Oregon: Night in Merrill

Hours behind the wheel, rolling down the road, and we managed to find our way to the very little (no, really, it's quite small) town of Merrill, Oregon, home to only about 800 people. The entire town could be walked pretty easily as the main road itself is only about a half mile long, so you blink and you'd miss it. We stopped to get gas, then found our way to the Polar Bear snack shack parking lot to sort out our selves and our belongings, tend to our squeaks, and inevitably end up spending the night. We initially only planned to stop briefly and then keep heading on towards Eugene, but after surveying our surroundings we realized we'd coincidentally stumbled into a parking lot where they 100% allowed overnight parking! There's no easy guarantee that we'd be able to find an inconspicuous place to pull over and sleep after driving another 3-4 hour stretch where we'd be allowed to stay, so we figured we'd take the synchronicity and roll with it. It worked out well, as Antho realized that he was already having issues with his credit cards due to the transactions being out-of-Nevada, so he was able to get that sorted while waiting for an order of what ended up being very tasty fried gizzards from the above shack.  

Once we were fed, our finances sorted out, and our rodents secured and safely locked away from the hungry birds swirling above, we decided to take a walk through town to see if we could grab a drink. 

We managed to find our way to the local cafe/bar/restaurant, which was a fun joint with a lively and friendly crowd! The bartender was awesome, and she blew Antho's mind when she offered him the option to choose the vodka used in his White Russian. We went with dealer's choice, which ended up being very good! One of the local barflies approached and asked my permission to touch Antho's dreads, which we both found amusing. Don't get me wrong here- we absolutely and 100% appreciate that she asked before getting handsy! It's just not an everyday occurrence that someone comes up to us and asks to touch Antho's hair. After our first drink, the jukebox started pumping and things started to pep up a bit. We were pretty tired and didn't want to get swept into any rowdiness, so we took an Irish exit and returned to the vehicles to conk out for the night. I definitely couldn't resist trying my luck on the archaic coin-machine in the bathroom! I got "Pandora's Box", which I'm pretty sure is really just a condom. 

Vegas: Yet another scorpion

I've had the luck to have been able to live in several different cities around the world throughout my life, from the world-renowned den of sin and glittering desert city of Las Vegas, Nevada, to the densely populated metropolis jungle of Tokyo, Japan or the fast-paced, fashion-forward capitol of Seoul, South Korea. Every city I've lived in has offered its various pros and it's cons, like the crowds on the Tokyo and Seoul subways, trains and busses, or the creepy crawlies with a poisonous sting that can invade your home, such as the scorpions in Las Vegas ranking high among my cons lists. Generally speaking, the desert landscape isn't hospitable to too many species of insect, so while you'll occasionally spot a Black Widow spider, moth, or daddy long legs, you're not likely to encounter too many mosquitos- or lightning bugs, either. The environment, being a harsh, desiccated wasteland low in readily available resources, fosters only the toughest of beasts, and unfortunately for the residents of Las Vegas and it's outlying areas, scorpions are among those that thrive.  

These tiny little scorpions are especially fearsome, as those stingers on the end of their tails aren't just for show! While their sting isn't necessarily lethal, unless you have an allergy or are immunocompromised (like an infant or the elderly), they can be extremely uncomfortable to receive. I have absolutely zero desire to ever be the recipient of their wrath, and any time we've encountered one in our living space we've extracted it by using chopsticks to keep a safe distance from (and a measure of control over) their tail. Some people might go out of their way to test their bravery or manhood by taking a sting, I wouldn't recommend it. To each their own, but personally, I'll stay far away from any scorpions I come across. 

Vegas: Moth friend

Las Vegas, Nevada, is not a city known especially for its bountiful and abundant wildlife. This would be a shame if you consider the beautiful big horned sheep that live among the hills outside the city proper, or the fierce and stealthy mountain lions that feed upon them, or the adorable little quail and kangaroo rats (or chipmunks, or rabbits) who can sometimes be found scurrying and chirping among the brush. These animals, however, tend to reside more on the periphery, not wanting to venture too far into the city for fear of bumping shoulders with the human residents, unless an especially appealing park happens to be located in close enough proximity to a densely populated hill, as is the case in Hemenway Park in Boulder City where the sheep can sometimes be found. On any given day, you're rather unlikely to encounter any of these creatures, though- aside from perhaps the rabbits, who seem to be doing pretty well, even to the point of becoming a menace in some areas, or maybe the coyotes who occasionally snag a smallish pet from an unwatched backyard...but I digress. The general wildlife in the region isn't keen on sharing space with us, so you're far more likely to encounter some form of insect, arachnid, or human specimen. A good example of this would be our encounters with scorpions, who found their way into the small, poorly sealed studio space we spent the better part of 2017 and 2018 inhabiting. Did you know that scorpions can climb? I didn't until I found one in our sink and decided to research the terror that had entered the sanctity of our space. Scorpions do pretty well in Las Vegas, and if you find yourself in the city with access to a handheld blacklight, feel free to do some investigating of outdoor spaces with it. You may be surprised, shocked, or horrified at the sheer number of the creepy crawlers you can find refracting neon-light in the dark of night. To be fair, scorpions can help humans by eating other creepy crawlers you might not want coming around, like spiders or centipedes, but that's not an especially comforting reassurance when you stumble upon a scorpion in your shower late one evening, unprepared. 

While moths aren't typically considered a friendly visitor, due to their habit of gnawing on perfectly good clothing and leaving holes for us to find, I'd gladly find one perched upon my laundry over a scorpion. This friendly little guy posed for some photos, too, allowing me an opportunity to appreciate their beautiful markings. I don't know, is it weird that I got excited at finding him? Maybe.

But you have to admit, he sure is a pretty little thing!

Thanks for stopping by!

💘

XOXO,

NAU

Behind the Scenes: Tie-dye photo shoot at Mount Charleston (part one)

If you've been following this blog for any extended length of time, you may have noticed that Antho and I will take just about any excuse we can to get out of dodge. While we both grew up in the fabulous city of sin, aka little old Las Vegas, and have a lot of nostalgic memories in the city, we're always happy to stretch our legs or put some miles on our vehicles if it means taking in some new sights in a new location. We've gone to San Francisco and walked from one end of the city to the other (or damn near it), driven out to Mesquite together, explored Santa Monica and Venice beach together, not to mention all the time I spent exploring in Japan and South Korea all by my lonesome. There's a deep-seated wanderlust in us, needing to be satiated, so outward we go seeking adventure. There are certainly worse addictions to have, like crack or heroine, and our adventures in the great outdoors often lead us to discover fun new things we can capture on film. Like, check out this spiky little dude below- I think he's a tachinid fly, which is a fancy way of saying he looks like some kind of punk-rock alternative bee, but is actually a fly, because nature is a weird one with an endlessly inventive imagination. 

One of our favorite places to go near Las Vegas is Mount Charleston. We've been going there together for years, and find something new everytime we find ourselves there. Not only are the beautiful trees and flowers always changing with the seasons, but wildlife like deer, wild horses and burros all make their homes out in these parts, so sightings are not entirely unexpected. We even saw a batch of burros on the trip out, as you might remember from a previous post! While we typically make our way out to Charleston for recreation, of which there's a bounty of options (hiking, camping, skiing, etc) but this trip we were specifically aiming to try and get some tie-dye photos so we could update our shop inventory on Etsy. Of course, we couldn't help but to have some fun in the process! 

Vegas: Charleston 02 - Wild burros!

Believe it or not, the extremely arid and seemingly inhospitable desert of Southern Nevada plays host to a large variety of wildlife, from large and impressive fauna like wild burros and horses to the smallest of insects and ants. And lizards! So many happy little lizards running among the heated stones, warming their creepy cold blood and wiggling their little legs. To endure in an environment as tough as this, many larger species have adapted to the surroundings, thriving on succulents and water-rich grasses to survive.  They do pretty well, actually, and there are signs all over the area warning against feeding the wild animals... After all, these are wild animals, right? We don't need them becoming dependent upon humans for their survival, wandering into the roads and cityscape looking for scraps and snacks. Even though the speed limit is only 35, even that speed can be extremely dangerous when an animal as large as a burro has wandered into the middle of the road...

So, seriously, be careful out there! We went slow and found this group of wild burros grazing alongside the road, but even in approaching them without the vehicle we were extremely trepidatious. These are large, strong, aggressive animals capable of wrecking a several-thousand-pound vehicle, let alone a fragile human skeleton. While I've been around domesticated burros during my childhood and gotten to know and love their stubborn, sassy, independent attitudes, they're definitely not an animal you want to underestimate in the wild. Sure, they're cute- they're adorable! They remind us of Eeyore, and wasn't he just such a lovable grump? But the thing is, these are fully grown wild animals and not some cute cartoon character... they can wreck your shit, and you. So be cautious. We were. We shot these photos from a safe distance, after pulling the van off into a safe side area away from the main road and out of traffic. We walked back roughly half a mile to find them and then used the zoom feature on my camera, and even so, we got a few aggressive grunts from the main male in the area before we turned and started heading back for the safety of the van. On the way back out from the mountain at night, we passed at least four or five burros just along the periphery of the road, and a wild horse grazing alongside the road that scared the ever-living-crap out of us. Even with our high-beams on, the winding roads and the camouflaging nature of their coats made it difficult to spot any of the animals until we were really close.  Be careful guys!

Vegas: Snails' trails

Slippery, slimy, squirming, sliming, slithering, squishy... Snails are ripe fodder for alliteration! How do you feel about the little guys? For many, they're a vermin, the foe of a meticulously tended garden when they find their very slow and determined way to the leaves and start munching away. In some cases, they're the inspiration for creepy crawly comics, like the awesomely unnerving kind drawn by the fabulously talented Juwhoseto, whose comics have provided the inspiration for movies like Uzumaki and Tomie (for those of you who are into Japanese horror flicks). As a nearly lifelong resident of an extremely arid and inhospitable environment to snails, they've become something of a novelty for me. We don't get to see the cute little buggers too often because there's rarely enough ambient hydration around the facilitate any sort of life for the salt and sun-phobic guys. 

We're certainly not afraid of snails, if you remember Antho's enthusiasm upon encountering them in San Francisco when we found this cute fella and bonded during our hike. Since we don't get to encounter them in our native state of Nevada, especially here in Vegas proper, too often, it tends to be quite a moment when we do stumble upon some. We're fascinated by life in its myriad forms, whether it be friendly road-side goats in Glendale or an aquarium in San Francisco, tortoises or our beloved little squeaker friends, animals are awesome! So why wouldn't we love snails in all their slime-coated goodness? Heck, I even love their mucin for slathering my face during my skincare routine, as my skin seems to soak it up and become super-duper soft. Snails are amazing! 

So it should really come as little to no surprise to you, my lovely readers here, that Antho was exceptionally excited to stumble upon this little ecosystem right here in the heart of Vegas! All it takes is a semi-regular stream of water and suddenly life flourishes, whether it's the moss or the snails, grass or some other creepy crawly thing. While some places are inundated with snails, like I said- here in the middle of the desert they're a novelty, a pleasant and unexpected surprise to pique your curiosity at nature's infinite creative weirdness. Because nature is nothing if not infinitely creative, and infinitely weird. The more you learn, the weirder it gets. Kind of like us!

Photos for this post were kindly provided by Antho, who giddily texted me about his find shortly after discovering it. Isn't he cute?

Vegas: Duckies!

While there are certainly other, more iconic animals, to associate with the city of Las Vegas- like Siegfried and Roy's famous lions and tigers, or maybe the flap-happy little rodents of the "bat-country" Hunter S. Thompson so famously warned about in Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas... personally, I think there are few creatures who fit the bill quite like ducks, who's transient nature makes them an apt symbol for the tourism-based economy of the city. Were it not for the hordes of visitors flooding the city every summer and major holiday, the city itself would be unable to stay afloat in the unsteady and rapidly changing economy. It's all enough to make you quack if you let it ruffle your feathers, but it's best to just go with the flow and be like the ducks themselves... floating on cool, easy waters, tails waggling. 

Not unlike the ducks, who make their annual visitation to the city in droves with the changing of the seasons, so too is the human traffic seasonally varied. There are predictable upswings in the crowds around certain holidays and seasons, despite the severity of the weather or predictable upswing in cost for rooms. As the leaves start to change their tones and drop to the ground, school starts to come back into season for the fall and the crowds start to wane, opting to remain back home rather than migrating to warmer climes. We certainly enjoy and profit from their visitations, and marvel as their fluffy little ducklings waddle behind the crew in their futile effort to keep pace, but soon the crowds and ducks shall be gone once again. The longest day of the year has already come and gone, and soon the winter months will spread their chill through us all. 

And the ducks? They'll be gone, off to warmer weather somewhere unaffected by the cold grasp of winter. Lucky ducks. But, not unlike the ducks, there will be another migration as the winter months grow oppressive and humans make their own pilgrimage to the desert, in search of sunnier days.
These things.

All photos in this post provided by Antho Jay!

Road Tripping: Hornets and flowers, St. George, Utah

Look at that big, bright, beautiful butt. Don't let the appearances fool you, though- it's got a terrible stinger on the end of it! And lucky for them (but not for us humans), unlike their cousins the bees who have to kamikaze and rip their own guts out when they sting you (making the majority of bees far more hesitant to sting unless absolutely necessary) hornets can happily keep stinging and stinging until they feel satisfied that any and all threat has gotten the message; "F**k off!"

Yeah, hornets are jerks. They're pretty awful, and because they know their stings come with an unlimited (or nearly) supply of ammunition they're not hesitant about using them and can get rather aggressive. Because of this fact, we had to be extremely cautious in our efforts to capture photos of them. We managed to get these without receiving any unwanted pokes or prods from the models, but we quickly ceased our photo shoot when they grew agitated. While pain is often equated with the price of beauty, we were in absolutely no need of pain on this particular day. 

I believe these particular beauties to be the European wasp variety, given their bright brown and yellow coloration and extra-large size. There's also yellowjackets in the area, but they tend to be smaller, about an inch or less, while these guys were well over an inch in length. Whatever their particular strain, their stings still suck so we noped out as soon as they got tired of our attention. I can't recall being stung by a hornet or wasp any time in my lifetime, though I've been stung by bees and know I had no allergies when I was a kid it's not a risk I'd like to take.  They are fascinating creatures, though, those insects. Personally, I like studying them from a safe distance, ideally. How about you?

Vegas: AJ's Day out part 3: Flamingo Wildlife Habitat

If you're at the Flamingo hotel and casino here in Vegas and wanted to see an actual, say, living and breathing Flamingo instead of the silly stuffed animals and artificial replicas that profligate the area, you're in luck! While I can never seem to find it on my own volition or haven't tried hard enough to yet, Antho is adept at finding the way to the Flamingo's Wildlife habitat. It's not far from their buffet, so once you're in the hall where the buffet is you should see the large glass windows and doors leading to the habitat. Once you step through those doors you'll be in a lush oasis where the soothing tones of trickling water mingle with the laughter of tourists and other visitors to the area, with conspicuously high humidity compared to the rest of the strip thanks to all that lovely water splashing around. The signature flamingos are there, along with pelicans, ducks, koi, catfish and many other beautiful creatures big and small. The habitat is open 24 hours as far as I'm aware, though the animals aren't going to be active for that entire duration, naturally. Everyone has to sleep sometime! During the busier hours of the day there will also be trainers around with some parrots, who will kindly pose for a photo for you if you'd like. We've seen at least one person get pooped on while posing, though, so pose at your own risk. 

 

It's free to enter, though I believe the photographs with the birds will cost you. There are certain times of the day where you may be able to participate in, or at least watch, as the animals are fed, which is always entertaining. Pelicans are especially goofy when eating, due to their expanding throat/chin pouch that they have. Nature, you crazy! It is neat to see all the diversity there is, though, and this is an extremely small slice of the sheer biodiversity existing on our planet. While the flamingos and many of the long-term residents have had their wings clipped to prevent an escape, there are many other birds who simply stop by to enjoy the scenery. I imagine it's especially lovely to come outside and enjoy a coffee in the early hours, as the animals and humans begin to rouse from their slumber. There's certainly plenty of options for grabbing a bite or a cuppa inside the casino, and there's a small cafe just inside the doors adjacent to the habitat itself. 

Lots of photos below, taken kindly by our lovely Antho Jay (or AJ for short) as ya girl Nau here was working at the time. Nice of him to capture these moments and adventures for us, right?

Enjoy!

Vegas: Springs Preserve Butterfly Exhibit May 2018

For a limited time frame every year, the Springs Preserve converts one of their greenhouses into a butterfly habitat, filling it to the brim with the beautiful little flutterers. The exorbitantly green interior is maintained at a specific temperature and humidity level to keep the precious guests at their happiest, and each guest who enters is inspected prior to entry and exit in a secured secondary environment to prevent any possible hitch-hikers from contaminating the environment (and to keep their guests safely inside)... but even with meticulous work nature will invariably run its course, so if you choose to visit the butterfly habitat please be cautious of where you're stepping! Sometimes the little lovelies who aren't feeling so well, or are having a hard time getting airborne, will find their way to the walkways. We had a butterfly land on my purse, another on my hand, and Antho had one land upon a dread while another found itself attracted to his socks... so we BOTH had multiple butterflies land on us this trip! Given their friendliness, it's best to keep a close eye on kids who may get overly excited and try to grab one of the delicate little things. It's okay, I totally understand the impulse, but the volunteers at the Preserve put a lot of time and effort into protecting their headlining stars. The exhibit can only stay open for a limited time each year due to the fragile nature of the butterflies, who aren't well-adapted to our extreme seasons. This makes it all the more magical to catch it during it's short season of operation! The butterflies were not very shy this time through, with some of them happily landing on us as mentioned above, and others posing for photos with all the leisurely calm of a beach-goer getting a tan. There's a stunning amount of variety among them, too, with small fuzzy orange fellas floating around next to massive blue and brown winged butterfly behemoths. We've visited the exhibit in the past, and made a conscious effort to get to it once more before it closed for the 2018 summer season. 

There will be plenty of photos below!

Vegas: May visit to the Springs Preserve part two

Invariably, another post about my much beloved Springs Preserve rears its head here upon my wee little blog. I apologize in advance for any this abundance of flowers and animals and things may upset, offend or otherwise make grumpy. This place happens to be one of my happy places here in the city of Las Vegas, a real escape without having to go-too-far, an oasis in the city of sin. Long story short, it's pretty here and there are lots of flowers and animals to ogle for your relaxation and optical entertainment. I've found no end to the amount of amusement I've been able to glean from this place, between their butterfly exhibit, the Origen museum, Boomtown and Water works, or the external wildlands where you can hike among the less-tended grounds. There's even a restaurant on site if you grow hungry and want a salad or tasty wrap! Not to mention the endless parade of different events they have going on throughout the year for all the different holidays. Such a fun place and really great to take the whole family! We go for date days out, because it's nice to stroll the grounds together and look at all the flowers and details. The staff has always been extremely pleasant and friendly when we've talked to them, and we've felt welcomed here. 

...at least, when it comes to the human occupants!

This little bird above didn't seem too pleased with our presence here, and while we were able to get some awesome photos of him, we eventually decided to leave him be and move along before he got too fed up with the attention. Thanks for your cooperation, little friend! Cheers.

It was a warm and beautiful day out and we enjoyed this visit immensely. There will be plenty more photos below, thanks in part to our little bird friend above being kind enough to model for us, along with my propensity towards taking an exorbitant amount of photographs on any given outing. Hope you enjoy this glimpse into our life! 

Vegas: Gila Monster at the Springs Preserve

In case you haven't noticed from the sheer voluminous backlog of posts I've written thus far involving the Springs Preserve, it really is one of my absolute favorite local spots here in the confines of our lovely little city of Las Vegas. Not only is it an expansive property with acreage upon acres of stunning natural views of untampered wild foliage coupled with immaculately tended gardens but all of these views change with the seasons and there are always some new and exciting events popping up all year long. There are stone-studded pathways leading you through tunnels of foliage and butterflies hiding in a particularly sunny and climate-controlled corner. There are even animals and a museum to get your learning on! It's such a nice escape and it's only a 10-15 minute journey from where we live currently, but even if you're not super-central like we are it's at such a convenient juncture of freeways that you'd be hard-pressed to find an inconvenient way of getting there. There's also lots of good food to be found nearby, as well as inside their very own on-premises restaurant, so you needn't fear hunger while hiking. This post is primarily going to cap-off our little visit to their zoo area, where the friendly tortoise gentleman popped up to say hello to us previously. I'll have more posts about the Preserve up soon, but I've been drowning a bit under a backlog of photos and inadequate memory to store them all... eesh... between the blogging, the tie-dye, and travel photos I accumulate I manage to burn through all available storage on my poor desktop! I have external drives and lots of Google storage, but it's a pain to shuffle things around. I guess it's a bit of digital spring cleaning, though, which was much needed. I literally couldn't import any more photos off of my camera, and I've got a lot of more stuff to show you from the past month! 

Like check out this handsome critter! I've always been fascinated by Gila monsters, the venomous lizard who has to gnaw their deadly poison into your system with their big, impressive jaws. They're definitely a remnant of an earlier, more creative time in nature's history, and they too fall into the flashy-colored stylish ways of their fellow venomous friends in the animal kingdom. Nature's way of saying to frigg right the hell off, mate, if you know what's good for you.

I'm not saying to frigg off, though, mate!

There's plenty more photos here to gander, so feast your eyes if you're not freaked out by the dinosaurs. 

Vegas: Making tortoise friends at the Springs Preserve

The Springs Preserve, as I've written about several times before, is one of my favorite spots here in Vegas to get away. It's an extremely convenient place to get to, not far off from two of the major arterial freeways and right in the heart of the city, but the expansive grounds are so beautiful and lush that it doesn't feel like the city anymore. A true oasis! You can lounge among the trees and flowers at your leisure, or say hello to friendly tortoises, who on this trip actually turned around and came hurtling over to the glass to greet us when he heard us calling out to him. I'm not the only one who talks to animals, right? This little dude was preparing to retire to the burrow for the night, but I was so happy when I saw him that I couldn't help but say something, and to my surprise, he reacted! He pivoted on his little stumpy dinosaur legs and stomped over to give us some fist-bumps through the glass before deciding that if we had no food to offer we were boring and heading back to bed. We were quite honored by his cordial greeting and appreciated the exchange. Cheers, little tortoise gent. These little creatures are really pretty cool if you think about it; they live for about as long as your modern human (50-80 years) and stomp around in the desert where temperatures can get up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit! They're pretty threatened due to human activity, which is such a shame, as these gentle giants pose no danger to us in any way. They're vegetarians, too, chomping down on tough desert foliage to get their fill, so they don't pose much of a threat to other species, either.  They've got big claws on their little feeties, but those intimidating looking appendages are used for digging those burrows they use to escape from the harsh temperatures of the environment they live in. They're troopers! There are efforts to help conserve and rebuild their populations in the wild, which I'm so, SO happy exist! These little dinosaurs were here long before people were, and I'd like for them to be here long after, too. Is that morbid?