Ketch Up! - Grand Canyon-Vegas-LA

I figured Beth had written enough, so it's my turn to enlighten all the minds who tune into this blog.

After our short and fast week in the upper altitudes of SLC, We were heading into a week layoff. Being out west, a trip back east and then returning west again didnt make much sense to us. So after a little planning, we decided to drive to LA with some pit stops on the way.

Monday morning we picked up the car, packed it all up, and took off for the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. A beautiful drive down 15, 89, 89a and Highway 67 brought us to the Grand Canyon Lodge at the North Rim.

We checked into our little cabin and went down to watch the sunset. After watching the sunset, we had dinner at the lodge, followed by some star gazing. It was amazing how dark it got at night and how bright the stars were. Very beautiful.

The next morning we grabbed some breakfast and went for a hike on the Bright Angel Trail, a 45 minute hike out to an outcropping on the rim. It was a nice hike and gave us some spectacular views.

After a small snack and some refreshment we packed up the car for Leg 2 of the journey. (After a quick stop in the Grand Canyon gift shop... christmas presents anyone?!)

A 70 mile retracing of our steps set us on our way to Las Vegas. Another beautiful drive took us along the way. I will say, the most enjoyable part of the trip from Salt Lake City to the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas was the down hill nature of the journey. 10-20 mile stretches of 6% downhill grades, makes for amazing gas mileage. At one point we took a long winding road down into a valley, where out of the rocks came a bustling little suburb. We stoped for lunch before continuing onto Las Vegas. Shortly after 4pm we rolled into Las Vegas proper and arrived at the Luxor Hotel. We checked in, and took a nap. Beth was feeling under the weather.

That evening we set out for dinner at the MGM Grand. Our original plan was to eat at this italian place, owned by Emeril. Turns out, not so italian, more so, cajun fish house. Oh well. We went next door to Pearl, a fantastic chinese restaurant. We got.... Chicken Dumplings to start, followed by Almond Crusted Lemon Chicken, Sweet & Sour Pork, and Garlic Stir Fried Asparagus. Now, truth be told, we had to wait, quite a while for our food. We didnt complain, but we were just curious why our food was taking so long. As soon as the waiter realized we hadn't gotten our food he was extremely apologetic and got right to getting our food. (Plus, the food was amazing, and totally worth the wait!) In return for our patience we received two delicious deserts on the house. I'll describe em to you next time i see you, Beth says im rambling. Onto the next phase. ( we also went to Wolfgang Puck's restaurant at the MGM Grand and it was awesome!... ok moving on...)

On Wednesday morning, Beth went and had a spa morning. She got a manicure and pedicure at the Bellagio spa and then returned to our hotel for a massage. I slept in and then ventured around the casino at our hotel.

On Wednesday night we went to see Cirque Du Soleil's "O", their amazing water show. It was mind blowing. The set, the cast, the lighting, the rigging, the automation, the water aspect. It was an amazing spectacle to behold. It was a high point of my theatre going experience. Anyone who has the chance to go to Las Vegas, must see this show. Pure genious.

(The random man taking this picture apparently did not understand that we were standing in front of the "O" sign because we wanted it in the picture.)

After the experience Wednesday night, we went home, and discussed the idea of getting tickets for Cirque's "Ka". Thursday morning, I woke up and called the concierge and he got us tickets for "Ka" 6th row center. Amazing. This was their martial arts show. Probably even more technically spectacular that "O" But not as entertaining. Ka featured a 50' deep abyss which one could not see into, and a 70-80' high proscenium. Once again, if i ever run into you, i will explain to you the marvel that is "O" and "Ka".

So during our visit to Las Vegas, Beth learned to play Blackjack. I must say, in addition to being a fast learner, she also was a fairly good winner, if not downright lucky. She had a good streak going, but hit some cold cards on our last night and ended up even. I too ended up pretty much even.

After our adventure in Las Vegas, we grabbed the car and took off for L.A. A very very boring drive. Flat, if not somewhat uphill, and killer on gas mileage. So we got into downtown around 4 and checked in to the hotel.

Beth wasn't feeling too great, since the cold she had ignore during our Grand Canyon and Vegas adventure was finally catching up to her. We pretty much just crashed, ordered room service and watched TV all night. It was 4th of July, and we didn't feel like hunting down fireworks, but we were able to see some out the window of our hotel!

Ok... this is Beth taking over now...

Saturday we pretty much just hung around the hotel relaxing, and then went to my cousin Kris and Mark's house in Simi Valley for dinner. We had a FANTASTIC time and a DELICIOUS dinner! Especially the homemade peach pie. Also, we played Wii and hunted for creatures in the back yard.

But the most amazing part of the whole night...

(are you sitting down Mom and Dad R?)

BRIAN ATE AN ARTICHOKE! AND LIKED IT!

Now, i'm not just talking about an artichoke heart. I'm talking the whole shabang. It looked like this...

It was really great seeing Kris - who I hadn't seen in almost 10 years! - and so nice to finally meet her husband Mark.

Sunday, Brian and I went exploring a bit around Los Angeles. We went to 3rd Street in Santa Monica to do some shopping and then had dinner at Mr. Marcel's where the one and only Hannah Johnson works! She didn't know we were coming so it was really funny when we showed up. The food was great and the service was EXCEPTIONAL! After that we went to see "Wall-E" at the movie theatre across from our hotel and then headed home.

Brian started work the next day and our whirlwind layoff week was over.

More on LA to come...