Cross Country 4
Saturday, September 19, 2009 at 02:06PM On Wednesday we drove through Zion (twice) and Bryce. Zion has a shuttle you can take further into the park, but we decided to just drive through and go to Bryce first, thinking we'd probably grab the shuttle when we came back through. So first, Bryce. This was an afterthought on our part. My grandpa found out we were going to be so close and insisted that we make time for it. Very worth it. I could have stared at this place all day if it hadn't started raining. Luckily we were at one of the last stops we planned to make before it did.
When we left the park, we drove straight back to Zion, a place we were very familiar with by now.
Then we got some bad news. Suddenly the car was making this awful noise, like the muffler was missing, and the Giraffe, who was driving, could feel a vibration from the engine. Shit. I was a spaz, I just could not handle the situation at the time. Luckily the Giraffe remained level-headed and eventually sorted something out. After way too many phone calls, we determined we should not drive it, we found a tow truck, found a place to have it towed and then waited. It was already evening, so there was no way anyone was going to look at the car that day, which meant we definitely weren't going to make it to our hotel in Vegas. We ended up spending the night in St. George, UT instead.
I was a disaster, but once we had a plan, I managed to relax and realize it could be so much worse. Once we got the car where it needed to be, we settled into our hotel room, ordered pizza, visited the hot tub and called it a night. Thankfully, all that was wrong was a rusted out exhaust pipe, but it was right near the engine so they said it was good we didn't drive it anymore. They had it fixed by noon on Thursday and we were on our way to Vegas, baby!
I hate to tell you this, but I wasn't a big fan of Vegas. I'll go ahead and admit right now that we were in our room by 10pm. I can see the appeal for a lot of people, but I'm not a late night crazy partier, so I didn't feel like I was missing anything. Even though I don't like to gamble or drink till all hours of the night, I thought I'd be intrigued by all the energy and lights and excitement in LV. Instead, I was hot and tired and crowded and annoyed.
When we checked into the Monte Carlo, the first thing I did was take a nap. The Giraffe played poker. Then we went to dinner at Cafe Ba Ba Reeba (with our restaurant.com coupon - first restaurant non-fail!) and walked back down the strip. It was cool for sure, but it all eventually looked the same. We stopped for a fountain show at the Bellagio, walked through some of the hotels and shunned about 924 people trying to give us naked lady trading cards. I hate those people so much. I started to feel sick, so when we got near the Monte Carlo, we decided to go in. The plan was to just change clothes and take a break for a minute, but once we got there we realized we weren't that enthusiastic about going back out. So we didn't.
Go ahead, make fun, call us lame. I just think next time I visit Vegas I need to have more money so I can play some slots without guilt and see a show. If there is a next time...
Reader Comments (5)
Loving all your recaps!
And you're not alone - I don't "get" Vegas either. I'm not a big gambler, I don't go to clubs, and I don't want to spend money on shows. The only thing I'd probably be into are restaurants, but haven't explored them at all.
I feel the exact same way about Vegas. Too hot, too many people, too much. I love drinking but I'd much rather do it at home then with a city of rowdy tourists.
Stunning - I'm so jealous of this gorgeous trip (even with the mishaps)!
All of your pictures are reaffirming my desire to visit the Grand Canyon!
Gorgeous pictures. What an amazing trip!
I am glad to hear that you weren't completely taken with Vegas. Everyone keeps telling me to go to Vegas (I've been told twice in the last week actually) and I really have no desire to go. Glad to know that I am not the only one who feels this way.