As prolific Flip pointed out, we escaped the city for a few hours Friday. The Boy was out of school, and she's always out of school, so I took a day from work and we made a day of it. We went out to Bonnie Springs, just past Red Rock canyon, which is the closest scenic spot if it's nature you're wanting to look at.

I asked the Boy that morning if he wanted to go to Red Rock and go for a hike, and he looked right at me and very clearly stated "Old Nevada." Hmph. This guy, he is something else. This must have been percolating in his brain for I don't know, months I guess. His fascination with trains and his blossoming computer search skills and, I think, a previous school outing had led him to a website about Bonnie Springs and Old Nevada. But this had been a significantly long time ago, and I myself had forgotten about it. He hadn't. Boop! There it is, in perfectly understandable English-"Old Nevada". So, I ask him, find out the hours, see if it's open. And he Googles it. Right there in front of me. "Flip, look, look at what he's doing!" She turns, looks, and grins. "Cool!" Yes, I'm thinking "cool", too, but then the obsessive paranoid in my brain says "What!!?? Are you NUTS? He's GOOGLING and he's gonna wind up on porn sites and who knows what" and okay, he's just looking for train stuff. So far, he's just finding train stuff (he found an audio site that broadcasts the actual radio traffic from a station in Colorado, train stuff, real train stuff. Huh.). But I digress. He finds the site, we find out the hours and now we have a plan. I had to BEG Flip to go ("C'mon, it'll blow the stink off'n ya", to quote my late Grandpappy), she tends to be homebodyish like her dad.

We really did blow the stink off, driving on the scenic route with the windows down, enjoying the sunny day, guilt free. I told Flip to keep her eyes peeled for wild burros and horses, since they are frequently sighted in that area, but not by me. Sure enough, we saw 'em. Kinda hard to miss since tourists like to stop on the 65 mph road with no shoulder two-lane highway and pet the nice wild animals. Makes for a truly scenic trip.

But we made it there right after opening time, and yeah, the guy brandished his gun (not really pointing at anybody, but he did clear leather and it kinda pissed me off.) I asked the Boy the rhetorical question "What do you want to do?" and he said "Train", but it pulled out just as we walked up. In we go to see the sights of Old Nevada. Flip pretty much sums it up. Maybe it's better on Saturday, but on this November Friday it just seemed pretty sad, as attractions go. We went back to the train, where Flip declared her independence and went to the petting zoo and the Boy and I got on the tiny rattly twenty different coats of paint train with the sign posted "tips are appreciated". What his fascination is, I don't know. The scenery was pretty nice, though. The property is right at the the bottom and I mean bottom of the Spring Mountains, with the Red Rock canyon recreation area off to the side, the road to Pahrump on the other and a big ole mesa being mined for gypsum inbetween the city and us. I could see the high water mark in the creek bed from our recent rains, and that little dry creek was pretty busy then, probably five feet deep and twelve feet wide in spots. Enought to knock you off your feet. The little train makes a loop probably a half-mile in length down to a lower parking lot and past the motel/resort with theme rooms (with satellite!) and back to the main entrance. We tried to find Flip amongst the animals, but saw the wallaby and buffalo instead and went back out to wait. We're sitting on the train to ride again and she pops up all excited about the wolves and such, god she's so beautiful when she smiles. So is he. We ride the train together and see a big ole hawk take off from a tree real close. She gets to take a photo of the burros on our way out (not on the highway, I'm no tourist), and all in all, (except for the part where she wiped animal lick all over the car) it was a very pleasant afternoon. Thanks for the suggestion, buddy.