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| Posing on the Strip by the Bellagio |
Las Vegas
In mid-January, 2023, our hero and his lovely wife found themselves in Sin City. Yes, they had spent 2.5 weeks there to see if they could survive a longer stretch in the same city as Tom Jones, Carrot Top and Mike Tyson. They survived just fine. They had rented a VRBO in the community of Henderson, where the nights were not filled with wailing sirens, 24/7 bright lights and colourful tourists sipping 'yards' of margaritas. The suburbs turned out to be very quiet and quite civilized.
Why were they there for such an extended period? Well, Gym had tickets to two consecutive Raider's home games and he planned to attend both matches. These were the last two games of the NFL regular season and two very good teams had come to town. The Chiefs and the 49ers both did battle with the home team, at the very impressive Allegiant Stadium. Unfortunately, Gym’s Raiders lost both games. The Raider’s much vaunted QB Derek Carr, had been benched for the remainder of the season and the Raiders couldn’t find their mojo. But there was more than football to keep our adventurers busy.
The rental home was a nice four-bedroom house in an upscale community, just a couple of miles south of the Harry Reid International Airport. One could execute a short-term rental agreement on this rather large, two-storey, fully furnished home, for less than the cost of the big fancy hotels. And so, Gym and his dear companion would take up residence in Vegas just like locals.
Such a large house created an opportunity to invite some family to stay with Gym and Mrs. Gym. Their lovely daughter, her dear husband and the treasured 2-year old granddaughter agreed to fly down and spend a week to get out of the colder Calgary weather. Aside from the football games, everyone took in a Cirque du Soleil performance and enjoyed a couple of nice restaurant meals on the Strip. But other than that, they avoided the crowds and shifted their attention to exploring all of the great playgrounds in Las Vegas. Some playgrounds they found were so well loved by Audrey, the little toddler, that she rebelled noisily when it was time to leave them. Gym had to admit that playgrounds had come a long way since he was a kid and some of the best he had ever seen were in the Vegas suburbs.
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| The Strip at night |
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| Fremont Street |
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| This is a very cool playground made of re-cycled storage containers |
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| The anthem being played at a Raiders game |
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| Cirque du Soliel |
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| Audrey, a professional playground player |
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| A Las Vegas park in January |
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| The VRBO house in the suburbs |
The Road Trip
In order to be able to take full advantage of living in the Vegas suburbs, one needs a car. And what is better than your own car? Sure its 2000 kilometres from Calgary to Las Vegas but Gym was game, he loves road trips. Gym had new winter tires installed on the old SUV and when the longer term forecast looked like it was going to be mild, Mrs. Gym was also all-in.
The trip down was a blur. It was a 3-day/2-night dash from Calgary to Las Vegas, with stops in Helena and Provo, Utah. They had to be in Vegas on the third night so they could pick up the three other family members at the airport. They really had no time to stop and see any of the sites off the I-15.
The trip back home was entirely different. Some how, Mrs. Gym let her dear husband plan a one-week return trip that involved travelling through 8 states. They would drive about 5 or 6 hours a day and spend a few hours each day exploring one of several state parks, a number of significant historical sites and/or four National Monuments. They did a little hiking, explored some cool towns along the highway and enjoyed consistently mild mid-winter weather.
Following are the highlights of this epic journey:
- Valley of the Fire, Nevada - Just north of Las Vegas is this spellbinding state park. It was supposed to be a quick look-see but it turned into a 5-hour stop, with a couple of short hikes. One could easily spend days exploring this beautiful place.
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| Valley of the Fire - a must-see state park in Nevada 2. Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park - An impressive Utah State Park in a valley framed by red sandstone cliffs. Wind erosion lifts the sand off the surrounding highlands and deposits it into massive pink dunes. |
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| These are Sahara-size coral pink dunes. For scale, the little dots on the left of the dune are people. 3. Navaho National Monument, Arizona - Not far from Page, Arizona is something that a young Gym first read about, in the National Geographic magazine. Well maintained by the U.S. Park Service, there is a trail to the viewpoint overlooking the ancient adobe village of Betatakin, tucked into a natural sandstone alcove in the northern cliff wall. It gave gym goosebumps and is truly awe inspiring!  In the opposite wall of steep red sandstone is the arch of rock that is recessed in the canyon wall. Under the arch is the adobe village of Betatakin. For scale the canyon is 170 meters deep and the alcove is 137 meters high and 112 meters across the base. 4. Monument Valley - you have seen this in all the old western movies and most recently, it was featured in scenes from one of Gym’s favourite movies, “Forrest Gump”. |
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| A scene from Forrest Gump was shot from where this picture was taken. There was a busload of asian tourists taking selfies when Gym was there. 5. Four Corners Monument -This is the only point in the country where 4 US Staes come together. It is kind of cool but has become quite commercialized. |
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| If you stand in the middle, there is part of you in New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona 6. Durango Colorado - A very charming Rocky Mountain town with a very attractive downtown area. Several Historic buildings survived from the old western times when this was a thriving mining centre. There are many boutique hotels and fine dining establishments catering to the high-end skiers and summer outdoors enthusiasts. |
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| Just east of Durango is the Chimney Rock National Monument. Our dynamic duo could not stop here on the subject road trip. 7. Denver, Colorado - Having spent much time in this state, our adventurers didn’t really doddle here, they just wanted to travel through it in one pass. They unfortunately, experienced Denver during rush hour. They passed from one end of the metropolis to the other, at a snails pace. This was truly an incredible experience but not one to recommend. |
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| What Gym needed when driving across the sprawling city of Denver and its bedroom communities during rush hour was a flying car. This beauty is actually in Hawk Springs, Wyoming. 8. Lusk, Wyoming - Lusk is the most isolated town, in the most sparsely populated state, in the USA. Gym has passed through a couple of times now and loves this quirky place. |
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| A view along S. Cedar Street in downtown Lusk. 9. Mt. Rushmore National Monument - Arriving just before closing on a clear night afforded our travelers a unique photo opportunity. The other advantage was that there are less crowds at this time. |
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| A great shot by Mrs. Gym of the iconic mountain face just before sunset. |
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| The grave-site of Wild Bill Hickok on Boot Hill above Deadwood 11. Devil’s Tower - This geomorphological wonder was featured prominently in the movie, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. Our intrepid twosome hiked around the base of the tower on icy paths. Winter can be a good time to go because there are less people but wear spikes on your hiking shoes. |
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| From the trail around the base of Devil's Tower. 12. Fort Benton, Montana - Not far from Great Falls is this very significant place. Paddle steamers once moved up the Mississippi from New Orleans and then via the Missouri to Fort Benton. This small town was a major inland port before the railway came. Many Canadians received shipments from Europe via Fort Benton. The goods would begin the journey on ships across the Atlantic, then paddle steamers from New Orleans to Fort Benton and finally via mule train to the end destination. This is a fascinating place. |
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| "Rider of the Purple Sage" by Hollywood actor and sculptor George Montgomery, sits on the banks of the mighty Missouri river. At this spot the Paddle Steamers would dock after their long journeys form New Orleans. |
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