Vegas Baby!!!

 Vegas Trip

Drove down to Bellingham, Washington with a Magician friend to spend the night before flying out to Las Vegas for a 4 day Magic Convention and several days extra to see some shows, cruise the strip, hang out on Fremont Street, and of course do some geocaching. Tried to get a cool Multi in Ferndale called "Stamp Panorama"

It brought us to the Ferndale Post Office. 

It had a bunch of large stamps painted by 45 local artists ranging from ages 11 to 80.

You had to find certain stamps to get the 

co-ords to the cache nearby. We found all the info but just couldn't find the cache. Oh well, still got to see this cool place. Sometimes that's good enough!!

We got into Bellingham, checked into the hotel and then went to grab some supper. Afterwards I grabbed a nearby cache.

Next Stop Vegas!!!

Had a nice short flight to Las Vegas from Bellingham, and then got an Uber to where we would stay for the next 9 days!! 

The Orleans Hotel and Casino is an awesome hotel with everything you need such as several restaurant's, food court, a convenience store, Liquor store, bars, 2 coffee shops, swimming pool, a 52 Lane bowling alley, 18 movie theatres, plus for the convention, there is the Main theatre where all the magic shows would be, and banquet rooms for all the lectures and special events. Once the convention starts there is no need to even leave the hotel.

The first night there, we went and saw Carrot Top the comedian. Very funny show and I would recommend it to anyone!! We also saw a few other shows while in town, such as Illuminate, Farrell Dillon, Tape Face, and Potted Potter. All great shows!!

MAGIC LIVE!!!

The convention was awesome as always and was 4 days filled with magic, fun, excitement and surprises. I can't even explain all of it to you as that would be a full blog in itself and this blog is more about caching!!!

The day after the convention, a bunch of us headed down to the strip for some sightseeing and shopping. 

I have gotten most of the caches on the strip, but was able to do an Adventure Lab while on the strip. Also while there, we visited the Siegfried and Roy statue. The other magicians I was with, had never seen this important statue before. I might not have ever seen it as well, but because of Geocaching taking me there, that's why I knew it was there.

There used to be a Virtual cache at this location, which I found while here for Magic Live in 2015. Sadly it was archived in 2017 as the CO closed their account. I am hoping some day I will receive one of the Virtual rewards, and I may place one at this location. Sadly both performers have passed away in the last couple of years.

NOTE: The highlighted or underlined words in my blog can be clicked on as they are links to other cool stuff!! Also if you click on any of the pictures they become bigger!!!

Day 7 in Vegas: Caching!!!

Rented a car, and spent the day caching and drove a total 205.2 KM to grab 17 caches and an Adventure Lab. It's not about quantity, but about Quality. The day started out by going to Seven Magic Mountains to see some very brightly colored rocks, and then heading to Red Rock Canyon, where the mountains and rocks looked like they were painted but they are all naturally colored. 

Seven Magic Mountains

The Seven Magic Mountains is an Art installation that opened in May 2016.

Renowned Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone’s colorful large-scale, public artwork Seven Magic Mountains is an exhibition located in the desert outside of Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring seven, 30 to 35-feet high dayglow totems comprised of painted, locally-sourced boulders.
Visible across the desert landscape along Interstate 15, Seven Magic Mountains offers a creative critique of the simulacra of destinations like Las Vegas. According to Rondinone, the location is physically and symbolically mid-way between the natural and the artificial: the natural is expressed by the mountain ranges, desert, and Jean Dry Lake backdrop, and the artificial is expressed by the highway and the constant flow of traffic between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

This was the second time I came here. Last time I got a virtual nearby, and since then someone placed a cache here called "Stonehenge in the Desert".

The cache is far enough away from the public, as this can be a fairly busy spot.

These awesome structures are very cool to see from a distance, but even cooler to see up close!!

Goodsprings, Nevada

Next stop on my list was a little town called

Goodsprings. It is an old mining town located 41 km south of Las Vegas. 

Goodsprings is the home of the Pioneer Saloon, considered to be one of the oldest saloons in Nevada (over 100 years old). The saloon features a bullet hole on the side of the building and a coroner's letter describing how it was created. The saloon is said by many to be haunted by the victim's ghost. This was the first stop in town, as it is part of a Virtual cache, and there is also a cache located inside the building that you have to ask the bartender for. 

 

Always cool, to learn some interesting history and grab a cache or two.

In this pic I am holding the Ammo can, that is normally behind the bar until it is asked for.

Pioneer Saloon

Lots of history in this little town!!

Red Rock Canyon

I headed back into Vegas and right back out west towards Red Rock Canyon.

The last time I was in Vegas in February of 2019, I went out to the Red Rock Canyon to do some caching, but that was the year it snowed in Vegas for the first time in 20 years. 

Check out these two photos, and my blog at: "2019 Vegas Trip"

The top pic was taken by me in 2019, and the other one I took while here this time. Not a lot of snow back then, but enough for them to close the scenic circular drive in the Canyon, and I was unable to do the caches in the loop at that time.

The Red Rock canyon is very picturesque and had many different earthcaches.

The pictures don't show the Vibrant colors of the hills and rocks, as good as they do when you are there. If you are ever in Vegas, I would recommend coming out to see these very cool mountains!!

Nice to see geocachers giving back!!

Virtual challenge cache

So a few years back when I was here in February of 2019, I got several challenge caches and one of the ones I wanted to get was a challenge cache to have had found 100 virtual caches. It was a simple Lamp post cache. I went to get the cache and sign it as I only had 3 more virtuals to find at the time, but did not want to enter the parking lot as there was something there and I decided to wait for another trip to Vegas. Check out the pic and let me know if you would have gone to get it. 

Today there was nothing in the parking lot, so I made the find. And because I have now found 137 Virtual caches, I can log it. Challenge complete!!

Of the 17 caches, I found 1 Virtual, 5 Earthcaches, 5 Puzzles, and 6 Traditional caches. Not a record of any sort, but some awesome caches, and a day well spent.

PS: On the right hand side of this webpage is where you can find my YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram, links. Please feel free to check them out and follow or subscribe!!!

Pathtags

I was running out of the first batch of Pathtags I had, so I ordered a couple hundred more pathtags awhile back, to be able to give them away at Geowoodstock, and they arrived while I was away 

 By the way make sure you log your will attend for "Geowoodstock XVIII" and the "Geowoodstock Registration Event", and I will see you there!! Come find me doing magic and ask me for a pathtag!! 

#geowoodstockxviii #geowoodstock2022 #pathtags

Well that's it for this month,

Keep on caching!!

Chris Yuill

Magicman65