Snow Detour

My plan to return to Death Valley today were cut off by a snow storm! Chi thinks it's the one that hit you guys, come down to visit me and bring us all closer together through the miracle of weather. Be that as it may, it did keep me out of Death Valley as several of the passes into the park were closed and they were expecting four more inches today. Yes, it would have been cool to see Death Valley in the snow, but I've already had my fill of adventure driving in the Sierras this week. So I decided to divert down to Las Vegas and hole up for a day or two until the weather gets better.

As you can see from the photo above, the snow followed me all the way into the outskirts of Las Vegas - where it hasn't snowed for three years. There is just something pathetic about this photo. Normally, snow on a red christmas bow adds authenticity to the scene, but somehow, with the palm tree it just doesn't work the same.

The Joshua Trees, however, look super bad-ass in the snow. I got several cool pictures from this stop.

Vegas in the cold rain is a little bit weird. It definitely loses a little bit of its magic with such mundane weather. I ended up catching 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' in one of the casinos, and getting half-price tickets for 'Stomp Out Loud', which was really really good. If you haven't seen Stomp before, it is certainly worth the price. I especially liked it because they basically just make music the whole time, like going to see a band but with a little bit of acting and dancing. The players were truly extraordinary; they developed distinctly warm and engaging personalities without ever speaking. I would definitely go see it again.
I actually found my cheapest motel of the stay here in Vegas; $38/night for a Super8 way, way, way off the strip. The room is quite large and as nice as any other cheap motel. And, it has a 'Fitness Room' with Nautilus machines! Not bad. Also on the plus side, (from a certain point of view) it is surrounded by some exceedingly tawdry casinos - oh the people watching!