Red Rocks: The Other Side of Vegas

Wednesday - Day 35 of Funemployment.

Well, it was a loud night.  Trying to sleep with giant jets flying over you is not the best.  But it did eventually start raining pretty hard, so that drowned out some of the airport noise.  

^^ I didn't know it ever rained in Vegas?

Apart from being open 24 hours for the use of the bathroom, the other good thing about being in a Wal-Mart parking lot is I can get  whatever I need.  Which this morning, meant a big blender for a smoothie.  I bought the cheapest one they had (along with a few other things for the van) and gave it a shot.

                    

Sometimes you get what you pay for.  That thing sucked and barely blended up the spinach enough for us to drink.  Cleaned it up and back to the store it went.  I upgraded to a nicer one, so we'll see how that goes tomorrow...

Since it was cool and rainy, and Scott had to get some work done, we decided to hang out at a nearby library for the morning.

He worked, I played.  I had an agenda of things I should have been doing, but I passed most of the time watching the airplanes come by and dreaming/planning of next years adventures. (Hawaii in January to kick it off!)

We made lunch in the van around noon -- and by "we" I mean Scott.  I make smoothies in the morning for breakfast, and he makes lunch.  And dinner.  Okay, and sometimes breakfast too... 

Time for some fun in the sun - errr clouds - after lunch.  I have been to Vegas countless times, and never made it 20 minutes from the strip to Red Rocks Canyon.  Scott had been to Vegas several times, and been to Red Rocks several times, but never really spent much time on the strip.  So this was my turn to explore a new side of Vegas.

It was a little chilly, but just a gorgeous afternoon.  We parked the van on the side of the highway, and took off down a trail for a run to the canyon.

I didn't make it too far.  1.4 miles, to be exact.  The trail was rocky and didn't feel so great on my foot.  Plus I had to pee.  So I turned around and came back, while Scott kept going a few more miles.

This is why I love the van life:  This is the view out your front door.  And it changes every day!

I worked out a little more in the van with all the resistance bands I brought, but that too came to an end early when the sun started going down and the clouds started lighting up. 

I had to get out and take some pictures.  It was too perfect to pass up!

When Scott got back, he did the same.  Camera came out instantly.

We had a bit of a van problem -- something about the van not charging the house battery, which is what we use for power on the inside (lights and fridge and chargers, etc).  But of course Scott fixed it in no time!

I thought we were going to go back to the strip for dinner and a show - which we had talked about - but Scott had other plans at a nearby campground.

The sun was already down, but that didn't stop him.  In fact, the sun had to be down for this hike and view, he said. 

So off we went, in the dark, in the cold.  Under a fence and on no trail.  Just "bush whacking" it up the top of a hill.  No big deal. 

  

But this view was so worth it.  It almost took my breathe away as we came over the ridge and saw the horizon glow.

Of course his pictures turned out a million times better than my iPHone ones, but even his don't really do it justice.  

Talk about some serious urban sprawl.  It was lights as far as you could see, and the bright strip lit up right in front of us.  

We didn't have time for a show after that little hike, but it was so worth it.  I've never seen this side of Vegas, and I love it just as much as partying at the clubs on the strip.

But back to the strip we went.  Because where else do you eat in Vegas when there is so much good food within a 2 mile radius!

^^ Still  raining in Vegas!

It. Was. COLD.  Coats and scarves and long underwear.  Give me it all. 

After wondering around several casinos and being too impatient to wait for a table, we ended up at  Public House in The Venetian.

The waiter had to have forgotten to put our ordern in, because we waited over 45 minutes for a salad appetizer, and it only came after we asked about it.

I had salmon, Scott had short rib.  Both were good but so absurdly overpriced for the amount of food.  

Lucky for us, the service was so horrible and our food took so long to come out, that we complained (nicely) about it and got a pretty decent discout. 

Off to bed in no other than a Wal-Mart parking lot.  Again.  But a different Wal-Mart this time.  I should bring back the #WalMartViews hash-tag that I had going for so long in early October! 

After a trip inside to use the bathroom, it was off to sleep for us.  In a much quieter spot. (No airplanes here.)

 

Tomorrow we are off to Northern Arizona - via southern Utah - to hopefully see the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument and Marble Canyon.