“Blue Diamond: 20 minutes and 100 years away from Downtown.” -Pat Van Betten

There are many of us who only know Las Vegas only as “The Strip”. Maybe some know of Henderson because it’s cheaper to stay out there, or maybe they have a good friend who lives out there (Hi Elaini!). The people of Blue Diamond refer to The Strip as Downtown. And once you leave Downtown there is a breathtaking side to Las Vegas.

At the soccer tourney last week a fellow soccer player, Tom Van Betten, introduced Matt and I to his mother, Pat, who graciously offered their driveway in Blue Diamond. So we traveled along the 160 on our way to Blue Diamond to stay in front of the Van Bettens. My first clue that we weren’t on the Strip anymore was a yellow Burro warning signs on the side of the road. “Was that a donkey on that sign?” I asked Matt. Maybe a horse we agreed.  “Yeah, probably a lot of horse riding around here.”

Nope, just then on the side of the road was an ass’s ass.

We found the turn off into the small village of Blue Diamond and were greeted by the funniest welcome sign (see 2 pictures down).  Aside from the donkeys, the first thing that struck me about Blue Diamond was the fresh clean air. There were pine trees and cactus everywhere and the evening was crisp, but not cold. It was a beautiful time to arrive. The sky was an amazing deep blue and the stars we just starting to peek out. This was exactly what we needed after a week of living in the Venetian parking lot.  Since it was getting darker and colder fast, we took the dogs for a quick walk to the neighborhood park and then settled in for the night.

The following morning we promptly headed out for the beautiful Red Rock Canyon.

We toured the Visitors Center and got the lay of the land and then we started on the 13 mile scenic loop that branches off into many different trails. As recommended by more than one person, we took trail #9 to Lost Creek. Rumor had it that there may still be a waterfall at the end of it. And there was… well, there was a watertrickle. The dogs frolicked in the cold water and I hopped from rock to rock and then scurried behind the water”fall” where the water was falling so lightly that I could walk behind it and only get mere drops on my jacket. When we were finished hiking we started making our way back “home” to Blue Diamond.

Some facts about Blue Diamond:

1. I am unclear of the time frames, but sometime between the Paiute Indians leaving (being forced to leave?) the town was settled by miners. Some of these miners lived and raised their families on top of the mountain in tents, others lived in town. As they built the town they arranged the houses, Post Office, School, Market and Church so that from an aerial view it would look like the state of NV. Clever!

2. According to the 2000 Census there were a mere 282 people living in Blue Diamond, and I don’t know if it has grown that much since.

3.  There are several free roaming Burros that graze in the park and in peoples yards daily.  REALLY!

4. The Volunteer Fire Station is the same as the Metro Police Department. The market is also where you find the Sheriff.  (As part of LV they share Las Vegas Police, but also have a Sheriff.)

5. The covers of the local phone book is designed each year by the students in the elementary school as a fund raiser. As you can imagine, they are adorable!

6. I am enchanted with Blue Diamond.

Our very generous hosts, the Van Bettens, are a lovely couple. Herman is a retired UNLV professor (who, I’m pretty sure, can speak every language). He is from Holland originally, and shortly after moving here he met and married Pat. She is a retired nurse, an author, and currently the head of the Blue Diamond Historical Society. Pat is passionate about preserving the history of Blue Diamond. For an annual membership of $10 the locals can join the Historical Society. Part of these dues fund the costs to record the oral histories from the “old timers”. These recordings are kept both in Blue Diamond and UNLV. One morning while Matt was showering, Herman and I volunteered to help Pat send out her annual letter requesting the dues of $10. She addressed, Herman applied the postage stamp and I stamped the return address. Even though I was fired for stamping a couple return addresses upside down (ooopsies!), it felt good to help out the Historical Society.

Pat and Herman both are a wealth of knowledge about the area and are wonderful guides. They provided us with maps and suggested lists of places we should see in this area.

While our home has returned to the Venetian Oversized Lot, my heart remains in Blue Diamond!

Now, I’m off to go sweat my Hubby in the Venetian Deep Stack Tourney! GO HUNO!!!

xoxo

Breezy.

Imaginary Queen of Blue Diamond, where I am also the proud owner of ‘Move That Burro’, the local gym AND the Burro Emergency Removal Team (BERT). “Problems with a fat ass? We’ll get it moving!”