Friday

Bellagio’s Botanical Garden - Chinese New Year Exhibit


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This page last updated on 01/28/2017
(Fig. 01) 
Last week I made another of my annual pilgrimages with my friend Jim Herring to the latest exhibit of Bellagio’s Conservatory and Botanical Garden. This year Bellagio's Conservatory and Botanical Gardens has transfered its 14,000 square-foot floral garden into a celebration of the rooster. Upon entering the Conservatory, visitors will walk through a 16-foot traditional Moon Gate (Fig. 01), a symbolic statement of what is ahead. Framed by huge Sun Flowers, there are a series of four "dancing" streams of water overhead. Each end of the walkway is framed with four large ding pots (Fig. 02 below) that "burn" incense for good luck, protecting guests against bad fortune. (scroll down for more)

(Fig. 02)
When you each the end of the entryway, the west garden confronts you with the centerpiece of the exhibit, a 10-foot high animated chicken who ruffles its wings atop a 35-foot-tall mountain. In a cave-like portion of the mountain, a hen guarders her nest of golden eggs and her chicks (Fig. 04). As you can see from (Fig. 03), there are dozens of young "chicks" frolicking around the top of the mountain. It is amazing how real looking they have made these little guys (Fig. 05).


(Fig. 03)

(Fig. 04)
(Fig. 05)
(Fig. 06)
In the south garden a huge cherry tree (Fig. 06), a sign of the coming spring towers over a wooden bridge covering a river full of live fish. It is flanked by several red rose lanterns (Fig.07). On the north side of the 35-foot mountain there is a waterfall that flows into a large lake and two very life-like Chinese figures (Fig. 08). In the middle of the lake there is a larger than life sun-flower (Fig. 09). Located directly behind the mountain there is a beautiful Painting made from trees and flower (Fig. 10).  (con't below)
                               
(Fig.07)
(Fig. 08)
(Fig. 09)
(Fig. 10)
In the north garden a a scale sized model of the Bellagio Hotel (Fig. 11), a luxurious hotel set to open in Shanghai as a joint venture between Diaoyutai State Guesthouse China and MGM Resorts, set to open in the first quarter of 2017. It will feature 165 luxury guestrooms, including 25 suites with an art deco finish. In addition to three food and beverage outlets, there is also a lobby and lounge dining area serving English and Shanghainese style afternoon tea that features Diaoyutai speciality coffee. The venue will also play host to variety of facilities including a ‘Zen’ Spa, large ballroom, 24-hour gym, indoor swimming pool and over 2,000 square meters of shopping space. The beauty of this exhibit is in the details (Figs. 12-15). You have until March 4th to visit this exhibit.

(Fig. 11)
(Fig. 12)
(Fig. 13)
(Fig. 14)
(Fig. 15)
The pictures in this exhibit's floral picture are representative of the current exhibition in the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art entitled, "TOWN AND COUNTRY: FROM DEGAS TO PICASSO". Organized in partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, this exhibition brings together European and American paintings that showcase how images of urban and rural life changed in relation to the Industrial Revolution. Featuring works by van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec and others.

Wednesday

Index for Category – Petroglyphs and Pictographs

This page last updated on 01/28/2019

Nevada's Great Basin Petroglyphs:

Reference: Understanding Nevada Rock Art
Reference: Understanding Pahranagat Valley Rock Art
Reference: Chapter 9 of Manuscript titled, "Rock Art of the Nevada Great Basin"
                   Rock Art Sites-in-Nevada's Great Basin
Lincoln County Petroglyphs:

Ash Springs Rock Art Site:
     Location InfoAsh Springs Rock Art Site
Black Canyon Site:
     Black Canyon Petroglyphs at the Pahranagat NWR (Summary Page)
     Location Info: Black Canyon Petroglyphs - 1st visit
     Location InfoBlack Canyon Petroglyphs - 2nd visit
Crystal Wash Site:
     Location InfoCrystal Wash Rock Art - Entrance Site
     Location InfoCrystal Wash Rock Art Site
Mt. Irish Archaeological District:
     Location Info: Mt Irish Archaeological District - Summary Page
                               Echo Rock Petroglyph Site
                               Paiute Rock Petroglyph Site
                               Shaman Knob Petroglyph Site
                               Shaman Hill Petroglyph Site
Shooting Gallery Site:
      Location InfoShooting Gallery Rock Art Site
             Shooting Gallery Petroglyph Photos
White River Narrows Archaeological District:
     Location Info: White River Narrows
Clark County Petroglyphs:
Summary of 2016 Rock Art Site Pictures

Arrow Canyon Site:
     Location InfoArrow Canyon Wilderness Area         
           Arrow Canyon Site Rock Art
Warshield Canyon Site:
     Location InfoPahranagat Wash & Upper Arrow Canyon
           Warshield Canyon Site Rock Art
Atlatl Rock Site:
     Location InfoValley of Fire State Park - Summary Page
          Atlatl Rock Site Rock Art
Buffington Pockets Site:
     Location InfoBuffington Pockets - Summary Page
          Buffington Pockets Site Rock Art

 Brownstone Canyon Site:

     Location InfoBrownstone Canyon Archaeological District
           Brownstone Canyon Archaeological District Rock Art
 Duck Rock Site:
     Location Info: Duck Rock Site
Falling Man Site:
     Location InfoFalling Man Hike - Gold Butte
Grapevine Canyon Site:
     Location InfoGrapevine Canyon Hike
           Grapevine Canyon Site - Petroglyph Photos
Hiko Springs Site:
     Location InfoHiko Spring (Upper) Hike
           Hiko Springs - Site Petroglyph Photos
Keyhole Slot Site:
     Location InfoDaytrip - Keyhole Canyon
            Keyhole Slot Site - Petroglyph Photos
Kirt's Grotto Site:
     Location Info: Kirt's Grotto Site
Kohta Circus Site:
     Location Info: Kohta Circus Hike - Gold Butte
            Kohta Circus Site - Petroglyph Photos
Logandale Trails Recreation Area Site:
Location InfoLogandale Trails Recreation AreaMouses Tank Site:
Location InfoValley of Fire (Mouse's Tank)
Mouses Tank Site - Petroglyph Photos
Mud Wash Road Site:
     Location Info: Mud Wash Road Hike - Gold Butte
Red Spring Site:
     Location InfoCalico Basin & Red Spring Hike
             Red Spring Site - Petroglyph Photos
Sheep Panel Site: 
     Location Info21 Goats Hike - Gold Butte
Sloan Canyon Site:
     Location InfoSloan Canyon Hike
             Sloan Canyon Site - Petroglyph Photos
The Cabins Site:
     Location InfoValley of Fire (Cabins & Fire Wave)
             The Cabins Site - Petroglyph Photos
Willow Springs Canyon Site:
     Location InfoWillow Springs Canyon Picnic Area Hike
              Willow Springs Canyon Site - Petroglyph Photos
Yellow Plug Site: 
     Location InfoYellow Plug Site
Petroglyph National Monument

Hiko Spring Hike - Trip Notes for 01/31/2017

             

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This page last updated on 02/09/2017


(Fig. 01)
01/31/2017 Trip Notes: On January 31st Jim Herring, Ron Ziance, Bob Croke and myself drove to visit Hiko Spring and Grapevine Canyon, located just north of Laughlin NV. For the first time in months, it was a beautiful sunny day near 70 with almost no wind. Though Jim had never been to this site before, Bob, Ron and I visited it a year ago. Besides giving Jim the opportunity to view the great petroglyphs found at this site, we were curious to compare what we found on our visit of a year ago (Fig. 01). As we hiked the wash, it was obvious that there was nowhere the number of spots of surface water that we encountered a year ago, as evidenced by the picture in (Fig. 02). Bob did a great job of making the comparison picture in Figure 02.

Once we reached the site, we spent considerable time scouring the area and the cliff sides looking for "not-so-obvious" petroglyphs. In addition to the obvious on the lower level, you can see from the blue arrows in (Figs. 04 & 04), the petroglyphs go right up the cliff to the top edges. Although almost all of the glyph symbols found at the site are very abstract in nature, there are a couple of examples of zoomorphs such as the sheep in (Fig. 05). As we continued hiking down the wash, Jim spotted what looked like a pictograph on the side of a cliff (center of Fig. 06)). The picture in (Fig. 07) is a close up of the image. It appears to be two warriors facing each other. The one on the left appears to have a waist band and a loin cloth. To me these images certainly don't look old. They are in too good of shape to be as old as the surrounding petroglyphs. I have no real explanation. For more pictures of rock art found on this site, click on the following link ... Trip Notes for 02/02/2016 - Hiko Spring. By the time we got back to the car we had hiked nearly 3.25 miles. We found a shady spot to have a picnic lunch and then drove to view the pictographs at Grapevine Canyon, a site that neither Jim nor Ron had ever been to. Click here for information and pictograph pictures of my previous visits to Grapevine Canyon ... Grapevine Canyon Hikes - Inside The Bridge Canyon Wilderness Area. We then followed the eleven mile dirt Christmas Pass Road back to US-95. Offering some stunning desert mountain views, this rough dirt road runs through both the Bridge Canyon Wilderness Area and the Spirit Mountain Wilderness Area, home to Spirit Mountain (elevation 5,639 feet). This area its surrounding canyons are considered sacred grounds for the Yuman speaking tribes of the lower Colorado River. Click here for some pictures of Christmas Pass Road ... Christmas Tree Pass. All-in-all, it was just another great day of hiking and fellowship in the Nevada desert. We thank Jim for being the driver for today's trip.
                         
(Fig. 02)
(Fig. 03)
(Fig. 04)
(Fig. 05)
(Fig. 06)
(Fig. 07)