After a very pleasant stay in St. George it was on to Las Vegas. The road to Vegas passes through the most rugged looking mountains.
Happy I live in this time of motorized vehicles. I don't think I would have enjoyed travel as much on horseback or in a horse drawn wagon.
We arrived in Las Vegas, set up at Las Vegas RV Park and set about seeing the sights.
One of the first places I always want to go is the Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Garden.
No matter how many times I go the display always takes my breath away.
The display changes 5 times a year. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and a special display for Chinese New Year.
The 2019 Spring Show is Japanese Spring.
The most eye catching to me were the beautiful red-crowned Japanese cranes. These are designed after the famous Japanese painting, 100 Fountain Views of Edo-Hiroshige Cranes 1857.
Here's looking at you, kid!
There is a towering replica of the Osaka Castle. The Osaka Castle is one of the most iconic and historic castles in all of Japan. It has been chosen to host the 2025 World Expo.
A horticulture staff of 120 maintains the Botanical Gardens and the entire grounds of Bellagio.
The garden has 15,000-18,000 visitors every day. They do a great job of situating the displays to accommodate so many people.
During the course of each seasonal exhibit, more than 10,000 potted flowers are hand-watered and switched out every two weeks.
The graceful Koi were lazily swimming in the pond. The most expensive koi fish ever sold was worth $1.8 million.
No matter how many visits to the Conservatory that I have made I am never disappointed. But, I am a dyed in the wool flower lover.
The Conservatory is just off the Bellagio Lobby that is home to Dale Chihuly's 2,000 hand-blown glass flowers ceiling and I always have to stop by to admire it.
Below that beautiful ceiling this visit is a vibrantly colored Samurai Warrior.
On our way out of the Hotel headed to the fountains we saw this wall that looks just like the scales on the Koi in the Conservatory pond. Weirdly beautiful.
The architecture in Vegas is what I call "escapism." You can envision yourself anywhere in the world as you travel down the Strip.
Inspired by the Lake Como (think George & Amal) town of Bellagio in Italy, the Bellagio Resort is famed for its elegance.
Once out at the lake the fountain show was just beginning.
The show is every 30 minutes during the day and every 15 minutes in the evening.
The music varies from classical and operatic pieces to popular music and songs from Broadway. This time we were treated to classical.
Sometimes the water flies almost 500 feet into the air. No matter how often I see the show I always go "W0w."
If you could ignore the crowds it would be easy to imagine yourself in Italy.
Living the high life in Las Vegas can be exhausting as these two seem to confirm.
When Ginger and Frosty returned from their Colorado visit it was great to spend time with them. Interesting desert drives with beautiful shadowy mountains.
A pass by a closed brothel in Pahrump that left their sign standing. I wonder if American Pickers would be interested in the sign.
This is a dry, deserty part of the world.
And then after this day the bottom dropped out of my world for awhile. Like a bolt out of the blue Sciatica pain hit with the most excruciating pain. I spent 90% of a month laying flat on my back, not suffering quietly as Walt can attest and nothing I tried gave any comfort. A trip to Emergency in Las Vegas being fed morphine through an IV gave only relief while I was hooked up to that IV. The prescriptions for meds only helped by allowing me to sleep a lot. From Las Vegas we were scheduled in Kingman and Walt had to do his chores and mine to get us hooked up and moved.
I lay with the seat reclined afraid to move for the trip. My entire experience in Kingman was this photo of the city sign and the one below. The remainder of our time there I was inside GypsyII on the bed flat on my back.
A drive by photo of the County Courthouse. Sorry Kingman.......I did not get to know you.
From there it was on to Prescott with Walt again having to do all the work. I again waved the white flag and had him take me to Emergency. Again hooked up to a blessed IV that softened the pain. A little sleep filled with technicolor dreams or maybe I should say nightmares. The pain was portrayed as a fire breathing monster licking the hip with flames over and over. Not very encouraging to hear the Doctor say that some people suffer with Sciatica for months. More pain meds but these took the edge off every now and then.
There were days that I could actually go for a drive. While not entirely comfortable but at least giving me the chance to see this pretty place. One day I actually was able to walk a short way for a different view of the rocks and lake. But, the pain continued at different levels and at different times. Stay tuned to see how amazing Watson Lake is and the outcome of my journey with Sciatica. It has certainly made me admire people that live with chronic pain and deal with it graciously. They must be so strong. I am first to admit that I am a total lightweight in this regard. It hurt, it ached, it throbbed, but I knew it would stop.