Falling into place

Once I decided on a date for this quick wander, my travel plans just seemed to fall into place.

Southwest has one non-stop flight a day between Manchester and Las Vegas, and they very nicely (and recently) moved the outbound flight from early afternoon to 7 AM. That means that I don't lose the entire first day as a travel day, assuming of course that the weather wizard cooperates and I don't run into snow problems. My flight has a scheduled arrival time of 10 AM. With waiting for baggage (I know, I know I used to use carry-ons!) and picking up the rental car, I'm hoping I can be on my way by 11. Late in the morning, but leaving me a good chunk of hours for wandering.

No more carry-ons? I switched to checked baggage once I started carrying a tripod with me. Somehow I don't think that would be looked upon too kindly in the cabin of a plane!

Let's see, there were two more pieces to the logistical plans - a rental car, and a place to stay. The car was easy - I checked the AAA rate, and my employer's rate (which we are allowed to use even when traveling outside of company business), and for the first time ever found that my employer's rate was much much cheaper. Awesome! Now, a place to stay. I've never attempted to find a B&B in Las Vegas, usually choosing to say in a Hampton Inn. Funny, Red Rock Canyon is sandwiched between two Hampton Inns. One is 10 miles away, and one six miles away. I've stayed at the 10-mile-away one before, and I was going to stay there again since I know there is a Whole Foods market just a short jaunt down the road from there. And then... I checked the prices. The per-night rate at that hotel was 50% greater than the per-night rate at the closer hotel. The Hampton Inn on the strip was even cheaper, but I'm not willing to stay in close proximity to all of that glitz! Yes, I did choose the less expensive hotel. I suspect (I hope) that the price difference is due to where the hotel is in the overall locale as opposed to a quality issue.

Airplane, car, hotel, all planned! Now all I need to do is have a conversation with the weather wizard to make sure there isn't too much white stuff in the air and on the runways on the day I am scheduled to fly.

Counting the days

Last week I decided it must be time for a quick escape from our northeast winter. I didn't need to think too long about where I was going.

Can you guess where I'm headed? Yes, of course, with my camera, and my silly red traveling companion (Rover) too!

My glimpse of Red Rock Canyon on the last day of my trip west to Death Valley was just enough to whet my appetite. I need to wander there on two feet, and I know that Red Rock Canyon deserves some serious camera play. It will just be a quick trip, a several day escape to the southwest. I'm counting the days until I leave, two weeks from now...

If you're curious about where I'll be wandering, here's a sample photo from my visit there in November 2008.