Things I Heart About Nevada

I got tagged by Karen to write up five things I love about my state, so here goes.

1. Location. Before I came out here, I am pretty sure I thought Las Vegas was in the middle of nowhere. That is so not true. We are within a four hour drive of the California coast (LA, OC, San Diego), AZ (Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Sedona), and southern Utah (Zion, Bryce Canyon, Cedar City). Four hours sounds like a long time to drive, but with most of it freeway driving and the speed limit set at 75 in general, the time goes by pretty quick. A seven hour radius includes Santa Barbara, Lake Tahoe, Salt Lake City, Phoenix/Tempe, and Moab (Canyonlands/Arches). Plus, the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead are about half an hour from the house.

2. The weather. At least for a decent part of the year. Sure, summer gets a little monotonously hot, but lucky for us Mt. Charleston is right north of town and is a great place to go cool off on the weekend. Once fall hits and until about April/May, the weather is fantastic. The is almost always shining, meaning the car is never cold, and because of the lack of humidity, temperatures up to even 95 are not that bad. My skin gets dry, but I'd take a tether to lotion any day over the oppressive humidity back East.

3. The scenery. The valley is surrounded by mountains that rise up out of nowhere. Red Rock Canyon is right west of town and has beautiful sandstone and limestone formations. Valley of Fire (about 45 minutes north) is much larger and has stunning red rock formations. And the sky in the desert. You can see so much of it in the wide open. The scenery isn't quite as spectacular as Utah or Arizona, but it's more than you might think.

4. The hours. Going out late is not a problem. It's also easy to go out on a holiday here. It's a 24/7 kind of place -- very different from most places.

5. Entertainment. It's everywhere here. There are shows ranging from comedians to Broadway, to impersonators, to Cirque du Soleil. The Lion King is replacing Mama Mia in Mandalay Bay next year. Of course, the shows do tend to be pricey but there are often ways around the full cost. Plus, there is always local entertainment -- like shows at the Henderson Pavilion -- that is much more reasonably priced.

I'm not going to tag anyone in particular, but consider yourself tagged if you read this and want to play along. :)