Notable Nevadans tackle summertime bucket lists

It's time to just face it: All of those ambitious summertime plans you made on Memorial Day are about ready to disappear like a Popsicle on a Las Vegas sidewalk.

Remember how you vowed to make it up to Mount Charleston for a hike this summer? Forget it.

Remember your plans to go to the Strip and do all those touristy things you never get around to doing? Good luck with that.

Remember how you were finally going to take in a 51s game, rent a houseboat at Lake Mead and head up to Cedar City, Utah, to catch a play this summer? Nope, too late, and oh, really?

But don't worry. There are still a couple of weeks left to cross a few activities off of your summertime bucket list.

If it makes you feel any better, we asked a few notable Las Vegans to tell us about their 2011 summer bucket lists and what they did and didn't get around to doing this summer.

MARK HALL-PATTON

The administrator of the Clark County museums system enjoys trekking around Southern Nevada to explore the region's history. So, it's not surprising that Hall-Patton's summertime bucket list includes an item that relates to the area's past.

Hall-Patton had hoped to borrow his son's jeep and explore "some backcountry areas" previously explored only in a minivan and a '92 Mazda, which, Hall-Patton notes, "are not real off-road vehicles.

"We'd like to get over to the Sheep (mountain) range. There are some areas we haven't been through, and there's also some stuff up on Mount Charleston that we haven't done."

"I love doing that," he adds. "This is a great area and there's just wonderful history here."

Hall-Patton suggests that others searching for an addition to their summertime bucket lists stop by the Clark County Museum.

"If they have not been out here, they need to come out to see it," he says. For $2 for adults and $1 for children and seniors, "you get 30 acres, 20 restored buildings, a ghost town, walking trails and exhibits. You can't beat it. It's hours of enjoyment."

JASON FEINBERG

The co-anchor of KVVU-TV, Channel 5's weekday morning newscast hasn't caught nearly as many nighttime outdoor concerts this summer as he planned to.

So, during what's left of summer, Feinberg says, "definitely one more of those."

Nor has Feinberg been able to plan the "vintage Vegas night downtown" he had hoped to do this summer.

"I just love that," he says, "and I never have the chance to go downtown."

On the other hand, Feinberg did take road trips to Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Diego this summer. And, he did mark off the most important item on his summertime bucket list: finding a "new sister" for his cat, Itchy.

Itchy's pal, Scratchy, passed away about a year ago, Feinberg says, "so I went to pick up a kitten from the SPCA. Itchy's been super-lonely."

The latest addition to the household has been named -- drum roll, please -- Dr. Peyton Feinberg.

"Being from a Jewish family, I felt it was important to have a doctor in the family," he explains, while "Peyton" comes from Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning, albeit with a gender switch.

Feinberg also went wake surfing at Lake Mead for the first time a few weeks ago, and would recommend that as a possible entry on other Southern Nevadans' bucket lists.

"It was challenging and it was really frustrating," Feinberg says, but also "fun. Definitely."

DEBORAH COONTS

The novelist still has a few undone tasks on her summertime bucket list.

"I wanted to go see the wild horses and burros at Cold Creek," she says, to catch the animals "the way they should be: running around.

Coonts also didn't make it to northwest Arizona to check out the new Grand Canyon Skywalk, but adds that the visit is still on her "short to-do list."

"And, I wanted to run across the Hoover Dam bypass bridge," Coonts says. "It's not fun driving it in a car, because you can't see anything. What were they thinking? They put up those high concrete barriers and you can't tell where you are."

Coonts already has run across the Golden Gate Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge. Why?

"I haven't a clue," she answers. "I used to be a runner. For a long time I was a runner and ran up Pikes Peak and all of these weird things. For some reason, a bridge just screams 'running' to me."

Coonts still hopes to see a show in the Tuacahn Amphitheatre in Utah this summer. "Everybody tells me how wonderful it is, but I haven't managed to get a weekend and the gang and tickets and the wherewithal to get up there," she says.

Finally, Coonts had hoped to arrange a below-floors, behind-the-scenes tour of a casino this summer to see all of the operations visitors don't get to see. If nothing else, it would prove handy in helping Coonts to write her Las Vegas-based mystery series featuring Lucky O'Toole, head of customer relations for the fictional Babylon hotel on the Strip.

"Lucky Stiff," the second in the series, will be released in paperback Dec. 1, while the third, "So Damn Lucky," comes out in February and an e-book, "Lucky In Love," comes out in January. But Coonts now is working on No. 4, "Lucky Bastard," and, at the climax, "I want the chase to be sort of below-floors at the Babylon," she says.

LINDA SMITH

Smith's summertime bucket list usually is heavy with items that relate to the planning of Opportunity Village's fall and winter fundraisers and events, including September's barbecue at the Bitter Root Ranch, late September's O-Vino Wine Tasting and Oktoberfest, and the Magical Forest and Las Vegas Great Santa Run.

"Our vacations end up being in January and February," says Smith, the organization's associate executive director.

But that doesn't mean Smith doesn't have a seriously cool late-summer entry on her bucket list: She's heading to Tasmania to represent the U.S., Las Vegas and Opportunity Village in the World Santa Challenge, a friendly competition among Santa fun runs in Las Vegas, the United Kingdom, Tasmania and around the world.

Opportunity Village's annual Las Vegas Great Santa Run -- this year's event is scheduled for Dec. 3 -- is "a big contender," Smith says. "So I'm heading out there to this world Santa conference to challenge the other countries, to tell them we are going to win this year's."

For those seeking a late-summer bucket list entry, Smith suggests, first, "to make a difference in someone else's life, to do something meaningful for someone in need. In return, it will do more for you than it will for the person. It's win-win."

Then, Smith suggests, "take a walk down the Strip and see how special it is. The sidewalks are swarming with people who paid an awful lot of money to get here. It's a world-recognized, amazing place, and we don't take time to walk down it and see it with new eyes."

MYRON MARTIN

Finally, the most important item on Martin's summertime bucket list is simple enough.

"I think at the top of my bucket list for summer is getting sleep," Martin says, laughing.

Martin is chief executive officer and president of the Smith Center for the Performing Arts, which opens its doors March 10. So, he says, "we're so busy with everything at the Smith Center. It's crazy right now."

But, he adds, "I'm living my dream," so what's to lose with a particularly hectic summer? What would he suggest others add to their summertime bucket lists?

With his mind still on business, he suggests buying season tickets for the Broadway season at the Smith Center before they sell out.

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280.