Hoover Dam

Day V: Las Vegas

I never would have imagined actually liking Vegas but--for a short trip--it was totally awesome.  Take away the drugs and hookers and it's just Disney World for adults.  I walked ten miles, wielding beers in one hand and a camera in the other before I had to drag myself out and on to the next stop.

Highlight of the trip would be an older gentlemen in a motorized wheel chair shouting, "Woooooo Wooooooooo!" at any convertible that drove-by.  Runner-up would be when one very drunk man repeatedly walked back-and-forth between Spiderman and Batman, desperately trying to get the two superheros into a fight.

Bellagio Orchestrated Water Show

Marilyn Monroe posing for pictures.  I told her she was smaller than she looked in the pictures.  Apparently, saying such a thing to a 'little person' is in bad taste.

Prada

Miniature Eiffel Tower

Prada II

The Mirage Casino entrance-way

The Gauntlet.  Dozens of men & women line the sidewalk handing out calling cards for 'women within 20 minutes'

Las Vegas Blvd traffic

Day IV: Vikingsholm at Lake Tahoe

Made a short off-road trek today by Emerald Bay on Lake Tahoe to see Vikingsholm, a 38-room castle built in 1929.  The building shows off classic Scandinavian architecture, and is surrounded by towering cedars and pines, while sitting between steep granite cliffs and the water front.

Vikingsholm; South Lake Tahoe, CA

Gondola and telephone wires extending over the water to The Nubble Lighthouse in Maine

 

University of New Hampshire

Contribution

So far 54 tornadoes have been reported from today's storm, with Mississippi and Alabama getting the brunt of the storm, as was expected.  Wasn't planning on chasing today (if I was, my plan was to stay at the SE-corner of Missouri last night, and then to follow the storms across the south-central U.S. in the morning).

As I figured I was too late to track any of the real activity, I decided to half-explore / half-track the one storm I thought had potential.  I ended up starting in eastern Oklahoma and tracking the storm across Rogers, Arkansas and up through Table Rock Lake to Springfield, Missouri.  While I was surrounded by some very intimidating clouds (below picture was the standard view of the day), I managed today to stay out of the hail and 70+ mph winds this storm recording through careful GPS navigation on my Doppler display.

Near Springfield, MO

While there was a clear wall cloud that I tracked for miles, I never positively saw anything touchdown (despite a lot of semi-funnels that were sticking-out).  According to the National Weather Service though, a F0 did in fact touchdown 5-miles east of me at the exact time I was driving through (18:40) and was recorded with 80 mph winds.  I swear I saw a clear funnel at this point while looking over the lake, but it was only two quick looks I got and I shrugged it off as my mind playing tricks on me.  I guess I'll never know.

 After leaving Springfield, heading east to intercept storm brewing in southeast

Another 11 hour day and 600 mile drive.

Oh, Arkansas