Las Vegas- A Different WILD

Anxiously I munched my animal crackers as the sound of a crying baby filled the plane. I took another peek out the window only to be disappointed by the view. No sign of the lights glittering like a thousand fireflies to announce my arrival in Las Vegas. Across and a few seats in front of me a middle aged woman wearing a C.S.I. T-shirt gives the bellowing infant an annoyed look. She chats with two handsome young college guys about the best places to play black jack. The two young men chat with each other over poker and black jack strategies and map out their unofficial night club schedule, where they will see who can score the hottest babe. They are anticipating a land flowing with alcohol, hot girls and easy money. Already a bit happy on the free airplane cocktails the boys blurt out that they are staying at the Stratosphere. It is the same hotel I am staying at. I think however that our Las Vegas experiences will be quite different. They will have their Vegas and I will have mine.

Their Vegas will be filled with bright glittering lights. My Vegas will be filled with brightly colored butterfly wings. Melodious songs from the slot machines will fill their ears. The rushing of a mountain waterfall will fill mine. I will sip a cool bottle of water while gazing out at the Grand Canyon, and they will sip vodka while gazing at beautiful blondes. The boys will receive a rush winning double down at black jack, and a rush will be mine as I view Petra glyphs up close for the very first time. My wonder will abound at awesome sandstone formations, as their wonder will abound at awesomely built resorts.

A nature lover would never think that Las Vegas could offer them a wonderland. You only need to find it amidst the glittering lights. In fact there is such a wonderful diversity of water, desert and mountains to explore. You can hike to your heart’s content at Red Rock Canyon or Valley of Fire. If you are not one for hot desert hiking, Spring Mountain offers numerous trails at a comfortable 72º degrees. Lake Mead and the Grand Canyon are options as well. Although all Las Vegas experiences are always a little wild, you may just want to experience the wild in a different way.

Quick Tips:

My most helpful real life tips:

Book everything on TravelWorm.com. They are a website for everything gambling and have by far the best prices for hotels, cars and flights.

Read CheapoVegas.com for laughs and sarcastic yet solid advice. Read the adventures of Matt and Stinky, whose job includes reviewing and mocking everything Vegas. If you want to know which hotels have muggers or who has the nicest shower caps, they are your guys.

Rent a car! Unless you plan on spending your vacation in an alcohol induced stupor, a car will be the best way to see as much nature as you can possibly view, on your own time.

Fill up on breakfast because it’s cheap, and then just have a nice dinner. This strategy works well on almost any vacation. Fresh Harvest Café at Sam’s Town had the best cheap breakfast. It is on the way to many of the nature parks.

Don’t go to the Hoover Dam on September 11th. They close it and you can’t do the tour.

Stay overnight for a few days at the Grand Canyon. A bus tour just doesn’t cut it. All of the hiking trails were calling to me and alas I had to sulk back onto the tour bus. If you love nature, you have to visit for more than 2 hours.

If you have a suite, freeze lots of water bottles for your hikes and get a monster bag of Twizzlers because they will sure taste nice an hour into the hike.

This is not the journal for me do discuss food, so please read Fear of Fattening in Las Vegas for that.

Nature in Las Vegas is cheap, and the lizards don’t deal black jack, so if you visit a nature park for the day, your wallet can remain safe.

Don’t plan on doing anything at night on the days you explore nature, especially if you hike. You will be tired.

Best Way To Get Around:

In Las Vegas you can take a cab, a bus, or rent a car. I would say find someone who does not like to drink and rent a car—you'll be happy that you did. Also don't think you are going to walk the whole time, because that will get tired real soon.

I never really felt the nostalgia for "old Vegas" while visiting Freemont Street. Perhaps I don’t really know enough about old Vegas to feel nostalgic, or perhaps the five guys who walked past me wearing lederhosen just didn’t seem to fit the theme. I expected to see old gangster looking men sporting on their arms, women with sequined dresses flirtatiously twirling their feather boas. Don’t get me wrong, Freemont Street is a great place for people watching, but it lacked the mythological old Vegas sense of class that I so desperately wanted to see.

Instead of gangsters and starlets, you are more likely to see rowdy college kids jumping from kiosk to kiosk filling up large plastic cups with liquor. Despite the fact that this is Las Vegas and not New Orleans, beads seem to be very popular amongst the vast never-ending sea of pedestrians. This was the first time in my life that I actually saw someone fall down drunk. A young college-age blonde girl fell down and proceeded to pull her two willowy friends down when they tried to help her up. I also saw the police, chase, tackle, and handcuff a man. The casinos didn’t even seem nostalgic as they were packed with rowdy frat boys hogging up all the good tables.

Of course the main draw of going to Freemont Street is the four-block mega screen, which comes alive displaying various creatively assembled short movies. This, in fact, is extremely impressive and must be seen at least once if you are visiting Las Vegas. It was remarkable to see a hush fall over the crowd as the last show of the night began. The show we saw was "Area 51" an alien/space theme. The story was hard to follow, but who cares, it was amazing just to experience thousands of people transfixed with their heads looking upward encountering this vast technological wonder.

If you like the "party scene" then by all means go forth into your wonderful oasis at Freemont Street. If you just want to see something really cool, then time it so you can see the show and be on your way to discover even more mesmerizing sites.

The tour bus picked us up at our hotel at a bleary 6:30am. Our first stop was to the Grand Canyon Tours mega center. It was the perfect definition of organized chaos. Hundreds of tourists trying to find which line they were supposed to be standing in to find out exactly what they were supposed to do next. As crazy as it seemed the staff were friendly and helpful and in no time we paid and boarded our bus.

The first thing I noticed, much to my delight, was that our bus was primarily filled with Japanese tourists. There was also a couple from Germany and two college age girls from Ireland. My husband and I were the only Americans. The bus was very comfortable and our driver, Louie, would speak into his intercom every so often to tell us interesting facts. Then the Japanese translator would translate. We made a brief stop at the overlook for Hoover Dam for some pictures. Since we had already seen the Hoover Dam the day before, we just used the opportunity to stretch our legs. Back on the bus, Louie put in some documentary type movies about the Grand Canyon. This seemed to pass the time until we reached Max and Thelma’s, where we were to have lunch. The restaurant, which was built as a tour bus stop, was huge, crowded and noisy. The food is served buffet style and was fairly tasty. Due to the massive amounts of people who come in and out, you are seated in groups. We were politely rushed through lunch, and ushered back on the tour bus to reach our destination, the Grand Canyon.

I was talking to someone recently who also visited the Grand Canyon, and I quote, "it was soooo boring, all it is, is a big hole in the ground." I had to bite my tongue very hard. Everyone should see the Grand Canyon in person. A mere picture does not do it justice. It is an awe-inspiring experience. So vast, it emanates such a silent beauty. My only regret was the lack of time. There was so much to see and explore and yet we were ushered quickly from point to point on the bus tour. It was like getting only a bite of a really delicious dessert that you would just love to finish. After only about 2 hours, we were ushered back on the bus and made the long five-hour ride back to Las Vegas. Movies kept us entertained, but I couldn’t help feeling like I missed out on something.

Grand Canyon Tours did an excellent job. They were organized and inexpensive ($99 per person). Louie was great and I learned a lot due to his knowledge. If I were to go again, I would do the drive myself, and stay at one of the Grand Canyon lodges for a few days. Beauty such as that needs more then two hours to be admired and explored.

After walking around the outside snapping a million pictures, we found out that the visitor’s center and tour would be closed due to it being September 11th. We would have to come back another day.

When you drive up to the Hoover Dam from Las Vegas, cross over to the Arizona side. The official Hoover Dam parking garage charges $7 to park. There are several free parking areas on the Arizona side. You just have to walk a little further, but it’s worth it.

Once out of your car, you are free to roam around the outside and take pictures and marvel at the grand architectural achievement. If you desire you can take the “discovery tour.” I would only recommend this if you are really into history, love the show “modern marvels”, or just absolutely must take every imaginable tour everywhere you go. After purchasing your ticket you are crammed with many strangers into an elevator that takes you down below. You walk through some spooky tunnels until you come to the turbine room. Your tour guide gives you some information on the turbines and then back through the spooky tunnels and up the elevator you go. You are then encouraged to explore the museum with many various exhibits on the building and history of the Dam. Because I love people and history, I found this part very fun. If you are not the kind of person who loves to exam exhibits reading each and every plaque, I am sure you would find this part boring. Up on one of the balcony look out points was a park ranger who told the stories of all the bizarre and gruesome ways people had died while building the Hoover Dam. It was so interesting we listened to it twice. The most interesting story involved a father and son who were both killed on the same day only years apart while building the Dam. Tickets for the Discovery tour are $11.00 for adults and $6.00 for children. If you visit Las Vegas you should at least see the outside of Hoover Dam and take a few pictures. If you want to spend the money on the tour you can, but know that you actually see very little of the inside of the Dam and are mostly paying for the special museum like exhibits that may not interest you or your family.

There is nothing like waking up to your first morning in Las Vegas. As you shove your face full of cheap buffet pancakes and scrambled eggs, you brainstorm ideas as to what you should do first. As my husband and I thought that we would be spending money throughout our trip, we decided the first activity should be free. As guests of the Stratosphere Hotel and Casino, we were allowed to visit their famous tower for free during daylight hours. We elected that the tower should be our first adventure.

The vision of Bob Stupak, quite notorious in his day as a very eccentric casino owner, Stratosphere Tower is the tallest free- standing observation tower in the United States. It is 1,149 feet of reinforced concrete and due to Bob Stupak being his own contractor in the tower’s beginning, one of the three legs is slightly crooked. If you look hard enough you can actually see it. It was still incomplete in 1993 when it caught fire (much like some of Stupak’s other failed ventures) and did not see it’s opening day until Vegas World was finally bought out, striped bare and the renovated.

After going through a lot of security we were ushered on the elevator, which speed its way to the top of the tower. I must admit the view was spectacular. I know most people think Vegas is only exhilerating to see at night, but from that vantage point it was just as interesting in the daylight. You could see for miles and I took particular notice of how the whole city was bordered by tall desert mountains. If you get thirsty there is a Starbucks inside. Once outside you can view the various rides. There is a roller coaster, the big shot, x-scream and insanity. The roller coaster is no more than a glorified kiddie ride, but you can always say that you rode the highest roller coaster in the world. Insanity was just your typical carnival swings suspended over the edge and by far the most thrilling ride was x-scream. You are seated into a roller coaster type car that tilts you over the tower’s edge. It actually looks as if you are going to fall right to your death. We didn’t go on any of the rides, but we watched a group of muscled macho Texans scream like junior high girls as they prayed that this would not be the day x-scream’s breaks gave out.

The tower was definitely something interesting to do, however at $9.95 a person I’m not certain it was worth that much money. Each ride is $8.00 a person per ride or you can purchase an all day pass to ride everything for $30.00. Unless you want bragging rights, again the price didn’t seem worth it. It was fun being able to see the whole layout of Las Vegas from above and plotting and planning our week out with this real life map, but for us it was free.

The sun was causing the road to shimmer the day we visited Valley of Fire. It was easy to see how early settlers had mistaken the bright red rocks as firey pillars. The park was a scenic one—hour drive from the Vegas strip and light on the wallet as well. No matter the size or amount of people, it is just $5 per vehicle. A free park map is given to you upon arrival although the roads are well marked and just as easy to follow without it.

The Beehives were our first stop. They reminded me more of the hair-do my Great Aunt Fran wore instead of an insect dwelling, but they were certainly unique. A good piece of advice is to not wear sandals or flip-flops. You do a good amount of walking in the sand and it is hot. Even though the bottoms of your feet are covered, the sand that flips up on top of your feet will hurt like crazy. I wore sneakers and was glad I did after witnessing a couple of screaming flip-flop wearers. Arch rock was a great photo sight although it was strange to take in. To think that due to the constant erosion from wind and rain the piece of artistic nature I am now witnessing will no longer exist. I somehow felt very privileged to be there at that moment to see it. We continued our tour with a hike to the petrified logs and Mouse’s tank. Mouse’s tank is a natural rain- water reservoir named after an Indian who used it as his hiding place. The hike to Mouse’s tank is especially interesting, as the trail has some great prehistoric petroglyphs. It’s so amazing to look at them wondering their age and interpreting their meanings.

It was somewhere around the White Domes where we lost our momentum. We wanted to hike the trail to the old movie set, but the heat and our bodies just wouldn’t allow it. We had long since drained our bottles of water and had now wished we had brought more than just one a piece. A la Clark Griswold, we jumped out of the security of the air-conditioned car, stood a moment, snapped a photo, and jumped back into the blizzard wonderland again. This is what we did for the rest of the scenic spots, except for the cabins. They seemed really interesting so we got out and walked around. Built in the 1930s, they were used as shelters for passing backpackers. Although they are not used any more, I could still see a die-hard backpacker choosing these rustic stone dwellings over the mega resorts of the strip.

Even if you are only in Vegas a few days, Valley of Fire is worth a stop. The formations are unique unto themselves, and may not even exist sometime in the future.

Just beware that the heat will zap your energy fast so decide which sites are really worth the hike.

Desert Passage at Aladdin:
Be whisked away as you stroll the streets of a Moroccan outdoor market. A few times an hour there is a “thunderstorm” that occurs. More or less, water falls from the ceiling into a pool below. There are some sound effects and flashing lights and smoke to make the effect of an actual storm more realistic. If you’re already there it’s worth seeing. It’s even better with some really good gelato you can purchase in the Desert Passage.

Caesars Forum Shops:
At the Forum shops statues come to life and converse to each other while producing a laser light show. This was very cheesy. The sound was bad, and you could barely hear what was being said. The lasers appeared to be no more than glorified laser pens. If you happen to stumble upon it stop and look. Other than that don’t waist your time.

Flamingo:
In the Flamingo is a courtyard and wildlife habitat. We went here at night and it was very romantic. Swaying Palm trees, splashing waterfalls and flamingos gracefully nestled in the lush green grass. It is an oasis from the obnoxious noise and clamor of the strip. You can also view penguins, turtles and massive koi. I had no idea that there were African penguins that didn’t need to live in the cold, so I learned something too. This is worth the trip, especially at night when there is an air of mystery and romance to it all.

Mirage:
Every hour in the evening the Mirage Volcano explodes. It was horribly crowded although we were there early enough to get a spot at the railing. I think more interesting than seeing the volcano explode, was the burning heat you feel during the show. We felt really bad for a real live mouse that was scampering around the bottom of the volcano in petrified fear. He should probably find a better place to set up his home. You should see the volcano because it is something to see, but nothing more. Once is good enough.

Bellagio:
The Botanical conservatory is definitely worth the trip. The theme, which changes frequently, was Philadelphia and independence. There was a giant liberty bell illuminated by the massive skylight overhead. There were also depictions of children made of flowers engaging in summer fun activities. My favorite part however was the display of miniature fountains that danced, jumped and splashed to various tunes. It was beautiful, comical and entertaining all at the same time. You could spend at least an hour hear admiring the colorful flowers and plants.

In front of the Bellagio is their famous fountain show. It is both emotional and grand, as the music appears to direct the powerful water into a magnificent dance. I would not recommend going on a weekend night. We went on a Saturday and there was an obnoxious evangelist on his actual soapbox yelling at the top of his lungs at the crowd waiting to experience the fountains. People begged him to just be quiet while the fountains were going, but he yelled that they were more concerned with watching a silly show and that their souls were all destined for hell and they didn’t care. He ruined the whole experience for everyone. He must not work during the week however, because every night we were able to stop, watch and enjoy the fountains undisturbed.

MGM:
If you’re waiting for diner seating or for someone to finish playing star wars slots take a walk around the lion habitat. The habitat itself with waterfalls and streams and two stories is actually more interesting than the lions themselves. The lions themselves seemed rather bored.

On every vacation, there is always a pinnacle day. When all the other memories of your trip fade away, this one day will forever be etched in your memory. For me, no other day was as special, as the day I spent hiking at the Spring Mountain National Recreation Area.

Located just 30 minutes from downtown Las Vegas, Spring Mountain is a nature lover’s 316,000-acre dream. As the car carried my husband and I through winding mountain roads the temperature soon turned a pleasant seventy-two degrees. It seems a bit odd once you arrive at the top of the mountain. Here you are staring at rising snowcapped mountains in a place known for its desert beauty. We stopped at the visitor’s center, where the staff could not have been more pleasant and helpful. We grabbed the entire stack of hiking maps and set off to take some pictures. We stopped at several scenic points to admire the vast expanse of pine and aspen trees as various birds flew happily between the branches. During the winter months the mountains are used for skiing and it is amazing to see the amount of devastation inflicted to the trees caused by various avalanches.

After much deliberation, we decided on a hiking trail. The great part about Spring Mountain’s hiking maps, is that they give you the accurate amount of miles for each hike. Also listed is the difficulty of the path and the approximate length of time it will take you. This was extremely helpful as we are only novice hikers and need as much information as possible. We decided on the Fletcher Canyon Trail. It was listed as “moderate,” which seemed doable, and it also promised an interesting water feature at the end.

The beginning of Fletcher Canyon is very similar to most nature trails. Clear paths lead the way through lush green pine trees, filling your lungs with the scent of Christmas. I must admit we were disappointed at first. The map had promised water all along the trail, but all we saw were dried up rock beds. Finally about half way through the trail we heard the faintest trickling of what sounded like water. It was so exciting, almost like finding a treasure. The rest of our hike was accompanied by the sound of water splashing playfully over rocks. After a very mild walk, you are finally thrust into the rock bed itself, where you must scramble on top of precariously slippery rocks. This is where it is essential to have good footwear. You would be incapacitated if you wore flip-flops or some other impractical shoe. I also found it helpful to walk sideways, as it seemed to provide better balance and prevented me from slipping head first into the rocks.

Once past the rock bed, you find yourself immersed in a limestone canyon. The walls loom above at almost two hundred feet. It was slightly eerie as each walked upon stone sent up a resounding echo. For a while I thought someone was behind us as I kept hearing a sort of scrunching noise. Finally I realized that it was the echo of the water bottles and twizzlers bouncing around in my backpack. You feel a strange sense of isolation and abrupt quite seems to make you move more slowly, feeling that somehow you are disturbing someone or something. In certain places where the water still flowed, tiny wild flowers bloomed. Compared to the stark white gray walls and floor, their colors of yellow, pink and purple radiated with ferocious brightness. We didn’t even talk, but walked on slowly immersed in our own solitude.

Our secludedness was finally broken by the sound of loud rushing water. We hurried our pace until we came to the object that will forever be implanted in my mind. It was a chute of water or I guess a waterfall if you could even call it that, lovingly carved out of a limestone rock by fresh spring water. When we were showing our vacation pictures to others one person commented, “that’s it.” I had to bite my tongue. I guess they were not there to see the clear spring water running freely down a smooth carved limestone chute. To think of how long it has taken the water just to carve out the stone and how it will continue to work carving and eroding long after I have seen it. It was nature and science at its best.

Whenever I am very stressed, I take my mind back to that day with the silence and seclusion of the limestone canyon and the bright vibrant flowers. I imagine that I am at the end of the canyon and the only sound I hear is the rushing of cool spring water through limestone. I think these experiences are what vacations are all about. The memories and experiences we take with us to help us through the mundane everyday part of our lives. I know that I will always take Spring Mountain with me and I hope you will consider experiencing it for yourself.

Located just a short fifteen mile drive from the Las Vegas strip, Red Rock Canyon will make you thankful you decided to rent a car. It’s a silent, calm and wonderful diversion and you will most likely find the $5.00 per car entrance fee light on you wallet. After entering the park, you should make your way to the visitors’ center where you can pick up the necessary maps and take a brief tour of some of the exhibits featuring desert flora and fauna. Be sure to check out the desert tortoises there, because you will not see these elusive species during your visit inside the park. If you plan on just taking the leisurely drive around the 13-mile scenic one- way loop, you should not have any trouble. If you wish to hike some of the trails, like we did, you may find yourself in a bit of a dilemma. There were so many various trails, we couldn’t decide which we should try. If we missed one, it’s not like we could just drive back to it later. We spent about a half-hour in the car debating which trails we should do.

The scenic drive itself is very relaxing. You can pull off at various marked locations to admire the view and snap photos. There are plenty of picnic facilities and I regretted not packing some kind of picnic lunch. I imagine it would have been quite lovely enjoying a non-rushed meal at one of the scenic overlooks gazing at the stoic bright red rock formations. There are plenty of restrooms, although I must warn you that I had to battle several ominous insects before comfortably using the lavatory in peace.

We settled on the Lost Creek trail, which was explained as moderately easy and about one hour’s worth of hiking time. It also highlighted an authentic agave roasting pit which intrigued me right away. I was glad I had worn proper foot wear as the rocks on the trail were slippery in places, and with no shade whatsoever, sunscreen and a hat are also much needed accessories. The trail was relaxing and as promised gave the opportunity to view much of what the desert has to offer.

Dark desert butterflies with bright spots of yellow fluttered playfully around my head. Lizards, lazily sunning on rocks, scampered away quickly to hide, at the approach of my shadow. Cacti with bright purple fruit and others that appeared like skinny bushes and looked almost fuzzy lined the pathways. I was really able to view and discover a lot of nature. Then we came to the authentic agave roasting pit, which is probably really exciting to an archaeologist but a bit of a let down for me. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it was a hole in the dirt. It was the same disappointment I felt after visiting Plymouth Rock expecting it to be a giant boulder and discovering it is really just a rock. That aside it was really a nice trail. We also walked the Petroglyph trail, which was very short and did not provide the extensive petroglyph viewing Valley of Fire Park offers. Then we walked partway down the Pine Creek Canyon trail and finally headed to the Fire Ecology trail.

I found the Fire Ecology trail very fascinating. A fire was set there as a control burn in 1997. You can still observe many of the trees black and burnt, and by contrast you can see all of the new wonderful vegetation that has sprung to life since the fire. It was just a wonderful example of how out of the ashes beauty can be reborn.

Red Rock Canyon is a great place to visit outside of the Las Vegas strip. It is an example of desert beauty at its best. If I could only visit one of the two desert parks however, I would choose Valley of Fire as it offers something just a little more unique. Hopefully you will not have to choose and are able to enjoy all the natural landscapes Nevada has to offer.

I must admit that overall, I was a bit disappointed with the people watching in Las Vegas. Before the trip my mind conjured up all sorts of excited images, mainly always floating back to a transvestite wearing a Dr. Seuss type hat on stilts. What I discovered however is that most of the other people in Las Vegas were boring, non-interesting tourists just like myself. I was about to give up all together, when we happened to stumble into Barbary Coast.

My husband ran off to the cheap roulette table and I was free to watch and wander. I viewed teenage girl after teenage girl escorted out of the casino by a burly security guard. I witnessed a rather drunk group of young girls trying to learn to play roulette and ticking off everyone at the table due to their total lack of gambling etiquette. At one point one of the slot machine bells went off accompanied by a young twenty something girl jumping up and down like a pogo stick with her arms pumping in the air. I, like many of the other casino patrons were drawing in closer to see what she had won. "Clearly it must be a huge jackpot," everyone whispered, as the crowd surrounding her grew larger and larger. After what seemed like an eternity of breathless jumping the girl finally announced she had won, $350. I was sure some of the surly senior citizens were planning to jump her later on just for giving everyone hope that you could possibly win big at Barbary Coast.

The highlight of the evening of course was the San Remo Band featuring Asian Michael Jackson. Every so often the featured singer in the band would sneak off during a song and reappear with various Michael Jackson attire. Sequined jump suits, leather suits, sometimes with hats and sometimes with a giant afro wig, always with a rhinestone glove. Aside from the cliche little boy jokes, his impression was dead on and his singing and dancing blew the crowd away. With the exception of the very noticeable Asian part, you would have sworn Michael Jackson was really up there. It was hilarious and fantastic all at the same time. "Now this is what Las Vegas is really about," I kept saying to myself. During the regular cover songs Barbary Coast even had it’s own version of "Dancin’ Dan." Where do these guys come from? This particular "Dancin" Dan" looked like he should be out hiring hits on people. He with no success kept trying to persuade various young ladies to dance with him. My guess is that his sweaty and stumbling dancing style turned them off or maybe they just weren’t into the suspenders.

When my husband finally tired of roulette it was time to leave. I was happy because I had finally satisfied my voyeuristic craving and found that off the beaten path at Barbary Coast is some of the best people watching Las Vegas has to offer.