Planet of the Fox and the Valley of Fire

My boyfriend and I usually go away for Thanksgiving and bring with us that year's Halloween costumes to shoot.  This year we went to Las Vegas.  I usually like to get away for a day while we're there and explore some new place - the holiday crowds make communing with nature at Zion, Hoover Dam, and Grand Canyon a little like making dinner in a litter box, so I found a small park an hour north of the strip, the Valley of Fire State Park.  Assessment: Holy shit.  It's breathtaking.  It's otherworldly.  It's ancient.  It's a mere $10 to get in, which will get you half a shot of Jack at Aria.

Other stops along the way were the neon rocks at Seven Magic Mountains (where tourists begged for pictures with the Fox and insisted we must have a hashtag), and the blight of Baker, California, where a new Marvel superhero was born. 

Red Rock in Flip Flops

We had every intention of roadtripping to Zion National Park during our President's Day weekend in Las Vegas, but the many warnings I read about overcrowding turned me on to a more local yet outdoor experience, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.  

I'm certain every tourist in Nevada had the same idea and they were playing loud music on their phones.  Or they were climbing rocks in flip flops.  They dismantled trailside cairns - those pyramid shaped rock piles made by hiking hippies.  Oddly, once we jumped back into the sanctity of the inner Prius, there came a sense of calm and wonder in the majesty around us.

Neon Boneyard

Hang on to your sweaty baseball cap:  There's a museum in Las Vegas.  Fear not, there are no geriatric docents with scripted speeches, no blue-blazered security guards judging you and your potential for wall-touching.  For a break from boozing, losing, and cruising, make your way to the fabulous Neon Museum just 15 minutes north of the strip.

The entrance is housed in what used to be the lobby for La Concha hotel.  It was saved from demolition in 2006, gutted, and moved to its current location.  One of the things that made me feel great and old at the same time is that I stayed at La Concha hotel twice way back in ye olde nineties.  It was across the street from ye olde Stardust - see my 20-something granny bathing suited self by the Concha pool below.

The rooms were around $40/night.  You could drink for free all night at a penny slot machine, and eat steak all day for $9.99.  Las Vegas was a stressed and starving student's salve.  Present day Vegas is a lot more expensive.  Or maybe it's my lady of a certain age tastes that have inflated the prices...  EITHER WAY, the Neon Museum captures vintage Las Vegas and its simpler times in a sophisticated way.  It is beautifully arranged, well-managed, and a welcome respite from all the sin down the street.