Las Vegas Springs Preserve Loop, Las Vegas, Nevada
Vegas, Baby!
My solo trip from Coeur d’Alene to Kanab was well planned and executed, but I knew that even if the best-laid plan went smoothly, and it did, I would be pretty tired after six days of adventures and well over 1,000 miles of driving.
Barbarian Scientist and I have a date competition, which is exactly what it sounds like. This being each of our second marriages, with many children, and also being nonmonogamous, we are pretty creative and determined to ensure our bond continues to grow. We try to have at least one unique overnight date a month, and that trend is supposed to afford each of us time during the rest of the month with our kids, ourselves, and others. To ensure our continued commitment and to discourage complacency, we made it a competition. Well, it’s mostly a competition because I am competitive. And I’ve been winning since the beginning.
I can turn just about anything into a date, and so many of our excursions are inspired by the timing and location of specific trails or races one of us wants to complete. When in doubt, we add some fishnets (me), cocktails (him), and good food, and we are set. I call it aggressively seeking joy.
1. Red, White, and Brew Pub Crawl
3. Trampled by Turtles at The Kettlehouse
4. Mumford and Sons at The Gorge
5. Avett Brothers at The Gorge
6. Columbian Night at Green Bluff
7. Coffee Science Night at Mobius
8. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Lake City Playhouse
9. The Addams Family at Aspire Community Theater
10. Trail of Terror
11. Moscow Half Marathon
12. Spokane Chiefs hockey
13. Super Bowl Lake Cda Cruise
16. Igloo dates
17. Axe throwing
18. Fun Home at Lake City Playhouse
19. LA! Spartan Races and Hollywood hiking
20. Goat hiking with Little Goat House
21. Western Pleasure Guest Ranch Sleigh Ride and Snowshoe
22. Snowmobiling and hot springs in McCall, Idaho – his favorite date so far
23. Dodgy Mountain Men and Brendan Kelty Trio in Sandpoint
25. Cda Marathon
28. Negative Split Half Marathon
29. Wee Place in the Woods treehouse getaways
30. Crime Scene Entertainment mystery theater dinners
31. Lantern Festival
32. Blackwell Hotel
33. Wallace brothels
36. Leavenworth
37. Tiny house adventures in the Perry Street District
38. Greenbriar Inn
42. Drag brunches at The Globe
46. Sponge Bob Musical at Aspire Community Theater
47. Monroe Street Skoolie tiny home
48. Midnight Movies at The Garland
50. The Dead South at The Knitting Factory
51. Sandpoint Retired Schoolhouse Airbnb
52. Valentine Bloody Massacre
53. Bloomsday
54. Women’s Marches
56. Ione’s Lions Club Rail Riders
57. The Lumineers and other adventures in Portland
60. River floating
61. Stehekin
62. Halloween Hustle
63. Journey to The North Pole Cruise
64. And countless miles on trail runs and hikes, in tents, and otherwise plotting our next adventures
I have been winning since the beginning. Until now. Barbarian Scientist flew to Vegas when my Dreamland Women’s Adventure Award weekend ended, and I met him there for an excellent date! I pulled up to the Waldorf Astoria valet with my dirty clothes, trail runners, and messy hair, and he was waiting there, dressed up and beaming with happiness.
I have been to Vegas before, but only to run a weekend of Spartan Races. As a young and irresponsible undergrad, he has often been to Vegas to do young and irresponsible Vegas things. Now we are really grown-ups routinely cashing in retirement funds to pay for my oncology care – what could be more exciting?
We had one night. It was excellent. I had never before stayed in such a fancy hotel, I had never bathed in a bathtub as deep as a pool, I had never gambled, and I had never seen SO MANY LIGHTS. The people were so kind, and I admit I enjoyed how many times I was complimented on my appearance.
I think my absolute favorite part was dinner at the Nomad Library. It is an experience all on its own. You feel like you are sitting in a two-story library having the most incredible drinks and fantastic food, and the tables are so far apart that you feel like you have all the privacy you could imagine in a restaurant.
“Las Vegas is like being inside a trashy-fun snow globe,” Linette Lopez. We walked The Strip, watched street shows, and took photos, I showed him all the photos I took on my trip, and we otherwise soaked in the temporary relief of being separated from the daily struggles of having cancer and trying to keep moving forward.
The following morning we had a fantastic Venezuelan breakfast and visited the Nevada State Museum Springs Preserve for a little hike to soak up all the sun before heading back to North Idaho. Although I was sure that the first thing Barbarian Scientist would want to do after having a late Vegas night would be to hike, he seemed less enthusiastic than you might think. It was a sweet spot, with many educational displays, mixed terrain of trails, conservation efforts, and a beautiful cityscape of downtown.
“Play matters because people matter. It reminds us of our interdependence and gives us a chance to really see other people. And in turn, to be really and truly seen.”― Jill Vialet (Founder of Playworks)
Go play. Do something that you are not obliged to do. Take a hike. Make a date competition. Go to Vegas. It is easy to feel like we are only flesh suits meant to generate benefits for others. I’m not here to only pay bills; unless that brings you joy, you are not either. Go play.
One Response
You have inspired me to charge of my everyday. I choose to play. Thank you.
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