Saturday morning we woke up early and made about an hour drive north to the Grand Canyon. From the time I was a child I have always heard about the Grand Canyon and to finally be able to make that journey was surreal. That first encounter was a purely emotional experience. I am not quite sure how to explain it, but the Canyon is an unfathomable, mind blowing, boggling, and awe-inspiring sight. It was such an incredible experience to be in the presence of this beauty. Since Azar and I did not have the whole day to explore and it was our first time, we decided to walk around the rim for as long as we possible could before we had to depart. Within a few yards the canyon was always changing. The multitude of ever-changing vistas was really neat. After about five hours at the Park we made our lunch and ate before departing for Las Vegas.
This week, April 17th-25th is National Park Week, which means free entrance to 100 National Parks. We did not know this until the Ranger told us at the Canyon entrance. We were very excited and how perfect that the week we are in the National Park mecca, (Southern Utah, Arizona) it happens to be free! It’s usually only a weekend annually, but the Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar is trying to promote our wonderful National Parks. So everyone in the States…GET OUT AND ENJOY OUR PARKS FOR FREE! =)
Driving to Las Vegas was also an ever changing scenery- from mountains to hills to deserts. Once we crossed the Colorado River into Nevada we were greeted with a huge casino. When we stopped off the highway in the middle of the desert to fill up the tank we were greeted with a gas station, casino, and McDonald’s in one. I was amazed by how much the casino/gambling industry runs Nevada and not just in Las Vegas or Reno. In Vegas we stayed with a friend’s friend, Gina and her girlfriend Monica. Once we dropped our things off at Gina and Monica’s home while braving their very protective dogs that in all truth terrified both Azar and I, we hit the strip. Las Vegas: A big kids theme park, Disney World for adults etc. Quite honestly I think I am still trying to process Las Vegas. The hotels are magnificent all composed of a casino, nightclub, restaurants, and much more ridiculous, over consuming, gluttonous, and interesting things. There are trams in the hotels that take you to other hotels/casinos and overhead bridges that connect you to the other side of the strip. While in Vegas you are exposed to all types of people allowing for suburb people watching. When we arrived at the LV Strip we met up with Rob and Tadd who had been bit by the Las Vegas bug a few days before. We walked around observing the spectacle visiting New York New York, a hotel/casino, designed to completely replicate NYC, the Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, Caesar’s Palace. Before I even arrived in Nevada I had decided I would put $20.00 into gambling. Hey you’re only in Las Vegas once….or maybe you’re not!! I played this Wheel of Fortune game that was similar in strategy to Russian roulette. Rob, who became a LV expert in three days, coached me. I was hoping to make enough to pay off my student loans, but unfortunately I lost $18.00. It was really fun though and I can definitely see how addicting it could be for people. I hoped for a turn of luck in the slot machines (really I just wanted to pull the lever) and put a dollar in to that baby. No luck, that slot took my uno dinero. After our gambling attempts (Azar just played the penny slot as well) the guys wanted to hit the club. We went to Rok where I met a bouncer from Miami, which was a fun coincidence. More fun coincidences were that the guys met these two other men from Anchorage. After our crazy water guzzling (Azar and I were so famished from the Las Vegas desert sun we drank water all night) night in Las Vegas we went home and had fun spending time with Gina and Monica. Side note: in Las Vegas it is legal to walk around town with an open bottle of alcohol.
Sunday morning we woke up with a few hours of sleep under our wings and Gina and Monica took us to a Las Vegas classic restaurant, Hash House A Go Go. The portion sizes are astronomic!!! Our food was delicious and Hash House had a great vibe to it. The fresh squeezed orange juice was also a huge plus for me. We had a great time in Las Vegas and want to thank Gina and Monica for being such wonderful wonderful hosts! =)
Since we found out the Parks were free this week we decided to instead of pass by Zion onto Bryce, we would actually stop in and explore Zion. The entire drive up to southern Utah was a “WOW” experience and then once we got into Zion it was a ‘WOOOW WOOOW” experience. Again what magnificent, breath-taking beauty was before our eyes. We kept telling ourselves that it’s so incredible that you almost think it cannot be real. Since we did not have very long before sunset we drove through the park which included a 1.1 mile tunnel drive to Canyon View trail where we hiked up a mile to get a panoramic view of part of the mountains and canyon. I wished more than anything that we could have more time at Zion as well as all the parks we have visited. A day nor a few hours is never enough time. We are fortunate to have been able to enjoy the things we have seen and done, but promised ourselves we must return allowing a week or more for each Park. As the sun was setting we hiked back down to our car and left this astounding beauty. On the way down the road we spotted deer which was exciting. We unintentionally drove farther than we were planning to tonight and have stopped off somewhere at this adorable family owned motel. I have no idea what town, if you can even call it that, we are in. I must say that movies and t.v. shows give these in the middle of nowhere motels such bad reputations. I could not feel any safer here. I feel so safe I put my cooler outside to keep cool. Tomorrow morning we will travel shortly to Bryce National Park and then later in the day to Arches National Park.
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