[Matt Angry]

Originally Posted by guinnessjim

ltechnically, my last vacation was a work trip to Japan - it was a research cruise which afforded me a few days on either side of the ship time for myself. after our part of the cruise, i had to spent 2 days on chichijima (Chichi-jima - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) waiting for a boat to take us back to the mainland (its a 25 hr ferry, so the ship only runs a couple times a week). beautiful tropical island, very little english spoke there, so i just drank a lot of beer, pointed at the food i wanted, and enjoyed a slice of paradise (no cell phones, only one place to check email...and i stayed the hell away from that cafe). unfortunately, i didn't know the wwII history of the island until i ready the book Flyboys (j. bradley...i really recommend it). but i did hike to the top of the peak w/ the now defunct radio tower (didn't know its significance at the time) and saw numerous emplacements, tunnels and turrets.

WOW! I have a friend stationed in Japan right now, he's is loving it!! I just can't do that long of a plane ride (without some major drugs, for sleeping that is!!)

Our next trip is probably going to be to Yosemite, can't wait for that!!

[guinnessjim]

Originally Posted by olecapt

In the winter we head to Puerto Vallarta. Go to a little town about 15 miles north of PV called Bucerias. Cost about half or two thirds PV and has a nicer beach. Rural Mexican rules...don't drink the water. But a wonderful place to warm up when Vegas is cool.

bucieras is a cool little town. love to sit at those beach side cantinas, get a couple of bucket-beer deals and some comida and lounge away the afternoon.

[guinnessjim]

Originally Posted by yellowsnow

I went on a cruise to Alaska once and it seemed like 1/2 the people on the boat were from Vegas!

I love most of the places you folks mentioned. One trip I want to do is that date farm, I think it is China Ranch. There are so many things to see and do in a reasonable distance from Vegas. I have always wanted to see Mono Lake too.

i have always wanted to take an alaskan cruise.

mono lake is something kinda cool, worth checking out...if you want to see a newly forming mono lake, head just a bit north and back into NV to walker lake (Hawthorne). it (the lake) is dying due to water removal from the walker river (i'll never understand the need to farm the desert). it kinda interesting to see what's going on....the lake's pH is about 9.5, and it is fairly salty (kinda has an ocean feel/taste to it). i hear there are even submerged tufas in it, though you can't see them yet...but at the rate the water level is dropping you never know (it dropped about a meter from the time we sampled in april to last week). walker is kinda like an intermediate between pyramid lake and mono.

[guinnessjim]

Originally Posted by Matt Angry

WOW! I have a friend stationed in Japan right now, he's is loving it!! I just can't do that long of a plane ride (without some major drugs, for sleeping that is!!)

Our next trip is probably going to be to Yosemite, can't wait for that!!

you should try to get to japan while you have a friend there...it is really helpful to have someone there to show you around (esp. if, like me, you speak little to no japanese ). but yeah....the plane ride is really long.

yosemite is cool...but, like yellowstone, can have a lot of people. if you don't mind a little chilly weather, you can cut out a substantial chunk of the people by going in the spring or fall...and that place is great w/ a touch of snow!

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by Chest Rockwell

Of course, the top of that list has to be Mt. Zion National Park. My head nearly exploded the first time I went there.

The Great Basin Nat'l Park is highly underrated as well and just a few hours from Las Vegas. The tour of Lehman caves was amazing.

Hope you don't get mad at me for correcting you, but it is just ZION National Park...not Mt. Zion, which I believe is in Israel or someplace like that. And Great Basin is about a six hour drive, five if you really lay the pedal to the metal. But Great Basin is well worth the drive, and actually that's no biggy for people in the west. If you are up to some serious hiking, I recommend the hike to the top of Wheeler Peak in GBNP. Leave early, take LOTS of water and some food. It will take most of the day to go up and back. Warning: It is over 13,000 feet at the top and not a hike for anyone who isn't used to that kind of strenuous activity or with medical problems. If that's beyond your mountaineering abilities, at least walk up to Stella Lake. But again, it's over 10,000 feet elevation, as is the trail head up to Wheeler Peak. Lots of good fishing in the Great Basin/Ely area too. Right now is the time to be fishing for trophy size brown trout at Cave Lake outside of Ely.

I just typed for half an hour about places to go in New Mexico and the four corners area and I hit a key or something that wiped the whole thing out before I could post it. So I'll just say that you should Goggle New Mexico, Moab, UT., Durango, CO, and Monument Valley. There are a lot of great places just off I-40 going through New Mexico between here and Albuquerque. Sedona, AZ is a nice getaway too. And of course the all time best place to see is the Grand Canyon which is only 4½ hours from here.

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by guinnessjim

i have always wanted to take an alaskan cruise.

mono lake is something kinda cool, worth checking out...if you want to see a newly forming mono lake, head just a bit north and back into NV to walker lake (Hawthorne). it (the lake) is dying due to water removal from the walker river (i'll never understand the need to farm the desert). it kinda interesting to see what's going on....the lake's pH is about 9.5, and it is fairly salty (kinda has an ocean feel/taste to it). i hear there are even submerged tufas in it, though you can't see them yet...but at the rate the water level is dropping you never know (it dropped about a meter from the time we sampled in april to last week). walker is kinda like an intermediate between pyramid lake and mono.

You're right, there is no need to farm the desert, and especially no need to run cattle in a state that talks about how many acres it takes to feed one cow instead of talking about how many cows you can feed per acre. The so called nobleman of the range...the cattle rancher...ain't. They are the biggest know it alls I've ever run across, and all they do is kill all the wild critters, (and they want to) fence all the land (thank goodness for open range) to keep us, the rightful owners,off. Then they destroy the environment and ruin all the streams with their stinking, dirty, stupid, sh** covered cattle. Other than that they're all right I guess.

While you're checking out Mono Lake, spend a weekend in Mammoth Lakes. Nice, fun, little town and a great ski resort. Over the pass on the other side of Mammoth Lakes is The Devil's Post-pile National something or other. They run shuttles out of Mammoth Lakes Ski Resort. You pay one fee and can ride around all day, getting on and off at various sites in Devil's Post-pile. We hiked over the mountain from the lakes to the Post-pile one time. We actually lost the trail due to so much snow (in July) and came across some other people who were also lost. Since I had a little compass on my watch and we knew where we anted to be was west of where we were, we just followed the compass cross country and finally picked up a trail heading down the mountain. We took the shuttle back to town and somehow made it back to where we left our car. A really fun time to go to Mammoth if you don't ski is on the 4th of July. The firemen have a pancake breakfast that is lots of fun, and then the town puts on the funkiest 4th of July Parade you'll ever see.

Another fun 4th of July parade and celebration is at Springdale, UT, the town at the west entrance of Zion Nat'l Park.

[guinnessjim]

Originally Posted by Buzz123

If you are up to some serious hiking, I recommend the hike to the top of Wheeler Peak in GBNP. Leave early, take LOTS of water and some food. It will take most of the day to go up and back. Warning: It is over 13,000 feet at the top and not a hike for anyone who isn't used to that kind of strenuous activity or with medical problems. If that's beyond your mountaineering abilities, at least walk up to Stella Lake. But again, it's over 10,000 feet elevation, as is the trail head up to Wheeler Peak. Lots of good fishing in the Great Basin/Ely area too. Right now is the time to be fishing for trophy size brown trout at Cave Lake outside of Ely.

I just typed for half an hour about places to go in New Mexico and the four corners area and I hit a key or something that wiped the whole thing out before I could post it. So I'll just say that you should Goggle New Mexico, Moab, UT., Durango, CO, and Monument Valley. There are a lot of great places just off I-40 going through New Mexico between here and Albuquerque. Sedona, AZ is a nice getaway too. And of course the all time best place to see is the Grand Canyon which is only 4½ hours from here.

lotsa good info here! thanks for reminding me of wheeler...i have to get that on my spring to do list (my guess is the season is over for doing it now).

as for the 4 corners area, i didn't want to start listing stuff there as i could type all day (that is where i truly call home...northern mts of NM). camping in NM in october is awesome..not as cold as similar elevations in NV, CO, or UT. the chama valley is stunning (the area that inspired georgia o'keeffe) as you get that good mix of turning aspens and poplars w/ high desert river valley.

if you are seeing moab, you need some time as you can access Arches, Canyonlands, and Bridges all w/in a relatively short drive (all worth spending time in). and since you are there, you might as well take the drive down UT-261 and head down the Moki Dugway (gravel road that drops ~1000' in like 2 miles). it is really an amazing site as you are on the plateau at the top, a drop of 1000+ feet in any direction you look. once you drive down, you are back in the red rock desert of AZ...on your way to monument valley . too much to talk about and it is depressing me to know i don't have time to get out there this autumn

again....great thread Matt!

[Matt Angry]

Originally Posted by guinnessjim

lotsa good info here! thanks for reminding me of wheeler...i have to get that on my spring to do list (my guess is the season is over for doing it now).

as for the 4 corners area, i didn't want to start listing stuff there as i could type all day (that is where i truly call home...northern mts of NM). camping in NM in october is awesome..not as cold as similar elevations in NV, CO, or UT. the chama valley is stunning (the area that inspired georgia o'keeffe) as you get that good mix of turning aspens and poplars w/ high desert river valley.

if you are seeing moab, you need some time as you can access Arches, Canyonlands, and Bridges all w/in a relatively short drive (all worth spending time in). and since you are there, you might as well take the drive down UT-261 and head down the Moki Dugway (gravel road that drops ~1000' in like 2 miles). it is really an amazing site as you are on the plateau at the top, a drop of 1000+ feet in any direction you look. once you drive down, you are back in the red rock desert of AZ...on your way to monument valley . too much to talk about and it is depressing me to know i don't have time to get out there this autumn

again....great thread Matt!

Thanks!!!

This was exactlly what I was looking for, tons of info from everyone!! I'm looking forward to my next 3 day weekend now! Thanks to everyone for posting, lets keep it going if we can!!

[dynimagelv]

Originally Posted by Buzz123

I just typed for half an hour about places to go in New Mexico and the four corners area and I hit a key or something that wiped the whole thing out before I could post it. So I'll just say that you should Goggle New Mexico, Moab, UT., Durango, CO, and Monument Valley. There are a lot of great places just off I-40 going through New Mexico between here and Albuquerque. Sedona, AZ is a nice getaway too. And of course the all time best place to see is the Grand Canyon which is only 4½ hours from here.

The first time I went to Monument Valley, I got there at sunset on June 21 [longest day and a full moon] Sat down on the wall by the visitors center and spent the entire night watching the valley and the changing shadows.....the most incredible place I have ever visited.

[jfkIII]

Where do Las Vegans go on vacation???

They go to the real New York, New York (not NYNY), of course!