Leaving Las Vegas

I tried to remember how long it had been since I was last in Las Vegas and it seemed like 10 or 15 years but then it struck me that just last year we had stopped to visit Chris’ son on our way north. We didn’t go to the “Strip” then so it didn’t feel like we were even in Las Vegas. This year is different. Sterling has moved to Portland and our main objective in stopping here was to pick up some of Chris’ belongings from a storage unit.

Las Vegas, to me, has always seemed like Disneyland for adults (not grown ups) and it was surprising to learn that Chris had been here numerous times without taking in the attractions. He doesn’t gamble much, he hasn’t wandered the Strip looking at the amazing hotels and casinos, and he never attended a single show. OK. This was going to change. I’ve only been here a few times but I’d always enjoyed the stimulation overload that you get from the excess that abounds. What I didn’t realize was how much things have changed since I was last here.

Chris had never attended a single Vegas show so I set out to change that. The shows are very, very expensive but they are the best part of being here. I made reservations for us to see Ka (one of the numerous Cirque du Soleil shows that are always here), Defending The Caveman (a one man comedy show) and The Tournament of the Kings (the dinner show at the Excalibur). They were all very good but KA was the best of the best and blew us away. Chris has devoted an entire blog entry to this show. Not only was it the first Las Vegas show he had seen, but was the first Cirque du Soleil show as well.

On previous visits I’d enjoyed wandering through here the incredible hotels/casinos here and I wanted to see some of the new ones. We really didn’t have time for that but we did peruse the MGM Grand, the Excalibur, the Luxor, the Mandalay Bay and New York, New York all of which were new to Chris.

Things have changed a lot since I was last here and one of the biggest is in the gaming arena. I’m not much of a gambler but I used to enjoy playing the slots or a bit of blackjack (at a table with a low bid minimum). Not so much now. The new slot machines are like video games and really not much fun. No one is wandering around with plastic cups full of nickels or quarters as the machines now only take paper money, printed tickets or pre-paid cards. There is no “one armed bandit” feel to them anymore. Now you just push a button to roll the electronic dials. Instead of the sound of coins falling into the metal tray there are electronic noises emanating from everywhere. Even worse, you are invited to play an unlimited number of lines (each one costs a “coin”) so you can lose a dollar in a nickel slot with one quick punch of the button. Chris and I played a couple nickel machines and lost about $5 each in under 2 minutes. Onward to the Blackjack tables. Alas…there aren’t any! Well…that’s not entirely true. There are a few, but very few. Most of the games now seem to be of the oriental persuasion (Pai Gow being the only one I can remember how to spell) which I wouldn’t have a clue how to play. I saw a few Blackjack tables of Blackjack but the minimum bet was $10 which, quite honestly, is more than I want to spend. In the “old days” I could sit down to play Blackjack with a $20 bill and, win or lose, have had a great time for hours. Am I getting old or is it just that since my disposable income is greatly reduced these days I am more conservative in how I spend it? Something about plunking down $10, $20 or $50 (or more) per bet just seems excessive.

Food & drink aren’t the same, either. Does anyone besides me remember when you could go to all-you-can-eat buffets with fabulous food any time of the day or night for under $10? Those days are gone boys & girls. Now, all the casinos are filled with high end restaurants with world famous chefs and exorbitant prices. Following the KA show at the MGM, Chris & I wanted a late dinner. We wandered around perusing the menus until we located an Italian place that had entrees under $40. The food was very good though, as the waiter had forewarned us, the portions were quite small. Still, it was enough to fill us up and the butter in the sauces could bring on a cardiac arrest in the best of bodies. We soon realized how the place managed to keep their meals affordable. They had an 8 page wine list and the prices were through the roof. The cheapest bottle on the menu was a Rex Hill Cabernet for $65. That’s right friends & neighbors…sixty-five dollars! This is a wine that sells for under $15 in the local Safeway. After the shock settled a bit we decided on the cheapest Sauvignon Blanc on the menu at $12 per glass. Lest you think this incredible scalping is just in the high end restaurants, yesterday, while we were waiting to see Defending the Caveman, we decided to have a quick drink at a bar on the gaming floor. Chris had a bottle of beer (and, by the way, it is rare to find any beer other than Budwiser, Miller or Coors…the bottom of the beer barrel as far as we are concerned) and I had a glass of very bad Chardonnay. The bill? Sixteen dollars!

One thing about Vegas that remains the same is the people watching. Oh my gosh…the things you see! Skirts (with nothing underneath) that almost (but not quite) cover important female parts…stilt shoes that look like they came from a dominatrix’ wardrobe…breasts that are only a deep breath away from escaping their confinement…hair styles and make up to put a drag queen to shame. And these are the guests. These women are clearly looking for a little action. The men, on the other hand, have come to drink…and drink…and drink. Everywhere are men carrying 3 ft tall glasses of foo foo drinks and wearing t-shirts to advertise either their lack of class or where they last shopped. Is it any wonder there are oxygen bars and mechanical massages available everywhere?

Vegas is nothing if not excess. I guess that is why people come here. To escape their mundane existence and be whoever they want for a few hours. This weekend was the 4^th of July and there must have been a million people here to “celebrate”. It was an eye-opening experience but I was always happy to return to our little portable house where there were no flashing lights, no cacophony and no wall of people to negotiate to get to the restroom. I really did enjoy coming here for a couple days of grown-up play in the past but from now on I think I’ll just keep driving. Maybe I’m just getting old. Maybe I’ve just found a better way to have a good time.

Sedona

Sedona. So much has been written and said about this area in the Arizona desert that I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from it. Certainly I knew there were wind blown red cliffs to be seen. Previous visitors I have known have reported it is quite a “spiritual” place. There are “vortexes” reported to be all over the area. As I understand it, a vortex is a place that has very high energy emanating from it. I was excited when we left Phoenix because I would finally get to see this very special place. As we pulled off of the highway and into Oak Springs (the first real glimpse you get of the rock formations) I was…well...shocked. The first thing you see is a good sized community of condominiums, upscale homes and strip malls. There is even a large outlet mall. Granted, all the buildings are painted almost the same color as the rocks but still, one rather expects to see some natural grandeur as opposed to just another cutesy little burg catering to the kitsch buying public. Chris took me to a shopping mall that is disguised quite nicely with flowers, sculptures and pretty little shops and restaurants. There is even a beautiful little alcove that is chock full of kinetic sculptures that move with the wind. We wandered from gallery to gallery and shop to shop admiring all manner of specialized wares for the souvenir hunter. These would be the “much wealthier than I” souvenir hunters. To be honest, I came close to letting Chris buy me a very pretty watch but then I realized how much that money could buy that was really needed in our lives. Further, I haven’t worn a watch in two years so it isn’t likely I would wear one with a price tag in excess of $250. We had a great lunch at a brew pub in the shopping area and then pushed on to Flagstaff. As we proceeded beyond the construction that was being done to widen the road and yet another group of buildings housing more opportunities to shop, take a jeep tour to a vortex or have your tarot cards read I found that I felt cheated. Where is it possible to get away from the commercialism and just revel in the beauty of nature’s (or God’s) creation?. We continued on to Flagstaff and spent the night in a lovely forested campground with a couple hundred other “campers” 100 yards from the highway. The next day we had planned to go to a museum in Flagstaff but I really needed a second look at Sedona so I asked Chris to take me back. It was a good decision. Without the trailer following behind we were much more mobile and were able to pull off at the different turnouts to admire the beauty and take photos of the incredible cliffs. I realized this area is rather like a mini-Grand Canyon and it is quite breathtaking. We even drove to a “vortex” that had a view of several beautiful mounds. Try as I might, I didn’t “feel” anything. I am not one of those extra sensitive people who feel the harmonic vibrations emanating from the universe. Still, I can appreciate the beauty and the fantasmagoric majesty of places like this. We had a lovely lunch at a restaurant that seemed to be hanging on the side of a cliff at treetop level where hummingbirds were feeding next to us and we were able to, for a moment, ignore the adjacent diners and focus on the beautiful red cliff across the valley. By the end of the day I was happy to have given Sedona a second chance. It is as special a place as many of the beautiful anchorages I have enjoyed in Mexico. I tried to keep my eyes averted from the strip malls but they are still there. They are for the other tourists. Having living spaces that are so small one is hardly able to find room for necessities much less trinkets has caused me to lose much of that “need” to buy. I think it is a good thing. I tend more to collect pictures and memories these days. The memories will be mine until the end of my days. The kids can have the photos.

Sedona will be one of the special memories.

Arizona or Bust

July 1, 2010

It is 6:30 am and Chris is still sleeping. A good time to write a blog entry. Now, if only I could get a useable internet connection here all would be good.

When we left San Carlos for the trek back to the Northwest, our first stop was Tucson. We stayed at the same RV Park we were at last fall only to discover the facility had made a few changes. The most irritating was that their internet “service” is now “Tengointernet” which is somewhat expensive ($5/day or $15/week). Internet was free last fall. Their rates to stay in the park seem to have increased as well so we will likely go elsewhere on our southbound loop. Since Chris’ brother, Lee, had installed a high speed connection at their Mom’s house when he was there this spring, and the house is air conditioned, and there’s a pool just out the back door, we opted to take the computers over there for a few hours each day so we could stay connected. We may have gotten a bit spoiled.

While in Tucson, we were able to visit quite a few of Chris’ relatives and friends as well as having the time to re-pack the trailer, do a bit of shopping and just plain relax. It was pretty warm there every day (low 100’s) but cooled off nicely at night. Turns out the heat was only a little acclimatization stop before Phoenix!

Monday morning we were up and on our way to Phoenix before the temperature climbed too high. Chris wanted to take the scenic route so we did and the drive through the desert was very pretty. Saguaro cacti were just losing their blooms but the yucca was magnificent with ten foot high stalks topped with huge, white blossoms. Since I’m a Washington girl this terrain strikes me as being mostly stark and uninviting but there is still something quite exotic about it as well. Chris, having grown up in the desert, knows the name of all the different types of cacti and scrub bushes as well as their unique characteristics so he tries to educate me a bit. For example, there is a type of cactus called a Cholla that is kind of interesting. It is built like a bush with twisty arms (my favorite version of this is the Teddy Bear Cholla which is kind of fluffy looking). It is also, somewhat infamously, known as a “Jumping" cactus. Apparently if you get too close to it, the spines will “jump” into your skin and the more you move or try to remove them, the deeper they go. Ouch! So, even disregarding the rattlesnakes that are undoubtedly in attendance, this little tidbit would deter me from a stroll through the desert.

As lunchtime approached we decided to stop for a bite at the Subway in Florence in Pinal County. I don’t know whether the name of the county was in place first or if it was changed but it sure fits. As you drive into Florence the first thing you pass is the huge prison complete with its own farm (being tended by, apparently, the “good” inmates in their cute little orange jumpsuits). Actually, it was refreshing to know that in some prisons at least, some of the "guests" have the opportunity to get outside for a little fresh air. At any rate, as we sat eating our sandwiches I realized that we, and the employees, were the only people in the place who weren’t police officers of one sort or another. None were wearing uniforms as such, but there were plenty of badges, official vehicles and firearms in view. Quite clearly, law enforcement is THE industry here.

Appetite sated, we continued on to Phoenix. As we got closer I began to see more and more mobile home parks until it appeared there were double wides as far as the eye could see. Phoenix and the surrounding area is a huge “snowbird” metropolis and a mobile home is probably one of the cheaper ways in which one can spend the winter in a warm clime.

We checked into an RV Park that Chris had stayed in back when he was teaching in Phoenix and living in Tucson. It was actually a mobile home park that rented out temporary spaces to travelers. It was nice enough and close to my sister’s house but the services were pretty limited. No showers (except co-ed ones at the pool), no TV and no internet. OK. For two nights we could manage.

We visited with my sister, brother-in-law and niece and it was good to see them all. Chris contacted an old friend, Steve, who came to the trailer for dinner and a bit of reminiscing. Thursday we drove to Apache Junction to see my friend, Lisa, from middle school and then to Mesa where my cousin, Pam, lives. Pam & I tried to remember when we'd last seen each other and were shocked to realize that it had probably been close to 30 years. Jeez! It was nice to get together and catch up. Actually, I could have spent a lot more time with all but, even though we are not on a schedule, the summer is moving on and we needed to do that as well.

The weather in Phoenix at this time of year is pretty incredible. It's almost as if you have awakened to find that you are in h-e-double-toothpicks without realizing you passed on. At midnight the temperature had cooled off to a "balmy" 99 degrees! And I use the term "balmy" quite loosely since the humidity hovers around 3 percent here. Two days was enough for this girl and yesterday morning I was up early getting the trailer ready to go. By 7:45 am we were on the road to Flagstaff – via the much lauded Sedona. I was excited!

Stay tuned...more to come.....