Our first full day in our amazing Airbnb house in Summerlin, Las Vegas and we were unintentionally up early for sunrise.  Our house has a roof terrace with spectacular views of the nearby Lone Mountain to our left, the La Madre Mountain Wilderness behind us and stright ahead in the distance the famous Las Vegas Strip.

The colours are amazing as the sun comes up and hits the mountains, turning the sky pinks and blues and finally dazzling us as the sun appears above the horizon.

With the sun up and the skies blue, it was time to hit the road for our first mini-road trip to the very nearby Red Rock Canyon,  a 195,819 acre Conservation Area in the Mojave Desert.   Having  visited before, we skipped the Visitor Centre and, after paying our entrance fee, headed straight to the start of our first trail, Calico Hills I, where you can walk among the stunning red rocks that they area is named after.  The trail itself is not really easily marked and people tend to just scarmble around on the rocks and take selfies.  We found ourself a little track and walked along towards the next trailhead, Calico Hills II and then back again, feeling pleased with ourselves that we had hung out around the red rocks, and watching the rock climbers.

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Back at the car we took the scenic drive around to High Point Overlook for some incredible views on our way to the next trail.

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The next trail we headed to was Pine Creek Canyon a 2.4 mile out and back trail amongst the pine trees at the foot of the canyon walls.  According to the information this ponderosa pine forest is a remnant of the last ice age, and survives in the desert environment due to the water flowing through the pine creek canyon.  This is an exceptionally pretty trail going right up to the rock face where climbers can be seen ascending.  It also includes a short Fire Ecology loop trail which goes through the trees where a controlled fire took place.  Informational boards spotted around the trail explain the reason for the fire and how it helped to conserve the area.

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The last trail on our list was the nearby Oak Creek Canyon, where we had our lunch in the car at the trail head before setting off.  This is a quieter trail, about 3 miles out and back, starting off with spectacular views across the open desert and again heading towards the rocks.

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Finally it was time to head back, but we decided to try and find Calico Basin first, which we had passed along the way in.  Heading out of Red Rocks, we took the turning for Calico Basin andunintentionally passed the unmarked trailhead and found ourselves at  Red Springs instead. No matter because we found a lovely little trail, mainly used by climbers going up to the rocks, and then it was time to head back home.

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Back at our house we got showered and changed and ready for a night out on Fremont Street, but not before catching the sunset. We had planned to go eat at a restaurant we had been on our last visit here together. An Indian restaurant called, Tumeric right opposite Container Park.

We were delighted to find that it was still open as there had been conflicting reviews on this subject. We got a window seat over looking Container Park and dancing Mantis outside it and ordered our dinner, which was just as good as we remembered. After dinner we headed to one of our favourite bars, The Griffin, a dark little bar with fire pits and good music, then it was time for The Killers’ Viva Vision.

We headed up to the Fremont Experence and found a good spot to watch from and before long the lights went down and the screens lit up.  People zipped along Slotzilla as the first bars of Mr Brightside could be heard and the show had begun.  It was so amazing to be there watching it and I felt so proud to see my band featured on the legendary Fremont Street Expereince in their hometown. It has been way too long coming.

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Sadly it was over far too soon and it was time to go home after a long day and eventful first full day in Vegas.