In past visits to the “City of Sin”, we visited places like The Neon Museum, the Brain Institute and Red Rock Canyon, this time around we checked out Fremont Street in old Las Vegas and visited the Valley of Fire, which is just 40 miles North of Las Vegas. We were SO delighted with what we saw in the Valley of Fire, we went twice! It’s was THAT beautiful and interesting, we simply could not see it all on one day.

Valley of Fire

The Valley of Fire is aptly named as the dramatic sandstone formations that make up the park are firey red which intensify in the late-afternoon sun. As the rocks and cliffs get eroded by the elements, amazing colored patterns and shapes emerge, shapes that are continually being polished by the wind, often leaving perfectly round holes in cliffs.

The valley, located in the Mojave desert, offers many aspects that are common in places like Utah and North East Arizona and offers a variety of features typically only found there. For example, the Valley of Fire has numerous arches, not unlike those found in Utah’s Arches National Park. These arches are all carved from that red, rusty-colored sandstone that Utah is so famous for.

One of the prime attractions of the park is a feature called “The Fire Wave”, a distinctly wave-shaped piece of red-and-white-colored sandstone similar to a rocky formation, simply called “The Wave”, in Northern Arizona. While the Valley of Fire’s Wave is smaller than the Wave in Arizona, it is way more accessible – a mere 30-45 minutes easy hike. In contrast, the Arizona version not only requires a permit, it is a 4 hour hike over treacherous terrain.

Hiking Trails

We found some extremely photogenic locations sprinkled through the park, lots of color and hugely interesting canyons and hiking trails. One such trail was to a location called Mouse’s Tank, a natural basin in the rock where water collects and can remain trapped there for months. The 3/4 mile round trip hike is very easy, and passes several historic petroglyphs carved there some 3000 years ago by the Ancient Pueblo people. Finding and spotting them on the rock face makes for a fascinating (and fun) game as you go down the trail. Some are easily seen, some are very obscure and hard to make out.

A far more recent bit of history is found just off the main road where three stone cabins stand. They were originally built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1930 as a shelter for travelers. This is before the area was designated a State Park, which did not happen until 1935. The three cabins each have a fireplace and an opening for a door and window, although they are now long gone. The cabins blend perfectly into the surroundings as they are constructed out of the native sandstone. The area is now a picnic area and makes for a wonderful stop and photo opportunity.

Wild Life

As you can imagine, the park is full of wildlife – coyotes, snakes, desert turtles, Gila Monsters (a lizard) and bighorn sheep. We did not spot anything “exotic” like the turtles or Gila Monster, but we DID see some bighorn sheep. They stopped the traffic and were nibbling at the vegetation alongside the road. They are very majestic animals when you get up close.

In Summary

As a park goes, it is not too large – about 11 by 6 miles, with only one single road that goes through it. There are two campgrounds with a total of 71 sites. While no sewer hook-ups, all have water and about 20 of them even have electricity.

As compact as the park is, it is packed with lots to see and do , from hiking, photography, spectacular scenery and access to other interesting locations such as Lake Mead and, yes, Las Vegas.

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As you can see from the pictures on this post, the building is spectacular and after doing some research, learned quite a lot more about it.

About the organization behind the building

The building is called “Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health” and it is an outpatient treatment and research facility for brain-related diseases. In fact, the Center is planned to become a national resource for the most current research and scientific information for the treatment of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington ‘s Diseases, Multiple Sclerosis and ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) as well as focusing on prevention, early detection and education.

To give you some context, my mother had Alzheimer’s, so learning about the function of this center really hit home and we were delighted (and impressed) to find this kind of research center right here in Las Vegas. However, the heart-warming story behind its creation is what really struck as it filled us with a sense of warmth and gratitude towards people who do great things, because they CARE.

You see, the organization behind the center is called “Keep Memory Alive (also known as KMA)” and was founded by Larry Ruvo, his wife Camille, Bobby Baldwin and his wife Donna. Both Larry’s and Bobby’s father were a victim of Alzheimer’s Disease and they set-up the organization and built the building in memory of Larry’s father, Lou Ruvo.

Today, the Keep Memory Alive (which is a nonprofit organization) owns and supports the Brain Health Clinic and aims to increase awareness and raise funds for the research. In a mere two years after they treated their first patient, their fund raising efforts surpassed the $100 million mark in raised funds. An outstanding achievement and what a beautiful cause to help find some cure for these horrible diseases.

[See image gallery at hitthefrogandtoad.albertdebruijn.com]

About the building

The Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health was designed by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry who wanted to create a place that would be memorable. He is quoted for saying “The mantra is Keep Memory Alive, I’m trying to make a building that people will want to visit, remember, talk about, and enjoy, and ultimately will want to partner with us at the center to help cure brain diseases.”

Frank Gehry is generally considered the “most important architect of our time” and his work is famous around the world for their beauty and unusual design. The Lou Ruvo, just one of may of his designs, has some impressive statistics – the building has 199 windows, none of which are alike and the roof is constructed with 18,000 stainless steel shingles, each cut to unique measurements. A massive 65,000 hours of engineering went into the construction which took 3 years, 3 months and 13 days to complete.

Outside, there is a courtyard with seating and a “reflections garden”, a serene and peaceful place to sit, relax and reflect.

[See image gallery at hitthefrogandtoad.albertdebruijn.com]

About our photoshoot

After parking the car and walking up to the building, we were simply in awe by the design and architectural detail. We simply could not stop shooting, using both a wide angle and standard zoom lens.

The best part was meeting this nice guy, who, after watching us take picture after picture, asked “would you like to see inside”? Of course said “YES”, after which he unlocked the door to the main atrium and promptly let us in. WHAT A TREAT! and What a sight! This building is equally fascinating on the inside as it is on the outside! Amazing. The building is “hollow” on the inside with several large “tree-like” structures supporting the roof. Not a single straight line, just elegant curves and intricate angles. Just beautiful.

[See image gallery at hitthefrogandtoad.albertdebruijn.com] Check out the pictures on this page and let us know what you think.

If you want to learn more about the Lou Ruvo Center, click here

If you want to learn more about Frank Gehry, click here

To see more of the buildings that Frank Gehry designed, click here

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I didn’t, but stumbled upon them when visiting that area some time ago.

Linda and I wandered the quaint streets of historic Virginia City. You may remember the Bonanza series on TV, where the folk from the Ponderosa regularly had to visit Virginia City for supplies (or to go fetch the sheriff). It’s a real town in the hills near Reno.

Well as we wondered around town, we stumbled upon a large lawn of a restaurant on the edge of town. There were about 5 wild horses grazing, apparently not too concerned by the people who walked up to watch them. They were cautious of course, but quite comfortable being there (and I’m sure the green grass tasted good too, especially considering the drought we’ve been having in California).

I got this shot when one of them looked up. They were all beautiful and looked real healthy. They were somewhat smaller than horses you see on farms and ranches, but really good looking.

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