Days 7, 8, and 9

Internet has returned for awhile, so I'm posting quickly before I lose it again!

Day 7 - A driving day   June 12, 2013

While we spent the night in Albuquerque, we had no plans to explore here. It was just a stop-over between Carlsbad and the Grand Canyon.  So, after having a quick breakfast and packing up the camper, we were ready to leave. I’m glad that Ed looked at the TripTik that morning, because he discovered that the address that we supplied AAA was not the correct destination. When looking at the map further we found even more disturbing news.  I need to digress and explain.

A month before our trip, when we were finalizing our plans, Ed had thought it would be a great idea to camp deep in the Grand Canyon. I had found a campground within the Kaibab National Forest that was pretty close to the entrance to the South Rim entrance. We would have to forego electricity and rough it, but this was the part of the adventure he was looking forward to most. But when he called to book a site at that location for two nights, all of the reserved spaces were filled and they only had first-come, first-served spots. I didn’t think it would be a very good idea to chance it in the busiest season at the busiest entry point of the Canyon. While I was finishing up grad. school and the end of the year teaching craziness, Ed was happy to find another alternative for this leg of our trip. A day or so later, he had a spot reserved for the two nights. He paid the fees and got the reservation number. Perfect. But, here is the issue. When we got the map out in Albuquerque (the morning of the day we were to arrive no less!), we find that he made a reservation at Jacob Lake which is near the North Rim; it would add 4 more hours to our trip! Gulp. No thank you. I did not like the thought of just arriving at the most visited national park in the US and hope to find a place to camp.

I got the Mi-Fi (our wireless Hotspot that we bought before we set out on our trip – thank goodness for modern technology) and searched for a campground close to the southern entrance to the park. I was so happy to find a KOA about 30 miles south of the South Rim in the town of Williams that had an opening. I booked it immediately. Crisis averted. The kids were happy, too, since we were no longer going to be roughing it.

As it was, we ended up driving through more barren landscapes in very hot, dry conditions. We had no desire to stop and get out and explore at any point during our 6 hour drive, except for a quick stop at the Arizona Visitor center for a photo and the two times we needed to get more gas. When we were only 10 miles away from our final destination, we pulled off in Flagstaff for some dinner. We found a 50s themed diner in the AAA book that we decided to go to. It was getting late and there was quite a bit of traffic to maneuver around, so Ed was pretty cranky. I think 5 hours of driving in one stretch is his limit. We found the Galaxy Diner and enjoyed our meals (especially the shakes- the had 100 flavors to choose from!).

After getting to the campground at dusk, we were all bushed, but we persevered to get it all set up with flashlights and lanterns in hand. Once it was complete, Ed and the boys hung out and relaxed, while Ali and I decided to head into the town of Williams (about 7 miles away) to get supplies from Safeway (a popular grocery store in the west that Ed and I are very familiar with). We picked up some supplies and food for a few more meals/snacks to last a couple more days. We especially wanted fresh bread and fresh fruit. Ali and I were pleasantly surprised to find the town of Williams to be quite quaint. The heart of the town may have only been about 5 or 6 blocks long, the famous Route 66 ran right through the middle of it. We made a mental note that if we had time the following evening to come back, we would. Ed and the boys were already in bed when we came back, so Ali and I stayed up a short while longer trying to check emails/facebook with very spotty reception. We gave in to our exhaustion soon afterwards.

Day 8 – Grand Canyon    June 13, 2013

We woke up fairly early and got ready for our day. We ate English muffins, cereal, and/or bakery muffins to make it easy on clean-up.  Ali and I got the cooler packed so we could have a picnic lunch while we were away. Ian started complaining of not feeling well, but he couldn’t pinpoint what the problem was. We were hoping that it wasn’t the water from the previous campsite, since he chose to fill his cup up with the sink water instead of our bottled water that day. I gave him some Ibuprofin and kept my fingers crossed that he would feel better. As we drove to the canyon at 8:45, about 40 minutes away, Ian rested in the back seat of the van, hoping for the medicine to work.

We stopped at the National Geographic Visitor Center to find out if we needed to pre-purchase tickets, but with our Annual Park Pass that we had purchased prior to this trip, they told us that we could go through the express lane to the entry gate and just show our ID with the Pass and we could beat the long lines. When we arrived at the gate, we were very surprised to see that there was no one in the express lane and just a handful of cars in the others. The AAA book, the internet, and even the workers at the Visitor Center had warned us that it was going to be extremely crowded and to expect long lines. Wrong! After finding a spot in the first parking lot, I put water, some almonds, and my camera in a backpack and walked past the visitor center. We were amazed to see how commercial it was: Book stores, bike rentals, a restaurant, an information center, a spring water filling station, etc. Once we walked passed all of the buildings and headed to the first overlook, we finally got our first glimpse; we were in awe of the view. We knew it was going to be spectacular, but we didn’t know exactly how vast and beautiful it really was. And, yes, there were many other visitors, but it is the Grand Canyon, definitely large enough for many people to come explore it without running out of room! As we began to walk down the path to the next overlook, Ian sat on a bench in the shade, looking quite pale, and said that he was feeling much worse than he had earlier that morning. Great! This was one of my biggest fears of this trip, that one of the kids would get sick. He said he’d relax on the bench for a while and hope to get better. That wasn’t going to work. Ed and I walked back to the Visitor’s Center, leaving Ali and Cameron to stay with Ian. I was hoping that there may be a little store that might sell medicine in all of the building we passed by earlier. There was a store, but it was a gift store. No medicine. But, they did direct us to the Market Store in the park about a mile away. Ed and I decided it would be best not to walk, so we all drove to the store together. I was in shock to see the size of the store; it was a full blown grocery store with a coffee bar and restaurant on either end. What an assortment of medicines they had, too. It took me awhile to find something I felt would be appropriate for Ian’s symptoms, which was mostly a headache and nausea. I got him something specific for nausea as well as some ginger ale which I new could also help. The box said it was effective in 4 minutes- my kind of medicine! And sure enough, shortly after chewing the tablets and drinking the very large bottle of Ginger Ale, he did start to feel better. We decided to drive around some of the loop and see some of the views from the van, while Ian (hopefully) recovered. We came across some of the lodges in the park. Ed attempted to find a parking spot so he could go in and look, but it was pretty confusing to find where the actual entrance was let alone where one was supposed to park. Ed didn’t think it was worth the hassle searching anymore, so we headed back to the eastern side of the South Rim, the Desert View. We thought that this 25 mile road would be good to find a Ian started to feel much better. It may have not worked in 4 minutes, but less than half an hour was better than I could have hoped. With every bend we rounded, another stunning view awaited us. Over and over again we would say, “Wow” and “Spectacular.” The kids started to make fun of us, quoting some movie line about old folks only ever wanting to do is stare at nature, or something like that.  I guess they weren’t enjoying it to the same extent we were.

We stopped at a picnic site along the Desert View route and made sandwiches, had chips, potato salad, and drinks. It would have been nicer if we had a more direct view of the canyon, but nevertheless it was still nice, especially since Ian was feeling well enough to eat. Just before we had left the visitor center, Ali had spotted a poster with warning symptoms similar to what Ian had, saying that it could be signs of heat exhaustion.  Whatever it was, we were glad that it had subsided and he was better.

We headed back to the campground and as we were leaving we spotted a group of elk wandering around near the roadway. I insisted that Ed turn around so I could get a photo. By the time we found a spot to turn our rig around, they were hanging out in the shade much further away from the road. I snapped a few photos anyway.

After dinner we decided to head into Williams that Ali and I had briefly seen the night before. The town had a fifties them, with many people walking up and down the sidewalks with doors to stores open, people sitting outdoors in restaurants and nightclubs listening to various bands playing. There was even a zip line you could ride, which Ali and I would have liked to ride, but we didn’t have enough time. We picked up a Route 66 shirt for Ed and took a few photos before calling it a night.

Day 9 – Las Vegas  June 14

After taking showers and having pancakes and/or cereal, we headed west to Nevada. It was a 4 hour drive from one extreme to the next. From one of the Seven Wonders of the World to the glitz and glamour of Vegas.  For most of the drive it was once again hot, dry, and desolate. I guess it’s to be expected considering we drove through the Mohave Desert and Death Valley. I’m glad that we drove right through except for the quick stop for gas and a last minute stop at the Hoover Dam. We decided that we’d just pull off of the freeway to see Lake Mead (beside the dam) instead of going through the security checkpoints, driving to the special lot, and going through the orientation.  Somehow we missed the Visitor center for Nevada, so we stopped at the one for Las Vegas. I’ve been trying to take our photo each time we enter a new state, so the ladies inside the visitor center accommodated us by taking it for us with a illuminated sign and then gave Ali and Ian a Vegas poster. Just minutes before we got into Vegas, the landscape changed. It went from the dry desert to a vibrant city. Amazing!

We checked into our rooms at Circus Circus located in the tower beside the main hotel and casino. The lady who registered us, told us to park on the 4th floor of the parking garage, since many guests don’t use that floor to park and there would be enough space for our van and pop-up to fit in. We each took our suitcases, pillows, and laptops from the parking garage to the 3^rd floor (the main level of the casino). Then we turned the corner to another set of elevators and went up to the 18^th floor. We had adjoining rooms with the kids. Great view!

We were hungry so we found an advertisement for the Pizzeria restaurant within the hotel (there were many restaurants inside!) and decided that would be dinner. We made our way through the hotel, maneuvering around gamblers, smoking and drinking guests, and other people wandering through. It almost seemed like a Disney set, with everything imaginable available. Just after we place our pizza order, over the intercom we hear an announcement that the owners of a Honda Odyssey van with our license plate number should call the hotel operator. Just great!

I wandered around the casino and through the crowds until I found a security guard who directed me to a hotel phone, right beside our restaurant. I spoke to the operator who directed me to security. Apparently we weren’t supposed to park where the registration clerk told us to. The officer told me to finish our meal and to call him back when we were done. We knew beforehand that the boys were going to get all day passes for the Adventuredome, a theme park located inside our hotel, so we brought them there before meeting the security officer by our van. He had us move the pop-up out of the parking garage and to an oversized lot next door. Once we got it situated, Ed went back to the hotel to check on the boys and chill out in the room. I think he missed the TV, especially the remote control!

Ali had plans to drive to a town 20 minutes away so she could take photos of some high schools and a smoothie shop, all frequented by members of her favorite band. It was a challenge getting through the traffic, something we hadn’t had to deal with since leaving Atlanta. The nearby town of Summerlin was upscale and had the beautiful backdrop of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

We got back to the hotel just in time to get ready for the Beatles Love Cirque du Soleil show. I was surprised to find Ed still in bed watching the tube and Cameron in his room playing his DS. I couldn’t believe that we bought an all-day pass for the boys to play in the Adventuredome and he wasn’t there playing any more. He said that he got bored! By the time that Ali and I were ready to leave for The Mirage, Ian had returned as well. When I told him how much the passes were, he decided to go back and ride the rides some more, but not Cameron. Oh, well.

Ali and I drove through a lot of traffic in and around the strip trying to find where to park. After making two loops around the hotel, we found the correct entrance and made our way inside. It’s funny how it looked so much like our hotel. Our tickets were held at the Will Call desk and we got into the line that was already forming. There was a Beatles/Cirque gift shop right beside the line and entrance to the theater. We grabbed two sodas and a popcorn to share ($21- yikes! I guess I shouldn’t be surprised) and found our seats in the third row back from the stage. Nice! We enjoyed the pre-show Cirque acts before the magic happened. It’s hard to put into words how thrilling it is to see them in person. No matter how many times we see one of their shows, it’s mind-blowing each and every time. And, since we really love the Beatles music, this show was even more spectacular than the others. It was hard to decide where to look since so many acts occurred at the same time. Aerialists were spinning, dancers were twirling, lights flashing, acrobats were tumbling, climbing, jumping, etc. all to the beat of a Beatles song, and each with a story to be told. I think that even if I saw the show another dozen times, I would see many new things each time. When it was all over, Ali and I sat in our seats in amazement. It almost seemed like a magical dream. Loved every minute of it and was really hoping for an encore. After exiting the theater we found a cute show-themed t-shirt in the nearby gift shop for Ali.

The ride back to Circus Circus was just as confusing as the one to The Mirage. We circled around a second time here, too, and found the garage to park in. Ed and the boys were already asleep when we got back, but Ali and I were still elated from the show. We decided to walk up and down the strip so I could find a Vegas shirt for me. What a hopping place! Just like I had imagined – lights flashing, elegant shops, seedy nightclubs, people everywhere. There were a few inebriated people weaving around the sidewalk, but for the most part we felt pretty safe walking around.  We came across a souvenir shop with a variety of shirts, and I found one I liked to commemorate our visit there. We walked back to the hotel and found an entrance even close than the one we exited from. It was pretty late by the time we made it to bed.

I have been working on the County Teacher of the Year paperwork a little almost every night on our trip, but it’s been difficult finding the time to concentrate on such philosophical questions. It was actually due today and I still had one more question to answer. I was hoping that one of these days I would actually get an internet connection so I could submit the paper (It ended up being 14 pages!) and post this blog, but it would just have to wait until tomorrow. I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer.