After we settled into our hotel at Lake Las Vegas, Tami abandoned Mike and headed back to spend a few days at her brother’s house in St. George, given that Mike was going to be occupied with conference stuff.

On Thursday, however, I (Mike) did not have any commitments until evening, so thought I would see if I could find a bike to rent. It turned out that the boat rental place near the hotel also had a few bikes. Once I got squared away, I headed off towards Vegas. Lake Las Vegas is close to Henderson, a suburb of Vegas, but there was some desert to head through.

Thought Tami would like the plastic crows down by the rental place

Fortunately, there were some nice bike trails in the intervening distance, so I took those part of the way. Eventually I got on the Boulder Highway heading toward downtown. It was not very scenic, but the traffic was not heavy and there was a wide shoulder. Realizing I had neglected to through a water bottle on the bike before leaving (but its desert, what could go wrong?), so I stopped at a gas station and grabbed a big bottle that would fit in the cage on the bike.

There were several casinos on the way (not the big fancy casinos like on the strip, but still substantial places). I was amused when I rode by one that had its own KOA campground.

Just off the strip I found an interesting little shopping area called the Container Park. The whole place appeared to have been constructed from shipping containers. Also in the area where several odd sculptures made from trucks.

Container Park

Truck sculpture

Another truck sculpture

From there I looped up to North Las Vegas, where I spotted the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historical Park, something I am sure Tami will want to go back and see on our way out of town.

Mormon Fort – Tami, want to go?

Heading back, I took a route that followed the “river”. On one side was a sign warning people to stay out because of the danger of flooding. On the other side was a bike/walk path. Something did not quite match up about that!

Bike path along the “river” – why is one side dangerous and the other is not?

Solar farm I rode by – Vegas seems like a good place for it

Eventually town ran out and I headed back onto the bike path across the desert back to Lake Las Vegas. When I got back I was hot and worn out, not having been on a bike in over a month. I spent some time in the room before heading back out for the evening conference activities.

Back on the bike path through the desert

Small wash coming down to the path

Coming in sight of home – Lake Las Vegas