On Tuesday, we went up to Valley of Fire State Park ($10 per day) which is about an hour north of Las Vegas. It’s small enough that you can easily visit all the major attractions in a day if you arrive early enough. We visited about 75% of the park in 5 or 6 hours. We stopped at the beehives first, which looked exactly as you would expect. The park is best known for the red Aztec sandstone that contrasts with the brown hills that surround it.

Next, we drove up to the White Domes Trail (1.1 miles), which featured some remnants of a movie set for the 1965 western film “The Professionals.” As you can see, most of the Mexican hacienda has crumbled since then. Valley of Fire has also been featured in several films and television shows. In fact, we drove through a photo shoot on our way out of the park.

Overall, the White Domes Trail was an easy hike without lots of other people (remember most of our hikes were on weekdays during the off season). The trail featured some interesting erosion patterns and a few sandy parts. You walk through several narrow slot canyons, and the trail is filled with an array of colors, including orange, yellow, pink and beige. The colorful rainbow of stones used to construct a stairway is one of my favorite photos from the trip since it shows off the natural beauty so well. Nataliya and I joked that my phone would be filled with 500 pictures of rocks (the estimate was not far off!) Some of the best pictures are included in this article, but they still don’t do justice to what we actually experienced!

From there, we went to the Fire Wave Trail (1.5 miles) next which is one of the most popular attractions in the park. You should be aware that the trail is actually on the other side of the road from the parking lot. Wind and water have eroded the layer rock formation to create distinctive waves. Here, much of the red Aztec sandstone is covered in a black substance called “desert varnish,” which contains unusually high concentrations of the rare metallic substance manganese. The manganese-rich varnish is formed from dust, wind and morning dew. Sometimes, iron-rich orange varnish also forms. The trail is marked with small cairns and guide posts. However, the trail disappeared as we approached the iconic Fire Wave formation, and we ended up wandering around on top of it (which we were expressly warned against!). Several other hikers were also unsure exactly which part of the rock was the Fire Wave either, but some photographers arrived and pointed it out. I surveyed the rugged, savage landscape as we paused to eat our sandwiches.

Next, we continued to Mouse’s Tank (0.75 miles) next. A tank is a natural rock basin filled with water, and the trail is named for a native Paiute renegade who hid in the area in the 1890s. The rocks along the trail were covered in dark desert varnish, which created a natural canvas for a menagerie of petroglyphs. The trail was an easy hike but had a few sandy parts.

We wrapped up our blitz through the Valley of Fire with a quick stop at the Elephant Rock (which was not very impressive). Other notable rock formations in the park include Atlatl Rock, Balancing Rock and the Seven Sisters. We also pulled over near the Fire Canyon Trail and took a walk through the seemingly empty landscape. Upon closer inspection, tracks in the sand revealed the area was filled with unseen wildlife traffic, including birds and snakes. It was a practically a critter highway! We didn’t have much sunlight left, so Nataliya and I decided to drive 20 minutes north and visit the Lost City Museum ($5 admission) before sunset.

The Lost City refers to the ruins in the area left behind by Native American people known as the Ancestral Pueblo. The title is misleading because the settlement was a collection of homes that were more akin to a village rather than a true city. The ruins were excavated in the 1920s and 30s. The Civilian Conservation Corps built the Lost City Museum in 1935 to house these artifacts. The museum features a small collection of baskets and pottery as well as a recreation of the excavation site. There are also several reconstructed pueblos and a pit house. There’s also a small, but very interesting, exhibit about the ecological history of the region. For the modest price, the Lost City Museum is worth a visit if you are at the Valley of Fire. The drive back to Vegas was almost pitch dark. The only similar experience I recall is driving through rural Indiana for late-night newspaper assignments as my first journalism job in 2004. Then, suddenly, the bright lights of Vegas erupted as we crossed over a ridge. It was more like sunset than late at night. The Sky Beam from the Luxor Hotel shot up towards the sky like a laser. Apparently it is visible up to 275 miles away.

We made our first trip to the Strip on Wednesday only because it was raining too much for us to hike. We stopped at the Palace Station first and were immediately struck by the stench of cigarette smoke. Public smoking has been restricted for so long back in Ohio that it had not occurred to me that Las Vegas casinos would permit it. The casinos were gaudy and had few customers. I wish more people would leave the Strip and visit the amazing parks nearby! If they don’t, it’s a missed opportunity.

We were primarily interested in the Cinebarre theater where we saw Knives Out. The theater offers $9 tickets all day ($4 additional for 3D) but that’s not a great price for a matinee. Nevertheless, the theater was clean and comfortable. We played the slot machines downstairs for a few minutes after the movie. Nataliya was the big winner – $34! I joked that even my dreams are modest, because I dreamt before leaving Cincinnati that I won a mere $1,500. Nataliya had much bigger dreams to the tune of $200,000! In the end, Nataliya probably broke even, and I only spent about $50 or $60 on the slots.

We had lunch at In-n-Out Burger for the first time. I ordered of the “secret” menu, including a Neapolitan shake (chocolate, vanilla and strawberry) and a tasty animal style burger (the patty is cooked with mustard). It reminded me of the burgers I had at Johnny Rockets as a kid, with toasted buns and lots of crisp pickles. The Neapolitan shake was unremarkable since the strawberry flavor was lost amongst the vanilla and chocolate.

Next, we made our way to the Bellagio which was much more decadent than the Palace Station. The staff were in the process of erecting the Christmas display. We watched one of the choreographed fountain shows with lights and music which was quite impressive. The fountains usually erupt every 30 minutes, but you should check the schedule to make sure.

Here’s a link to my brief video clip of the fountains: https://youtu.be/QFd6nnoof6Y

Then, we went across the street to Paris Las Vegas. The façade was a reasonable copy of Parisian architecture but was also covered in the stench of cigarette smoke. We stopped at Le Creperie for a quick snack – a lemon and blueberry crepe. It was quite sweet and lot of food given the price (approx. $12). I enjoyed a game called Aftershocks which would buzz, shake and permit extra spins. However, I still lost a couple bucks and, in general, I found gambling not very fun or entertaining.

We finished up the night at Strat (formerly Stratosphere) where we had dinner and saw a show. We ate at McCall’s Heartland Grill and both had fish – mahi mahi and salmon. Both were tasty and Nataliya enjoyed a cherry drop martini too. I had no interest in visiting the rotating bar or the terrifying amusement park on the top of the tower, but my barber in Cincinnati recommended it. Merely watching  this video makes me start to sweat.

I had originally planned to see several shows in Vegas, including the magical duo Penn & Teller and at least one Cirque du Soleil show. However, I decided against buying tickets ahead of time in order to avoid over-committing myself, especially after several days of hiking. If I felt up to it, I decided I would buy rush tickets the night of a show. Nataliya was on a tight budget, but I was less concerned with price since we might not be in Vegas again any time soon.

In the end, we went to Celestia at Strat (starting at $29), which was much more affordable than Cirque (varies $80-$100). We opted for cheap seats off to the side, which turned out to be a great deal. However, we had to pick our tickets up at the box office, and it was entirely unclear which desk or which line was the right one to be in. Nevertheless, we eventually got our tickets. Attendance was sparse on a Wednesday night, so the ushers reseated us in prime seats for free.

The show felt a lot like a Cirque production and occurred in a 30,000 square foot tent outside the Strat tower. The 90-minute show features several exciting acts, including a Wheel of Death as well as acrobatics, contortionists, aerialists, and a dagger throwing act. As the name indicates, the show had an extraterrestrial theme and sci-fi music (which was too loud). The bumbling clown protagonists were entertaining, Nataliya was terrified by the Wheel of Death!

Here’s a short promo teaser for Celestia: https://youtu.be/7zZAQALwjgY

We saved Red Rock Canyon ($15 per day) for our final blitz on Thursday. Red Rock is only 30 minutes from Vegas and is one of the most popular parks (for good reason). The park is named for the iconic red Aztec Sandstone which occurs when iron in the rock oxidizes. The park is organized around a one-way 13-mile scenic loop. You can stop at any of the 26 hiking trails along the way.

Unfortunately, we only had a few hours in the morning to explore since our flight back to Cincinnati left in the afternoon. On the other hand, that gives us plenty of excuses to come back! We stopped at the visitor center to get some advice from a knowledgeable volunteer and picked up a few gifts at the shop.

We hiked a short part of the Calico Hills trail which gives you a close-up view of the distinctive geology of the Red Rock Canyon. Back on the road, we passed a few visitors touring on Segway scooters. The road rises about 1,000 feet to the High Point scenic overlook. We paused for a moment to take in the awesome sight, and I was finally at ease after adjusting to the wide-open horizons (just in time to leave). At this point, I was finally at ease in wide-open spaces. I prefer to savor the moment while Nataliya is eager to move on. The trip was also a great milestone in my relationship with Nataliya. It was the most time we had ever spent together (nearly a week). Nataliya was very supportive and understanding when I was a little anxious at the start of our adventure. We worked well together and found ways to compromise between our different budget goals. Finally, Nataliya and I had originally intended to go see a comedy show instead of Celestia, but I lost our tickets! She was only slightly mad at me, even after an embarrassing delay at the car rental desk at the airport…

We stopped for lunch at the Willow Spring picnic area and took a short hike to another petroglyph display. The trail to the petroglpyhs was not clearly marked and the petroglpyhs were quite faint. However, it was neat to see the hand-shaped images, which opened a portal back into history.

We tried to eat a quiet packed lunch in the picnic area, but an inconsiderate jerk insisted on flying a drone overhead even though it is prohibited. It felt like the operator was intentionally annoying people by flying low and buzzing anyone he could find. I took great relish when the drone plummeted to the road and crashed with a satisfying crunch of broken plastic.

Out of time – we had to catch our flight back to Cincinnati. I’ve always had a passing interest in North Africa. Perhaps I’ll see the rest of Tatooine (filmed in Tunisia) in a year or two if the terrorism situation in the region improves.

This was our last big trip for the year. We had plans for 2020, but COVID-19 has interrupted them. That has left Las Vegas as the most memorable trip in 2019. I feel very lucky to have been so fortunate to go, especially with Nataliya, and would love to go back. I was inspired after my uncle David and aunt Myra visited a few years ago and shared all of their photos. I hope this article encourages someone the next time they visit Vegas to escape the smoky casinos for at least a few hours (or hopefully much longer)! I might never have returned to France (like I did in 2018) or taken the initiative to visit Las Vegas without a cancer diagnosis hanging over my head. It has encouraged me to seize the moment, although perhaps I should have let my fears get the better of me at the Red Cathedral…