Vegas!!!!

Viva Las Vegas.




Alas, our long trip comes to an end. (we've actually been back for a few days but i've been too lazy to finish this blog. and neither of us want to feel like we have to go back to reality or anything..)


anyway, the night before we got to Vegas we reserved a room in The Hotel (at Mandalay Bay).. which is a separate hotel from mandalay bay that's quite nice.. all the rooms are stylish suites with giant flat screen tv's and great views etc.. and during the week it's actually not too expensive.

for some reason, when we checked in (i have no idea why) the guy upgraded us to a penthouse suite. it sounds like a lie but it's true. he said normally that would be a $700 upgrade. so we were like, "thanks!".. both of us were a little skeptical if it would actually be that nice (like, $700 more nice) but we were blown away. this officially is the nicest hotel room i've ever stayed in in my life

unfortunately we didn't get many pictures, but here's one:

room


the whole thing was easily over 2500 square feet. dining area, bar, living room, another separate mini-living room, jacuzzi tub etc.. the most ridiculous thing was all the tv's. there was a 60 inch flat screen tv in every room. and then a mini one near the bathtub.

it's almost a shame to get such a great room in Vegas since usually you don't want to spend that much time in the room, but we were stoaked to get such a great place on our last night..

that night we had to have dinner at the Border Grill there since we were both dying for some good mexican food after our long trip..





later on we went to Freemont Street in Downtown Vegas (my favorite part) and to The Horeshoe Casio, where you can still find 5 dollar tables, as advertised in this classy sign:




i like downtown Vegas because it's a little more old school. lots of old people gambling (sometimes in wheelchairs with oxygen tanks).. the dealers aren't as friendly, and it's generally just more sketchy. which is fun.






Horseshoe Casino is also where, legend has it, i once had an insane blackjack winning streak (never mind that i've lost every time since then)

anyway, i paid a visit the sacred table again, to try and get some positive energy from it.

me and table




it didn't seem to work. i was doing pretty well for a while, and even kiki gambled with me (usually she's not a fan).. then she went to bed and, of course, i continued gamble away all my winnings.

also, after multiple patrón margueritas (and some coronas) this is how Vegas started looking to me



so I probably wasn't in my best gambling decision-making mode..


in the morning i did manage to win some back though. so it was nice to leave on an up note at least. though it was also a down note remembering how much i lost the night before



also we went to see Carrot Top at the Luxor Hotel, which cheered me up



just kidding


this picture of 1984 poker champion Jack Keller did cheer me up though

Zion

after Helper we drove to Zion Lodge in Zion National Park.



in the morning we had breakfast at the lodge. why have one cup of coffee when you can have two?




i got some fancy new $9 sunglasses at the lodge gift shop since mine broke





i think Zion is one of the underrated parks in the National Park System. it's such a beautiful place. i'd been there once before and thought it was incredible, and going there a 2nd time confirmed how great it is.

one of the cool things about the park is that they restrict people from driving cars inside and instead have these (propane-fueled) shuttles that take you wherever you want to go. it's a great way to cut down on pollution and traffic, and i actually prefer not driving so i loved it.

we decided to go on this crazy hike called "The Narrows". basically, instead of hiking on a trail you're hiking up a river, through the river, the whole time - walking on slippery rocks and up waterfalls etc.. it was a extra difficult for us since we weren't prepared with fancy water shoes like most people, but just wore flip flops (kiki went barefoot). my feet are still killing me..

here's a river action shot



this is a good example of what it looked like in some parts of the hike..



if you look close enough you can see me in the background



kiki end of trail




MUSIC

we have a rule while driving: whoever is driving gets to pick the music. (that's why i try to drive most of the time). usually this works out since we mostly have similar taste in music. but there are those times when one of us doesn't want to hear what the other person is playing. like, for instance, when kiki plays Gus Gus.

that's when ear plugs come in handy



at one point in the trip i purchased the Black Sabbath box, to kiki's dismay

Helper, UT

after Arches we stayed the night with Denise in Helper, UT, an old mining town. Denise has this awesome spot next to a river with no neighbors in sight - lots of privacy, peace and quiet. i envy that she gets to work from home in such a pleasant environment..

here's her backyard next to the river




next to her house she's got this historic stone garage that's she's converting into her music room..




in the morning denise and kiki made one of favorite things in the world: chile verde. basically it's roasted green chiles (they have to be from New Mexico), pork, onions, garlic, cumin, olive oil, tomato, salt and pepper...

put scrambled eggs in freshly made tortillas, pour some chile verde on and some refried beans and salsa and you're good to go. i love this stuff

Denise roasting chiles









and... here's some more artwork from my friend Stuart

Arches National Park

after Telluride we were going to go straight to kiki's friend's house in Utah, but she (Denise) insisted that we should go camping in Arches National Park, so we took her advice.

she hooked us up with a secret campsite that only the locals know about. this was another case where we got there late at night in the dark and then in the morning realized how beautiful it was. it was such an amazing spot. there were no other campsites as far as our eyes could see. i think there are only a few in this area anyway.. but they're each literally like a mile apart.

anyway, here's where we woke up..






just to show how in the middle of nowhere we were:




i felt like i was in the middle of some old John Wayne film or something. like any minute Indians were going to start coming out of the rocks to scalp us


after we woke up we went went and had breakfast at old Eddie McStiff's




then we headed into the park to explore



if you look closely you can see kiki at the end of the sidewalk doing some kind of yoga pose or something



kiki at the double-arch








after all that walking around it was nice to just sit and relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery








we also stopped to relax at this creek for a while



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later when we were taking pictures of this one spot there was this Asian guy taking pictures of his family. he kept making his kids take pictures of he and his wife, over and over, and then scolding them on how they were doing it wrong. then he insisted on taking pictures of each of the kids, which he kept taking over and over. it was kind of painful to watch, but admittedly pretty funny too. that is, if you weren't one of the kids.

here's one of the kids having his photo taken (for probably the 20th time) and not looking too enthusiastic about it