This was Bri's only full day in Vegas, and I really wanted to make the most of it for her.
We woke up, did our morning stuff, and made our way to....eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!..my favorite place in Nevada. Red Rock Canyon.
This didn't used to be so built up. I was remarking to Bri that I am upset about how far the sprawl reaches into the best parts of Vegas. The beautiful parts. It was houses as far as I could see. Bri had no basis for comparison, but I did. The construction eventually thinned out, but I was aggravated, even while I was excited to see my beloved Red Rock Canyon.
Wow. What a beautiful, unobstructed view.
We pulled off at the scenic overlook of Red Rock Canyon. Complete with new (to me) sign.
Me and my minx wifey.
I realize how much I look like the Muppet version of Elton John's less cool cousin, but that's the hand I was dealt. In that photo, anyway. Proof of non-muppet-y overall effect:
I did not realize that we needed both a reservation to get into RRC, and to pay an entrance fee. Used to be that you just drove out there and you got right on the scenic loop, and that was that. But now it's a whole thing. Bri was on it, got us a reservation, and in we went. And once we were on the loop, I was as elated as I ever was any time I was in the canyon. One thing Red Rock never felt to me was old hat, despite the fact that I went hiking out there 3-5 times a week for the entirety of the years I lived in Vegas with my dad. I went there to scope out places for my shoots, but also to show Bri one of the most beautiful, breathtaking places in the country. I have always wanted to take someone to Vegas to show it off, because so much of my internal development was shaped there. I obviously can't show those things off, but the city itself is a close second. Which...well. I'll get into that in another blog.
We definitely pulled over on the side of the loop to snag these photos. I know we're not supposed to, I would get yelled at for doing it at Garden of the Gods by cyclists...and Derek would tell me that yeah, I was a huge asshole for doing that because the cyclists could have run into my car...but I DID keep an eye out for cyclists, and I WAS expeditious.
Bri and I had a great time running around Calico Hills I, and then we did the rest of the loop at a leisurely pace.
Me, once upon a time.
Just to give a sense of scale.
Bri hanging out while I scope out locations. I had initially planned on going further into Calico Hills, but realized that humping up through the rocky terrain with all of my gear was an impossibility. So I stayed at the very beginning of the trail.
This did end up being my location for my shoots. Which went heinously awry for several reasons, but I will write about that later.
Like....look how fucking gorgeous that is. Ugh. I was enamored. I wanted to spend all day there, but Bri only had one full day in Vegas, and she had some things she wanted to see, too, so we for sure pulled off at stops, but we didn't hike everything like I would have had I had my druthers.
From the mid point scenic lookout. It was a gorgeous day, gorgeous scenery, very little else we could have asked for. Most of the hikes are on the longer side, but I stopped at a shorter one. It's at the...kind of armpit of the loop, but some of my favorite hikes are there. I had already told Bri all about them, and my dad and I had had a huge talk about the hikes and our escapades in Red Rock Canyon, and I pointed everything out to her once we were actually there.
I'm glad this is sectioned off now so people can't fuck with the petroglyphs. It wasn't always, and they were always having to wash shit off and take care of the rocks because people are dicks and we can't have nice things.
It was a nice little jaunt, then back to the car we went to finish the loop and head out to the Harley Dealership for Bri.
One of the most gorgeous views in America.
Walked all over these ridges when I was a kid. Scrambled every section. Even driving by them feels like coming home.
After giving Bri the grand tour of Red Rock Canyon, we drove out to the Harley Dealership. I had planned on walking in with Bri, but I was on the phone with Derek when we arrived, and I opted to stay on the phone while she went in and did her thing. I hope that didn't make me a bad friend.
We pretty much just ran errands around Vegas. Found a Sprouts, went and got lunch there, went to a really terrible rock shop that I had been really excited about but ended up being just TERRIBLE, and then went back to the hotel to kill time. I asked Bri if she wanted to go to Meow Wolf, but she did not want to go. We thought about maybe heading back to Red Rock, but hadn't made a reservation, and Bri had to pack for her flight in the morning.
I did kind of a mini-tour of places that were important to me in Vegas as we drove back to the hotel. They were on the way to International Market, which was fucking closed because it was Sunday. But here we go, the complex I used to live in! Still exactly the same.
Get ready soon, you heathen fucks, Jesus is making his epic return...to Vegas! One night only! SEE HIM LIVE!!!
I used to work at this Walgreens! When I told that to the clerk who rang me up, and asked for an employee discount, I didn't even get a smile, or a frown, or even a "that's not how it works". He just stared at me. Well ok.
Bri had come across a keto bakery, just for keto bitches like me, so we made our way to the keto bakery, which honestly ended up being the highlight of my trip. I haven't been able to stop talking about it, and I've been home for almost two weeks.
Honestly, I DO need mannequins! But the mannequin store was closed! All of my mannequin plans were foiled!!
And here we are. The Keto Bakery. My nirvana. And look. How. CUTE.
I ended up buying this hoodie, it was too cute not to.
This doesn't even begin to show off how much stuff I bought at this bakery. I pretty much bought one of everything that didn't have meat in it.
These cookies were UNBELIEVABLE.
This pizza was ALSO unbelievable. I've mentioned before that I usually have to choose between staying vegan and being keto, and since I need keto for my conditions, it's sometimes easiest to go for vegetarianism. Makes keto super easy. And I have missed pizza. Also, I am now full on committed to the Flat Iron Pepper Company. Holy shit.
I laughed so hard at this sign.
My banana bread cupcake. Divinity. Honestly, my only complaint about everything sweet at the bakery is that it had the chemical aftertaste that most keto sweeteners have. I was telling Bri that I have learned to under-sweeten things when I make them, and I told Bri I would work on making an un-chemical-y cream cheese frosting. Which I will. I haven't yet gotten to get around to that, but when I'm done with these blogs, and all of my photos from all of my shoots, and making my list of things to do before we move in July, I will spend a week experimenting. The initial taste was delicious for sure, I just hate the chemical aftertaste.
Here is where the day starts to derail. After the Keto Bakery, we went back to the hotel. Bri wanted to take a shower, I wanted to take a shower, we had talked about going out to dinner after resting for a little bit. So Bri went and took a shower. And reported that the water was freezing. I thought maybe it was on a shared water heater since the hotel was kinda small, so when Bri told me about the cold water, I figured we just needed to let the water warm up. We gave it an hour. It didn't warm up. It's also worth mentioning that the a/c had never risen to the occasion of being an a/c at a hotel in the desert. it was warm in that room.
Now, I have a very hard time complaining to any person with the authority to fix the problem. Bri does not. She called down and complained, they told her that maintenance was not on staff until the morning, and they would figure out what to do about it when the manager arrived the next day. Bri was not about that life, and she gave them attitude. Which could never have been me. I genuinely take the path of preferring to be inconvenienced personally if it means making me an inconvenience to someone else. I don't send food back, I don't make a fuss, I just let shit go and then complain about it on my own personal time to my own personal people. But I am almost always grateful when someone takes the reins for me and I get to feel like inconveniences to me are actually important enough to try and fix.
Several hours later, we get a knock on the door claiming to be maintenance. Bri says that we know they're not maintenance because we were told maintenance was not on staff that night. Bri opened the hotel room door and saw the security guard standing there, saying he had been told to check out the water situation and the a/c. Bri was like, well nobody told us, you can't come in without a mask. For his part, the security guard was very nice, he wasn't pushy or rude, and he said he would go get a mask before coming back to the room. But I was freaked the fuck out. Nobody had warned us someone was coming up to the room, we had already been informed that our claims would have to wait until the next day, and I was alarmed and upset and I asked Bri to cancel the security guard coming back upstairs. Bri did, and then some. She advocated for me, and I really appreciated it.
The door was pretty flimsy, and I no longer felt safe in the hotel, so I rigged a booby trap to alert us if someone tried to get in the room. Did I know I was overreacting? Logically, yes, but when I am overwhelmed, I am not running around using my logic brain. I was hypervigilant and upset.
And this was the end of Bri's one and only full day in Vegas on our trip. I was initially going to drive her to the airport on the way to my shoots in the morning, but Bri generously got herself an Uber to the airport. Which I also felt bad about, like I had forced her into it. I didn't even ask her to do it, but I'm worried that something I said pushed her into feeling like she needed to.
Next up, day four, and the trip is just me for the rest of the time. But day four is one of my favorite days!
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