Time for more Las Vegas pictures! It didn't seem like we were that busy running around when we were there, but looking at all these pictures, it sure does seem like we managed to cram a lot into the 5 days.

So, onward! The same day we went hiking at Red Rock Canyon, that afternoon we drove out to the Hoover Dam. Yes, THAT Hoover Dam. Unfortunately, it was not named after J. Edgar Hoover, because it means I miss out on the opportunity to make a joke about the movie Clue (he's on everyone else's phone, why not mine blah blah blah).

Hoover Dam, originally known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between Arizona and Nevada. When completed in 1936, it was both the world's largest electric-power generating station and the world's largest concrete structure. It was surpassed in both these respects by the Grand Coulee Dam in 1945. It is currently the world's 35th-largest hydroelectric generating station.

They're building another highway to help ease traffic heading down to the Dam (right now through traffic has to sit and wait through the security inspector guys) and as part of the project, they are building a huge suspension bridge. It's pretty badass looking.

This is Lake Meade. It's a lake that backs up to Hoover Dam. The dark tips on the top of the little islands sticking out show you where the water level USED to be. Las Vegas is really sucking down the H2O.

Me and Kent at Lake Meade.

Group shot!

Watch out for the sheep! Although the picture is clearly a ram, do those count as sheep?

So another fun activity was wandering around downtown Vegas with Chris and Carly. We had to go pick up our respective show tickets at the casinos a few days before they were scheduled, and decided to walk around hitting the New York New York roller coaster (awesome) and M&M World (also awesome). I couldn't get any pics of the coaster, but here's your M&M fix.


If you look past the guy who looks kind of like Vin Diesel, you'll see all the colored tubes on the wall. Each one is an unusual color of M&M in all different varieties. Regular, peanut, almond, crispy, peanut butter, dark chocolate, etc. etc. Heaven.

On Sunday night, Carly and I head to The Mirage to see the #1 thing I was looking forward to in Vegas. Cirque du Soleil's LOVE, a tribute to the music to The Beatles. All I will say is that it was amazing and awesome, and I will go see it again as soon as I get another chance. That same night, Chris and Stephanie were off to see another show, a sort of alternative version to the Cirque du Soleil show "O."

Here's a picture of us girls heading out for a night on the town:



Inside The Mirage is a Beatles themed bar called the Revolution Lounge.

It's decked out in 1960s British pop poshness. Thing red and white, sleek lines, and vaguely futuristic looking furniture.

Here's me and Carly after the show; I'm trying to look cool and she is just looking happy.


One more Vegas post left! Coming up: hanging out with Patrick and Rosa!

Lounging and then Hiking in Red Rock Canyon

The first day in Las Vegas was spent lounging by the pool as I attempted to recover from my jet-lag.

The pool at Tahiti Village was pretty sweet. It was large with various little coves; one with a volleyball net, one with a basketball net, and one with a beach! Actual sand that led right into the pool so it was like a mini-beach. Very cute.

Here was my view from the deckchair.

Not bad, eh?

And here's part of the pool.

Carly performing a cannon ball. Isn't she graceful?

And let's not forget the lazy river. Or the small part of it I was able to photograph. Seriously, lazy rivers are one of the best things EVER.

That afternoon we drove out to the Hoover Dam and visited a ghetto casino where I learned how to play craps AND won $200, but more on that later.

Saturday morning (Vegas Day #2) we all stumbled out of bed bright and early to go hiking in Red Rock Canyon. It was already 85 degrees by 7 in the morning, so getting an early start was imperative.

Background on Red Rock (from wiki): The conservation area is one of the easternmost parts of the Mojave Desert; the character of the sandstone layers is such that a number of year-round springs may be found in the recesses of the side canyons.

The Red Rock Area has a complex geological history, which over millions of years, helped to create the dramatic landscape that characterizes the region.

The Red Rock area was located under a deep ocean basin during the Paleozoic Era 600 million years ago. Sediments up to 9,000 feet thick were deposited, and eventually lithified. This sediment eventually formed into limestone.

Around the Mesozoic Era 250 million years ago, the earth's crust started to rise due to tectonic shifts, forcing the water out and leaving behind evaporite formations. Exposure of the former sea bed allowed some of the rocks to oxidize (literally rust) and formed the area's characteristic red and orange rock layers.

Eventually a lush plain with streams and trees developed in the area. Some of these trees were covered with mud from the streams and eventually became petrified wood. Many of these fossilized logs can still be found today at the base of the Wilson Cliffs.

By 180 million years ago, the climate continued to change and the area became a desert featuring vast expanses of huge shifting sand dunes. These dunes would pile up and were lithified, and are now called Aztec Sandstone. During a mountain building period called the Laramide orogen around 65 million years ago, the Keystone Thrust Fault developed which ran through most of North America and through the Red Rock Conservation Area. The movement of this fault forced the older grey sedimentary rock over the younger red rocks, forming the striking red line that can be seen in the mountain today.

Long story short (too late), the place is huge with these awesome red rocks where you can easily see all the eras of geological change reflected in the layers of differing colors in the rocks.

Now, when we came up with this great plan to go hiking, I made it pretty clear that I was not an experienced hiker. Easy to moderate difficulty was what we all decided on. And yeah, we started on the trail. And then the group's collective ADD kicked in, and all of a sudden everyone was wandering off the path and we ended up picking and climbing our way over large rock formations.

It was a little scary, since a fall would have been pretty disastrous, but I was able to do all of it and I was pretty darn proud of myself by the end. Everyone knew my propensity to fall over, so there was definitely a lot of "put your feet where mine are" and "you're doing great, Maggie!" but it just goes to show they cared.

The only real area of difficulty was the very end when we had to clamber up a very very steep incline to get back to the road. I'm not very good at extreme angles, so I was not only huffing and puffing by the end, but I could feel my throat closing and I was doing the gasping and wheezing dance. But after sitting down for a few minutes, I recovered. And at the end of the day, it was a great time, and I definitely hope to get out there again and try another trail!

Pictures!

After our hike and the scenic drive through the conservation area, we headed over to the gift shop. Because you always have to stop at the gift shop, right? I was aware of how dangerous and well, foreign, the desert was, but in the gift shop we began to hear all about the scorpions, snakes, tarantulas, and other venomous creatures that inhabit the area. It really inspires me to stay on the trail, you know? And not go wandering into the desert. Because, DAMN. Like the ocean, it is not our territory and you need to have a healthy respect for that environment.

Red Rock's Website.

Viva Las, oh forget it.

I have returned from Vegas in one piece! But honestly, there wasn't that much of a danger of any other outcome. When you're in bed every night before midnight there's not much trouble you can get into. Yes, I'm getting old, and yes, I went to bed early. I jet-lag pretty bad, ok? Back off!

So, Vegas: first impressions. Dirty. Like, disgustingly, grimy, dirtiest shithole of a town ever. Sorry if any of y'all out there are really enamoured with Vegas, but the city itself was not impressive. It's a microcosm of what ails America; it stands for our obsession with consumption, greed, tackiness, and disposable life.

But I actually had a really great time. The company was great (Chris, Kent, Carly, and Stephanie), the resort we stayed at was awesome (Tahiti Village, located on Las Vegas Boulevard just a little over a mile from the casinos), but the Strip itself was just...ick.

Before I get to the pictures, here are just some quick recollections:

--Funniest moment (by far) was me falling into the hot tub. I'll just say that I misjudged the distance to the step and leave it that. And I swear that child was fine; I barely grazed him!

--We went to a ghetto casino off the strip where they had dollar craps and I 1) learned how to play craps which is totally fun and 2) won $200! In fact, we all won and ended up taking the casino for over $800! Take THAT, probably mob-connected casino owner.

--Laying by the pool constituted my entire activity for almost 2 whole days which was TOTALLY worth it.

More stories coming in future posts including fun with Patrick and my new friend Rosa, hiking in Red Rock Canyon, and M&M World!

Here are some pictures from around town....

The famous "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign!

New York New York Casino at night. Note the roller coaster on which Chris, Carly, and I had a ride.

The Venetian.

Fremont Street, for that old school Las Vegas feel. And random Queen tribute-ness.

Famous Las Vegas neon cowboy. He got moved to Fremont Street some years ago. Booted from the Strip, so sad.

Carly and Chris in front of New York New York


Looking down the Strip from a pedestrian walkway.


Excalibur! Now with even more Arthurian sparkle magic!


Paris casino.


The view of the Strip from our room's balcony.

But it's a dry heat.

Tomorrow morning I'm leaving on a jet plane for a week long vacation in sunny Las Vegas. It's my first time to Sin City, but I don't intend to do anything too crazy or even gamble.

I intend to lie by the pool as much as possible.

So why go all the way to Las Vegas? Well some friends have a timeshare which means almost-free lodging and a group of awesome people are also going which means fun friends to hang out with...but it also means almost guaranteed sunshine. Sure my pool is opening this weekend, but with our high temperature only reaching 70 degrees during the past week, I'm not entirely convinced we're going to have usual Memorial Day weather.

Also, I've been planning the trip for about 8 months. It's kind of like that quote from Ghostbusters. If someone asks you if you want to go to Las Vegas, you say yes!

Despite my pool (and lazy river) plans, there are some other things I want to do. See LOVE at the Mirage, visit one of those famous Las Vegas buffets, hike through Red Rock Canyon, visit M&M World, go to a nightclub, and just take some time to walk along the Strip. And with the news that my college friend Patrick will also be coming into Las Vegas for the weekend, there are surely some 99 cent margaritas in my future. But for the most part, the week will consist of as much lounging as I can squeeze in.

Of course, as with all best laid plans....things are subject to change. I'm just going to play it by ear and see what happens. And isn't that really the best attitude to have when visiting a place like Las Vegas?

I can make one promise: I promise not to come home married. That's what annulments are for!

Kicking it (really really) old school.

I've been wanting to visit Medieval Times for some time now. Even before The Cable Guy came out and brought the absurdity of the place to the masses.

The $50 price tag always seemed steep for about 2 hours of entertainment, but goldstar.com offered some discounted tickets the other day, and who am I to pass up a bargain? So Chris, Kent, and I made our way up to Hanover, Maryland (ugh...Maryland) for an evening of knights, kings, jousts, and eating with our fingers. Because they won't give you silverware, but you bet they have a whole array of Coke products!

Our trip didn't get off to the best of starts, what with the hellacious traffic on I-395. We were armed with Chris and Kent's GPS (named Judy) who led us on an alternative route through the ghetto of South East, but we emerged safe and sound onto the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and still had plenty of time to make the 7:00 curtain. Or whatever the alternative is for a show of this nature.

Medieval Times is located at the end of a mall in the middle of urban sprawl. Which somehow seems appropriate, don't you think? You're seated around a large arena divided by colors which designates the knight you cheer for. We were in the blue knight section, who may have gotten his ass kicked in the sword fight part of the show, but was by far the hottest knight. So I prefer to think that we actually won.

It's true they don't give you silverware; you eat with your fingers which is...interesting. But fun in it's own way. First course: tomato soup that tasted like spaghetti-Os without the pasta. Second course: Half a chicken (not kidding) that was really well cooked and seasoned, a piece of pork ribs that were also delicious, a large potato wedge, and a piece of garlic bread. Third course: an apple pastry that was kind of eh. Not even as good as McDonald's apple pie. But then, those things are pretty delicious.

I had to splurge for the strawberry daiquiri in the signature glass, because come on. Everybody needs a Medieval Times signature glass, right?

The show itself was entertaining; there was a loose plot about the Prince being captured by a kingdom that wanted to break away and be independent, represented by the green knight, but blah blah. There were sword fights and jousting and merriment and rivalries and that's what we were there to see. We booed for the evil green knight, cheered for our guy (even when he got his butt whopped) and in general had a great time. It was about 2 hours, but actually felt a lot longer so I think we got our money's worth. I'm not sure about paying $50 for it though.

Here are some pics!

Outside the mall entrance.

The empty arena.

Capturing the Prince.

Parade of the knights.

Me and Chris with our crowns.

Me and the Queen, er, Kent.

Sparks fly during a sword fight.

Bringing it in at the end of the show.

The family that nerds together, stays together.

The lights were dimming, the trailers were starting, and all of a sudden, I had to call my brother.

“The movie is starting!” I whispered into my cell phone.

“We decided to go see it tonight too!” my brother replied.

“Call me as soon as you get out!” I told him.

Why the fuss? The newest Star Trek movie is finally out, and my brother and I both went to advance screenings on Thursday night.

I really liked the movie, but what made it special was all the little nods to the old school fans that were included. Sulu knowing how to fence, Uhura’s eyeliner, Bones with his eyebrow raise…every time I spotted some little homage, it made a big grin spread across my space.

But I was surprised by how emotional I got. Due to a nifty time-travelling plot device, Leonard Nimoy showed up as old Spock and when he comes face to face with young Kirk he tells him, “I have been and always will be your friend.” It made me tear up a little.

But why? I mean, I’m not a die-hard Trek fan. I’ve seen every episode of the original series and TNG (Picard is my favorite captain), and I know a good deal of the mythology and stories behind the show, but I don’t dress up, I don’t own any of the DVDs, I haven’t even watched anything Star Trek-related in probably 5 years. So why was watching this movie making me so emotional?

And then I figured it out.

Growing up, my brother and I couldn’t have been more different. I was a ditzy chatterbox who was constantly singing and dreaming of one day appearing on the Broadway stage; extrovert = me. My brother was three years older, quiet, bookish, a guy who preferred to stay in his room and work on his computer or design a hovercraft than interact with his little sister.

But the one thing we had in common was Star Trek. I can’t remember when I started watching it; it was probably out of some typical little sister impulse to emulate my older brother, to like something because he liked it, to get him to pay attention to me. The result was family evenings spent watching marathons of classic Trek on television. Of weekly viewings with my mom and bro to watch the new episodes of TNG. Having my Dad take me to my first ever fan convention: a Star Trek convention at a hotel in Maryland. At holidays, when the new Trek movies would come out, my brother, Aunt, and Dad would go see them. And it also meant I would borrow my brother’s Star Trek paperback novels as soon as he was done reading them, paying heed to his threats of what would happen if I dared open the book wide enough to break the spine.

So when it comes down to it, Star Trek was pretty much the first thing my brother and I had in common. When we were as different as night and day, it was the one thing we could share. So when he called me at 10:30 last night after having seen the movie and we kept interrupting each other to mention one other cool thing about the movie, it just made me really really happy.

“It had the creepy bug things from Khan!”
“When he came onto the bridge and said, ‘Bones,’ it was just like William Shatner!”
“Did you see how he sat in the Captain’s chair with his legs crossed?!”
“The uniforms were perfect; like more believably futuristic version of the classic ones.”
“Captain Pike was perfect”
“And they had him in the wheelchair!”
“I know, the wheelchair was awesome!”

Spring is upon us

This year, I was afraid DC weather would do it's typical tap dance: skipping right over Spring. We would get maybe a week of weather in the 60s and 70s, and then we would be right into the humid bitch that is Summer.

This past weekend didn't really do much to assuage my fears: late April and it was already 90 freaking degrees. And since my air conditioning doesn't kick on until tomorrow, it meant that I spent the weekend slowly roasting to death in my condo. I couldn't really leave since I had put off doing all my chores and housework for that weekend, so me = screwed.

But! Blessedly the weather has cooled off again, and the other harbinger of Spring (other than the cherry blossoms) has returned! I am of course speaking of thunder storms.

I love thunder storms. I love sitting on my balcony and watching them roll in. The wind picks up, the temperature drops, the air feels heavy with the promise of rain....and I love the anticipation of when the rain drops will actually fall.

When I was a kid and a storm would approach, I would pretend that I was a character in some natural disaster movie (think Twister) and would turn my face to the wind, let my hair blow around, and stare meaningfully into the distance as if I was sensing some kind of oncoming danger. Yes, I was a giant dork, but I bet most of us have done the same at some point, right?

Right?

Hmm.

Anyway, just such a storm rolled in last week, and I snapped some pics from my balcony! Enjoy!

Edge of the storm.

Cloud cover.

Rain falling over the trees of Fort Ward.

Random heart-shaped balloon caught in the winds.

Chocolate World

This I had to share. Earlier this month, Lori and I drove up to Hershey, Pennsylvania. Why, you ask? Duh. CHOCOLATE.

And oh did we find it. And in addition to the chocolate, we found the world's best ice cream sundae.

Observe.

And another look...

What you're looking at is culinary perfection. Chocolate Hershey's ice cream, chocolate syrup, peanut butter topping, crushed up Reese's peanut butter cups, whip cream, and of course, a cherry.

This was more than a sundae, people. It was a meal. It was a legend. While eating, all Lori had to do was look at me, and I responded, "I know." It was that good. Hands down, the best ice cream sundae I have ever had in my entire life. This sundae alone was worth the 3 hour drive. And that's not counting all the different kinds of chocolate in the factory store and the awesome deals we got at the outlet mall.

All in all, totally worth it. Even if we kind of sort of maybe possibly got a little lost on the way there. And back. But I stopped at a gas station and got a map. So it was alllll good.

Atlantic City!

I finally got around to uploading my most recent pics from my camera, and I realized I have so much to share! Most recently, my trip this past weekend to Atlantic City with Chris and Kent. That's right! The travelling trio reunites for a quick mini-break one nighter at Las Vegas' older more scuzzy sister.

Driving into town on a cloudy Sunday.

I've been to Atlantic City I think five or six times, mostly with Chris and Kent. They love gambling, so they get free hotel stays on weeknights (including Sunday). Since the three of us get Mondays off every so often, it works out pretty well.

Two things of note on the drive up. First, I randomly saw a guy with a donkey. No, that is not a euphemism. You know how the suburbs have built right up to I-95? I was looking into a cul-de-sac and I saw a dude with a donkey in the road. At first I thought it was like a wooden donkey or something, but then it moved. It was a real donkey.

The second story is more gross. Chris noticed a car on the side of the road with some girl standing next to it. Right at the moment he looked over, he figured out why the car was on the side of the road. Because one of the passengers was getting sick, and happened to upchuck right when he looked over. Fun, right?

Moving on....this trip we stayed at Harrahs Marina, which is off the boardwalk so it's a little less crowded. But the BIG draw is their huge indoor heated pool. There are cabanas and hot tubs all around the sides and the servers will bring your drinks right to the edge of the pool.

Living the good life.

Chris and Kent (and me, let's be honest) love the slots. The good news is, they let my push the button occasionally when they're playing so I don't have to wager my own meager funds.


Kent won $229 at the quarter slots. Here's his winning ticket. THEN at around 6 in the morning on Monday he won another $200. And proceeded to wake me up by slapping be on the ass to tell me about it. Here's the full conversation:

Kent: *slaps ass* Guess what?
Me: WHAT.
Kent: I won $200!
Me: Sweet! *snore*

All in all, it was a perfect mini-break, and we definitely plan on going back to the Marina. And the awesome outlet stores certainly helped. Retail therapy, FTW!

One last look at the pool!

Nebraska: Where the Cows Are

Last week, I was in Lincoln, Nebraska for work. While travelling there I learned several things about myself, Nebraska as a whole, and life in general.

1. I am, in fact, an East Coast liberal snob.

2. They keep the good beef, and ship us the leftovers. Damn, I had some good steak!'

3. It's possible to go into culture shock by being surrounded by white people. Very nice white people, but all white people nonetheless. Everyone in the service industry in Lincoln is a well-mannered white college student. Even my taxi cab driver.

4. Seafood is not "fresh" if it has to travel in a plane to get to you.

5. I had no idea single roads could stretch so far and be so straight.

6. People in the Midwest are actually very nice and much more relaxed...but that does not make them right.

7. I need me some rolling green hills to be happy.

8. Flying out of tiny airports is the best.

9. My perspective of how far away things are was all screwed up since the land is so flat. Example: "Oh, I see the grocery store up ahead on the left.....and we're still driving.....and we're still driving....ok, we should be there by now, but no."

10. Grain elevators look strange. And the locals like to talk about when they break and they have to flee the falling grain so as not to get crushed.

11. I can rock a University of Nebraska corn cob hat.

Told you.