Southwest road trip
Southwest Road Trip 2008
July 5 - There was a ground delay because of bad weather in Jersey. Fuck New Jersey. At least we were blessed with the fact that the plane from Boston to Newark was the same plane taking us to Vegas so we didn’t miss our flight. The first flight was terrifying. I hadn’t drank enough and was scared the whole time. The second flight was great because I was hammered. We got to Vegas and rented a hotel room because we were tired and the time share didn’t start until the next day. Then we walked around Vegas and took pictures at the famous Vegas sign and watched the last water show for the Bellagio and crashed. Our rental car is a white grand prix that squeaks whenever you turn the wheel so we nicknamed it Casper.
July 6
We slept in and walked around Vegas a little but it was like 109 degrees so we couldn’t too much. We did hit up the New York, New York rollercoaster. We learned we were a half hour drive from the California border so we decided to high tail it there just to say we had been - Chris had never been before. However, the drive was considerably longer due to the 4th of July traffic. Then we headed to our Mesquite, NV time share. We then started our 1 hr trek to Zion Canyon and camped out there for the night. I absolutely love looking at the stars when there is no light pollution. To be able to see every single constellation and the Milky Way is something I adore.
July 7
I couldn’t sleep in so I woke up at 7 and started to get ready to hike. Chris begrudgingly woke up too. Hahahaha. Then we hiked the Emerald Pools trail. There are three sections to it: lower, middle and upper. The lower and middle ones were lame so I was hesitant to hike to the upper one since it was about 115 degrees outside. But it was more than worth it. The upper one is huge - kind of a deep, clear pond that was 50 degrees and felt so good after hiking up to it. I highly recommend this to anyone. It was much easier than the Angel’s landing one we did last year. Then we immediately drove the 2 hrs to Bryce Canyon. We hiked the Rim trail - same trail Meghan and I did 4 years earlier. It was so gorgeous. Bryce is still my favorite place on earth. We headed back to Mesquite to stay the night there.
July 8
We were gonna head to Lake Mead to go horseback riding but when we stopped at the Visitor’s Center, they told us that they no longer did those because the horses were dying from heat stroke. Apparently they stopped 7 years ago - but it’s still on their website. So we decided to head to the Grand Canyon. Took us about 7 hours. It took a little longer than normal because we stopped to walk around the top of the Hoover Dam. The water level was ridiculously low. Then we watched the sunset over the Grand Canyon because we got there lateish. We wanted to go out to a scenic spot where not a lot of people were so we did that and it was really cool but admittedly dangerous. Sleeping in the car is very uncomfortable and we couldn’t get a spot in the GC so we did it like 8 miles away in the Kaibab National forest. We even made a fire and has some smores.
July 9
We signed up to do a jeep tour of the bottom of the Canyon so we left early and the immediately took up to Grand Canyon Caverns which was lame. The tour guide was very corny and not at all entertaining. Then we down to the Colorado River at the base of the Canyon. The temperature reached 133 degrees. That’s not a typo. 100+ 33. That is the hottest I’ve ever been in. Ridiculous. So we swam around in the Colorado River which had to be 50 degrees - freezing but it felt great. It had to be one of my most favorite things to do ever. It was so hot and dry that I went in the water with clothes on and soaked myself and came out and was dry 5 minutes later. So worth it. Then we headed back to the GC and got some dinner and rented camping equipment so we didn’t have to sleep in the car but honestly it was just as uncomfortable. We made a campfire with the little kindling left in the area.
July 10
We started the drive back to Vegas and hit up the Lake Mead beaches on the way. The water was very warm and bright blue like the Caribbean. Chris and I grabbed some tickets for Tournament of the Kings later this night. CJ raved about it so we had to try it. We went shopping at a local outlet mall for some clothes to wear tomorrow. We ever napped in the Excaliber parking lot in the car. The show was very entertaining - I’d recommend it. We were sat in the Russian section which was very cool. Then we walked up the strip to Caesar’s Palace area which if you’ve ever been to Vegas, you know is a very long walk in heels. We did some karaoke at the Imperial Palace then called it a night at 3a and drove the 80 miles back to the timeshare.
July 11
We slept in today because we were tired from last night. Basically all we did was go to the pool and lounge around. Then we headed to Vegas and walked around. Our first stop was at LAX in the Luxor. I wanted to go to a famous night club. The night before I had bought a VIP pass for $5 from a guy on the street. Apparently it cost $35 per person to get into the club but the car would get us in free (well for the $5 I donated). I took a leap of faith because the guy could’ve ripped me off but it worked and we saved $65. Nice. The line to get in was huge but went fast so we only waiting 30 minutes. However, once inside we found out why the night club passes were available - because each drink cost $10… for small portions. Not a fan. We left after like an hour because it was packed so we could barely move and because Chris wasn’t drunk enough to dance so we took a cab to a strip club. What? I’ve never been to one. It was all nude so they didn’t serve alcohol and I definitely saw some sketchy things-- in a backroom by accident-- that I shouldn’t have seen. Whoops. Then we went back to karaoke and sang until it closed at 3. Then we headed to Caesar’s Palace for some last minute gambling then headed back to Mesquite at 5a. So tired.
July 12
Last day here. Our flight leaves at 11:40p. I sunbathed while Chris recovered then we packed up and checked out. We headed to Vegas and walked around a bit. Then we decided to go to the airport early and low and behold they had us get on an early flight. It was 2 hours earlier and we had 45 minutes to catch the flight and there were huge lines. We nearly missed it. However we were seated next to a family where the mom had never flown before and they had a 6 year old and a 2 year old who could not stop crying and screaming. It was horrible. I even saw another plane go by us really close - freaked me out. It was a red eye flight. We got to Newark and had a 2 hour layover. We fell asleep on the benches there. Then, we boarded the smallest plane I’ve ever been on. It was a one seat row with 2 seat rows on the other side. Crazy. Might as well have been a prop plane. I got no sleep on either flight because the first flight had no air-conditioning and I was hot as hell. Annnnd that was all.
July 5 - There was a ground delay because of bad weather in Jersey. Fuck New Jersey. At least we were blessed with the fact that the plane from Boston to Newark was the same plane taking us to Vegas so we didn’t miss our flight. The first flight was terrifying. I hadn’t drank enough and was scared the whole time. The second flight was great because I was hammered. We got to Vegas and rented a hotel room because we were tired and the time share didn’t start until the next day. Then we walked around Vegas and took pictures at the famous Vegas sign and watched the last water show for the Bellagio and crashed. Our rental car is a white grand prix that squeaks whenever you turn the wheel so we nicknamed it Casper.
July 6
We slept in and walked around Vegas a little but it was like 109 degrees so we couldn’t too much. We did hit up the New York, New York rollercoaster. We learned we were a half hour drive from the California border so we decided to high tail it there just to say we had been - Chris had never been before. However, the drive was considerably longer due to the 4th of July traffic. Then we headed to our Mesquite, NV time share. We then started our 1 hr trek to Zion Canyon and camped out there for the night. I absolutely love looking at the stars when there is no light pollution. To be able to see every single constellation and the Milky Way is something I adore.
July 7
I couldn’t sleep in so I woke up at 7 and started to get ready to hike. Chris begrudgingly woke up too. Hahahaha. Then we hiked the Emerald Pools trail. There are three sections to it: lower, middle and upper. The lower and middle ones were lame so I was hesitant to hike to the upper one since it was about 115 degrees outside. But it was more than worth it. The upper one is huge - kind of a deep, clear pond that was 50 degrees and felt so good after hiking up to it. I highly recommend this to anyone. It was much easier than the Angel’s landing one we did last year. Then we immediately drove the 2 hrs to Bryce Canyon. We hiked the Rim trail - same trail Meghan and I did 4 years earlier. It was so gorgeous. Bryce is still my favorite place on earth. We headed back to Mesquite to stay the night there.
July 8
We were gonna head to Lake Mead to go horseback riding but when we stopped at the Visitor’s Center, they told us that they no longer did those because the horses were dying from heat stroke. Apparently they stopped 7 years ago - but it’s still on their website. So we decided to head to the Grand Canyon. Took us about 7 hours. It took a little longer than normal because we stopped to walk around the top of the Hoover Dam. The water level was ridiculously low. Then we watched the sunset over the Grand Canyon because we got there lateish. We wanted to go out to a scenic spot where not a lot of people were so we did that and it was really cool but admittedly dangerous. Sleeping in the car is very uncomfortable and we couldn’t get a spot in the GC so we did it like 8 miles away in the Kaibab National forest. We even made a fire and has some smores.
July 9
We signed up to do a jeep tour of the bottom of the Canyon so we left early and the immediately took up to Grand Canyon Caverns which was lame. The tour guide was very corny and not at all entertaining. Then we down to the Colorado River at the base of the Canyon. The temperature reached 133 degrees. That’s not a typo. 100+ 33. That is the hottest I’ve ever been in. Ridiculous. So we swam around in the Colorado River which had to be 50 degrees - freezing but it felt great. It had to be one of my most favorite things to do ever. It was so hot and dry that I went in the water with clothes on and soaked myself and came out and was dry 5 minutes later. So worth it. Then we headed back to the GC and got some dinner and rented camping equipment so we didn’t have to sleep in the car but honestly it was just as uncomfortable. We made a campfire with the little kindling left in the area.
July 10
We started the drive back to Vegas and hit up the Lake Mead beaches on the way. The water was very warm and bright blue like the Caribbean. Chris and I grabbed some tickets for Tournament of the Kings later this night. CJ raved about it so we had to try it. We went shopping at a local outlet mall for some clothes to wear tomorrow. We ever napped in the Excaliber parking lot in the car. The show was very entertaining - I’d recommend it. We were sat in the Russian section which was very cool. Then we walked up the strip to Caesar’s Palace area which if you’ve ever been to Vegas, you know is a very long walk in heels. We did some karaoke at the Imperial Palace then called it a night at 3a and drove the 80 miles back to the timeshare.
July 11
We slept in today because we were tired from last night. Basically all we did was go to the pool and lounge around. Then we headed to Vegas and walked around. Our first stop was at LAX in the Luxor. I wanted to go to a famous night club. The night before I had bought a VIP pass for $5 from a guy on the street. Apparently it cost $35 per person to get into the club but the car would get us in free (well for the $5 I donated). I took a leap of faith because the guy could’ve ripped me off but it worked and we saved $65. Nice. The line to get in was huge but went fast so we only waiting 30 minutes. However, once inside we found out why the night club passes were available - because each drink cost $10… for small portions. Not a fan. We left after like an hour because it was packed so we could barely move and because Chris wasn’t drunk enough to dance so we took a cab to a strip club. What? I’ve never been to one. It was all nude so they didn’t serve alcohol and I definitely saw some sketchy things-- in a backroom by accident-- that I shouldn’t have seen. Whoops. Then we went back to karaoke and sang until it closed at 3. Then we headed to Caesar’s Palace for some last minute gambling then headed back to Mesquite at 5a. So tired.
July 12
Last day here. Our flight leaves at 11:40p. I sunbathed while Chris recovered then we packed up and checked out. We headed to Vegas and walked around a bit. Then we decided to go to the airport early and low and behold they had us get on an early flight. It was 2 hours earlier and we had 45 minutes to catch the flight and there were huge lines. We nearly missed it. However we were seated next to a family where the mom had never flown before and they had a 6 year old and a 2 year old who could not stop crying and screaming. It was horrible. I even saw another plane go by us really close - freaked me out. It was a red eye flight. We got to Newark and had a 2 hour layover. We fell asleep on the benches there. Then, we boarded the smallest plane I’ve ever been on. It was a one seat row with 2 seat rows on the other side. Crazy. Might as well have been a prop plane. I got no sleep on either flight because the first flight had no air-conditioning and I was hot as hell. Annnnd that was all.