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!

View Larger Map

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.

From Las Vegas with Love

Happy Valentine's Day

Since the Chinese New Year (Sunday, February 10, 2013) and the Valentine's Day (Thursday, February 14, 2013) is only four days apart, This Happy New Year card is perfect to mark both occasions. Two snakes, commemorating the Year of Snake, form a heart-shaped love symbol, with the Paris Las Vegas Hotel in the background.

Sealed with Love (Forever) Stamp 2013

The U.S. Postal Service issued a Sealed with Love (Forever®) stamp on January 30, 2013 showing an envelope fastened with a red wax seal where a small heart enclosed inside a larger heart.

Copies of the postcard, made via VistaPrint. were sent as US-2055999, US-2062588 and US-2080030 etc. You can also purchase a copy from Zazzle.com.

Happy Chinese New Year of the Snake

Year of Snake Maxi Card

Chinese New Year of the Snake starts on February 10, 2013 and ends on January 30, 2014. The Spring Festival celebrations run from Chinese New Year's Eve, February 9, 2013 (the last day of the Year of Dragon), to the Lantern Festival on February 24, 2013, the 15th day of the first month in the lunisolar year.

In Las Vegas, the Chinese New Year has earned an increasing recognition as the longest and most important festival in the Chinese calendar with great appeal to many visitors. The maxi card features the Year of the Snake Display at the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Bellagio, with a "Lunar Year of the Snake 2013 (forever) stamp issued on January 16, 2013, postmarked with the official first-day-of-issue cancellation from San Francisco. As seen on the card and the stamp, firecrackers are fired during the celebrations to scare off evil spirits and usher in renewed hopes for the coming year.

Update: The card was sent as US-2089840, US-2209193, etc.

Brahma Shrine at Caesar Palace

Postcard US-2032250 to Thailand shows the Brahma Shrine at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. It is a replica of one of the most famous Buddhist shrines, the Erawan Shrine at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand.

At the first glance, it may feel strange to see the shimmering blue-and-gold motif among the surrounding white pillars of Roman Square. Nonetheless, since donated to Caesars in 1984 from Thai newspaper tycoons Mr. and Mrs. Kamphol Vacharaphol and Mr. Yip Hon, a prominent figure of Hong Kong, the Shrine has become a symbol of prosperity and good luck. It features a statue of Phra Phrom, the Thai representation of the Hindu god Brahma. The four faces of the Brahma statue represent the Four Divine States of Mind: Loving Kindness or Benevolence (慈), Compassion (悲), Sympathy or Empathetic Joy (喜), and Equanimity (捨).

The Shrine was cast in bronze and plated in gold, weighted more than 360 kilograms or 8,000 pounds and measured 4.3 meters or 14 feet tall. It was dedicated twenty nine years ago today on February 5, 1984 under the supervision of Buddhist monks. It is open to people of all faiths as explained by the full inscription of the shrine's plaque.