Spring Mountain Ranch State Park

Spring Mountain Ranch

After visiting Mt. Charleston in the Sunday morning on April 28, 2013, I decided to drive to the Spring Mountain Ranch, a State Park of Nevada, USA. It is located in the Cottonwood Valley, 15 miles (25 km) west of Las Vegas. From Mt. Charleston, it was about one-hour driving (47 miles/76 km).

The historic Sand Stone Ranch was established in 1876. It was listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places on April 3, 1976. A preceding campsite was set up in the mid-1830's, on the alternate route of the Old Spanish Trail that connected the northern settlements near Santa Fe, New Mexico with those in the Southern California. The spring-fed creek and grassy meadows on site formed an oasis for travelers using pack and wagon trains.

The temperature is usually 10-15°F(6-8°C) cooler at the Ranch (3,800 feet/1,158 m) than in Las Vegas (2,181 feet/665 m). Therefore, it is a nice place for retreat with its Super Summer Theater and Living History Program.

The main ranch house serves as the visitor information center. It was staffed with Park volunteers. You can buy postcards and other  souvenirs there. The park admission is US$7 per vehicle.

The postcard, sent as US-2206077 to USA on April 30, 2013, shows the ranch house living room.

Address:

Spring Mountain Ranch State Park
6375 Hwy 159,  Blue Diamond, NV 89004
(702) 875-4141

Love and Green for Earth Day

April 22nd

Let's mark the Earth Day with some love and green. This postcard was a private swap. It reads: Love means your heart is the end of the World as I couldn't go any further. Born with the color of cactus green, you are a  hard worker full of determination. I happened to find this song on Youtube; I think it's sweet.

There is actually an "Earth" in Texas, a small town with population of 1,109 people as of the 2000 Census. It even has a post office!

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It's FourSquare Day!

My FourSquare Badges

Foursquare is a location-based social networking service for mobile devices. Users "check in" at venues from a device by selecting a nearby venue from a list located by GPS and/or network location. Each check-in awards the user points, and unlocks specials if offered by the venue. Badges are earned by checking in to certain venues or by completing certain tasks.

Foursquare declared April 16 "Foursquare Day" as April being the 4th month and the 16th being equal to four squared (4²).

My postcard US-2139832 sent to Germany on March 19, 2013 shows all the FourSquare badges I earned by then.

Chinese New Year Postcard from the Singaporean Philatelic Museum

Acting on a tip from the PostCrossing Blog, I sent one of my snake-themed postcards to the Singaporean Philatelic Museum as a contribution to their new exhibition Snakes and Ladders. They open a new exhibition at the beginning of every Chinese New Year. The exhibition runs from February to September 2013. if you have a snake-themed postcard, you can send it to:

Singapore Philatelic Museum
23B Coleman Street
Singapore 179807
Singapore


Make sure to include your return address. The museum will send a postcard back. I received mine today, so it's not an April Fool joke.