
Echo Bay is part of Lake Mead which supplies most of the water and electrical power (with the help of the Hoover Dam) for LV
Heading northeast we see the Colorado River snaking through the White Canyon area in northern AZ/southern UT
This is the San Juan River in Utah feeding the Colorado River and eventually Lake Powell
As a “nerd” I ook for airports below. This is the Montrose Muni Airport (MTJ) in Colorado
Cheyenne County Muni Airprot (SYF) in Kansas
Central Nebraska Regional AIrport (GRI) Grand Island, NE
As we fly over Iowa we caught this guy just passing by
Arriving in Grand Rapids we can see the marshallers working in the 10-degree temperature

After leaving a warm and sunny Las Vegas we arrived to western Michigan’s snow and cold.

Another flight completed and a bunch more photographs for my archives. Can you tell that I’m an aviation geek?

Written by:

Arnie Lee

Jackpot

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Places that you may never have heard of

As I travel the country I often pass by places that have interesting names. So when I pass through a place named Jackpot it piques my interest.

A drive from Reno to Yellowstone takes me through some very barren desert terrain. One of the loneliest stretches is when I get off interstate I-80 in Wells, Nevada and head north towards Twin Falls, Idaho. At Wells the highway US93 sign reads “Jackpot – 68 miles”

For the most part this highway is a well-paved two lane road traversing badlands and buttes. As far as I can tell this section of the country in uninhabited.

At 70mph it’s an hour drive until I’m asked to slow down as I enter the town.

The first thing I see are signs for food and gasoline services
As its name suggests Jackpot is home to several casinos tempting visitors with a penchant for gambling.
There are several casinos here. Jackpot sits on the Idaho state line and is the first stop for gaming for visitors traveling from the north.
My guess is that the north south distance of Jackpot is no more than a mile. At north end of town is this sign as you leave Nevada.

So there you have it. An appropriate name for a hopefully lucrative stop off for gaming. Good luck to you.

Still Interested in other places?

These are a several more places that you may never have heard of:

Argenta, Nevada
Aragonite, Utah
Beowawe, Nevada
Dunphy, Nevada
Mercury, Nevada
Rhyolite, Nevada
Vedauwoo, Wyoming
Wamsutter, Wyoming

Rhyolite

humor, informational, national parks, personal, photograph, presentation, recreation, scenic, travel, , , ,

Places that you may never have heard of

I’m a dyed in the wool traveler. In my travels I sometimes run across a place that bears a “funny” name – a place that has an unfamiliar moniker.

Not long ago after taking in the scenic wonders of Death Valley National Park I pointed the rental auto towards my destination: Las Vegas

Shortly thereafter I encountered one of the places with a strange name.

I turned onto a side road and followed it a couple of miles to find a ghost town. Judging from the many weathered foundations here, Rhyolite must have been fairly active years ago.

The Overbury Bldg opened in 1905 housed offices.
The Rhyolite schoolhouse built about 1910 for 250 children
The Cook Bank was first occupied in 1907.
An artistic silhouette of miners at work

When I returned home I spent a few minutes to find out the history of Rhyolite.

The rhyolite mineral is a volcanic substance containing quartz. About 1904 rhyolite was discovered in the area and a large number of prospectors moved to the area in hopes to strike it rich. When electricity came to Rhyolite a large mill was built to mine and process the ore. But the 1907 financial panic soon affected the town, businesses and residents. The mines and mill slowed production and workers left. By 1916 the town was effectively shut down.

If you’re interested you can visit this ghost town by driving from Las Vegas to Beatty, NV and then driving on NV-374 west about four miles.

Still Interested?

Here are a few more places that you may never have heard of –

Argenta, Nevada
Aragonite, Utah
Beowawe, Nevada
Dunphy, Nevada
Jackpot, Nevada
Mercury, Nevada
Vedauwoo, Wyoming
Wamsutter, Wyoming