Monday, May 30, 2005
I could have spent 5 hours in Vegas and seen all I needed to see. Vegas is not the place to go to if you don't care two flips about gambling. Sounds obvious. I was hoping the people watching and the hotel hoping would be enough. And my god was it HOT. I know I was looking forward to the heat, but an entire week of triple-digit highs was hard to keep up with. If you didn't sweat outdoors, you did as soon as you entered an air-conditioned casino - but at that point it was more like you were condensing rapidly. You know it's out of control when the meteorologist calls a high of 99F a "cool down."
"O" was amazing as expected. So was the brunch buffet at the new Wynn. They had congee, and Thai lychees.
Left: South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Right: Red sand at Zion.
The best part was the drive to the Grand Canyon and Zion. I didn't plan well for this trip at all, so we didn't have time for hikes, which would have been perfect because the temps there were a good 20 degrees cooler. We drove from Vegas to the South Rim, stopping at Hoover Dam along the way, quick detour along Route 66, and made it to the Canyon in time for sunset.
Zion in fact was a last minute "detour" - I hadn't realized how close it was. Instead of driving back to Vegas we drove East around the GC, through Navajo Country, through the Painted Desert, and into Utah. It was a beautiful drive. Had I planned this through we would have spent less time in Vegas and more time at the national parks.
Duck had a mild case of food poisoning from a suspect hamburger at a restaurant in the Canyon and puked on the side of the highway in Utah. First time that stretch of dry dry desert had seen any precipitation in weeks.
As far as knitting goes, I brought with me the other Adrienne V project, and did a few inches. Lots of cables and yo's to keep things interesting. Pics later. As far as Dianne goes, I will have her finished TODAY, fingers crossed.
Filed Under: Life | Travel | Las Vegas