3 things :about Las Vegas

Last month I was in Las Vegas. My reason was so weird that Uber drivers laughed at me.

I was teaching photography (for social media,  and Iphone-ography)  to yarn shop and yarn industry folks at the winter  TNNA tradeshow.  I was thrilled to be there! But you know how  it sounds. Keep in mind another trade show in town that same week was the Adult Entertainment Awards (ie PORN STAR OSCARS!) just one hotel over.  Ha! After telling us that, the same chortling uber driver offered to make a stop at a weed store straight from the airport. I guess we looked like we needed to loosen up?

I had a grand time talking about photography and yarn together, as I always do, given the opportunity. We had really wonderful students, it was two full days of good classes.


Three things (and more) from my trip to Las Vegas
1) After spending the day coaching our students to be fabulous on Instagram,  I cozy up with Elvis. 
I was co-teaching with writer/writing professor BeverlyArmy Williams, left, we have become excellent travel buddies as we've been taking our workshops on the road.

2) Wandered around the Strip , joking that we looked like the Sister Wives On Vacay in the Bright Lights.  You know the general population just doesn't wear hand knit shawls that much, do they?  Blown away by the conservatory gardens  in the Bellagio , theme was Year of the Dog Chinese New Year.

This was my first time  realizing how many creative people must have tons of work here--this had to take days and days to create.  The people figures are all made of flowers and are easily 20 feet high. The big husky was animated and a story high.

A highlight was joining Beverly in seeing an old friend of hers, Johnny Miles, perform a central character  in Cirque de Soleil,  Mystere. What a show! We had fabulous seats.

Johnny Miles in character, magenta tux,  at the Mystere finale

Beverly and Johnny Miles, sans makeup, after the show. Who'd know?

It was a spectacular show, truly. We got a tour of behind the scenes afterwards, on all the levels of the stage and backstage. This theater was built specifically for the show. It has live music and people who fly through the air playing drums and doing artful acrobatics and so much staging and costuming. Again I was blown away by the creative work opportunities in town.

Quick peek at the costume shop backstage for Mystere. There are full time salaried artists and costumers (plural) working there. Yes, I DID want to touch everything but mostly restrained myself.

3) Got out to the desert!
Another freind who's a frequent accomplice in travel and work, designer Mary Lou Egan, was also teaching at TNNA. We had to do  a quick hike. Las Vegas is densely developed --but after the last ring of new neighborhoods it is all desert. It was only a 15 minute drive to Red Rock Canyon.

 The start of our trail. Definitely not in New England here.

 Mary Lou showing off her just-off-the-needles September House sweater.

We were so happy to be out in the sun and seeing the odd-to-us plants and landscape.

I know this is a long post but I can't end without sharing some things I loved  at the trade show.

First,  I sampled the  new Addi Flexi Flips needles. 

Three short needles with a bendy center section. Each needle has one super pointy and one more rounded tip. You keep your small circular knitting on two of the needles and knit with the third.  I loved it! They are a little pricey, but for me, worth it. Awesome for sleeves, socks and hats. Haven't yet decided which size to get though.

I did purchase an Atenti  bag, mine is bucket style.  I can roll down the top inch or so and it stands up on it's own, holding a whole sweater (almost done! btw)  easily.  I have been wanting one every time I see them, they are beautifully made in the US . I love the fabrics they use - mine is a brocade, with an olive green suede lining and straps.  Its a family business. I had to visit their showroom space at TNNA.  (Check them out at your LYS, they make a lot of styles). 

phew that's a lot! It's nice to be back to blogging, I'll try to at least do the Three on Thursday (more linked from Carole's blog page).

i went to israel: post 2

Part 1 here, if you missed it.  Love these colors.
When we were planning-and I use that word pretty lightly-our 8 days, the Dead Sea was a must.  It's a short-ish ride by local bus from Jerusalem- about 1.5 hours south, all downhill into the desert, and close by Ein Gedi, the oasis nature reserve. Day trip!

We suck, I mean really truly, at selfies. I just can't bring myself to get a stick. What I was trying to show, above on the left,  is the view behind us on the trail,that you can see on the right. Climbing on the trails along Wadi David in Ein Gedi, there's the Dead Sea in the distance. On the far shore, in perfect geographic symmetry, is Jordan. 

The whole time we were hiking, I was worrying about ibex.*  They used to be elusive. In 2016,  there are so many hikers along the improved trails, in big loud groups, that I figured no way would I see any. As we got back to the trail head, near the entrance and visitor center, the ibex appeared, grazing near the irrigated trees.

And, an ibex crossing sign near the highway, so maybe not so elusive anymore? Also, date palms cultivated by Kibbutz Ein Gedi, as we left the nature preserve and headed for our second activity. We'd misunderstood proximity, (cough, internet advice, cough) and tried to walk to the nearest beach on the Dead Sea. I wish I had a picture of what two idiots walking down the single highway in the desert at the lowest place on earth looked like. No beach in sight--and you can see pretty far. Happily, an out-of-the-blue cab came flying up the highway. No idea why except divine intervention. Dave had the presence of mind to wave him down for a ride to the beach several miles further, that we'd been aiming for.

It is other worldly. Vast, clear, aqua, smelly, and so salty and mineral laden that it's thick. If you are a swimmer, and try to do what comes naturally, the water throws you off balance, and you simply can't swim. People literally sit on the water and read magazines. In the photo on the left, we are in chest deep water. Just chilling, looking at the desert mountain to the west. As you do. 

The ground is salt crystals, not sand. The air can be scorchingly hot, but it was only in the low 80's F (cold snap!) so we were two happy floaters, doing our healthy soak.

We finished off with the traditional mud bath. It's possible to scoop the mud right off the side edges of the beach but since we were at a "spa" beach, it had been thoughtfully piled into large metal troughs. Mud bathing was in an area with rocks and chairs we could lay on to bake in the sun, while enjoying the view of fiberglass Superman and Elvis, also mud covered. As if the Dead Sea isn't weird enough? Apparently we like mud when we travel- until we were slathering, we'd forgotten that our last international trip included a mud volcano. (scroll down to get to the mud. You can't miss it). Is Mud Tourism a thing? It should be.

The Dead Sea mud has thousands of years of reputation. Good enough for Cleopatra.  Final step was washing off in hot, extremely smelly powerful sulfur showers, located just to Superman's right.  And then, regular sweet clear water showers inside the building, before heading out to the road to catch the local bus back to Jerusalem before dark. 

Knitting? Yes, of course I had a project that was carried with me all day. It never came out of my bag! Too much to look at along the way. 

Part 3 soon. I have this crazy idea I might blog every day this month. Or try to. Though it won't be more than another day or two about the trip, it'll be back to the usual fibery and photo blab. 

* In re-reading my post, I have decided that I need to live a life in which a sentence like this is used more often. A girl's gotta have goals, am I right?