Paseo Vista Park

Craig Ranch Regional Park

dogs on leash, wheelchair friendly, kid friendly, stroller friendly, birding, nature trips, trail running, walking, views, bugs,

170 acres, 65,000 square-foot skate park; four civic plazas; three dog parks; two lighted competition baseball fields; tennis, volleyball and basketball courts; community gardens, eight reservable ramadas; expansive open spaces,

Sunset Regional Park, L.V., NV.

This oasis in the desert offers something for everyone including tennis, volleyball and basketball courts, softball fields, a disc golf course, a dog park, walking and jogging trails, a lake where you can fish for free, with a fishing license, and plenty of open space.

The land for Sunset Park was acquired in 1967 and contains the last remaining dunes of what once covered most of Paradise Valley. Sunset Park was once home to early ranchers. The Paiute Indian Tribe inhabited the site a thousand years ago and greeted visitors who sought to trade seeds, nuts and turquoise. Water continues to flow under the park and surfaces to provide irrigation to the entire west end of Sunset Park.

Amenities: Picnic areas, 9 softball fields, 2 Little League fields, 8 basketball courts, 5 playgrounds, several miles of walk paths, fitness course, splash pad, disc golf course, dog park, pond, RC boat ramp, 7 sand volleyball courts, 8 tennis courts & restrooms.

Sunset Park Reservations Office hours:

Monday - Thursday: 8:00am - 5:00pm

Friday, Saturday, Sunday: Closed 

(702) 455-8200

https://www.clarkcountynv.gov/government/departments/parks___recreation/services/area_reservations/sunset_park_webpage.php

Sunridge Park, Henderson, NV.

 

Goals For The Future

My future goal is to find employers and sponsors to financially support my van life and RV travel by producing products in music, photography, travel, and writing to fit their needs.

Better World Media is the corporate name for a combination of 4 growing businesses in music, photography, travel, and writing.

The Music of BWM is in multiple genres due to the variety of audiences I encounter.  I plan to perform at senior centers during my travels. I perform cover tunes in the classic rock, blues, folk, classic country, gospel, patriot. Themes for my original tunes tend to deal with aging, travel, romance, trucking, work, and life itself.

My photography and journalism work is primarily produced for event and travel editorial work. My current specialty project is shooting community parks. I like to go the extra mile when shooting at events where photographers should not be noticed, such as street entertainment and open mic nights.

I write about travel because I travel to enable me to perform my music and photograph the places and cultures I visit.

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HBVP

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HBVP, Henderson, NV.:

https://www.cityofhenderson.com/henderson-happenings/facilities/henderson-bird-viewing-preserve

350 E. Galleria Dr.

(at Moser Drive)

Henderson, NV.
702-267-4180

Water Reclamation Facility, 140 acres, migratory, waterfowl, desert, desert birds, 9 ponds, birding, paved surface paths, soft surface paths, wheelchair accessible, walking paths, birds, wildlife, Pacific Migratory Flyway, temporary, gift shop, events, guided tours, educational programs,

https://www.cityofhenderson.com/docs/default-source/Parks-Recreation/bird-preserve/16-322328-bvp-checklist-rev-april-2016.pdf?sfvrsn=4

https://www.cityofhenderson.com/henderson-happenings/facilities/henderson-bird-viewing-preserve

HBVP History: https://www.cityofhenderson.com/henderson-happenings/facilities/henderson-bird-viewing-preserve/henderson-bird-viewing-preserve-history

The City of Henderson offers 66 meticulously maintained parks for your enjoyment. In addition to open grass areas and playgrounds, features include walking courses, dog parks, skate parks, splash pads, and lighted sport areas. We're in your neighborhood.

 

Better World Media Returns and Rebuilds

My primary reason for rebuilding BWM: To make life more productive and more enjoyable.

Click photo to enlarge photo.

Click to visit BWM website.

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Three years ago my primary plans for a future life included photography, music, and travel. Somehow, music and travel became part of the background as most of my time was spent doing a major project shooting Las Vegas community parks. Just over a year ago I returned to Oklahoma to take care of some family business. Today, that purpose for being in Oklahoma no longer exists, and today I am working on plans to return to the Las Vegas area or, possibly Phoenix, AZ. That may happen as soon as mid-January of next year. I plan to continue my photography work, but I also plan to begin working with my music again. And, I plan to finally start, at least, a part-time van-life.

Writing a New Business Plan

 Any business plan should be made to be flexible so that a business can survive in an ever-changing environment. BWM has started a major overhaul that I hope will make it more flexible, more challenging, more inspiring, and more productive in many ways as I open up the enterprise to grow.

A big part of the changes that are coming my way involves creating a new business plan for BWM. As a result, I have started rebuilding my photography website. And, as a result of that, many of my galleries will be unlisted (temporarily not visible) to visitors while I am working to make them better. New galleries, however, (my new work) will be visible. And, one of my primary goals will be to build a catalog of real estate photography. This, I hope, will enable me to produce an income for traveling while building a business that members of my family can benefit from if they so choose.

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Changes Are Part of Life

 Three days ago I was coming close to time to starting an ad campaign for my photography business. My site was ready. I was ready. But, my web platform was not ready. In reality, my platform had moved on without me. That is, changes had been made by my web carrier that I did not know about. And, I worked for 3 solid 14 hour days to find an answer to the problem. This was my fault. I had not stayed in touch with the changes that my platform host had been making. 

So, after 10 hours of work on the 3rd day, I decided to try a new template. And, luckily, I like my new template. It is much easier to work with. And, although it will take time to get it up to par for advertising, I think I will be much happier with it. Also, while I am in the process of rebuilding the site I think I can make my galleries more attractive to buyers. And, since the weather will often not be too nice for awhile I can work on the look of my current galleries instead of producing more galleries.

Coming soon, a new look is.

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Preparing to Advertise

 I have made a lot of headway in the last 2 days. I am shooting for an advertising launch date of the "park's" section of my "Better World Media" website by Dec. 5, 2020. Meanwhile, I am uploading some dated "events" galleries as I hope to start shooting events again soon. I am going through each of my galleries to finish keywording them and correct other mistakes. I believe my "parks" catalog is up to date. And, I am in the process of adding photos to my travel and nature galleries. Almost all of my galleries are public in status. Currently, three of them are not. I am also adding photos to my Adobe Stock and Alamy Stock sites. This, of course, is an ongoing exercise.

My "Events" catalog will be made public in just a few days.

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Van-Life on the Cheap

Finally, things are changing in the family obligations situation that I have been in for the past 8 months. It did not end the way I hoped it would, but that is the way life sometimes goes.

Next up for me is a van build. Because I often use this van for work I often need an empty van. I have a 2002 Ford E150 Regency van, and I like it just the way it is. So, I am not going to build a permanent set-up inside of it. I have taken the two second-row passenger bucket seats out of it, and I have plans for using them and the bench seat as rockers in my apartment. For now, I will leave the bench seat in it and have folded it down to make a 5' by 5' bed. However, since I am 5'10" tall I will use milk crates at the rear-end covered by a pad that will be level with the bed to add length and comfort to the bed. However, if I find I like doing the van life I may someday take the bench out, add a cot, or build a cot with storage underneath. And, that my friends is my full set up for being a weekend warrior.

Within the next day or so I plan to park at a local truck stop for the night to test out my new 20-degree sleeping bag. I have not yet purchased a way to keep myself warm in the winter or cool in the summer. That is why I am staying close to home.😍  But, I do have a Jakery Explorer 240 portable power station to charge my small electronic, cell phone, laptop, etc. I also have an extremely small Soleil Ceramic Space Heater that I plan to test out.

Then, to start this adventure I plan to travel from my current home in Weatherford, Oklahoma to Oklahoma City to start photographing the community parks in the city and suburbs. I will do this on Friday as I am also needed in OKC to help my son move. Following this test run, I will make a few trips to state parks in Oklahoma as I add more equipment to my van.

As I have said, I do have one Jackery Explorer 240. I have also ordered a Jackery SolarSaga 100 Watt Panel that should be here sometime this weekend. I do have a dorm-size portable refrigerator, but it will not be used for a while.

It is a small start but it is a start.

Molasky Family Park

 While Molasky Family Park is small (about the size of a square city block) it has great potential, but it is probably the dirtiest park I have photographed since I have been in Las Vegas. It is located not far off of Flamingo Avenue, 2.4 miles from The Strip. It is home base to many of the homeless people that populate the area. Out of respect for the privacy of these people I did not photograph their camping spots which has become a community.

Taking Back My Life

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OK, I want to get a little realistic here. I am taking a hard close look at what I am doing with my life. I do not like it. I do not like where I am. I do not like what I am doing. I do not like what is holding me back from being where I want to be or doing what I want to do. And, I am pondering how to change things.

First, I am glad that I came back because of why I came back. I am here because I knew my sister's health was failing and she was going to need help. But, I have done just about all I can do for her, and it has cost me dearly in time. I had lived in the Las Vegas Valley for 2.5 years before I came back to Oklahoma. I spent 2+ years doing my photography and .5 year catching up on my computer work. I did not, evidently, realize that I still had more than year of computer work to do when I left there. And, what time I have been able to concentrate on my own life has been spent editing, organizing, and posting photos that I have taken. And, I still have a few months of work to do to be completely caught up. Also, I still have several months of work to do to actually complete what I have started there. And, there is still the updating work.

My plan was to return to Oklahoma to do what needed to be done and hit the road as a full-time van-lifer. But, now, I am thinking I was just lying to myself. I do not want to be a full-time van-lifer. I do, however, want to do it part-time while pursuing my bucket list. Otherwise, I want to be able to come home to do my computer work in a creature-comfortable setting and watch some tv from my recliner. Also, Las Vegas is a city with a ton of places to eat. And, frankly, I miss my Vegas friends.

So, I am sitting here contemplating how I am going to re-take control of my life. And, everything is telling me to go back to Nevada, complete the work I have started, and move forward from there. No more moving backward. So, how do I do this? Well, I am legally stuck here until my apartment lease has expired. That will be January 15, 2020. And, that should give me time to save up the money to move me and my belongings back to where we should be if nothing gets in my way. But, that bit about stuff getting in my way is entirely possible. There is, of course, plenty of the same kind of work for me to do right here in Oklahoma. And, I will keep shooting if and when I can afford to do it. But, there are also projects I need to work on that includes what I have done with my Vegas work.

When I get to Vegas I am not yet sure whether I will have a place to live. But, that is why I will also be preparing for a short term, semi-permanent van-life, because I do not know how long it will take to find a place where I will want to live until my permanent home becomes available in Boulder City, a beautiful small town just over the hill and out of sight of the Las Vegas Valley. I am on a waiting list which may take up to 1.5 years from now. It is also the place where I would already be living if I had not come back to Oklahoma to live.

Yep. My mind is 99.8% sure at this point that if I live long enough I will return to Nevada. And, there is one more positive benefit of being there. I have always been able to get better medical treatment through the Las Vegas VA than through the Oklahoma VA system.

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Scissortail Park, OKC, OK.

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Things are still hectic in my neck of the woods. I do not expect things to be anywhere near normal for a couple of more months. It's all medical issues and family matters for members of my family. I am just trying to help them out.

I made another trip to Oklahoma City today on some of the aforementioned problems. When that was taken care of I googled Scissortail Park and went to take a look. It is not what I expected, but I will try to get back there soon and spend a few hours there. I did not stay long. It was mid-day, hot, and my camera was not working properly. So, I snapped a few shots and headed home. Like I said, my camera was not working properly. It appears that my house guest may have played with my camera while I was not looking, and if I don't constantly work with the controls I have to learn them all again. I have not done my normal amount of camera work for the past four months. I hope that changes soon.

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Restart Time

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Finally, I am back, partially, maybe, hopefully. Well, I have a computer that works, but a slow internet speed. And, I have completed, or at least caught up with family matters. So, all that is left to do is computer catch-up work. And, I have started that.

I am currently in the process of editing 100+ photos that I clicked off at the National Hall of Fame for Famous American Indians on a couple of recent trips to Anadarko, Oklahoma. Anadarko is a largely American Indian community, and these photos are from a memorial to famous American Indians. Once edited these photos will be posted on Better World Media. Hopefully, some will go on my stock agency sites.

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I am also working to get my Adobe  and Alamy stock agency sites up to date and running, However, it appears that this COVID 19 mess remains a factor in this project. Evidently there is a personnel shortage of some kind at the headquarters of both agencies. They are being very slow to approve/disapprove my submissions.

Update, Working Toward the Future

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Leaving Vegas was easy. I packed. I left. I drove. I arrived in Oklahoma. And then, well, it took me a month-and-a-half to get an apartment and move in. After that, there were a dozen things to get done, and then another dozen, and another dozen, and I am still not through. But, I am getting there.

Very little has been done with my photography except I am studying the periodicals to try to better learn the business end of the business. I have shot locally, but I am not doing much traveling, yet. And, it will be another month before I can get a decent internet connection. So, I am mostly getting things better organized, working with my music, and taking care of family matters.

Until I get my financial situation squared away I will now concentrate on the following task on a schedule that will not get me strung out with too much going on to accomplish my goals, like I did in Las Vegas. Two computer projects have been added to my agenda. I am now rebuilding an old MySpace website that I deleted several months ago. This time, the site will only be used for my work with music. Also, I am now I am working to rebuild my old Flickr site. However, this time it will be for family and personal friend use only. My work with Better World Media on my SmugMug site will continue, as will my work with Adobe Stock. Plus, I am now posting, for now, my nature catalog on an Alamy Stock web site. I may add other components of my full catalog at a later time.

And, of course, I do plan to get more serious about working with this blog. But, another project I am working on is my family's ancestry blog, The Birmingham Shield. My Senior Van Man blog, and my Better World Trucking blog is awaiting their turn for me to start working on them again. And, I am working to bring my Pinterest and Instagram sites up-to-date.

All in all, I am too busy catching up with what should have been done long ago to do much new work. So, I will take it one step at a time, one day at a time.

Senior Van Man: Looking Forward and Cabin Fever

Senior Van Man: Looking Forward and Cabin Fever: For some folks, things do not always go the way they want them to go. Me, I am one of those people that things seldom go the way I want them to go.

Cabin Fever