Skip to main content

Red Rock Canyon National Park

When someone mentions Las Vegas to you...what comes to mind? Usually one gets images of bright lights, the Bellagio fountains, extravagantly decorated hotels, high end shopping, scantily dressed women, gambling, excessive spending, and hangovers.

Well I'm here's to prove that belief wrong. :)

I am currently in Vegas accompanying my husband. He is at a 2 week course for the Air Force, and I happened to have Wednesday-Sunday off from work (I had taken PTO many months ago as we were planning a vacation during this time). So I packed up the car, set off for a road trip to Vegas.

The one thing I had to do was figure out how to entertain myself during the day while Ryan is at school. My initial thought was, "I know! I'll buy myself a pack of Marlbarols, drink Manhattans, and spend the afternoon with my ass planted at a slot machine so I can waste thousands of dollars!!!!"

Oh wait, no. I wouldn't do that. Ever. In a million years. In fact, I loathe casinos. I am sorry to offend anyone reading this -- but I get absolutely no appeal to casinos. Ryan and I are too practical to gamble. Last time we each set aside $10 to gamble. Lost it immediately. And then thought, "We could've bought a martini with that money!" I just don't get the lure that some people do. And if you've ever watched people in casinos?! They look like slugs -- I actually think I could see their brain matter melting out of their head and being sucked into those machines...


Okay, rant is over. ;)

I did a little research of fun outdoorsy activities to do in Vegas, and I found Red Rock Canyon. It is about 10 minutes west of Las Vegas (it was about a 45 minute drive from our hotel on the Air Force Base). It is totally worth the drive!!

You go from city and residential to absolute pure natural beauty. The landscape is painted with Red and white speckled canyons and giant rocks formations. There is a 13 mile "scenic path" that loops around the park. Many road bikers. Only a few runners out there crazy enough to attempt. I was one of them! I only did 6. It was 90 degrees out, if I had done the 13 miles I'd probably be laying dead out of the desert from heat exhaustion. (I only joke...kind of)

Here are a few photos that I snapped on the run!!

 Here is the road I ran on. It is a 13 mile loop, and it's a one way. I was relieved it was a one way --so I could run in the middle of the road. For I could hear snakes on the perimeters. For those of you not well-accustomed to the desert...this is "mating season" for rattlesnakes. They are hungry, protective, and like to bite.
 Here's a photo I snapped of me. (I cannot figured out how to flip the image on my blog, sorry!) As you can see...I'm rather diaphoretic. Thank God I carried a bottle of Gatorade with me. It was hot!

 Here is an example of the colorful rock formations. It's as if someone went and painted the rocks. This was a structure of Sandstone.
 More Red Rock. This is one of the pull outs -- where a nice couple asked me if I needed any water. People are always so happy and kind at National & State Parks....
One last view of the canyons off in the distance

I was definitely kicking myself afterwards for not bring my road bike on this trip! This area was road bikers heaven with lovely, newly paved roads. The bike lanes were huge! And miles upon miles of road to discover!
Labels:

Comments

Lisa's Yarns said…
What a pretty area! That is great that you got outside of the city and got to check out a beautiful state park!
June 7, 2013 at 5:07 PM
Marlys said…
Beautiful pictures! I had to laugh at your rant about casinos! One is either a lover of them or a despiser, which I assume you attained from your parents? I would rather spend my money in most any other way than gambling! Uck. You are getting to see so much country since you left ND! Good for you!
June 10, 2013 at 7:03 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Currently - May edition

   I haven't blogged much - but the last time I did one of these, Maddy was 9 months old. It's really fun looking back on the things that were "stressors" to me at that time. Prior to that - my currently post was a pregnancy edition.  So here goes May 2022. Maddy is almost a 15-month old and summer has set ablaze here in Tucson.   Reading :  I really wish I had a better answer for this one, but I have not been the best about reading lately. The only book I'm reading is "How to talk to your kids so they'll listen and listen so they'll talk". It is really good. Most of the book is geared more to school-aged kids, in my opinion. But it highlights some great communication skills with children to help them trust you as a parent to be open and honest. Eating: All the smoothies. It has been getting really hot here - and every day when we get home from our stroller run I make a smoothie for Maddy with whole milk, Fage, and fruit - and then a smoothie for...
1 comment
Read more

30 Blogs: Something I'm Afraid of

This isn't a very difficult post for me to write about. I am such a "scaredy cat" about so many things. I could quite possibly turn this into a book. I was also the kid that wouldn't go on the monkey bars at school, out of fear that my arms may be ripped out of their sockets. I was the kid who got to the end of the diving board, and then shriveled into a ball at the end shaking in tears. I got to the top-climax spot on a roller coaster, and start saying "Oh my God, get me off this thing. I don't want to do it anymore! Get me off this thing!!" Then I went college, and majored in nursing. I leanred all the horrible ways one can reach multi-system organ failure. If I have too much coffee, and feel maybe the slightest heart palpitation - I am listening to my heart sounds with my stethoscope......... So here's my list of irrational some fears. ;) (some of these may be comical & pathetic to you):\ Heights Vomit (I've gotten better about th...
5 comments
Read more

Let's try this again...

Last year we purchased soil, mulch, and all these plants that grow great in well-watered, rich-soiled areas. Then we went away for a weekend, and everything dried up like a prune. I was a bit disappointmented, as gardening is a hobby & passion of mine. In fact, I became quite frustrated with our hot climate. But we did some research on desert plants, and I found a new love! Desert plants are quite fascinating, actually. Their tough outer skin & small leaves result in maximum absorbtion of our spare water -- allowing them to thrive on little. They are also extremely regenerative. You can cut a branch or an arm off a cactus, and plant it in the ground somewhere else to create a new plant. So we found a very local cactus nursery last weekend, and got to work! Here are a few of the gems we planted. (These are pictures I've found offline, as I haven't taken proper pictures of our front yard yet due to the immaturity of our plants at this point) The Desert Barrel ...
6 comments
Read more