Day 1 – Las Vegas, Valley of the Fire State Park & Hoover Dam
October 3, 2009
Well, I am actually typing this on Day 2 – as we got in to late last night for me to finish the journal. However, let me just say Vegas is absolutely awesome! I have to come back for a weekend trip so we can really see it.
First we walked out of our hotel onto Fremont Street. We were waiting for the light show which happens every hour and the crowd was bad. I don’t do well in crowds and began to slightly freak – so I grabbed some alcoholic courage and knocked the edge off. After that I began to calm down and could enjoy the sights/sounds/people watching. OMG at the people – The girl in red leather chaps with nothing but black briefs under it had to be the best! But anyway – then the light show started.
They cut all the lights off on Fremont Street (that’s a lot of lights let me tell ya) and then overhead millions of lights are played to music. It is like watching 50 or 60 widescreen televisions at the same time – totally awesome. You’d have to see it.
Then we went back up int the room to drop off camera bags and make some slight changes in what we were carrying before we headed to the Strip. We didn’t get to really see it... We drove into it barely before parking at Caesar’s Palace. Caesar’s Palace is amazing! The architecture and the art work are just something to see. I can’t tell you ... We didn’t walk through all of Caesar’s Palace as it was almost 11 and we didn’t get to see the lobbies of the other buildings – but I saw enough to know I’m coming back to explore! I don’t care about the gambling – heck if I spend a $1 before I leave on gambling I’ll be surprised. However I want to see the lobbies and maybe catch a show. It is just ... well something I have to see more of!
October 4, 2009
Much of today was spent driving from Las Vegas to Flagstaff AZ where we will be bunking for the next few evenings. 5 Hour drive roughly – However we did get here in time to do a few things.
We arrived in the area around 3:30 and headed down toward Sedona planning to get to Cathedral Rock before sunset. We stopped several times to take pictures of the view – the rocks out here will amaze you. They will go from this deep sunset red to a white instantly. The sheer beauty and well strangeness of it astounds me.
As I said we stopped several times - One time was to look over Oak Creek Canyon, beautiful – however the wind will blow you away. It’s in the 50’s but the wind makes it feel like 40... It’s strong and brutal. Mama didn’t make it all the way out to the overlook of the Canyon; she went back to the warmth of the car :) However it was worth seeing and taking a picture of. Though she did get to see a bit of it when we started driving again – I wouldn’t have been able to get pics though so I’m glad we stopped.
We then headed on down to Sedona – the town looks like a tourist trap and we didn’t get to stop due to the sundown timeline... Mama had decided by this point to not do the “steep trail” as the internet tells us to go to Cathedral Rock – She said she would just wait. Boy am I glad she did – this wasn’t a trail! This was mountain climbing... easy mountain climbing but mountain climbing none the less. The elevation is higher which didn’t help any... We got about ½ up and I honestly didn’t think I could finish. I stopped after and set down... my lungs were screaming at me for air and tears were streaming down my face. Why was I crying? No clue – My body’s way of dealing with the torture I was putting it under I guess. But then Jack offered to take my camera up for me and bring me back some pictures... So I was up and going again. No way was I suffering through that for nothing...
We continued up the mountain. I’m serious there were several areas where you are putting a foot in a foot hold, grabbing something and pulling yourself up – there is no way to just walk...
We finally made it...To the top between two towering mountains and the view as out of this world amazing... The red rocks against the sky – made me think of cities. This was a place to commune with God. I know why they claim Sedona is spiritual... now I don’t buy into the metaphysical hype that surrounds the town, however this few- this spot – this quiet moment was humbling. To stand before what God has made and look over it......
We stayed until the sunset; snapping pictures – resting – chatting with a lady who lives in the area and was waiting on her daughter. The daughter was also off taking pictures; she was a bit more serious about it than we were... I was just glad I survived the trek up and praying we would survive the road down...
After the sunset we decided to quickly get off the mountain before we lost the light...We got down the worst part before the light was gone, but then the light was gone! The path markers are rock... well rock on top of rock isn’t easy to see at night. We didn’t have flash lights – stupid I know – so I started using the flash on my camera to see the way... We were lost ...meandering around hoping to spot the next trail marker. After about 30 minutes of searching, calling Mama to cut on the car lights and honk the horn... we finally made it back to the trail. Oddly enough during this entire time I wasn’t scared – maybe it was knowing we had the cell or knowing we were down the majority of it, or just knowing I survived the trip up but I was fairly calm... God is working in me that is for sure – 3 years ago I would have freaked and been ill as a hornet by time I got down off that mountain.
It was fun... it was tiring... it was worth it...I was craving steak! We left there and went to Flagstaff; checked into our hotel and went for an Outback steak! All in all things went great. We are having a good time! See you tomorrow with an update from the South Rim of the Canyon.
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