Elvis Live's!

Viva Las Vegas!  For some reason, we've been donating regularly to the Las Vegas economy in  the last couple years, more regularly than we've ever done before.

This time, the Squid had a conference and I tagged along for fun.  It was time for a getaway. Getaways are good.  Even in Vegas.

Besides, I needed time to write!

As you know, I'm not a fan of gambling, so I took the opportunity to escape the ugliness that is Las Vegas and head out to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.  I armed myself with the Brand! New! Camera! that Mikey gave me for my birthday.

It was wonderful to be able to drive just about 15 miles, reach the edge of town, and suddenly enter into wilderness!

The park has a 13-mile loop to drive, with plenty of opportunities to admire the geology as well as plenty of hiking trails.  I had taken a wrong turn (Ahem, OK, a couple of them) on my way out there, so I got there later than I had wanted.  So, I picked a random "moderate" hike and set out.  It was nice; hardly anybody was on the trail on a cool, blustery fall weekday!

The sandstone is stunning.  See?

I started my hike to La Madre Springs.  Soon after I had started my hike, some fellow hikers pointed out a Bighorn Ram!  If my goal had been to spot cool fauna, I could've turned around and went back, because Bighorn is the coup de grace!

Didn't he pose so pretty?

Here he is, showing off his beautiful big horns!

I saw another one a few steps beyond.  It was a thrill!

No more wildlife on the rest of the hike, but pretty sights! Come on!

Wilderness.  Just in case you didn't know.

The flora was typical high-desert. I felt right at home.  Piñons, lots of junipers, sagebrush, yuccas, cactus, Mormon tea. 

The Dam at La Madre Spring

The spring area was a little more lush, and some wild flowers were still hanging on.

A sign of Fall

There were a couple of these concrete slabs right out in the middle of the wilderness. Old foundations?

This one had a tile-like floor.

There were lots of piñon trees, and many cones. I opened piñons from half a dozen trees, but they were all empty!

I added a stone to this cairn.

The cross-bedding was gorgeous!

Back in Vegas, I mostly wrote while he was in the conference.

We stayed at Ballys.

Our room was the window in the bottom right of that ad: the top part of the "R" in "Rio"

It was shabby. Ripped furniture, an old-fashioned TV, and graffiti in the table.

As for Elvis? We think we may have spotted him at the Wynn, dressed in fur from head to toe.

A crappy photo of maybe-Elvis

Too many misters, not enough sisters

Over Memorial Day weekend, Erin, her friend, the squid, and I headed to Las Vegas for a Flight of the Conchords concert.  The previous month, when the concert was announced to fans, I re-arranged my workday so I could be at my laptop to buy tickets the minute they were available.

It was a fun concert!  These guys are fun!  Here are a couple videos of them.  The first one is one of my favorites from their show on HBO.

(Click twice on each video, and you'll go to YouTube, where it will be formatted correctly)




And this one is from a concert (but there is also a version from the show out there).

Baker to Vegas

Last month Officer Squid took part in the Baker to Vegas relay run.  It is an annual event in which teams from law enforcement agencies around Southern California relay race on foot from Baker, CA to Las Vegas, NV, a distance of about 120 miles.  About 250 teams participated.  There were twenty runners on each team, plus support people.  The desert was full of cops!

I was fortunate enough to be able to go and cheer them on.  I helped relay three runners and their catcher (all cops) in the first leg.  Squid ran the first leg, about 5.5 miles,  and his teammates ran about 6+ miles and 8+ miles.  Uphill.  Through the desert. On a very hot afternoon.

The race is really well organized.  They start the slower teams at 8:00 or 9:00am, and every hour another two dozen or so teams start, with the fastest teams starting at about 4:00pm.  The idea is that all the teams end at the same time, at approximately 6:00am, in Las Vegas!  Our team started at 1:00pm.  Hot!

They finished 171st, with a time of 18:35:02. 

Here are some pictures.

Team 258, Leg 1.  Three runners and a catcher.

The first hand-off

Officer Squid, hot and tired.


Waiting to get the baton.







And leg 2 is off!


As we were waiting at the top of the 8-mile-long hill for our third runner, a guy came in an had to be cared for by paramedics.  They eventually took him away in an ambulance.  As we made our way back, a couple more ambulances were on their way up.  Luckily, all of Team 258 finished in fine shape.

It was a really good weekend away, just the two of us (well, for part of the time, anyway!).  That doesn't happen often!

Viva Las Vegas!

Spring Break, Part One: Vegas!

It was a low-key couple of days in Las Vegas.  We enjoyed our relaxing time.

We stayed at the Luxor.  I had wanted to stay there ever since it opened and was the gigantic monolith greeting visitors on the south end of the strip.  It was the swank place then.  Now, it is dwarfed by the Mandalay Bay, and isn't anymore the go-to place with all the newer, taller, glitzier hotels up the strip.  Still, it was a great place to stay.  We were on the 22nd floor, and here is our view.  (I found the stitch tool!)

You can see the Sphinx right in the middle, and the airport is beyond that empty parking lot.  The strip is to the left.  I enjoyed sitting and watching airplanes and helicopters take off and land.

And here is our view from our door.  It's a cool hotel.  I liked to pretend I was in Willy Wonka's factory when we used the inclinator!

 Erin and I walked around and shopped, Kevin and Mike went to Bass Pro Shop.

photo by Kevin                                

photo by Kevin

There was a big aquarium full of (ugly) fish!

photo by Kevin

Here is the gang getting ready to walk to Bellagio's dinner buffet!  YUM!

The line was looong (and worth the wait; the Buffet at Bellagio was wonderful!), so we passed the time goofing around.

photo by Erin

photo by Mike

photo by Mike 

On Tuesday we drove to the Hoover Dam.  What a cool structure!  They are building a by-pass highway, including this big honkin' arch bridge.  The bridge is an amazing structural feat in itself, and was as interesting to see as the dam!  It will be neat to go back and walk across it!

Erin doing her thing....

Kevin doing his thing....

It was a little breezy at the dam!

I didn't get too many good dam pictures.  I'll leave you to see good photos at the website.  We took the generator tour, though, and here is a picture of the dam turbines. 

One more of the bridge looking downriver.

The last day, we shopped in the mall in The Pallazo.

Umbrellas at the Pallazo.

And after we shopped and ate lunch, we were off to Zion National Park.....