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Friday, March 23, 2012

March 22nd & 23rd

Oi vey, I have two days to sum up. Well, the first day was mostly travel, and the second day was mostly travel as well. So it shouldn't be that bad.

March 22nd

Last day at the Grand Canyon. Last day in Arizona. Last day in the Dodge Charger. We got up at 9ish, checked out, had breakfast, and were out of there at 10:15. Or was it 9:15? No I think it was 10:15. The snow was quite melted. Had we arrived a couple days later, it probably would have been typical Grand Canyon. No ice paths for us. At least it made the returning landscape different. Mom from from the Grand Canyon to Williams, to Seligman, and in Kingman we traded off. We didn't take Route 66, and since we were going 75 most of the way, we made excellent time. I drove from Kingman to Hoover Dam. I put the window down, had my arm resting in the warmth, and we blasted whatever tunes we could find that were worth blasting (which weren't many). As we drove west, we shed layers. My cutoffs did not go unused. We returned the car a day early, so that we wouldn't have to drive in downtown Las Vegas or fuss with returning it in the morning or deal with parking at the hotel. I'll miss that Charger. It was fun.

A shuttle took us to Bally's, and alas the Internet was not included with the room (for record, the Luxor and Grand Canyon Inn had internet included, Yavapai Lodge and Bally's did not). Still, it was a very nice room. We watched some television and decided that since it was early, we would go and down some Vegas stuff. We (and by we I mean Mom) splurged on tickets for the 9:30 Beatles Love show, and so we had three hours to kill. We walked around down towards the Mirage (where the Love show is). Got some McDonald's. Went to the Will Call and picked up our tickets. Walked the length of the underground store circuit contained within the Mirage. I accidentally pushed the service button on a slot machine. Mom got some Starbucks. Finally, it was time for the Cirque Du Soleil : The Beatles : LOVE shoooow! The ushers had costumes, and even though we were seated near the back, they were still good seats because a Cirque Du Soleil show is never just on stage. There were skaters on ramps, people on trampolines, trapeze artists, things emerging and appearing from under the stage, and just...it was beautiful. Hard to sum up the circus show. Beatles music. Talented dancers. Costumes. Colors. Special effects. Ahh. Lovely!

I didn't get any photos of Las Vegas at night, but I think we all know how that looks. Vegas is one of the few places that photos do represent how it is. We watched some Futurama and then went to sleep.

March 23rd:

Ah woe is the 7am alarm. I packed everything up. We scanned and double scanned the room, and checked out of Bally's. We had a round trip shuttle paid for, and it arrived at the hotel at 8:45 and picked us off and woosh, our travels began! I went through one of those full body scanner thingies for the first time. I didn't get patted down, so that was cool. I did forget my laptop in my bag (which wasn't a problem in Seattle) so that had to go through the x ray again. Oops. Mom bought me a chocolate scone while I tried to use the abysmal free wifi. Boarded at around...noon? I have the exact times written in my travel journal, but I am too lazy to reference it. I got the window seat, which was awesome. It was a quick hop of a flight. During the San Francisco layover, we ate Pinkberry and watched Game of Thrones. I was directly behind mom on this flight, and we spent a long time waiting to take off. But I had a good book (A Visit From the Goon Squad) to read, and I read it! We landed around 5pm, got our bags, and got on the shuttle to Wally Park, where our lovely non vroomy Prius awaited. We got Burger King drive through and I drove us home. The traffic moved well, and I merged like a champ. Go me!

Got home at around 7ish, and spent hours getting caught up on this and that. AHh Internet. I've missed you. It is nice to be in my bed and at home, though we'll be up at Mats Mats tomorrow. Dad is up there right now, so we need to bring him his goodies and provide him with company.

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