Living in Las Vegas

35 miles northwest of Las Vegas is Mount Charleston. It is Nevada’s 8th highest mountain peak and is located in the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area. The average annual snowfall is 120 inches a year with over 300 sunny days.

The Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort is located about 17 miles up the mountain at the end of Highway 156. They are open from 9am to 4pm during ski season. You can rent skis, boots, poles, snowboards, bibs or jackets.  They have 11 trails and 4 lifts. The longest run is 3000 feet.  There are also table-top jumps, rails and a 500 foot intermediate half-pipe.  When you are ready to relax, you can stop by the Big Horn Cafe or Bristlecone Bar.

On your way up the mountain, you will pass by the Mount Charleston Lodge. The Lodge has 23 cabins and a lounge that is open nightly until midnight.  It’s located at the end of Highway 157.

The Mount Charleston Hotel is farther down the mountain and only about 30 minutes away from Las Vegas.  It is newer and they recently renovated the guest rooms. There is also a conference room, wedding facilities, a restaurant and a spa. 

If your looking for a way to get away from Las Vegas without going too far, Mount Charleston is the perfect spot.  Winter or summer, it’s always about 20 degrees cooler with lots of skiing, hiking and camping.

I saw these tips on one of my other favorite Las Vegas blogs and they are so true I had to post them here for you.

Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere. Las Vegas has it’s own set of traffic rules. There’s no book about them. All you can do is get in your car and hope you survive to learn them.

1. All directions start with, “Go down 95…’cause you don’t want to get on 15.”2. Las Vegas Blvd, Charleston Blvd, and Torrey Pines have no beginning and no end.3. It’s impossible to go around a block and wind up on the same street that you started on. The Chamber of Commerce calls this a “scenic drive.”

7. Henderson is the only place in the world where THREE “parallel” streets intersect at one traffic light. That would be the 4-way of Green Valley Parkway/Eastern Avenue/Maryland Parkway. For laughs ask your middle school Geometry teacher to try to explain it. 8. Rainbow Blvd. has THREE exits from the 95, this just makes giving driving directions to newbies more entertaining. There is also a Lake Mead “Drive” and a Lake Mead “Boulevard” and both run east/west but are 30 miles apart. You have to be specific when you say “the corner of …….”. Again this is just another way to harass the 5000 newcomers every month.9. Many major roads just end abruptly at a house/Home Depot/Casino/McCarran International Airport Runways and start again after the interruption, that was done to encourage you to “see the sights” and meet new people. Just try to take Harmon Avenue from Rainbow to Nellis.10. Construction on I-15 and US 95 is a way of life and a permanent form of entertainment. I-215 will never be completed. Get used to it.

With Las Vegas being lit up like a Christmas tree 24/7, not as many people put up their own lights out here.  It’s kind of disappointing to not be able to just drive around the neighborhood and enjoy everyone’s lights.  When I was kid, we always had to take a drive down “Candy Cane Lane.” But Vegas still has some pretty good options besides just heading down to The Strip.

Winter Lights Festival at Springs Preserve- A half million lights, along with roaming performance groups, carriage rides, Santa Claus and Theater Las Vegas’ original puppet show “Dickens Done Over.” Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for children ages 5 to 17 and it’s open until December 30th.

Magical Forest at Opportunity Village  - See my last post with all the details.

Gift of Lights at Sunset Park - You drive through the park and veiw over 200 light displays, some are even animated.  This is probably one of the best displays in town. Admission is $13 per car but you can get $2 discount if you bring a bag of items for Goodwill.  It’s open until January 4th.

Chocolate Wonderland at Ethel M Chocolate Factory- Almost 500,000 lights in the three-acre cactus garden .  The good news is admission is free for this one.  Also, during the day you can take a tour of factory and enjoy some free samples, mmmm!  The lights will be up in the garden until January 1st.

One of the biggest holiday attractions in Las Vegas is Opportunity Village’s Magical Forest, located at 6300 W. Oakey.  Opportunity Village is a well known not-for-profit organization that has been helping people in Las Vegas with disabilities since 1954.  The Magical Forest features many different rides, attractions and, of course, Santa.  It will be open until December 30 from 5:30 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. each night.  Tickets can be purchased at the door, at CVS or at Memphis Barbeque.

The Magical Forest has dozens of live Christmas trees all decorated by the many different sponsors.  There is also the Storytime Cabin for children.  The Gingerbread House display features a raffle and the Gift Cabin is where you can purchase some really nice Christmas gifts.  The proceeds from both of these will benefit people with disabilities.

There are also lots of rides for the kids.  My daughter’s favorite is the 40′Alpine Slide.  There is also a junior Alpine Slide, an Enchanted Carousel and everyone’s favorite, the Forest Express train ride.  And you can stop by Santa’s Workshop for a quick visit.

The Magical Forest needs 70 - 90 volunteers a night.  If you are interested in volunteering contact Debbie Smith at (702) 880-4081.  If you are interested in learning more about Opportunity Village, call (702) 259-3741.

In the 10 plus years that I have lived out here, I have never experienced snow like this in Las Vegas. Every winter we usually get a few flakes that may or may not stick for a few hours, and that’s about it. This time it’s different. It’s real snow!! Check out these pictures posted on the Las Vegas Review Journal website . I always have to laugh at pictures of snow covered palm trees.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning with 3 to 6 inches of snow possible and said snow like this is “extremely rare.” 10 inches or more may fall on Mount Charleston. Accumulation is even possible on the Strip.

The Nevada Department of Transportation has closed U.S. 95 between Railroad Pass and State Route 163 to Searchlight and the California Department of Transportation has closed northbound Interstate 15 near Primm, from Cima Road to Nipton Road.

The Las Vegas Sun says, “The last big snowfall in Las Vegas was on January 31, 1979. 7.4 inches piled up on the ground. National Weather Service records showed that snowfall that sticks around in the valley occurs on average every 20 years.”

Although I am extremely excited, Las Vegas does not have plows or trucks that come around and salt the roads, so I am not exactly sure how this city would handle a real snowfall. My plan is to get home and stay put. But, it’s actual weather in Las Vegas, I can’t complain!.

I am sorry it has been almost a week since I have posted. It seems like it’s been forever. I have been way under the weather!

Anyway, a bunch of stuff has happened. No. 1 being of course, OJ’s 9 to 33 years.  I originally thought it was 15, but it’s no parole for at least 9 years.  OJ is currently residing at High Desert State Prison in Indian Springs, Nevada.

The National Finals Rodeo has been in town since last Thursday.  That’s always a big deal out here.  The events wrap up on Saturday.

There is a new volcano that opened Monday at the Mirage.  Very bittersweet for me as I have fond memories of going to see the volcano as a kid.  The show runs on the hour from dusk until midnight.

In the sprirt of the holiday season, the Hard Rock is going to have free drinks at several of its bars on Dec. 17 from 7pm to 9pm. No catch as far I can tell. Just stop by one of the bars and relax.

Tomorrow at 6:00pm Mayor Oscar Goodman is going to light up Las Vegas’ Christmas tree down on Freemont Street. I haven’t been there in awhile, but Freemont Street it great for a Vegasy night out.

Over the weekend we stopped by the Parasol Up Parasol Down bar over the Wynn and had a really nice time.  The outdoor waterfall show caught our attention and we sat outside and had a few reasonably priced drinks.  We’ll definitely be stopping by again.

I think that about sums things up for last week.  Hopefully I’ll be back on point this week!

The 4 Corners Food Drive is Las Vegas’ largest food drive, sponsored by Mix 94.1 and Channel 13.  It will be benefiting the City Mission of Las Vegas, which is extra busy this year due to the state of the economy. Every year for holiday season, everyone from Mix 94.1, including Mark and Mercedes, broadcast from a different part of town and try to collect as many non-perishable food items as possible.

Quick update on Mercedes, she is officially out on maternity leave and will not be at the food drive this year.  She has not had the baby yet and is just at home on bed rest.  I don’t think she is having any problems, but she is due any minute so it’s probably a good idea to take it easy.  Mark did mention she was doing to try and stop by the food drive one day if she could.  Good luck Mercedes! We are all wishing you well!

Ok, so I didn’t get a chance to post earlier and today they were out at the Albertson’s at Farm and Durango but this is the schedule of the Albertson’s they will be at for the rest of the week:

Tuesday - Town Center & Charleston

Wednesday - Rainbow & 215

Thursday - Stephanie & 215

So if you are planning on stopping by they are accepting all non-perishable food items, cash or grocery store gift cards.  They are also giving a prize out to the single largest donation.  I last heard it was up to $300, but it’s probably more than that by now. I didn’t catch everything included in that prize, but part of it was a Disney trip.  My understanding is protein items are most in need, so that includes peanut butter, canned meats, tuna and beans.

So Vegas, let’s show some love and make it a record breaking year!!