Back to Las Vegas, Back to Chicago
It didn't seem to take long to reach Las Vegas. Our check-in time at the hotel wasn't until around 4:00, so we looked at options for killing time. Looking at the map of interesting locations relatively close to where the hotel was, we decided to visit the Nevada State Museum - Las Vegas, which was just about 4 miles away in the Springs Preserve, billed as the birthplace of Las Vegas. What an odd quirky place. One of 7 state museums, it is relatively new (it opened in 2011), and is something of a work in progress; it has a slightly muddled offering of exhibits, such as the history of Nevada and Las Vegas (mining days and a wall of showgirl costumes).
Adjacent and in the same park is the Origen Museum, with admission included in the ticket for the State Museum. The Origen had exhibits on dinosaurs, wild life of the area (with a few live animals), Hoover Dam, the railroad, topography (including a flash flood exhibit), and more. Origen stands for Original Generations, and has a mission to track the history of the region.
There was also a lot of empty areas in and around these museums, and I think they are likely looking for ways to expand what they offer. The Origen did have a nice cafe, Springs Cafe, where we shared an expensive bag of truffle popcorn.
To me, the most memorable part of the various exhibits were the animatronic dinosaurs. They were amusing and colorful, and many were finished with feathers. That reminded me of my efforts to add new birds to my bird-watching list. Here's what I saw, in chronological order (though some still need research when I have time to verify).
| Boat-tailed grackle Eurasian collared (ring) dove Black-throated sparrow Ash-throated flycatcher Mountain bluebird Wilson's snipe Rock wren |
Black-billed magpie Swainson's hawk Common black hawk Woodhouse scrub-jay Western meadow lark Common raven Sage thrasher Juniper titmouse |
Black-throated gray warbler Gambel's quail Black-chinned hummingbird Gray flycatcher Western wood pewee Say's phoebe White-throated swift |
Finally, it was time to check in at the California Hotel. The staff were as polite as always. This time, we got a room on the 3rd floor, which was a little noisier since it was closer to the downstairs action, but it wasn't bad. We had beers at the same bar we started at (the Triple 7) and dinner at the Market Street Cafe, then early to bed so we could get up in plenty of time to locate the confusing car rental return facility at the Harry Reid Airport.
But this time, our google directions worked perfectly and got us to the car rental return quickly and without incident. We had intentionally left California Hotel ("Mahalo") a litte early, so we had some time to kill at the airport. After checking bags (and re-allocating some of mine as it was 3 pounds over the 50-pound limit), we took the shuttle train to the United Terminal.
Finding our gate, we located a comfortable table and chairs to sit at, while sipping coffee and Coke and being amused by the huge mural that framed the departure area. It was a good time-killer, trying to figure out who was who in the artwork.
Then it was time to board. The plane was packed, not a single empty seat. But the flight back was uneventful. We landed in Chicago a bit after 8:00 pm, and hopped a taxi to Hyde Park. Our driver was a little unfamiliar with the route, so he kept his cell phone with GPS quite busy, as we travelled downtown and detoured around Grant Park--which had been shut down for the NASCAR race. But soon enough, we were back on Greenwood Avenue, with a lot of very happy memories.
