We did not elope in Vegas

I know that is what you all are thinking. I haven't updated the blog in 3 days because I must be off celebrating a Las Vegas marriage. Sorry to disappoint but no, the answer is much simpler: the pricey hotel did not offer free WiFi. Internet access was $15 per day per laptop. We decided to stick to one charge per day so Dustin used the connection for work and you were all left on the edge of your seats. Now to fill you in on the adventures since our snowy morning greeting in Flagstaff, Ariz.

We left Flagstaff early to get to the Grand Canyon as soon as possible and move on to Las Vegas. The price for the national park was very reasonable, $25 entry fee for the car and the admission is good for a week. It can even be used to enter the park's North Rim.


How many people can say they have seen the Grand Canyon in the snow? Me! Me! Me! Pick me!!! It was *freezing* and I was completely unprepared for the cold. Almost immediately we had to find a gift shop to buy an overpriced Canyon-themed sweatshirt. I had no intention of dying from frost bite amid random tourists on the South Rim.

The first stop was mostly gift shops, a tower to overlook the Canyon, a fenced area for viewing and a trail to go a bit farther down. The rest of the park consists mainly of driving for a mile or more at a time then stopping in a designated parking area to take a look. Camping and hiking are allowed but I don't know any of the rules for that.

Dustin was enthusiastic about all the signs warning of animals, as he tends to be. (You already know this if you have ever met him.) He was hoping to see a mountain lion, joking about taking a picture with it. I reminded him it would likely be a photo of his disfigurement. He was unmoved. Thank goodness for the animals, we saw very few. When we were on the way out of the park we saw a line of cars on the side of the road, wondering what was going on we stopped as well. Elk! There were at least 8, several male and female. Dustin was thrilled and shocked, he didn't realize their size. Yes, they are intimidating. Yes, there are signs asking you to stay away from the wildlife. Yes, people hunt them. No, I am not interested in finding out what it tastes like. Thanks anyway.

On the way out of the park we noticed we started on what is usually the end. We saw the ranger stations, camping grounds, parking lots. Even in the cold and snow, we had a fantastic time. The lighter crowds during the off-season are nice. We would definitely love to go back and get a view during a different season.


After the Canyon, we were heading straight to Las Vegas. Neither of us had been there previously so we didn't have set plans. We were driving toward it without so much as a hotel reservation. Somewhere along the way Dustin grabbed his phone and called a hotel. It wasn't until he needed me to talk to them while he was driving that I found out where we were going to stay during our visit. The Luxor! Woot! Fancy hotel right on the strip, I was excited and impressed. We also randomly chose 2 nights while we were making the reservation. After so much driving, we were really looking forward to spending more than a single night. We also made a stop at the Hoover Dam on the Arizona/Nevada state line just after sunset.

For those who aren't familiar, The Luxor is a giant pyramid. It has a xenon light on the roof that can be seen for 250 miles. As we discovered all the hotels tend to do, The Luxor went all out with the theme inside and out. The front has a sphinx and obelisk; the rooms have headboards, sheets and an armoire covered in hieroglyphics. We were on the 13th floor, I was amazed since most hotels skip that number. Right after checking in we played some slots and had a cab driver show us around the strip.

The second night Dustin was in bed with a terrible stomach ache, so we didn't get to see much. We had plans to leave the next morning, I think we were both disappointed to miss some many of the things we wanted to check out. In the end, I called the front desk and added a third night. We were having a great time and had so much to see we needed another day.

We decided we wanted to try the Pink Taco at the Hard Rock Casino and Hotel. When we asked about its location we were assured by several people it was only blocks off the strip. These people lie. It was so far we could barely take it, walking to this one was a bad idea. We took a cab back to the hotel. The restaurant was good though, not a wasted journey. They are called pink tacos because they have pickled red onions on them, basic chicken and black beans otherwise. Just so you know, the name is intentional. One of the owners made a comment at its opening about making the whole place vagina themed, covering the walls and etc., just to be sure everyone got it. I was relieved this was not the case.

We had hoped to see a show while we were in town. Penn & Teller are playing the Rio right now but we happened to be in town on the nights they were not performing. *sigh* We settled for wandering the strip, catching portions of free shows: pirates/sirens at Treasure Island and a huge water show in the fountain at the Bellagio. We walked so much my feet still hurt!

We stopped in the Venetian and it was beautiful. We took a gondola ride through the center with a singing gondolier. It was so cool, the inside is full of bridges and facades above the shops to look just like Venice. We also went to the top of the Eiffel Tower replica at the Paris Hotel. It was a great way to get a look at the strip but so windy.

We looked around the Miracle Mile shops at Planet Hollywood. We had dinner the last night at Todai, an all you can eat seafood and sushi bar. It could have been a disaster but it was outstanding.

We considered going to California from Las Vegas. Dustin has family north of San Francisco and I have a friend in Modesto. We talked about it for several days but ultimately decided it was too far out the original plan and our ultimate destination. We settled on Salt Lake City instead. We had heard some nice things about the area and Dustin wanted to check out the salt flats. An added bonus: both Heather Armstrong (aka dooce) and Scott Johnson live in the area. We hoped we might meet one (or both!) for coffee or something while in town. As of now, no such luck. I sent an e-mail to Scott Johnson from the road, asking to buy him some coffee or whatever it might be he preferred. (Is he Mormon? Mormons don't drink anything with caffeine and I didn't want to extend an impolite invitation.) I will have to get back to you if we hear from him tomorrow.

We tried our third restaurant from the Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives list in SLC. The Red Iguana Mexican restaurant is outstanding. We didn't show up until 20 minutes before closing time and our waitress was as nice as possible. She stood at the table describing dishes, telling us customer favorites and her own preferences. Cecilia (I almost always remember my server's name) brought us samples of all the moles on the menu, just for a taste, and some chili verde. We went for fish tacos and cochinita pibil. O. M. G. It was all delicious. Dustin wants to eat breakfast there as well, heh.

In the morning we head off to Colorado Springs, a full week after we left Memphis. I waited too late to give my grandmother a heads up tonight. Tomorrow morning she gets a warning that we are about to descend on her home for several days. We already have plans to visit Boulder and Denver. We will be back in Memphis next Friday with a stop somewhere in Oklahoma on the way back, likely Tulsa.

Good morning from Flagstaff

Yes, that IS snow. *sigh*

Watching "House" at a Comfort Inn

Has anyone heard of Dutch babies? We were served the owners' variation and told it's German. They were similar to wide slices of custard served with fruit and maple syrup. I must try to make this, it was delicious. Then back to the car for another day of driving.


We attempted to visit ghost towns in New Mexico with no luck. There was a location we found online and even heard about from locals but we never found it. It seems it was much farther from civilization than we thought. Instead of giving up, we pulled off the road to take some random photos in the desert.

Once in Arizona we finally saw the cactus Dustin has been waiting to find. He would point them out from time to time to yell out "Cactuar!" We passed through Tucson and Phoenix on the way to Flagstaff, our stop for the night.

We stopped in Phoenix for dinner at the strangest restaurant ever conceived. Chino Bandido is a Chinese/Mexican restaurant. That's right, fathom that: Chinese ... Mexican. My dinner was a carnitas burrito combo, with refried beans, chicken fried rice and orange chicken. Mmhmm, try to make all that come together in a logical way in your head. Oh, and everything comes with a snickerdoodle too. Dustin had the orange chicken with jerk chicken fried rice and Cuban black beans. The mascot/logo/whatever is a giant panda with a long mustache and wearing a sombrero. Yep, I said sombrero-wearing panda. It's on the sign, painted in a mural and there is a giant bronze statue in the dining room.

So here we are, settled into a decent hotel in Flagstaff with finicky wireless and rude front desk staff. Thank goodness it's only one night. We are off to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas tomorrow. Our b&b host mentioned his brother-in-law is a minister in Vegas... hmmm... ;)

Out of Texas... finally

We have probably taken one of the longest routes out of Texas. We spent most of our day driving through large, dry expanses of nothing. Dustin gleefully pointed out cactus for miles and then seemed disappointed as it tapered off. (He also pointed out the lack of cactus.) He spent his time waiting for what he considered to be desert and was sorely disappointed by the dry land and scruffy shrubbery but no large areas of sand. As he insisted he wanted to see the desert, I looked up precipitation requirements for a region categorized as "desert" and read it to him. Sometimes 3G with Internet access is pretty cool ... and allows you to show off.

Once we hit El Paso it was a constant stream of "is that Mexico?," "can you see Mexico?," "is that it over there?" and "I think that's Mexico." I am pretty sure we saw little or no Mexican soil. We didn't even try to go in, just kept looking southwest for a glimpse of traffic or gates.

We did take a break from the long day of driving to wander an outlet mall. It was awesome! A really cool open-air style with a cover to keep it from getting too hot. It had plenty of brand name stores and lots of people out enjoying the Texas sun.

Since we went the super saver route in Austin, we took nicer accommodations in Las Cruces, N.M. We are the only guests at a bed and breakfast in the hills just out of the city. The owners of the Hilltop Hacienda (how cute is that?!) are a sweet couple offering three bedrooms of varying prices. They have lots of landscape work done, with paths to lovely views down the hilltop. When we got back from trying out Whataburger in town we saw a jack rabbit on the driveway!


[An aside on Whataburger, I was so impressed with that place. For fast food it was pretty good but it's the service that is unreal. The cashier greeted us and was very pleasant and patient. We found a table to wait and the food was delivered to the table instead of a number bellowed across the room. When we left they said goodbye and thanked us for coming in. Blown away... since when do service workers care about anything?]

Bob (one of the b&b owners) noted that Dustin's request for breakfast at 8:45 a.m. Most people it seems go for 9 a.m. They have been great so far, very pleasant on the phone and waiting for us in the driveway when we arrived. Tomorrow we are going to check out nearby ghost towns and then it's on to Arizona!

Those hills are killer

The morning rain had me worried about how our day might go. I was way off, yay! It has become a spectacularly sunny day, warm and perfectly lovely. My only regret is letting the early morning storm change my clothing plans, I should have worn the skirt anyway since it's about 80 now. This has been a pretty idyllic setting for a new city adventure.

The Whole Foods is incredible, I have never seen such a large grocery store. It has a parking garage and it easily 5 times the size of the one at home. Every department was larger, they offer cooking classes, offer at least 5 food bars and several small cafes. Each in-store cafe counter has themed foods, such as a pasta counter and a seafood counter. Want!


We spent time walking S. Congress, locally called SoCo, filled with locally owned shops and food stands. After a couple hours walking around downtown and through SoCo my legs were begging for a break. Good thing for Dustin, who needed time to charge his phone and work.
We hope to try another local spot for dinner, catch a Texas sunset and settle in for some rest before hitting the road again tomorrow.

Flickr!

Be sure to check out all the pictures on my Flickr account.

The welcoming arms of Texas

So... here we are. We spent most of yesterday in the car. I have tried a local restaurant we saw on TV and slept in a hostel. So far Austin seems cool. There are listings all over the hostel for local activities, information about bus lines and reminders to recycle, recycle, recycle. As we inched closer to our first stop Dustin was regularly commenting about this was the farthest west he had ever been ... no wait, *this spot* is the farthest and so on. We are going to have a spectacular time and ignore the fact that it is raining today.

Dustin seems to enjoy all the space and "so many hills."


For dinner we tried the Magnolia Cafe. We saw this place on the Food Network on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, probably Dustin's favorite show. It definitely has personality and some unusual menu items. What other tiny, 24-hour place offers acorn squash and curry vegetables?





The HI-Austin hostel is much larger and nicer than I
anticipated. Dustin voiced concerns that it would be
tiny and dirty, but it's quite nice. The shared bedroom thing is weird and it has very dorm-like bathroom facilities. All said, it's pretty nice for $25 a night.

Sorry to note I have no photos of them but all of the highway overpasses have an alternating pattern of stars and outlines of Texas. Now that is state pride.