Many people that visit Las Vegas for the 1st time have a hard time imaging that people actually live here. They think we must live in the casino hotels and gamble and drink all day.
Not so Joe!
As I have learned some of the history of Las Vegas since arriving in 2007, many long time residents profess that back in the day when the Mob ran the casinos, Vegas was fun! Free or cheap buffets, affordable rooms, and relatively inexpensive marquee entertainment showcasing acts like the Rat Pack, Phyllis Diller, Jerry Lewis and of course Wayne Newton.
Now that Wall Street Investments groups like MGM and Harrah’s still own a majority of the Strip hotels, the level of peculation knows no bounds. Book that room for $89/night and then you find out after the fact you might end up having that mysterious “Resort Fee” what can run up to $49/night [not $50, but $49…lol] and that might get you really crappy wifi and a morning paper since you probably cannot get your internet on your phone in your room. You fly into McCarran and take the bus over to get your rent-a-car and you about crap your pants with all the tourist taxes that we certainly don’t pay. You finally arrive to your hotel and despite the days of old, surprise-surprise-surprise….now you have to pay $20 for parking that never happened in the last 60 years. You check into your room and shower up for a great dinner at some fancy famous Chef restaurant and you quickly come to find out EVERYTHING is ala-carte.
At Harrah’s once with a client my $60 steak required another $25 for vegetables, another $35 for a salad and as the client quickly spent about $400 on two bottles of some average wine I wondered if the $35 dessert was going to have the three of us breaking the $1000 bill threshold. The steak was good, but, NOT THAT GOOD.
If you are a seasoned traveler to Las Vegas, then hopefully you have made the effort to get beyond the corporately criminal boundaries of the Strip and explore the great outdoors in the Southwest! To the southwest, in a couple of hours you can be in Death Valley, less than an hour west up at Red Rock, an hour north to Valley of Fire Nevada State Park. But, if you like to either hike or bike and kayak, how about a fun 6×6 adventure?
6 MILES DOING THE FIVE TUNNELS TO THE HOOVER DAM OVERLOOK
It would be hard for me to count how many people I know that grew up in Las Vegas that have never done the “tunnels”. If you have a passing interest in the Hoover Dam construction and history, then the Tunnels make for a great 6+miles out and back. Please don’t be that person that heads out from the parking lot when the temperatures are over 90º with no water and sandals and putting your 3 y/o child in a stroller. Or, bringing your dog that has only 3″ legs so it can feel the ground temperature of 120º on their paws. Today I met a nice guy Jeff from Chattanooga, TN who is a truck driver and stuck on a layover for a couple of days. So, I met him about mile two and gave him some tips on the distance and the concerns of easily getting dehydrated in the desert. I would HIGHLY recommend hiking across the road and up the stairs to see the Hoover Dam from the overlook. If you do that, your round-trip hike or bike will probably end up being around 8 miles.
6 MILES OF PADDLING OUT OF BOULDER HARBOR
The 6 mile mountain biking was really no big deal but the temperatures were rising fast. It actually caught me by surprise and as I loaded up my mtb, it was already approximately 110º with zero breeze, a few white puffy clouds, and you could just feel the double-dose of UV rays baking your skin. I made the mistake of not wearing long sleeves and within 10 minutes of paddling out from Boulder Harbor, it was HOT! Approximately a mile into the paddle I stopped off at my first island to take some pictures and stretch my legs. Quite a few jetskiers and boats out enjoying the sunshine. A great day to play!
Back in the ‘yak and heading for the main island that is between the north shore and the Boulder Beach area. Looking at my gps watch, I was coming up on 3 miles which was working out well for a 6-mile roundtrip. I paddled around to the other side where the waves were being buffered and knew I needed a swim. These rock beaches work out pretty well if you are wearing sandals as the water depth goes from 50’ to 6″ pretty quickly. After removing my PFD and shirt, I was so hot I decided it was time to go skinny-dipping! The surface temperature of the water was 90º but you could feel wafts of cooler currents making the nekkid swimming refreshing.
After 30 minutes or so it was time to head back. Let me say it again. IT WAS HOT! In fact, I was 1/4 mile from the dock and still had to pull into a rock beach and swim for 15 minutes to cool off. Even though there were no other kayakers putting in at this harbor, the backlog of boat traffic trying come in was pretty amazing. It was nice just to pull up and throw the yak on the roof.
So, the moral to this story is when you get fed up getting ripped off by the Casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, venture out for some hiking & biking and kayaking! Come up with your own 6×6 adventure!
A little bit of this town goes a very long way. – Hunter S. Thompson
