Vegas: Mount Charleston part two

After hiking around in the snow for a bit then jumping in and making snow angels we felt it time to warm up and made our way back to the car. From there we headed out on the scenic route that loops around the mountains, connecting the various mountain ridges of the parks together. We usually approach from the other entrance by Mount Charleston lodge, so coming in from the other direction this time was a lot of fun! We stopped at several view points along the way before eventually ending up at the Mount Charleston lodge for hot cocoa. Definitely recommended after walking around in the cold for a few hours! There's even a series of adorable cabins you can rent up there along with rooms near the lodge, which I imagine is quite lovely. There's also RV and regular camping for those who prefer to get a little more up close and personal with their wilderness.  We didn't have the time for those things on this trip, though we hope to make it back soon and camp overnight! It's really only a short drive from the Vegas Valley so if you're an out of town visitor looking for something different than the usual Las Vegas strip stay I can highly recommend you check out the camping either here at Mount Charleston, out at Valley of Fire, Red Rock Canyon or Bonnie Springs Ranch! There's a lot more to do in the Las Vegas area than get drunk and gamble away your life savings, and believe it or not our desert landscape offers a bounty of different ecosystems and environments rife with various animal and plant species to encounter. Now that we have Vanticore in our armada to make camping and exploring easier, we're definitely planning to get out and about and explore all the beautiful national and state parks surrounding our fair glittering city.  I hope that you enjoy these photos from our outing and that they inspire you to go out on an adventure all your own! If you don't have a vehicle of your own at your disposal you can opt to take a Lyft, Uber or get a rental car- in this instance getting a rental car (or even better yet, a camper van) would likely be your best route. You can even bicycle out there if you're so inclined!

More photos below!

Vegas: Snow day at Mount Charleston part one

Snow is one of those exceptionally rare things that graces the Las Vegas valley maybe once every decade or so, if we're lucky. Precipitation of any kind is pretty rare in Vegas, with the city averaging  only roughly 2 inches every year, and snow is even more so rarified. It can, and does occasionally, happen but it takes such a lucky convergence of factors that I wouldn't ever try to bet on it happening on any given year. Fortunately for Vegas-dwellers, we have several nearby mountain ranges that are far more prone towards getting precipitation and even SNOW during the colder months of the year! It can come and go quite quickly, so when the snow is visible on the mountains you've got to act fast to really make the best of it. Some years we'll get lucky and the snow will be deep and dense in the mountains for weeks, or even months, and the skiing and snowboarding will be bountiful. Personally, I've never skied or snowboarded, I just like snow. Last time I really got to play in much snow I think it was during the blizzard of 2011 in Tokyo! Given as much, I was super excited to be out in the snow again.  I wasn't feeling all that well and struggled to get very far up the mountain, but I did my best given the circumstances and I'm just grateful we got to go and experience it while it was there. Mount Charleston is about an hour outside of Las Vegas, so if you plan a visit during the winter months you can easily make an escape with a rental car or Uber if you're wanting to escape the city. I highly recommend it, and there are cabins you can stay at up at Charleston if you want to truly immerse yourself into the snowy beauty for more than a few hours. Since we've been having health issues over the past few weeks, we opted for a shorter stay this time round but would love to stay for longer in the future!  We had a lot of fun while we were there and enjoyed our stay. We'll definitely be planning for an extended visit next time. 

Japan: Shin-Urayasu shopping complex 2012-01-24

Another snowy day, another adventure around Shin-Urayasu!

This time around my friend Mao and I explored a shopping complex that had a big display of goofy gifts. See for yourself!

Poop chocolate, anyone?

Japan: Snow day drinks in Shin-Urayasu 2012-01-23

Homemade omurice, a Japanese home cooking staple!

While I've yet to actually try it in a restaurant (though they do exist), it's a simple dish of fried rice seasoned with ketchup and a soft egg omelette draped on top. I had mine with some broccoli and a big old cup of coffee to power myself through the day!

I had plans to meet with friends for a drink after work in Shin-Urayasu~

Construction at Ikspiari, across the street from Tokyo Disney Sea.

Japan: Snowy Valentine's 2014-02-14

On Valentine's night Tokyo got hit with quite the snow storm…