Zion treated us well, but we were on our 16th day of camping. As much as we wanted to stick around we had to keep moving, so we headed out to Nevada to visit Valley of Fire State Park, east of Las Vegas. We had planned to hike a bunch more that day and the temperature was around 80. We decided that if we could find camping inside the park we would take advantage of their showers! We made it into the park at what was apparently the right moment. Every sign leading into the campgrounds said all the sites were full but we decided to check anyways. As we pulled in the two that were working pointed us out to the last campground available and told us to hurry to the site because they’re all first-come, first-served. We set up our tent and paid our way, then went out for our hikes.
Our first hike, Fire Wave, wasn’t a long hike but it’s completely without shade so we made sure to bring along enough water. Since we missed out on The Wave in Utah at least we got to see this one, and it didn’t disappoint. The first part of the trail was in sand, but then as you get toward the end of the trail you’re walking on rock. All of the rocks had a beautiful layered pattern on them, all hues of orange as if it was on fire. Further down the road was the White Domes Loop trail, most of this trail was also sand, but the loop also takes you through a slot canyon and past a bunch of domes that are white in color at the tops. Heading back to our campsite we stopped at Rainbow Vista trail to see what it had to offer, the name lead us to believe we’d be seeing a whole spectrum of color on the rocks, however it was mostly orange and purple hues. It was a short hike, so we didn’t spend too much time before going back to camp to eat lunch.
The next morning we woke up way too early, our campsite neighbors had a bunch of kids so we couldn’t sleep even if we tried. Our original plan was to sleep as late as the sun would let us because our night was going to be spent in Las Vegas. When we got to Las Vegas we weren’t sure what to do, not only was it was daytime, but it was early! We took a drive down the main strip, then found a Total Wine so we wouldn’t spend too much money out. After contemplating for quite a bit of time about purchasing The Beatles LOVE by Cirque Du Soleil tickets we finally caved, I mean… When in Vegas?! It was expensive, but we were trying not to gamble while we were there and we’re not sure when we’ll ever be back to Vegas again. We pretty much talked ourselves into it. It was definitely worth seeing, anybody that ever finds themselves in Las Vegas should go see a show. There are several to choose from!
The show ended and we weren’t really sure what to do, so we roamed the city! It’s really quite an interesting place. I’ve been to casinos in Connecticut, and while they’re the same general idea Las Vegas casinos are a lot dirtier and smell a lot more; to be honest. We put a few dollars into a slot machine and went through it and left. The rest of our night was spent wandering around, then we left the city to head to our next destination. Apparently tent camping is illegal in the city and we didn’t have anybody to stay with so we headed toward Death Valley National Park!
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