I've been there once before--11 years ago with my Dad on our 'bonding' trip--and I'll tell you what: it's not changed one bit. It's still a magnificent piece of nature. I love it so much, for some reason. Yeah, I know it's a giant gaping hole in the earth, but it was created by nature, and it lets you know how small you actually are. The road there was another story all together. They closed off one lane of highway, and had 2 directions of traffic going on it, lead by a 'pilot car' or a pace car for you race fans. We lost about an hour because said 'pilot car' was taking about 10-20 cars at a time around a 10 minute drive around this mountain in order to get the opposite direction's traffic where they needed to go. Needless to say, it was annoying.
We got bamboozled into stopping at one of the little Navajo art huts on the way to Grand Canyon. Who was so crafty as to lure us? Our gluttonous stomachs. I saw a sign for "Buffalo Jerky: Next Right" so I stopped. "How was the Buffalo Jerky?" I don't know, I wasn't about to spend $13 on 4 pieces that wouldn't last me the 30 remaining minutes to Grand Canyon National Park.
Making our way through the rest of Kaibab National Forest, we got to the GCNP and forked over the $25 fee to set foot in the park. Looking in the maps, we opted to stop at the watchtower to see the Grand Canyon at 360-degrees (that's geometrical, not temperature, but it felt close.) It was breathtaking. That's the only (compound) word I can use as an adjective without a thesaurus. Vince was even taken aback at the grandeur of the 'big friggin' hole in the ground'.
We made a few more stops at some different vantage points, even pulling over and making our own. Vince and I utilized nature as a tripod at, where else, Moran (pronounced: Moe-Ran) Peak and snapped a picture of the 2 Morons (pronounced: Moe-Ron-zz). After said vantage point, we made a couple more stops and even brought the gnome out for some photo ops.
Bye bye Grand Canyon, it was great to see you again. Hope I can come back again, maybe less than 11 years, eh?
Our voyage continued west to Las Vegas, Nevada, and we were going to see one of my most favourite people in the whole world: Mom-Mom! That's right, my lovely grandma, aptly named "Mom-Mom", some of you may know her from such evenings as "Jordan's College Graduation Party" or "Sneezing after sweet food lady", or "Madam Voice of Reason"..I know her as Mom-Mom, and she's one of a kind...but I digress..
After getting out of GCNP and regaining cell reception, I checked my 8 voice mails and returned my Mom-Mom's phone call. I told her we should be in Henderson, NV around 8pm. She asked me to pick up dinner at In-N-Out Burger, which was like pulling teeth with me, I'm sure...
We filled up the tank, cleaned the windshield, and Vince took the wheel for the remainder of the day. I shot a bunch of photos, none of which included any freakin' cacti. I love cartoons, especially the old Looney Tunes where Wile E Coyote chases the Roadrunner around the desert (Arizona). What do you see (other than a slew of Acme-brand dynomite and anvils)? Rocks, dirt/sand, mountains/cliffs, and a slew of cacti! Where are all the cacti? Not even ONE cactus, and you'd think "who cares?" Well, my loyal readers, I do.
Moving on...
We edged closer to Nevada, but in order to get there, we must cross the Hoover Dam. I completely forgot that the border of Arizona and Nevada were ON the dam. Vince was stoked to see it, for some reason unbeknownst to me, but cool, whatever gets his boat afloat. I was at Hoover Dam 11 years ago on afformentioned 'bonding trip' with Dad, and there were some changes I've noticed.
- There was a security post about 10-miles prior to entrance of dam. [upon exiting, we noticed an identically plotted security post]
- They're currently building a by-pass bridge going OVER the whole dam(n) area.
Getting out of the car a few times at Hoover Dam for some pictures was like stepping into a dry-sauna. The pictures were difficult to take, as the sun wasn't in the most opportune location. I will say this about digital cameras, though: shooting into the sun, you get a percentage of decent looking photos if you time it right. Try shooting into the sun with film: you'll ruin your entire roll. Crossing the Nevada border, I had forgotten that we gain an hour for being in the Pacific Time Zone. So, I called M2, and informed her that we were going to be an hour earlier than I'd initially stated. She didn't mind, nor did we.
The anticipation grew as we headed through Boulder City, NV and got onto I-215 towards Las Vegas. Delilah was a real trooper, helping us find In-N-Out on Eastern Ave., then back on the I-215 to Mom-Mom's in Henderson. When we showed up with our case of food, we were very excited to eat. Vince had a 'double-double', a cheeseburger (animal style) and fries. I had 2 cheeseburgers (animal style) and fries. Mom-Mom had a burger (animal style) and fries. We were all quiet and munching for at least 20-minutes. Chatting for another 30-minutes or so, we caught up and made plans for the next day.
Vince hopped in the shower and I made plans for us to see my buddy, Johnny, at Tailspin, a bar in Henderson. He runs a 'free rock jam' every Tuesday night. After a couple of beers, I ended up on stage rocking a few tunes. It was easier knowing there was only 4 people in the whole bar. It was great to see him, and hear that he's been busy playing music everyday. He moved from Chicago to Las Vegas for a couple reasons, but I can definitely agree that he's found more opportunity for himself out West.
After leaving Tailspin at 2AM, we were still restless and wanted some action. We headed to Green Valley Ranch to play some blackjack. I love blackjack, and no matter when anyone says "Oh, I don't gamble." My response is always: "Neither do I. I play cards for money."
Blackjack, as well as poker, is 95% skill and 5% luck. It's statistical and knowing what moves to make when. This is all that I will say because just as it is with religion and politics, everyone has their own thoughts. The only thing more that I'll say is that I know when to walk away from a table, and I walked away with quadrupling my buy-in.
Heading back to M2's, we definitely felt the exhaustion setting in. Bedtime was the best end to a great day.
Until next chapter, rock 'n' roll!
-Uncle J.
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