So Las
Vegas was not an original stop on my list, but after getting chewed up and spit
out in Death Valley, I couldn’t bring myself to dive right into another desert
camping adventure. So Saturday morning
we (gratefully) said good-bye to Death Valley and hello to Sin City. Of course hotel rooms on a Saturday on The
Strip were far out of my financial reach BUT I did find a room at a La Quinta a
few streets away with a shuttle to the strip and pet friendly rooms. So it was
a deal and we settled in to relax for the afternoon.
That night
I washed up and put on clean clothes because I had reserved myself a ticket to
Cirque du Soilel’s The O show at the Bellagio. I took a shuttle, which dropped me off at Harrah’s Casino and then
walked a few blocks to the Bellagio. You
know what my favorite thing about Vegas is? Anything and everything goes. The trashy and the classy are all lined up
side by side begging for your hard earned bucks and boy do people get
creative. There seems to be no attitude
or action too outrageous or outlandish for the glitzy city, and Saturday night
I was hardy disappointed. I saw dunk
girls in their bikinis in bars barely
held on their feet by whom I assume to be their boyfriends. I saw cat woman and a sexy firewoman get in a
girl fight under a stairwell. I saw a
woman get mouthy with a bouncer who socked her in the nose; not to worry her
husband was kind enough to remove his shirt on the spot to soppy up her
bleeding nose.
Open containers abounded and more
than a few people had drinks in plastic tubes as tall as me or in the shape of
the Eifel Tower. I saw street
performers, streetwalkers, and street pukers, and while weaving my way through
the masses, I was asked if I wanted to go to a club, a rave, to buy weed, if I had any weed…and the list goes on. At the hotel, the blackjack tables were full
of serious looking men in sunglasses, and women dressed to the nines wandered
through the rows of slot machines. All I
could think was, “ My God, what a place.”
The show
was spectacular of course and I swear some of those performers don’t have a
single bone in their body the way they move. It was the aquatic show so the entire stage was covered in platforms
that go up and down and move in and out to adjust water levels. It was captivating to say the least, not to
mention I felt quite indulged to be in the Bellagio hotel in Vegas. Sadly they do not allow photography during
the show so you’ll just have to take my word for it. After the show I went to
buy a bottle of water and when the clerk rung me up for $10, I said I changed
my mind. $10??!!! For a bottle of
water?!!! F*** NO!!! Excuse my language, but hey, it’s Vegas, any thing goes. 
Man, do
drivers love to use their horns in Vegas, my God. On my way out of town Sunday
morning I couldn’t help thinking how much longer Vegas could be Vegas? It is one of the most opulent locations on
earth and it sits in the middle of a desert.
Water is supposed to be scarce but you’d never know it with fountain
shows all over the place. Judging from
the enormous power line system I saw driving in, they must ship electricity in
from all over the west coast, but that doesn’t stop the light up billboards,
signs, and gigantic outdoor TV’s form coming on every night. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed my stay, and its
fun to be part of such a unique society for a night, but it seems unsustainable
and wasteful at the same time. Before I
could get too deep into thought about the whole deal, I found myself in Arizona
at Mather Campground at the Grand Canyon. I set up camp and made sweet potatoes over the fire while Charlie dug
holes and kicked dirt onto my sweet potatoes…. L
Charlie and
I got an early start Monday morning and I rented a bike for half a day so we
could bike the trail along the South Rim.
Turns out it was a GREAT idea because we had a blast even though the
guys at the bike shop thought I was ridiculous for attaching a basket on the
front of the bike for Charlie to ride in.
I really have to hand it to the state of Arizona for doing such a
fabulous job in the area. The entire
park was so user friendly and there were accurate maps available pretty much
everywhere. Not to mention free parking
inside the park and easy access to everything. Two thumbs up for not getting
lost!!!
So anyway, we biked a 21-mile round
trip trail and took a million photos for about 4 hours. Afterward my legs felt like they were filled
with lead and I was beat. We had some
lunch and went for a short trail walk where we saw a small horny toad and
another tarantula (which Charlie barked at) along with countless elk and
beautiful vistas. After the walk I felt like I could barely stand so we watched
a short film at the visitors center on the history of the Canyon and hit the
gift shop before heading back to camp utterly exhausted.
Up again with the sun on Tuesday
and off to Santa Fe, New Mexico!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment