Las Vegas Adventure - Day 6

[Composed 11/30/2019]

If yesterday's hiking was great, today's was off the charts amazing. We did a number of short hikes in Valley of Fire State Park, and we were both blown away by the epic beauty of the place.

We used a number of blogs as a guide to where to hike in the park, including: Leave No Tracy and Earth Treks. Both are excellent resources. With that said, I think the Pink Canyon (found here) was a bit oversold, and Mouse's Tank Trail was a bit undersold--though more on that last point in a moment. Regardless, all of the scenery is jaw-dropping good.

I was excited to finally see some desert wildlife, including goats desert bighorn sheep, chipmunks white-tailed antelope ground squirrels and an impressive flock of Gambel's Quail.

The weather totally cooperated today: it was in the 50°'s but with the sun shining it was a perfect day to be walking on nearly shade-free trails. I tried to imagine how difficult a visit to this park would be when it was 110°F. Our leisurely strolls would have become death marches.

As I noted above, I think Mouse's Tank Trail is a bit underappreciated. The reason: petroglyphs! Yesterday I was excited to see a handful of 800 year old rock etchings. Today I had the chance to see dozens, if not hundreds, of them! That's because Mouse's Tank Trail is crammed full of this artwork. It's not clear how old the petroglyphs are, but there's evidence to suggest they are between 1000 and 2000 years old. As for their meaning, your guess is as good as mine. Are they an historic record, warning, advice to travelers, or 'just' art?

Some of the etchings remind me of the stick-figure-family decals people add their car windows. That's not just because these characters are typically simple, but because they tell a story with such efficiency. Whether it's a suburban with a family that includes a dancer, painter and a hockey player, or a Prius with a T-Rex chasing a fleeing family, I can quickly learn something about the driver of that car. And so it is with some of the petroglyphs. Other markings on the wall are abstract, and include funky lines and circles. I find it all amazing and I'm blown away that you can see so much of it in one location. For that reason, I suggest exploring Mouse's Tank and doing so with an open mind.

Looking at a map of the Vegas area, it's not obvious which green spaces to visit and in which order. I think we picked an optimal order when we did Red Rock Canyon yesterday and Valley of Fire today. Both give you opportunities to see amazing geology, but Valley of Fire is just a bit more dramatic in my opinion and builds nicely on what we saw yesterday.

In short, this place is amazing!

Las Vegas Adventure - Day 5

[Composed 11/29/2019]

When we planned to visit the Las Vegas area, I was most excited to hit the nearby trails. Yesterday's failed hiking attempt definitely had me spooked. Would the conditions be too dreadful to get any hiking in this trip? And more importantly, would the trails fail to live up to my perhaps unreasonable expectations?

All of these concerns fell away when we pulled into the visitor parking area at Red Rock Canyon. The sun was shining, the wind that was so problematic the day before was absent and the scenery around us was nothing short of spectacular. We were surrounded by a ring of picturesque mountains and I couldn't wait to explore it all!

We opted to do the Grand Circle Loop, which takes you on an 11+ mile hike throughout the park. It's sort of the hiking equivalent to the loop road you drive to get an overview of the park. As with any hike, there are tradeoffs to be made. The Grand Circle Loop is a survey course in Red Rock Canyon; you don't spend too much time in any one area. But what it lacked in depth it made up for in breadth.

The geologic formations were outstanding, the trail well marked and for maximal effect we even encountered a bit of snow on the trail. We did a bit of off trail exploring in a few areas, which racked the total mileage up to 12.5 miles. After days of hanging out indoors, getting in a longer hike was just perfect.

When researching the Grand Circle Loop we came across some debate as to the best direction to tackle the hike. We opted to do the trail in the counterclockwise direction, encountering the somewhat more technical part at the beginning, and walking back on the more mundane trail at the end. This was ideal given that our hike ended as it was getting dark and the temps were dropping. In the summer, if you started the loop in the dark in the morning, it might very well make sense to do it reversed.

After finishing the hike, and nearly being out of daylight, Shira humored me with a trip to Petroglyph Wall, a short side trail in the park that takes you to a wall of 800 year old rock art. Shira wasn't impressed, but I stood reverently in front of the primitive markings. What were they trying to say? I tried to imagine what message I'd want to leave to an individual in the year 2,820. How could I even manage to pull off such a feat? Some crafty soul from the year 1,220 managed to do just this. I was impressed.

We finished up our long day of hiking with a delicious Mexican meal and the promise that we'd have more hiking the next day. Would it match the beauty of today? I wasn't sure about that, but for now I was just thankful to have spent the day in such amazing surroundings, doing something I love with someone I love.

Keeps the Tea Hot and Is Barely Even a Fire Hazard

Here's a novel idea: use a tea light to keep tea warm.

I noticed my small glass teapot fit perfectly on top of an empty tuna can. I punched some air holes in the can using a church-key, dropped a tea light candle in, and before I knew it, I had a team warmer.

I'm amazed at the setup: the candle stays lit, the pot stays steady and the tea stays hot. What more could I ask for?

I wonder if I could adapt this setup to be backpacking friendly? That is, trade the glass pot out for an aluminum or titanium mug. Definitely something to try.

(Note: working from home means no OSHA inspectors coming by asking why there's an open flame sitting on my desk. Whoo!)

Wear Long Pants, Avoid Overhead Bins and other Hard Earned Travel Tips

I just finished Science of Ultra's Travel tips podcast. While much of the advice was pretty standard, I'm sure I picked up a new tip or two. The podcast certainly got me thinking: what are my top travel tips to share with others?

In that spirit, here they are. After reading my suggestions, be sure to check out Science of Ultra's Travel Resource Page.

• If possible, sign up for TSA Pre. With Pre-check you can nearly neutralize one of travel's most annoying steps: the security line.
• Consider purchasing a 6-in-1 USB Wall Charger Thingy. This turns the one outlet you can find in your hotel room into an easy to access charging station for all your USB powered goodies.
• Buy a reputable travel guide and use it as a planning aid before and during your trip. No doubt there was a time when travel info was scarce and a travel guide was a critical source of on-the-ground information. Now we have the opposite problem: there's so much information available it's often hard to see the signal through the noise. A Frommers Guide or the like cuts through this and gives you a coherent picture of a destination.
• On the day of travel, don't just pack snacks, pack meals. One common piece of travel wisdom is to not rely on airplane or airport food while traveling. Bring snacks, they say. Go one step further and bring complete 'meals.' Yes, meals, plural. Travel always seems to cut across multiple mealtimes. Note, a meal isn't a fancy affair--it's just a group of foods that meet whatever caloric and nutritional needs you're striving for. Last trip this involved bringing a Clif Builder Bar, a Pro Bar, Powdered Oatmeal and a ziplock baggie of pretzels. That covered my calories, carbs and protein for both second breakfast and first lunch.
• Live your travel essentials. Rather than keeping travel gear boxed up and only deployed for trips, get as much use out of it as possible during 'regular life.' There's nothing worse than busting out a battery backup only to find that the battery no longer holds a charge. Or reaching for your headphones only to realize they're not in your bag. I keep these essentials in my Man Bag and they come in handy on a regular basis. When I find myself depending on them, I've got confidence they'll deliver.
• Blog your trip. This is probably the most important and the hardest advice to follow. Publishing an edited record of your travels has two key benefits. First, no matter how moved you are by a destination, the memories quickly fade. By forcing yourself to create a written record of the trip you'll help stem that memory loss. The second advantage is linked to an observation I made years ago while reading Bill Bryson's travel books. Bryson's books are among the funniest I've ever read. We're talking laugh-out-loud uncontrollably funny. I realized that while Bryson was a sort of professional traveler, his adventures were far from flawless. In fact, it was often the flaws that made for the best parts of the story. I realized he was on to something: I could be frustrated when things don't go right while traveling, or like Bryson, I could use those mishaps as fuel for stories. Blogging about your travels lets you literally follow this advice, elevating your mishaps to something greater. In the past I've blogged my trip during the trip itself. But I've found that: (a) I'm usually too exhausted to do this, and (b) my time is better spent being in the moment and savoring the trip, rather than worrying about documenting it. Instead, I take copious amounts of photos and whenever I get a few minutes scribble notes in my pocket notebook. When I return from the trip, I recreate a narrative from these two sources.
• Travel in long pants, t-shirt and something long-sleeved. It doesn't matter if it's 95°F at both the departure and arrival cities; it's almost certainly going to be frigid on the plane or in the terminal. My favorite travel outfit includes Unionbay Pants, Hanes Cooldri T-shirt and a Columbia long sleeve button down shirt with extra large breast pockets. And as per the advice above, I wear these clothes when I'm not traveling, too.
• Bring the digital essentials. This includes movies, audio books, maps and other digital content that's weightless yet invaluable. See my Digital Packing List for more information.

And finally, here are two pieces of travel wisdom I've learned from Shira:

• Avoid using overhead bin space. Luggage should either be non-essential and checked, or crammed under the seat in front of you. The overhead bin is a trap: you have to stress about getting access to one. And if you do manage to get a much coveted spot, you lose easy access to your belongings. Pro tip: don't be 6' tall and require leg room.
• Optimize what you pack for happiness, not weight. There's a philosophy that says the less you bring the happier you'll be. Shira's not buying it and slowly but surely, she's winning me over. When you travel you should pack what's going to make you happy, not to win some arbitrary packing contest. Take our last trip: we stayed in a suite with a full kitchen and wanted to eat healthy meals between splurging on fun restaurants. The result was that we brought our Airbnb kitchen setup, which contains things like a full sized frying pan and pot. Was it heavy? Heck yeah. However, the benefit of being able to easily cook high quality meals for a week outweighed the hassle of dragging a heavy bag to and from an Uber for 10 minutes.

Las Vegas Adventure - Day 4

[Composed 11/29/2019]

Today the weather finally cleared enough that we could tackle a fun outdoor activity: visiting the Hoover Dam. As I'd hoped, the Dam and surrounding area provided amazing views and a history lesson to match.

While the staff wasn't running tours of the dam the day we visited, they were offering visitors a chance to hear from a docent during a slide presentation. Many folks opted to skip this, and even I admit hearing the phrase 'slide show' conjured up images of a tedious display. However, I'm glad we opted in. The presentation was quite interesting and our guide quite knowledgeable.

I came away from the Hoover Dam with a sense that it was a massive Government project Done Right. It was finished two years ahead of schedule and thanks to the hydroelectric energy it generated, paid for itself. Sure, worker conditions were dangerous and miserable, but it provided a source of employment at a time when the country desperately needed it. While the dam was only made possible through clever innovations, like building a massive refrigerator into the concrete structure, at the end of the day it is basic architecture and physics scaled up. The gravity based arch design was no doubt inspired by the Romans.

All of this work was done with the intention of giving the dam a 10,000 year lifespan. I compare that to the near by Arlington Memorial Bridge, clearly an important link between DC and Virginia, which was built with a paltry 75 year lifespan (it's getting revamped now, a mere 12 years after its expiration date).

After visiting the dam, we made our way to the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, which overlooks the dam and provides even more staggering views.

After visiting the dam and nearby bridge, I thought we'd squeeze in a hike. While the weather was clear, the wind was gusting at 28 miles per hour. After about 7 minutes of hiking we retreated back to our car and got lunch at a nearby Thai restaurant. During lunch I noticed Shira avoiding some of the greens in her dish. When I asked what was up, she explained that her dish smelled like elephant. I explained that surely she was exaggerating, at which point she picked up a leaf dusted by some spice and told me to take a whiff. I breathed deeply and couldn't help myself: my gosh, it smelled like elephant! Specifically, like the elephant enclosure at the zoo! It was like I was 8 years old again and traipsing through the Rochester City Zoo!

In all the years of eating Thai food, we've never consumed anything like this.

In the evening we did more cruising of the Strip to see the sights, do some gambling and most memorably, people watch. Previous days we'd headed North, so tonight we headed South on the strip and went as far as Mandalay Bay. There's a tram from Excalibur to Mandalay Bay that takes about 8 minutes. During this ride, you're in a small cabin with a handful of strangers. On our way back to the Excalibur we found ourselves in an enclosed space with 4 very drunk 'kids' which seemed to be pulled directly from central casting. It was like watching an improv troop pretend to be drunk; but these guys were the real deal. It was all so Vegas.

Back at our hotel room I did a bit more research into the Hoover Dam. Surely there was more to the story than what we'd learned at the site today. Yet, for the most part, the Hoover Dam project has aged well. It really was a massive project that's had a largely positive impact on the area. One takeaway from my research I didn't expect was a new found appreciation for the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. While not quite on the same scale as the Dam, this bridge is a concrete technological marvel and it was built on time and under budget. It seems to answer the question: are our best days of engineering behind us? Heck no.

Las Vegas Adventure - Day 3

[Composed 11/28/2019]

Our little corner of Vegas (specifically, the MGM Signature and MGM Grand hotels) is pretty much the Land that Forgot Thanksgiving. About the only clue that it's Thanksgiving is the mention of turkey on various restaurant menus. Other than that, it's business as usual.

We started our day by hitting the gym where Shira reminded me that all the running I've been doing has done nothing to beef up my arms and core. The result: the push presses and sit-ups she had me do has left my upper body pretty much broken. I got her back though by "making her" walk the 32 flights of stairs up to our hotel room.

After cleaning up we made our way down to the CBS Research Studio, where Shira and I watched a yet to be released TV show and weighed in with our opinion. We watched a comedy with a dial in hand that we could twist from 0 to 100 depending on how happy we were with the show's content. Naturally Shira hated the show and I liked it. It was a quirky experience to take part in, and in a town where every offer seems to good to be true, this was fun, free and delivered what it promised.

After a very tasty lunch at the vegan Chinese place Veggie House, we made our way to a nearby theater to watch the new Mr. Rogers movie, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. We had seen the recent'ish documentary on Mr. Rogers, so I was a bit worried that it would cover the same ground. Fortunately, it did not. With that said, I'm not entirely sure I liked A Beautiful Day. It was cleverly done and filled with the wholesome goodness of Mr. Rogers, but I'm not sure I'm satisfied by those points alone.

What made the movie vastly more meaningful was to read both the original article the movie is based on, and a follow-up article that was published after the movie was produced. These serve as a sort of prologue and epilogue and give essential context to the movie.

After the movie we walked around the casino a bit and did the gambling thing. We keep ending up at New York, New York--the closest by casino that offers lower-limit tables. They also make a fine hot chocolate, which has become my drink of choice during our evening gambling sessions. You just have to imagine me talking to the cocktail waitress in my sexiest Jame Bond voice: Chocolate. Hot. With whipped cream. Yeah, I'm sure she's impressed.

Tomorrow the weather is supposed to finally clear up a bit and we'll get our first adventure away from the Strip. I'm so psyched!

Las Vegas Adventure - Day 2

[Composed 11/27/2019]

Today we logged about 12 miles of walking, nearly all of it spent exploring the Vegas Strip. We visited the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty, the canals of Venice and the ruins of Rome. Of course, none of this is real, but that's Vegas for you. Some of the sites on the strip really do measure up: the gardens at the Bellagio were impressive, and many of the hotel facades are cleverly done.

But then you've got sites like the animatronic Atlantis show which in its heyday must have been something special, but is now pretty tired. As if to emphasize the point, part way through the show the power to the characters was cut and the whole thing froze. Still, the aquarium that the show is mounted on was filled with interesting fish, so that's something.

Other highlights from the day included: the impressive Air Jordan display in the back of the Nike Store. It covers the evolution of a single shoe from 1984 to today. Shira was impressed that I managed to find a museum in a Nike store. I also enjoyed the gondola display at the Venetian hotel, which let's you learn about a historic gondola. Shira had more fun with craps at the Venetian, but to each their own.

While browsing through a gift shop Shira found what I thought was an especially clever souvenir: the casinos trim the corners off the decks of cards they use and then you can buy them for like $2.00 each. I'm always looking for high value, affordable, portable, functional and unique things to bring home from a destination, and these decks of cards checked all the boxes. So if you do make it Vegas, this may be an easy gift worth searching out.

What a luxury it is to have a day to just wander!

Las Vegas Adventure - Day 1

[Composed 11/26/2019]

Man that flight approach in to Las Vegas is sweet. At first there's nothing but desert. It's like another planet. And then bam! you're over Lake Mead with its beyond perfect blue waters. Then before you know it, you've landed in Sin City. It's all so dramatic.

After getting our luggage and checking into our hotel room we hit up Burnt Offerings, a tasty Kosher restaurant with a menu that can't help but make you chuckle. All the food was good, but it was Shira's burger that was the yummiest part of the meal. And she had it cooked well done no less. Yet, it still beat out any burger in my recent memory. From there, we hit up a specific Smith's Grocery Store that has a Kosher Experience at the front of the store. That gave us access to all sorts of Kosher foodstuffs, which given that we had access to a full kitchen in our suite, was a nice bonus.

Between the restaurant and the supermarket we hit up Springs Preserve, which is a combination museum, gardens and trails. I didn't have high expectations for the Nevada State Museum, but apparently I should have. The museum was quite solid, providing info about the geology, wildlife and history of Nevada. One highlight was a cabinet full of gaming 'cheats' that were previously employed to beat the house. People sure are clever! The fossils on display were also quite epic.

The trails offered at the springs were less impressive. The weather was cold and windy, so that didn't help. But still, there wasn't a whole lot to see on said trails and we could have safely skipped that experience. The cactus garden at the botanic gardens, however, was well done. I'm a sucker for cacti, so seeing such an impressive variety is always going to win me over.

I could see how the Springs would be a great activity for kids, especially those not ready for a full blown trail experience.

The other highlight from our day was grabbing some pics of the Strip at night. The Galaxy S9's night mode vastly simplified this task. In fact, I had to smile at myself for being able to walk up to a scene, snap a photo, and walk away, all while a fellow photographer worked on capturing the same pic using his tripod and DSLR. His pic may be better, but mine certainly got the job done. Truthfully, by then the chilly afternoon had turned into a cold night, so I was glad to be able to snap and run.

The next couple days promise more cold and wet weather. Who comes to Vegas and expects winter conditions?