March 9, part 4

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Continuing southwest toward Vegas............

I would certainly rather be flying over this landscape than attempting it on foot!

See the bit of water, fairly near the horizon, under the small dark bump visible near the far end of what we can see of the wing?  I think that is part of Lake Mead, which is behind the Hoover dam.

We can just barely see that bit of water in this next image, too, very near the right side.  The big blob of cloud is pointing down at it.

This dessert land looks very much water-carved, to my mind............

Lake Mead, looking incredibly anomalous in this extremely dry country.

I'm guessing the white stripe on the land, above the water level, at right, means there is considerably less water here than there has been in the past........

This shot was taken 6 minutes after the previous one.  We are about to land in Las Vegas.  We can see a few palm trees in this shot.  I saw quite a few as we came in to land (and saw none at all in Reno).

That big gold hotel (etc.) is the Mandalay Bay.  I think we are looking right at part of the Vegas strip.

Here's a closer look -- the pyramid, a sphynx, an obelisk.............

I don't think we are in civilization any more...................

The airport is crammed with slot machines (or whatever the generic name is for this sort of suck-your-money-into-a-black-hole device).................

At least no one is allowed to smoke here (unlike in the casinos).  And the machines are quieter than in the casinos.  And there is actual daylight in parts of the airport, unlike in the casinos................

We have now arrived in Reno.  I did not have a window seat on the flight between Vegas and Reno, so no pics.

One excellent thing about this part of the country is the skies.  Huge unobstructed skies.  There was a lot going on, cloud-wise, on March 9.........

This next shot is a bit to the right of the previous one.

And this one a bit farther to the right.  Note snow on mountains, bottom right.

I wonder if the designer who worked on the floors in the Kansas City airport also worked on those in Reno.  Here's a fish embedded in the floor............

Outside, waiting for a shuttle to the hotel.

Our first view out the hotel window -- looking north from the 21s floor.

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