Vegas and Valley of Fire

Since Vegas is about 2 hours from Death Valley we decided to stop there before heading home to eat, shop, see O by Cirque De Soleil, and check out Valley of Fire state park. My bro and his family were also up there that weekend so we met them at the outlets. After shopping we had some time to kill before dinner so we headed to the park so the kiddies could run around and play for a bit.



Funny thing was that the sunset that night was probably the best the entire trip but we weren't out shooting. We headed to Bachi Burger for dinner, since we have been wanting to try it since we saw it on the food channel.


Oxtail chili cheese fries


Pork belly steamed bun


Banh mi burger

The oxtail fries were good, but the rest were average. We would probably go back to try a different burger, since they have a pretty good selection.

The showing of O was at 10, and we had seats in the front row. Since the first 3 rows are splash zones I thought we were going to get wet, but it wasn't that bad. Between acts, when the clowns come out I got pulled up on stage to dance with one of them haha. There are no photos allowed otherwise Jaime would have taken a picture of it.

The next day we headed out to Valley of Fire state park about an hour NE of Vegas.
Since sunset was at 4:30pm we only had a few hours to explore the park. The first location I wanted to check out was a place dubbed "Crazy Hill" which is west of parking lot #3. Since there are no trails, and I didn't have a GPS, we kind of relied on way points to guide us. Surprisingly it was easier to find than expected.
Jaime on top of crazy hill


Jaime taking pics with her new S100



Since you can't pull out on the side of the roads, we had to hike down to the next location dubbed "pink canyon" which is a nice little slot canyon. Part of it still had water so we had to walk around it.


Jaime getting a reflection of the canyon in the water

Exiting the canyon brings you to another landmark called "striped rock" which looks like the Nike swoosh.

Since it was getting late, Jaime headed back to the car and I headed back through the canyon to the "Fire Wave", a location I wanted to shoot for sunset. I got there around 4:15 and there were already about 3 people setup.

Pics from when we scouted out the location beforehand:




Sunset shots:

Unfortunately the sky was full of thick clouds that didn't really let much light through. There was an open patch to the west, so I had to shoot the wave straight on.

The park has some amazing views and some unique rock formations and colors. We definitely want to go back when we have more time to do some exploring. Some road shots overlooking Rainbow
Vista:



Some close-up shots of the rock colors:

Panorama of Rainbow Vista:


That night we had reservations at CUT - Wolfgang Puck's steakhouse in the Palazzo. We wanted to try the 100% Wagyu beef from Japan.



They bring the Wagyu out on a tray to show you the cuts. The bottom two in the black wraps are the true Japanese Wagyu cuts (ribeye and new york) which had a crazy amount of marbling.


Maple Glazed Pork Belly, Asian Spices, Watercress, Sesame–Orange Dressing, Fuji Apple Compote

U.S.D.A. PRIME, Illinois Corn Fed, Aged 21 Days Bone In Rib Eye Steak


True Japanese 100% Wagyu Beef From Saga Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan Rib Eye Steak



The Wagyu was like butter and melted in your mouth. It was however, very rich, and hard to eat a lot of. We shared 8oz which was enough. The USDA bone in ribeye was good as well, which we wanted to get to compare to the other steakhouses we have been to. I still like Mastro's and Del Friscos over the USDA cut. With a few sides, and the bread selection they bring in the beginning, we were stuffed. It was a nice last meal to cap off another great trip.

Brandon Yoshizawa
B.A.Y | photography
Landscape and Wildlife photography
www.bay-photography.com