Ethel M. Chocolate Factory & Cactus Garden – Henderson, Nevada

January 25, 2020February 1, 2020 ~ Crystal ~ Leave a comment

Once my niece and nephew and I were all buckled in the backseat of my sister’s ancient Montero, I turned to my nephew – proudly perched in his new booster seat – and asked, “So what was your favorite part of our adventure, buddy?”

“Um…” he said, grinning. “All of it.”

“All of it!” I repeated, arranging my souvenir bag on the floor as we pulled out of the parking lot, my hips wedged tightly between the two car seats, my shoulders scrunched. “That was pretty yummy chocolate, huh?”

“Um, yeah. And machines! Machines that make chocolate! It’s like a dream come true!” My nephew giggled, beaming out the window. “I’d need some pretty big Legos to make something that cool.”

Huh, I thought, the obvious dawning on me. I should’ve taken pictures inside the factory.

Welcome to Ethel M Chocolates.jpg — Ethel M Chocolates in Henderson, Nevada, featuring a chocolate factory and a cactus garden!

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Wild Enraptured Exclamations

October 26, 2019November 4, 2019 ~ Crystal ~ 4 Comments

At the most recent full moon, on October 13th, I headed out into the Mojave to watch the moon rise.

It’s something I used to do in college. In Provo, I lived within a five-minute drive of several gorgeous hiking trails in the Wasatch Range. I’d park my pickup at a trailhead parking lot, climb into the truck bed, wrap myself in a quilt, and watch the silvery moon calmly slip between the rocky peaks above me to the east. All this without having left the city limits.

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Lemon Trees and Second Spring

October 5, 2019October 4, 2019 ~ Crystal ~ 2 Comments

Over the past two weeks, as much of the United States prepares for crunching leaves and dormant plant life, the second spring has come to the Mojave. And with the arrival of this second spring, I found myself tending to my balcony garden and marveling that I should have loose soil in my hands during the first days of October. Such is life in the desert.

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An American Goth and a Belgian Designer Walk into a Boneyard…

September 9, 2019September 15, 2019 ~ Crystal ~ 4 Comments

When my dear friend Hannelore arrived in Las Vegas last month on her 1988 Honda Africa Twin adventure bike, I asked what she and her boyfriend, Jasper wanted to see. Both wanted to experience the Strip, of course—there’s an unspoken rule that you really can’t visit Las Vegas without having at least seen the Strip, just to say you did. Beyond that, Hanne listed two specific sites: Seven Magic Mountains and the Neon Museum.

As you’ll recall from last week, I hadn’t heard of Seven Magic Mountains until Hanne requested it. But the Neon Museum?

Oh, I had definitely heard of the Neon Museum.

The Neon Museum’s newest acquisition, and the first thing you see when entering the Boneyard. Photo by Katrina Reinert.

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European Adventurers Discover Seven Magic Mountains, Las Vegas, Nevada

August 31, 2019September 9, 2019 ~ Crystal ~ 3 Comments

Sunset only added to the stones’ fluorescence. I had not expected this. Usually, dimming light can be relied upon to fade any colors within reach, but Seven Magic Mountains challenged the rule.

Two Magic Mountains, with the sunset over the Mojave in the background. Photo by Jasper.

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The Mob Museum – Las Vegas, Nevada

July 13, 2019 ~ Crystal ~ 3 Comments

Of the many theoretical shenanigans made possible by time travel, towards the top of my list would be this:

Late 1933. American Prohibition has just ended. I walk into the beautiful, brand-new, Neo-classical Las Vegas courthouse and post office building, approach the nearest official, and smile winningly.

I inform them that in fewer than 100 years, their basement—yes, this very one—will be home to a government-endorsed functioning speakeasy, complete with in-house moonshine operations.

I just want to see how they’d react.

Front view of the Mob Museum’s historical facade. Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash.

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Memento Mori IV – Or, Agave Americana

June 1, 2019June 1, 2019 ~ Crystal ~ Leave a comment

“Has that always been there?”

My sister was pointing at a large ornamental desert plant. She and I were several laps into an evening walk-and-talk around her neighborhood, and we were now stopped beneath the sparse Las Vegas stars regarding the plant in question with deepening curiosity. Continue reading “Memento Mori IV – Or, Agave Americana” →

Harsh, and Brimming with Life

May 11, 2019 ~ Crystal ~ 3 Comments

To begin by saying nature is changeable would be to state the obvious, but I hope my readers will indulge me. Obvious or not, the cycles of nature can’t help but fascinate. And nowhere have they seemed more pronounced to me than in the desert.

Early this March, a week and a half after Las Vegas’ historic snowfall, I and a group of extended family members went on one of my favorite hikes in Red Rock Canyon, just west of the city. Red Rock Canyon consists of a thirteen-mile scenic driving loop off of which twenty-six marked hiking trails can be reached. Each offers something new and special: archeological information, unique rock formations, conservancy initiatives. Continue reading “Harsh, and Brimming with Life” →

Chiaroscuro

April 20, 2019April 18, 2019 ~ Crystal ~ Leave a comment

Through the vast rocky desert of southern Nevada, Andrew and I are returning from an afternoon in Pahrump when we round a bend and see Las Vegas sprawled below us.

The city appears like a mirage. Approached on desert roads at night, Las Vegas glimmers like a lake of stars, the Luxor Sky Beam suspended between heaven and earth like an anchor’s taut chain. In the daylight, the Mojave Desert opens wide and reveals a civilization of millions.

View of Las Vegas from the southeast. Photo by Ryan Hafey on Unsplash

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Even Our Overpass Stones are Jeweled

March 16, 2019 ~ Crystal ~ Leave a comment

Once the days get warm and sunny enough, the outdoors pull at Andrew to start up Pokemon Go again, wandering the nearby neighborhoods in search of exercise, whimsy, and vitamin D. I’m not far behind, chattering away alongside him about whatever I’ve been reading lately, full of lamentations that my potato-phone can’t support the game.

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