My wife and I had this conversation several times, all the way up to the minute before we boarded the plane. Now that we are back, I would say you can definitely have a good time with a baby in Las Vegas, but it is a different kind of vacation. Here is what to expect:

When we were trying to decide where to go on family vacation, our criteria was simply – have a good time, spend time together, get out of our current town. We typically try not to go to beaches since we live at one. I have always enjoyed Las Vegas, and have been there now five times. It fit all of our criteria and gave us a chance to do something you don’t typically do when visiting there, actually explore the city. It was also something we thought we could do with our five month old.

When most people think of visiting Las Vegas, I don’t think they consider it a “vacation” but more of a “getaway.” By that I mean most people go to Las Vegas with a mission – get drunk, gamble, find girls/guys, stay up all night. Our approach was different – let’s see what Las Vegas is like during the day. We planned trips to Hoover Dam, Red Rock Canyon and the West Rim of the Grand Canyon (we didn’t make it) as well as side trips to see the World Series of Poker, The Ultimate Fighter Training Center and the Pawn Stars pawn shop.

If you are taking a baby to Las Vegas, I highly suggest you rent an automobile and take your own car seat. The car seats offered by rental car companies, that I saw, are pretty raggedy. With the car, we had the opportunity to explore the outskirts of The Strip, something that would cost you a fortune (or your life) without transportation. Driving through Summerlin, up and down Paradise and Spring Valley Road, as well as making it to Hoover Dam are all things you can enjoy with a car. Paradise and Spring Valley Road are two of the “side roads” that you can use when trying to avoid the traffic on the strip.

There are some other things you can expect to do (or take advantage of) when traveling with a baby in Las Vegas:

1. Taking naps and resting more than usual (this makes Las Vegas much more enjoyable)
2. Carrying around bottles, diaper bags, toys, etc.
3. Searching for the elevators in Casinos (see future post)
4. Saving money by gambling less
5. Getting stopped to have people tell you how cute your baby is
6. Not being hung over every morning
7. Visiting more free attractions/exhibits/museums/parks
8. Saving money on alcohol and night clubs

Most of the above are positive. We really enjoyed the time we had in Vegas with our five month old and I wouldn’t have traded it for a month of babyless Las Vegas – just expect a different kind of Las Vegas.

During our family trip to Las Vegas, we took a side journey to Red Rock Canyon. This park is only about 30 minutes from “the strip” and is well worth the journey there, especially if you have a rental car. You can see the canyon from the strip if you know which direction to look.

From what I could see, there are three main activities to do in Red Rock Canyon for the typical tourist:

1. Drive the 13 mile scenic road – This relatively flat, 13 mile drive is an excellent way to see the entire park with little effort. Along the way there are several stopping points or parking lots, to get out and take pictures. The road is one-way and plenty wide enough to let those folks who are driving a little to fast, or a little too close, to drive around you.

Chasing white-tailed antelope squirrels around the roads and parking lots was my family’s favorite park activity. These chipmunk-looking creatures hang out near the parking lots and the roads, and are very skittish of humans and cars. We had a hard time getting a good photograph of them, even with my zoom lens, because they are so quick to run off the road. With that being said, we saw more than one squished one, probably thanks to the idiots we let pass us driving too fast earlier on the road. As you drive the road, be sure to watch out for these little guys.

The white-tailed antelope squirrels photographed below were the only ones of the hundreds we saw that would sit still long enough for a photo.

The only one that would pose for us

Squirrel running down the road

2. Hike/Bike the trails – The day we toured Red Rock Canyon, it was over 110 degrees in Las Vegas. Despite this, we saw several folks bicycling and hiking the trails. There are over 35 guided hikes a month and miles of bike trails to explore. For the extra adventurous tourists, there are several rock climbing paths as well.

To see the upcoming tours check the Red Rock Canyon Interpretive Association’s website.

For a list of hiking trails see the wiki on Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area web site.

3. Visitor’s Center – The visitor’s center is small and mostly a souvenir shop. When we were there, however, there were two folks sitting at a desk answering questions about the park. They were well informed, seemed mostly bored, and answered all of my questions. They also stamped my son’s State Park Passport book (even though she informed me RRC isn’t really a state park).

View from the Visitor’s Center

It is well worth your time to visit Red Rock Canyon while in Las Vegas. Admission is only $7 or so per car and you can visit the town of Summerlin while you’re there.

Lizard at Red Rock Canyon

A broken “Shaq-tus”

To see additional photos from Red Rock Canyon, see my set on Flickr.

I knew I shouldn’t have let him watch the Godfather with me this weekend. Now he thinks he is Vito.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Parker yet.

More travel stuff soon. I’m too busy traveling to write about it.

This past weekend Amanda, Parker and I went to the Flowertown Festival in Summerville, SC. This is from the website:

Consistently ranked one of the Top 20 events in the Southeast by the Southeast Tourism Society, the Summerville Family YMCA Flowertown Festival has been a Summerville, South Carolina tradition since 1971. The three-day event features over 200 jury-selected artists from throughout the country who display their work for sale on the beautiful grounds of Azalea Park and on Main Street. Festival attendees also enjoy delicious foods from local restaurants at the Taste of the Town, fun activities and rides for children at the Children’s Jubilee and free admission and parking.

There were THOUSANDS of people there, and hundreds of vendors, and even a fight at the Flowertown Festival. There were gymnasts and arts and crafts and polish sausages and mariachi bands and body odor. The one thing I didn’t see was a flower. Here are some of the other things we saw:

The Summerville Railroad

Parker getting lunch under a tree (not from the vendors)

Look at all the people

The one thing we didn’t see much of were flowers. Here is the only one I saw:

All those crazy people at the festival to take pictures of … and when I got home I had a memory card full of pictures of Parker. Typical I guess.

Here are a few parting shots before Brian and his family head home:

The sunset shots are right out of the camera, no Photoshop.

This weekend, my brother and his wife Randi and their two daughters came to visit us in Charleston. We went downtown to Waterfront Park, saw the market and went to Charles Towne Landing. The highlights are below.

You can see the whole set. Click here for downtown Charleston. Click here for Charles Towne Landing.

From Downtown Charleston

From Charlestowne Landing

Welcome to the world (John) Parker Wilson. You gave your mom one heck of a time not wanting to come out, but at 3:47 today Dr. Oakman pulled you out via C-section. You weighed 7 pounds 10 ounces and were 19.75 inches long.

For the whole set of pictures (I haven’t erased any, so there are alot to see) go to my flickr page.

This page will change often as I edit pictures. Check back often!

If you know me, you know I’m not very patient. Waiting for the birth of our son has been a long process full of ups and downs. At first we thought he was coming at Week 36. My wife has gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia, and the doctor thought we’d be real lucky to make it to 36 weeks. This was the last week of January and my wife’s doctor said that he could come at any time, and she’d be real excited if he made it to 37 weeks. At this time I had to stop traveling (traveling is basically my job) and wait it out.

Thirty-seven weeks and came and went without even a serious contraction. Which became a problem. We had one scare when Parker decided it’d be a good idea to take a day off from beating up mom’s insides which caused a trip to the Emergency Room. Everything was ok, and still no Parker.

If you’re Parker, why would you want to come out? You don’t know how bored you are. It’s warm, you don’t have to wash the dishes and you have free food coming in all day (no chewing required). If you can keep from rolling over on your umbilical cord then life is golden. Personally, I don’t blame him.

Week 38 and 39 have been super slow. Technically, after 37 weeks you’re full term, so all the growing now is just gravy. The doctor thinks he’ll be around 8 pounds (of pure muscle) which I’ve learned is a pretty good size kid.

Because of Amanda’s high blood pressure she hasn’t been allowed to work and was basically on what I call, “house arrest.” The only exercise she got was running to the bathroom 40 times a day. I took advantage of this time to try to give Parker mini pep-talks. I started by asking him nicely to come out and play with us. I was encouraging and and kept my voice quiet. Then I tried talking to him like a football player, “You can do it! Let’s go man, pick up the pace.” When that didn’t work, I got religious on him, “Run to the light.” Nothing.

I found out this morning that Parker is holding my wife’s bladder hostage. He says he’s not coming out until all of his terms are met, and he’ll keep squeezing every 45 minutes until we do. Boy do we have a surprise for him on Wednesday!

To see the most up to date pictures, stay tuned to this website on Wednesday!

All pictures taken by me! See the whole set here or my entire collection here.

It’s a rainy Saturday and the WVU Mountaineers are stinking, so I took the time to update a few out dated sections of this website.

The “About” page has a little bit better description of what the website is about. It’s really a variation on the theme of “where” and how “where” has changed a few times since I started working on the site more than two years ago. I read once that the average life of a blog is less than one month, so we’re not doing too bad.

The FAQ page has answers to some of the most basic questions I get asked, via email, from readers.

The Gallery page is a few of my favorite photos from recent photo shoots. It also has links to my Flickr account to see all the photos from my photowalks. I’m not completely happy with the way the gallery looks, but I have yet to find a WordPress plug-in I’m happy with.

Some new things coming soon for the site:

• The birth of my son
• A link to my twitter feed
• The oft-requested newsletter
• The return of “Are you John Wilson” directory

As found at Drudge Report.

Weight Watchers clinic floor collapses under Dieters

Read the article here.