Visiting a Friend In Her Time of Need in Pahrump, Nevada

After our visit in Las Vegas, we rented a car and drove to Pahrump, Nevada, to visit a dear friend of ours.

It was an hour drive with magnificent views of the mountain along the way.

We visited our friend at her home in Pahrump, Nevada, USA.

We have known Rev. S for many years and I visited her and her husband before at their lovely home in Pahrump, Nevada, USA.

 I went to Nevada to visit her right after I retired to  pray with her and get guidance.

She has provided much needed spiritual support to our family in the past.

This time, we were here to lend her our support. She was there with her sister, Susan, and we got to know her a little better during the past couple of days.

We stayed at Rev. S.'s house.

From the backyard of the house,  we could have a very good view of the mountain.

These palm trees were just planted and were very small when I visited Rev. S. a few years ago.

Many have grown a lot bigger and taller since I visited in 2009.


In fact, the palm trees have grown so much that they need to be trimmed and cut annually.

The palm trees need to be trimmed every year.

The couple days when we were there, a tree guy was in the backyard climbing up the trees trying to remove the dead leaves.














For a couple of days work trimming the trees and fixing the broken sprinkler pipes, it could easily cost the homeowner between US$ 1000.00 to $2000.00.

The cost of owning and maintaining a home in U.S. and Canada can be expensive for new homeowners and seniors living on retired income.

Evidently, Pastor S. has a green thumb and she loves gardening and planting. She has planted many shrubs and fruit trees in her backyard.

She was proud to show off to us her plentiful harvest of dates and pomegranates from last year.















She was eager to share with us her home grown chemical and fertilizer free organic pomegranates.

The pomegranates were meaty, juicy and very sweet indeed!

Furthermore, Pastor S. told us that these pomegranates could be kept for months without being spoiled. How about that!











The main purpose of our visit was to pray and show support to Pastor S. during her time of loss of a loved one.

We did just that. She was so glad that she had some visitors from Toronto.

We visited Rev.S. at her home in Pahrump

We spent some time reading the bible, praying for our families and enjoying each other's company over a lovely dinner at one of the restaurants.

We also learned about some of Pastor S.'s needs.

Majestic mountain ranges in the Pahrump, Nevada area

We will try to visit her more often lending her our support.

R.T.
Pahrump, Nevada
USA

Renting a Vehicle and Driving from Las Vegas to Pahrump, a Small Town in Nevada

Driving to Pahrump, Nevada, from Las Vegas

Week of March 27, 2017

One of the joys of travelling is visiting friends in the area. After our visit in Las Vegas, we visited a friend in Pahrump, located about seventy miles from Las Vegas.

We reserved a rental car at the Las Vegas International Airport for this visit. Aware that in some American cities, public transportation might not be too convenient,  we were delighted to learn that we could take the Las Vegas city bus #108, just across the road from the Stratoshpere Hotel where we stayed.

It only cost $ 2.00 for each person and the #108 bus took us all the way to the McCarran International Airport and dropped us right at the door.

It was a delightful drive!

From there we boarded the airport shuttle bus to the Car Rental Centre. However, since our rental company was not one of the big international ones, we needed to take a second shuttle bus which took us to the car rental office located off the airport site to pick up our rental vehicle.

The area is surrounded by mountain range

It was a gorgeous sunny day with a temperature of around 60 degree F.

The drive was beautiful as we were surrounded by mountain ranges all the way.

Some mountains were covered by snow

We were surprised to see that there were snow on some mountains.

It took a little over an hour but it did not seem long at all as I was busy enjoying the mountain scenery.

A cute little cabin in Pahrump, Nevada

We haven't done a long distance driving trip for over two years. It felt good to be on the road again with my husband at the steering wheel.


We reached Pahrump at around 6p.m.

Though a small town with around 38,000 inhabitants,  Pahrump has a few casinos.

We went into one of the local casinos to grab a bite to eat. It was a place decorated with a western theme.

My husband ordered a salad and I ordered a slice of pizza. The portion was big and the pizza was very good indeed.

We drove around a bit and visited a couple of stores.

The huge cactus in the area reminded me of our trip to Arizona three years ago.

We got to Pastor S's house at 8pm. But the street was very dark without any street lights at all.












We could not get hold of her by phone; neither could we see the house number clearly from our car.

 In the U.S. we are mindful not to approach any houses uninvited, especially not in the dark.  It has proven to be fatal for some unlucky strangers who were shot at by the property owners.

We waited in our vehicle with the inside lights on hoping that our friend would see us eventually while we were trying to reach her by phone.

We ate at one of casinos in Pahrump, Nevada, USA

Finally, we saw two people emerged from a house close by and I ran up to ask if they knew our friend.

It was so dark in the area that we could hardly see the person's face in front of us. I was actually speaking to our friend without knowing!

Finally we found each other. We spent some time catching up, talking and discussing some questions we had about the bible. It was well past midnight before we went to sleep.

R.T.
Pahrump, Nevada
USA

Las Vegas, the Marraige Capital of the World

We took a wlak around the Stratosphere Hotel

With more than 300 marriages a day, over 110,000 marriages a year, Las Vegas is considered the marriage capital of the world.

The Chapel of Flowers, Las Vegas

People get married in Vegas for various reasons.

Nevada is famous for how easy it is to get a marriage license. If you have a photo ID and the right document, you can get a marriage license in ten minutes until midnight everyday in Las Vegas.

A couple getting married can choose either an indoor or outdoor ceremony.

Getting a marriage license is easy in Las Vegas and the cost of the marriage can be minimal.

 For US$60.00, one can get a marriage license on the same day in Vegas. For as little as $395.00, one can get married in a church with music and a picture of the ceremony as well as a single rose for the bride and a rose boutonniere for the groom.

Some of the Vegas' wedding ceremonies can include limousine services 

 For about US$ 695.00, one even gets limousine service, not bad at all.


 When people want to avoid all the headaches and huge cost of a big wedding, a simple wedding in Vegas can be appealing to those couples.

We walked by a little church near our hotel, the Chapel of the Flowers, one of the well known wedding chapels in Las Vegas.

This little church looks really cute and pretty with chairs set out on the front lawn for relatives and friends to witness the wedding ceremonies.

A wedding here can look pretty and dignified!

R.T.
Las Vegas
USA

View of Vegas from the Top of the Stratosphere Tower

Buffet dining room of the Stratosphere Hotel

While we are visiting Las Vegas, we stay at
the Stratosphere Hotel. It is one of the newer hotels with much to offer.
















For the second day in a row, we enjoyed the nice buffet lunch at the hotel.


For an average breakfast or lunch sandwich, it costs between US$8.00 - 13.00.

At US$15.99 per person, for an all you can eat brunch buffet with salads, many different kinds of meat and various ethnic dishes and all the juice, milk and coffee you can drink, it is an excellent meal.  We enjoyed our buffet brunch at the hotel before heading out to our tour of the city.

The Observation Tower at the Stratosphere Hotel at night

One of the perks of staying at the hotel is the discounted admission fare for some of the attractions offered on site such as the observation tower.















While other people pay  US$20.00 per person for admission, as hotel guests we paid only $5.00.

The admission fee also allows visitors a 24 hours visit to the tower. We visited the tower in the morning, but if we wanted too, we could have gone back and enjoy the sunset view or the evening view of the city.

View of Las Vegas from the Observation Tower

The Stratosphere Tower is the tallest building in the entire state. It is over a hundred stories high above ground.

Overlooking the Las Vegas strip from the Stratosphere Tower 

We did have a really good 360 degree view of the city of Las Vegas.

A photo of Miss Atomic Bomb in 1957 shown in the Atomic Testing Museum at U. of Neveda

Visitors on the observation deck are supposed to be able to see the site where the US government tested the atomic bombs in 1951.  However, without given any maps to help pinpoint that exact location, we did not figure out where the site was.

Inside the observation deck, comfortable and modern seating were everywhere providing ample resting places.

Visitors could take their time, sit, relax and enjoy the view for any length of time without feeling rushed or tired.

There were a few bar tables set up so visitors could really take it slow and enjoy the view below at their leisure.

The sky jump machine ready to take jumpers for their thrills.

For those seeking extreme thrills of their life time, they can try the sky jump from the tower.

The outdoor ride from 866 feet above the Las Vegas Strip

The outdoor ride could be visible from the ground below

Or people wanting to experience thrills from on high, they could also ride the outdoor ride from 866 feet above the strip and scream their lungs out.
















We could see the outdoor ride outside the Stratosphere Hotel from the ground.

On the highest point of Las Vegas

For $20.00 a person for an admission fee, one needs to stay a little longer to enjoy the scenery below to be worth it.




If we had the time, we would have a book with us to read, enjoy a drink and the view below easily for a longer time.



R.T.
Observation Deck
Stratosphere Hotel
Las Vegas
USA

A Free Japanese Flower Sculpture Show at the Bellagio, Las Vegas

You don't have to gamble in Las Vegas, There are a lot to see and do to keep one busy in this colourful "sin city".

We looked up some of the attractions and decided to visit the free ones first before we would open our wallet to see the paid ones.

There are many grand hotels and resorts in Vegas with each trying hard to compete against each other in order to attract visitors to its casino.

We went to see a free flower show at the Bellagio Hotel.

As soon as we went into the hotel lobby, I recognized the gigantic glass artwork on the ceiling by the renowned American blown glass artist Chihuly.  His art pieces have been displayed around the world.

I saw one of his exhibitions in Arizona and  another show in Toronto recently.




The flower show currently at Bellagio is a comparatively small one with a Japanese theme.

There was a huge Japanese figure sitting smack in the centre of the exhibition hall.

I liked the turtle decorated with flowers.

There were many colorful spring flowers with huge butterflies or small creatures made from fresh flowers dotted among the floral displays.

The gigantic bird, butterflies and the turtle have been created out of fresh flowers.

Colourful indeed!



















The show also featured a couple of traditional small wooden buildings




















The one piece floral artwork that visitors and I liked the most was a three dimensional picture created out of flowers and moss.

It was unique, pretty and original.

The floral show was a colourful one providing me with an opportunity to take pictures of various spring flowers.

I am very lucky as my husband is very patient man who put up with me while I took time to photograph the subjects.

We also enjoyed a free concert by a street violinist outside the hotel. The performance was a showstopper and we were there for quite a few minutes enjoying the beautiful music.

After all the walking we took the monorail home, walked a short distance back to our hotel.

 It was a busy day and we got a lot of exercises walking on the Las Vegas strip alone.

R.T.
Las Vegas
U.S.A.