Vegas: An unwanted houseguest

Living in the Southern Nevada desert climate can be a wonderful thing; our winters are exquisitely mild compared to the harsh conditions of many regions, our weather typically and predictably bright and sunny, and mosquitos and many other pesky species of creepy crawlies don't tend to thrive here due to the severe dryness. In fact, the lack of humidity can cause all sorts of issues for human visitors, too- which is why staying hydrated (along with lotion, chapstick, vaseline, etc) is so crucial to survival here. One thing that's decidedly not necessary for optimal living, however, are scorpions. These creepy little jerks like to proliferate out here, as the desert expanse is their home. The specimen above was found lurking in our sink upon returning home (sorry for the state of it!)... I actually made an audible squeak of surprise upon noticing his unwanted presence! It's hard to say whether bark scorpions, like that bad boy, originated in Southern Nevada or not and there are rumors about them being brought in through palm trees from Arizona... wherever they came from originally, it's sad to say they're here to stay. There are other species of scorpions that are, without a doubt, indigenous to the region and they also have a far less painful (or venomous) sting. There's an adage that says something like, "skinny pinchers, big sting".  Needless to say, we absolutely did not want to have any sort of interaction with that little tail of his! We didn't want to just squash him, either, though, because scorpions eat a lot of other insects that would also be unwelcome visitors into our space. Circle of life and all that, right? Scorpions have their place in the ecosystem, we'd just prefer they go about fulfilling that purpose somewhere other than our living space, capiche? In the end, we opted to use chopsticks to grab him by the tail and thrust him into a tupperware with a lid quickly slapped over top for protection. Antho then proceeded to take him outside and set him free somewhere not-so-close to our front door, or our neighbor's. There's something so surreal about scorpions, a creature that seems like some mean-spirited creator went "How about a spider-lobster with a hornet's stinger on it's tail? Why? Because f**k humanity and all those weenie arachnophobes, that's why!"

Not cool, man, not cool at all. Did you know that scorpions, much like their spider cousins, are adept climbers? I didn't until I started doing research on what kind of monstrosity I'd found...

 

Luckily for us, it's actually recommended you use chopsticks as they give you a means to grasp the little stinger of evil without having to get your hands dangerously close. It's still quite nervewracking trying to wrangle the little beast, but in the end, we were successful. The background talking you'll be hearing in the video there (aside from our nervous noises) is from the Mysterious Universe podcast. I listen to it every night and let it run through old episodes... I always wake up to some story about Sasquatch or reincarnation stories, or other random topics. I've been a fan for ages, so it's a common thread in the background of our home. 

Ugh.

I've been so anxious any time I feel a tickle on my foot since it happened...

At least we came out of this one alright, eh?

Things like this are hard to avoid when you live in the desert, as this was originally their home before houses and things were built up on top of it. Still, we're trying to be proactive in an effort to prevent any more unwanted houseguests!

Anyhow~

Sorry for any nightmares!

🕷

XOXO,

NAU

Vegas: Downtown Alley Sprawl

It's absolutely fascinating, to me, how you can walk a few short minutes away from the center of action and find yourself almost entirely alone. Downtown Las Vegas and especially Fremont Street, and the area directly around the Fremont Street Experience, are the hub of activity in this area. Once you find yourself on the numbered streets (like 6th or 7th) beyond Las Vegas boulevard to the East, you're far less likely to have to worry about finding any space on the sidewalk to navigate through. Crowds here are sparse unless there's a special event, and the later the evening gets the more sparse the traffic becomes. The raucous sounds of laughter, live music, fist fights and other drunken shenanigans fades into the distance as you walk. Murals start to proliferate the walls with a nearly manic frequency, though I'm not sure whether it's to disguise the decay or try to fight off urban depression. There's a lot of homeless people in the area, pushed out of the busier tourist areas by the ever-present security guards and police presence,  forced to congregate in more residential corners. I've stopped and given a girl my leftover food not far from here, after she cowered in fear as I walked by and her instinctual cowering tugged my heart strings. It's not just homeless people or night-owl locals you'll encounter here, though- sometimes you'll see a party bus or limousine roll by, or a rickshaw being pedaled by a dinosaur. Given that Las Vegas is home to many Burning Man aficionados (aka "Burners") , you shouldn't be surprised to encounter brightly lit bicycles or strange sculptures and vehicles at random, either. These things tend to happen here. It's Vegas, and it's weird here. Something about a city that thrives on sin, hedonism, and debauchery attracts artists and creatives, and yes, the just plain weird. Random sequins on the side of the road, too, are not so uncommon as you might expect or hope. 

Vegas: Walk to Mantis at Container Park

Good ol' Mantis, the fire-spewing fixture of Container Park in Downtown Las Vegas, has become a local mascot of sorts. Japan gets to have thousands of local mascots, after all, so why shouldn't we have some fun of our own here? Like our locals here in Vegas, the Mantis can be a wise-cracking oddball with a bit of a hot streak... in that, he actually spews real flames from his majestic antennae. Sometimes he'll sing, sometimes he'll play catchy tunes you might remember from yesteryear ("Who let the dogs out?! WHO?! WHO?!") before tooting out bursts of flame. He's been downtown for years now, greeting guests to the Container Park and scaring tourists with unexpected bursts of sound or flame all the while. Needless to say, I've grown a bit fond of the big beast. Since we live pretty close to his home base, we try to stop over and say hi every so often. He's a local legend, but don't be shy. As far as we're aware, he's never used those massive claws of his on anyone...yet. 

Being in such close proximity to Fremont Street experience, you get a lot of the same traffic overflowing into the area. Some of it is fun, charming, goofiness... and some of it is blunt and to the point, like this guy. I've had homeless people in the area shoulder check me (walking across the street at the same light and he rammed my shoulder with his) and also had people shout compliments or insults in the same few blocks. With so many people, and a lot of them down and out, it's always going to be a medley and you never know what you're going to get. There's been a lot of gentrification and upward shifts in the demographicss of the area as Zappos brought in a lot of higher-paid tech and sales industry workers, and new expensive condominiums and apartments were built to accommodate them. Some of the residents have been priced out in the immediate downtown area, but if you go further east or north you'll still find some more affordable and questionably maintained living spaces and residences. There's a lot of empty businesses and buildings just a few blocks from the main hub of Fremont. Some have been painted over, to give a fresh and lively veneer to the urban decay occurring throughout the city.  I highly recommend exploring more of Las Vegas than just the glossy, high-trafficked tourist areas so that you can get a more nuanced vision of what the city really is. There's a lot more here than just slots and casinos. 

Vegas: Stop at the El Cortez

Fremont Street is a bustling hub of weirdness in Downtown Las Vegas, where you can catch sight of obese old men in little speedos and bunny ears next to scantily clad nuns all posing for photos with tourists. A Pee Wee impersonator may pop up and uncharacteristically shout at you for payment should you try to take his photo without tipping, and some days you might even encounter a Spiderman on Spiderman turf war, or a hyper Power Ranger dancing it out with an oddly proportioned Minnie Mouse cousin. There are relatively cheap drinks flowing and lots of gambling options to try your luck, but the further you walk from the glistening balcony of Fremont Street Experience, the quieter and quirkier it gets. We decided to stop and pop in to the El Cortez a little ways east of Fremont Street experience and try their white russians, since that's been a thing with Antho recently. If it's good enough for The Dude, it's good enough for us.  We were a bit surprised to learn that they were not a cheap drink down in this neck of the woods, so we stopped at the two as we'd already sampled one earlier up the street. While they weren't bad, we'll likely stick to making them at home or going to Casino Royale near Harrah's when we're not busy. It was fun people watching, however, and we got shouted at by some lady who approached the bar and loudly asked a question of everyone in the general area (about a lighter or a match, or something)... good times. The El Cortez isn't a bad option if you're looking to stay downtown and don't want to pay an exorbitant rate for being on "the" street (Fremont Street Experience, that is). It's not going to be the classiest of accommodations, so you likely won't hobnob with any celebrities during your stay, but you never know. This is Vegas, after all. Anything can happen.   

Vegas: Unicorn Donut

Look at those eyes, pleading with you; "Please, human, don't devour my sweet cakey flesh! Spare me!"

Unfortunately for our little pastry friend here, they're unable to speak due to lack of any form of anatomically accurate vocal chords or mouth. No words of protest will be uttered aloud should you decide that you want to actually move forward and eat with your mouth and not just your eyes. The lifespan of these majestic creatures is fairly short, as it goes. Once they're frosted, sprinkled and suitably bedazzled for a mythical beast, they're set forth into a display case in the bustling Fulton Street food court area of Harrah's where they sit and watch in horror as their horde diminishes over time until one sad, sole survivor lingers awaiting their inevitable fate. There's also something I've heard about a "buy-one-get-one" donut happy hour deal after 5 or 5:30? I've not gone and secured any donuts for myself due to work obligations, but Antho has gone forth and gotten us some, which explains the appearance of this fancy feast, but I cannot confirm the hours of the sale on donuts with total certainty. It's worth trying to find out, though, as with most things in the casinos these aren't going to be what most people would consider reasonably priced. There's also Captain Crunch bedazzled donuts, a maple bacon, and several others that sounded pretty promising. They're all very, very sweet, of course, so bear that in mind if you're worried about your blood sugar in the slightest. There are plenty of healthy food options in the nearby food court, but the donuts are the polar opposite of healthy here. I mean, we all kind of know that, don't we? Deep down? Donuts are not, and likely never will be, considered health food in any way, shape or form. They are damn delicious, however, and that is why we eat them!

 

Until next time, thanks for stopping by!

💖

XOXO,

NAU