Karen

has a full time job now, well compared to Bath and Boy Works 6 hours every two weeks it seems like a full time job.....She is working at Lane Bryants now and will be getting 15-20 hours a week and make more per hour than at Bath and Body Works! Now, because she has two jobs, I have to find another one also. I can't let her beat me! She also has another job interview for Friday........

Not much else going on, its getting really HOT out here, although last year we were almost 10 degrees hotter at this time. We are hitting about 106F to 108F for the high. Last year we were about 115F for the high. So much for global warming.

Unlike in Michigan, where they re build road when they reach a point of being 90% pot hole, in Vegas they re build road because they are not big enough. Currently they are tearing out a 5-7 mile stretch of I-15 that back in Michigan would be considered new, to expand it to 4 lanes in each direction.

Just this year they finished the "beltway" aka: State Route 215 that runs on the outside of Las Vegas from the southeast to the northeast. Its not really even finished and they are already tearing it up to get rid of all of the stop lights. If your from Michigan you can think of it as I-275 with stop lights at every other intersection. Now that it is complete they are tearing it up to replace the stop lights with overpasses to make it like an actual freeway.

This weekend I'm going to go bird spotting. I may go to the Henderson Bird Preserve but, even though I was initially excited about that place because it offered some pretty good bird spotting, having been there a few times I much less excited about it.

At Crosswinds you were pretty much free to do as you pleased. There were a few rules, mostly regarding not disturbing the nesting eagles. It was open from dawn to dusk allowing you to pick the time/lighting conditions that you liked.

At the Henderson Bird Preserve, not so much. They are open from 6AM until 3PM. This is due to, get this, National Security Reasons. Granted it is a water treatment facility also but really, National Security???? Oh, I know, terrorists only get up amd moving around after 3 PM. So, just close it down before 3PM and we are all safe!!!! Really, just say that we don't want to pay the staff to be there later than that. That much I can understand.
The bad part is that because of the layout of the place, the afternoon is the BEST time to take photos.

The staff out there is a mixed bag.(maybe I'm just a mixed bag). I had one staff member come up to me and offered to drive me around in his cart and show me where the cool birds hung out at. He offered his expertise as to when was the best time to look for their resident owl and where to find him. He took me to see the road runners as seen here:

He was a retired (Deleted to preserve his identity) and was as nice and helpful as could be. When he explained the National Security reasons for closing so early he kind of rolled his eyes at the same time. It was very cool with me and him riding in the cart, both of us taking photos as we went.

The second staff member I met was a lady who rode up on a cart to me and said "I saw you!" I was like, "huh?" She said "I saw you go off the path! Your not allowed off the path!" I suppose that, being that the rule is clearly delineated in the literature for the park, I just didn't like the rule. She indeed did come off as rude, but being that I didn't follow the rules one could say I was being rude too! I guess I just don't like all of the rules they have there......

Here are some pics from the Henderson Bird Preserve:
An American Coot:(Common in Michigan Also)

I used to know what this was:(found in Michigan also)


Here are some Oclets, a Snowy Egret(I think) and something else...lol(Not found in Michigan)


A Rudy Duck:(Common in Michigan)

Scenic Shot:


Compared to Crossinds:












There are a few other choices available to me though. There is the newly completed Springs Preserve but it is not free, and is fairly expensive.

I may also try the Clark County Wetlands Park.

I'll have to keep looking. Granted in the middle of the desert you will likely not find a marsh but you never know!!