Viva Las Vegas

June 30-July 4, 2007--Las Vegas was a bit of a blur (really, that's the only way Vegas should be!) so I am condensing it into one entry.

I picked up Ben from the airport at 8, leaving us 4 hours before check in at our hotel, the Tropicana. Normally in Vegas this wouldn't be a problem, but as I was still feeling rather ill it meant Ben got to watch me pick at a soup and salad in the cafe for 3 hours. When we finally got up to the room he ordered me mashed potatoes, because, well, there's never a time I can not eat mashed potatoes :-)


Our room was great--I had heard some bad things about the Tropicana, especially the "garden rooms," but the Island Tower rooms were great. The mirror on the ceiling was a bit of a surprise, though!! We stayed in that night, hoping to get me rested and ready for the rest of the trip. The next afternoon we explored a bit more, heading to the hotels on the south end of the strip including Mandalay Bay, the Luxor, MGM and New York, New York.


We happened upon the trainers feeding the lions at the MGM--they would toss small chunks of meat onto the glass so the lion would jump up and lick it off for everyone's enjoyment. My pictures of this sucked, though, sorry:


Later we met one of Ben's coworkers who happened to be in Vegas with her boyfriend, and they took us to see the famous Lago di Bellagio fountains, a water show set to Sinatra's "Luck Be a Lady."


Then we headed to the Fremont Street Experience. This is downtown Vegas: basically the original strip. When the new strip started being the main draw, the old one was revitalized by building a massive TV screen over it--the largest in the world--which covers a 5-block walkway and displays light and sound shows every hour. Though there are some that pay tribute to Vegas icons, race cars, aliens, water, and other cool things, we got to see the one where hot chicks dance around as firemen (which I guess made for a better picture at least!)



The next day I was feeling better finally, so we did some more exploring. Ben even got me to gamble a little... but don't worry; no one will ever need to worry about me getting addicted. There's something about losing money that I just don't find enjoyable!!

We also stumbled across a bar in the New York, New York casino named Gallagher's (Ben's last name...) so of course we had to stop for a drink or two. The lack of flash in this picture was totally accidental, but I love the result--the alcohol consumption is a blur, but the Gallagher's name is the one clear thing in the picture.


That night we explored further up the strip. We started off watching some duelling pianos at the Times Square Bar in NY, NY. When we walked out of the casino, we caught an even better show from the pedestrian bridge as we watched a cop pull over a car, and then with him hop out a cameraman and microphone man--we were watching a filming of Cops!! Even better, a drunken dumbass decides right then to jaywalk across Vegas Blvd, between the perp's car and the cop car and hop the concrete barrier to the sidewalk on the other side. The cop was understandably rattled, and yelled at the guy to stay there, but eventually let him go as he focused on the perp's car. If anyone sees this on Cops let me know what happens!!

Then we continued north along the strip through the Monte Carlo, Bellagio, and Caesar's Palace. We were limited by how far my shoes could carry me, so Ben snapped these pictures of me lounging in front of the Bellagio to give my feet a rest.
















Our last night we did our best to see a show, but apparently all the fancy ones like the Cirques concentrate toward the end of the week (not Tuesday). We caught a comedy show instead, which was probably just as entertaining at a much more reasonable price! Afterward we headed back up the strip to explore some more, checking out the new Wynn Hotel (shmancy indeed... they had a high-roller slot room with $500 slots! they also had "Casino War"--yes war--apparently the new big thing among the fancy casinos) and then heading back south through the Venetian, the Mirage, and Caesar's Palace again. We then headed back to the Tropicana to play a little more blackjack and miraculously both won money... a first on the trip!

The next morning we sadly had to leave. We snuck into the pool after check out to enjoy a couple more hours and to squeeze our last few pennies out of the hotel. Then it was good-bye to Vegas and on to LA

Bye to dad--back to civilization!

June 29, 2007--After 7 days on the road with me, my dad finally had to head out, flying from Las Vegas up to Mattoon, IL for his mother's birthday party. I was sadly not able to join them for the party due to certain conflicts well documented here, but plan to make a separate visit later this month instead. I put my dad on the plane and headed to the library to start blogging (which turned out to take a little longer than I intended, hence why I am still catching up from a week ago; sorry!).

That night I got to catch up with WillMill, my Vegas buddy from Rice. He was having a little "shindig," so I got to show off my flip cup skills and complete lack of beirut ability before realizing large quantities of beer were probably not a good idea on my still-recovering stomach. It was definitely worth it, though, regardless of what I was thinking the next morning when I had to get up at 7:30 to go pick up Ben!

The day I nearly killed myself

June 28, 2007--Today we had planned to take a helicopter down into the Grand Canyon to a village called Supai, where you can then hike into some of the most gorgeous waterfalls imaginable. This was probably the part of our travels in Utah and Arizona that I was looking forward to the most. Hence my disappointment and frustration when I woke that morning feeling nauseous and faint. I pushed through, and after vomiting in the parking lot I felt better, so we hopped in the car and headed toward the canyon.

At the rim of the canyon, we hitched a ride on the helicopter. I was directed into the front seat, next to the pilot. As we lifted up, he told me, "Hang on, the first one's the big one!" and we tilted sideways over the rim. I'm sure I let out a bit of a squeal, and we zoomed down along an arm of the canyon toward the little Indian village of Supai.





























We hopped out, paid our money, and headed down the 2 mile trail toward the first falls. It was 115 degrees and I still hadn't been able to eat anything, but I figured a little stomach ache wouldn't stop me (yeah, so I'm stubborn).

We got down to the first two falls, Navajo and Havasu, the water glowing a beautiful blue-green due to the mineral travertine. The famous Havasu Falls were especially impressive, dropping 100 feet into a big blue-green pool, then dropping down through several more pools created by the travertine depositing on the lip of each small fall. It was seriously like a miniature water park (with almost as many people).




















We decided to skip the third waterfall as it required a steeper, slipperier descent, and headed back up toward the village instead. Though there was only water in my stomach, I vomited twice as I trudged slowly back up the trail, and then once more waiting for the helicopter ride back to the car. My poor father was imagining having to carry me the two miles in 115 degree heat. I made it, though, and we headed back to civilization and air conditioning in Kingman, AZ that night. It didn't make me feel any better, though, when the helicopter pilot as we were lifting up out of the canyon (and following the 10-mile trail you can alternately take to the village instead of the helicopter flight) was jokingly pointing out various rock shapes he had noticed through the years that looked like Joe Camel, a mama bear and cub, and two big macs, and then noted that it's especially cool when he "gets to see a dead body on the trail," which apparently happens a couple times a year when dumbasses like me get dehydrated and overheated.

Lake Powell

June 27, 2007--The canyon walls of Lake Powell provided us some protection from the rising sun, but with the bright reflections off the opposite wall we were still up before 6. It was a gorgeous morning, though, so I had to record the moment:



We used the time on the mostly empty lake to do some exploring, heading first to "Music Temple," where John Wesley Powell reportedly took his men and sang songs with them in the echoing chamber to raise their spirits during their expedition down the Colorado.


Next we headed to the biggest draw on the lake, Rainbow Bridge. This is the world's largest natural bridge. I had seen so many pictures of it, but they truly didn't do justice to its massive size. I know these won't for you, either, but just imagine standing 200 feet away from the thing and still straining your head as far back as it will go just to look up at it.
















After Rainbow Bridge we headed back to the marina to return the boat. Somehow, though, the gas gauge malfunctioned, showing that we had 3/4 tank when we started going and hit the big E about 10 miles later. We turned around to head back to the gas station, but ran out of fuel about 2 miles later. Some very nice folks stopped to help and brought us back some gas, so we got to enjoy floating around in the middle of the lake one last time before we left.

Finally we got the boat back to the dock and pulled it up out of the water with a little more skill and experience than when we put it in. We returned the boat to the rental place without any damages and headed on south toward the Grand Canyon, sleeping in Williams, AZ with a couple truckloads of New Mexico Hot Shots (forest fire fighters, for those of you who don't know).

Do you have any boating experience?

June 26, 2007--We headed out of Tropic south down a painfully long washboard road through Kodachrome Basin National Monument. It rattled my brain around in my head so hard I thought it was going to bounce right out through my ears! We followed a sign to "Grosvenor's Arch" and found this very cool formation:















We then continued south through the monument, seeing even more wild piles of rock. I never used to understand the explanation of how the Grand Canyon formed--that a huge plateau just raised up and the Colorado River cut through it as it continued on its path. But after seeing some of the crazy twists and angles in the layers in cliffs and outcroppings, occasionally even vertical layers, it became clear to me that some truly unimaginable geologic events had happened in the region.















Finally we got down off the dirt road into the area of Lake Powell. We were surprised to find out the place I had rented a boat from over the phone was actually not on the lake, and that we would have to tow it to the water and put it in ourselves. Somehow, after asking tons of questions on how to start and drive a boat, the people still thought we were fit to back their several thousand-dollar machine off a trailer into the water. With some helpful advice from other boaters nearby, we finally managed and set off in the boat onto the lake.





























We spent an awesome day on the lake, learning how to drive the boat and enjoying floating around. Well, at least I was enjoying it anyway, cuz, well, I'm never not having fun when I'm on water, but my dad was having a little less fun trying to drive the boat so I happily took over. Don't I look natural in the captain's chair?


I had rented the boat overnight, so as the day wore on we realized we would have to sleep somewhere... without the boat floating away! We'd had a hard enough time docking at the floating bathroom, so we decided not to chance trying to tie up in the rocks. We eventually found an unoccupied beach and with a good amount of luck pulled up on it and anchored for the night. It turned out to be quite a picturesque spot, and we fell asleep to the rocking of the waves.

Canyons

June 25, 2007 - Leaving Blanding, UT in the morning we picked a line on the map that said "scenic byway" and led us up and around the eastern end of Lake Powell. We were very pleasantly surprised by the remote grandeur of the area we ended up in, White Canyon.






























We stopped for lunch on my tailgate by a little creek running through one of the many canyons we drove through. The names have all run together in my mind and on the map--southern Utah is a land of so many spectacular canyons that it seems they name a few and turn them into national parks so everyone can pay entrance fees and come visit them while leaving the lesser-known but equally awe-inspiring ones more or less alone.

Side note--don't ever agree to a race with anyone from Utah. The speed limit on every narrow, winding, 2-lane road through canyons and mountains is 65. Anyone who needs to be told to go under 65 on those roads has a death wish. On some curves, it would say "Slow: 55" and I would be embarrassed to note that I wasn't even going that fast (and many of you know I'm not exactly a slow driver!)

















Soon we came into one of the 5 canyons that were deemed national park-worthy, Capitol Reef. The top part of the canyon around the visitor center was pretty, so we got out of the car, took some pictures and moved on. The rest of the park didn't really seem worth seeing in 100+ degree heat.

















Next, for a change of scenery, we headed up and over the Dixie Mountains, providing a great view of the surrounding country and more of Capitol Reef.

















Coming down from the mountains we entered the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. This is a very new monument, set up in 1996 by Bill Clinton during a flurry of environmental activity in the last days of his first term as part of his re-election campaign. The monument is huge, 1.9 million acres, and we got to see it from an eagle-eye view--a road following a narrow bluff between two canyons, dropping off sharply on both sides.
















Down at the bottom we found an adorable canyon with a path up to Calf Creek waterfalls. We were in a hurry to move on, so just played around in the water a bit, but if I had the chance I would love to go back to do the hike.
















We headed on to another national park, Bryce Canyon. This park basically consists of one grand vista and a $ entrance fee. Luckily I already had a golden eagle pass and didn't have to pay, so I decided to give it a look. It was certainly more impressive in person than in the many pictures I had seen, but I attempted to take another couple anyway!






























We spent the night in Tropic, Utah, an adorable little town outside the park. I had to sneak this one picture of a grandmother taking her granddaughter to see the horses in the nearby field as the sun went down.