Monday 5/15/2006
Tuesday 5/16/2006
The second day started with me feeling guilty about driving Chris away to the car. I found out I sound like a moose when I snore. All of us skipped shower that morning except Divyani for we wanted to save time to do more exciting things. Besides we are on a road trip not some smell-good contest. The weather was sunny and nice yet again. The place we stayed at offered decent breakfast for a reasonable price. So I, Sean and Divyani jumped in to get something to eat before the fun began. Amy and Chris said they are not used to eating so early and they grabbed some power bars. We drove for about half an hour to get to the Grand Canyon's north rim. We had started a game of counting the number of states we could find on license plates a day earlier. The parking lot at the Grand Canyon was an absolute treasure for this game. We even saw a few Canadian license plates.
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| Grand Canyon. Ref: http://www.astrofoto.ca/stuartheggie |
Amy had been there before. I was at the south rim with Peter and Beatrice a few years ago, but I had never seen Grand Canyon from the other side. Peter and Beatrice are in their sixties and they gave me a place to live when I was going to a community college in Colorado and couldn’t afford to rent a place of my own. The north rim was much cleaner and less crowded. Amy took us on a short trail that provided a scenic overview of the canyon. It was amazing. The top layer of the rock formation is called the Kaibab layer. That's the only thing I remember from reading about the rock formation. We couldn't see the Colorado River though. I remember seeing that from the south rim. After that short hike, we decided to go on a longer one which spiraled down to the base of the canyon. People usually ride on mules on that trail and the trail was adrift with fresh mule-dung stench. It was the first day Highway 67 which goes to the north rim had been opened. Due to extreme weather conditions, it is shut down every winter. Amy, Sean and Chris being athletes had to show off their hiking abilities and so they walked down quickly. Divyani and I were left behind. We didn't hike for too long. They were waiting for us at a nice view-point where we took a few pictures. We rested and talked nonsense for a while, then started heading back up. The same story all over again. Two of us were left behind but we were happy to have them waiting for us at the parking lot. That was the end of Grand Canyon stop.
The day wasn't over yet. We drove a few hours before stopping by Pizza-hut for lunch. We saw that place after an hour or two of nothingness. We couldn't wait any longer. That pizza tasted so good--- probably something like “bhok mitho ki bhojan mitho maharaj” (roughly translates to – Hey Royal Ass, if you had to choose between a feast when you’re really not hungry and simple food when you’re really really hungry, what would you go for?). Chris and I jumped in for a quick video game shooting after the pizza. A few quarters into that ugly looking box to shoot at those fake deer was well worth the money, I thought, as it cheered us up a bit. Not too sure if it was the pizza or the video game, but something definitely went right at that pizza-hut. We walked out of there happy and full.
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| Zion Park. Ref:http://www.zionponderosa.com |
After some more driving, we got to Zion national park. We earlier made a smart move by buying the national park permit at the Grand canyon that would let us into any park without paying for each of them separately. That was Amy's idea. Zion was very different probably because we could drive through the winding roads and look up at all those pretty red rocks. We had to drive through a tunnel that was more than a mile long. After all that we parked near the visitor center and then they had a tour shuttle bus which would take us to all the major trail heads. We hopped into that and since we were a bit tired already because of earlier hikes and all the driving, we decided to go on the shortest hike possible-- half a mile hike to the weeping rock. The weeping rock was quite something. It was a large curved rock formation which was dripping water constantly as if the lady-rock had betrayed the poor guy and he's been weeping ever since. We ran across a Ukrainian guy up there and later two guys from Boston and New York on the tour bus back to our parking lot. The two guys had a lot to talk about as they had traveled a lot. One guy had even been to India a few times.
Just when we thought the fun part of the day was over, we drove to Las Vegas where we had a nice comfortable beds waiting for us. Sean's friend's parents live there and they were very welcoming. They showed us our room and I wanted to see Vegas really bad as soon as we saw all the lights while driving into the city. Guys were pretty tired and were reluctant to go anywhere else. But thanks to Don (Sean's friend's dad), he convinced us that it was a good idea to go out and check Vegas out at night and sleep in in the morning. We went to the Belagio hotel and I lost about 20 dollars on the slot machines and grabbed two free drinks. After we came back, I rocked myself to sleep on my comfy water bed. Snoring is not all that bad after all. It at least gave me a room of my own with the only water-bed in the house. Hooray.
Wednesday 5/17/2006
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| Las Vegas. Ref: http://elimona.com/old/ |
Sleeping in felt good. All of us had a fresh start and were looking forward to having a fun day in Las Vegas. Coffee and bagel gave us a good start, that's when Don and his wife told us about the buffet place called “Imperial Palace” which was supposed to be inexpensive and good – a rare combination indeed. We went straight to Mirage for some gambling and to be inside since the temperature was a bit too extreme to tolerate. After spending a few dollars on slot machines, I decided to take my chances on a blackjack table. Rick and Claire have a blackjack table in their basement back in Fort Collins and I had played blackjack with them several times. But this was different. I was still rusty with the rules and the grandeur of Mirage didn't exactly help my confidence. A little nervous, I sat at this empty table that was upholding a sign that said “Min Bet: $10.” That was the cheapest I could find. A sheer luck or a playing skill – I was up $40 in a hurry. I couldn't trust myself to keep going, so I stopped. I was happy that I got back my money I lost a day earlier and I was still up $20. Then on, apart from a few dollars here and there on different slot machines, I didn't really gamble. We were there for sightseeing and that's exactly what we did for the rest of the day. Amy was in a pool in the mean time. After she came back, we decided to go to see the dolphins but somehow got sidetracked into a poker room. People were sitting in small groups around round tables, being served free alcohol and waiting for the world poker championship to begin on TV. Amy, Chris and Sean decided to just sit there and enjoy some free alcohol. I thought I'd rather see the dolphins, so I asked Divyani if she wanted to come along. She did, and I was thankful to be able to leave the closed walls. On our way we saw these irresistible pastries behind the counter and we had to try one of those. It was a little past lunch time and our tummies were growling a bit already. I found out Divyani is in love with white chocolate. She picked a piece of cake smothered in white chocolate and I have to agree it looked really good. Everything was sort of expensive in there and so we just bought a piece and split. Off we went to the dolphin place but unfortunately it wasn't a free show as we were expecting. $15 was little too much to just walk through the retro and see dolphins as opposed to either petting them or watching them perform a show. Since we were planning to go to Sea World later in San Diego anyways, we restrained ourselves from spending precious fifteen bucks. We hung around for a while but there was still no sign of the rest of our group. We assumed they were still having a good time in the poker room, while I was craving for some alcohol in my system to feel just right given the place and the crowd. Divyani had been talking about this humungous margarita served in a football shaped container for days and that's what we started looking for. Along with that we also wanted to see other places in Vegas. I remember walking into this place called “Margaritaville” but it was all reserved for a private party. People who go to Vegas are no doubt rich, but not us. It was scorching hot outside but all the hotels were air conditioned. Walking through Paris was mind blowing. The sky looked half real and the theme was nice. I can't really compare it to Paris since I haven't been there. A store in the corner was selling margarita and daiquiri. We were hoping for some kick, and that daiquiri was a poor choice. To this day I'm not sure if the daiquiri they served had any alcohol in it. It sure tasted good and kept us hydrated in that Vegas heat. In the mean time, we got a call from Sean about going to lunch (or dinner as it was pretty late by then) and we started to head back but not before getting a little confused about finding the Paris exit. Lunch was served and I could feel a little tension in the air. I just wanted to see as much as I could of Vegas since it was my first time there and I just felt like there was so much to see, but everyone except Divyani seemed a little disinterested. I was a little disheartened. Even Chris, the only other guy who hadn't seen Vegas before, wasn't too thrilled about exploring every inch of the city. Lunch wasn't quite what I expected either but it was not too bad and I hardly ever pick and choose when it comes to food. My philosophy is I get hungry and I eat. Full, we started walking out the door where I and Chris stopped by to play a few rounds of one-dollar-blackjack on the slot machine. One more dollar down the drain. We were back in the middle of all the happenings after that. A few hours went by just walking here and there. Belagio water show lasted for about 10 minutes or less but very impressive. I had to tell somebody about it right away. So I woke up my girlfriend in the middle of her night (PST vs CMT) just to tell her how cool the water show was. Sean went to collect the money he won by betting on a basketball game (Pistons vs. some team). Divyani and I wandered off to Paris again to get to the top of Eiffel tower and check out the night lights in Vegas. It was supposedly the tallest structure in Vegas. After 12 dollars and 12 minutes of waiting in line, we were at the top of Vegas and Divyani was snapping away her camera. I loved the view and absolutely no regrets whatsoever. Sean called to tell us Amy and Chris were still enjoying the free drinks and the poker game. So three of us wandered off to New York. The beauty of Vegas lies in being able to get to New York from Paris in a matter of 10 minutes. Brooklyn Bridge and the statue of liberty in front of New York building gave it an authentic feel but I was a little disappointed in their theme inside the building. The disappointment washed away when we entered this bar where two guys were on a piano and singing one song after another. I grabbed a beer, Divyani ordered a glass of merlot and Sean decided to just chill. All three of us definitely had a wonderful time singing along while two of those guys sang classics like Hotel California, Living on a Prayer, Devil went to Georgia, Hey Ya and so on. We spent less than an hour in that place but it was one of the most memorable moments in Vegas in line with Eiffel tower and Belagio water show. Sean, Amy and Chris went back to New York later while Divyani and I wanted to see Venutian. We were too late to ride in the gondolas or boats and all the streets of Venice were empty. It was still nice. A quiet walk down the Venutian downtown, a hop onto an anchored boat and a short meditation in front of Buddha statue were some of the highlights of Venice. Earlier we had stopped by a hip-hop concert for a few minutes. That's when we found out the other group was spending time in Coyote Ugly in New York. We grabbed a drink each, scotch on the rocks for me and margarita for Divyani, before heading back to the rest of the guys and then back to my water bed. All in all yet another wonderful day came to an end.
Thursday 5/18/2006
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| San Diego. Ref: http://bikeacrossamerica.org |
Road trip is mostly driving. After Grand Canyon, Zion, and Las Vegas, we were ready to drive some more and explore some more new places. We left some thank you notes for Don and company before leaving and I loved how Amy welcomed Don and his family to Denmark, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. Nice and clever! Just the thought that we were driving to San Diego made me happy on this fourth day of our trip. I do have to admit that I was a little concerned about places to stay in San Diego since Amy hadn't made any arrangements until a day earlier. On top of that I wasn't particularly excited by the sounds of party after the final exam. The drive wasn't too long and we were in San Diego when the sun was still out. We drove straight to the ocean. I haven't seen much of ocean in my life; Nepal is a landlocked country. Divyani had said “Can you smell it?” outside a burger joint close to the ocean and I, clueless, had said “Yeah, it smells good.” I thought she was referring to the fries and the burger, but what do I know. People who know ocean usually talk about the smell of the sea. San Diego is famous for its white sand beach and we could see why. It was also evident that the surfers love the beaches in San Diego. I'm sure it has something to do with the waves but don't ask me. I was quite happy to walk barefooted on white sand with occasional splash of salty water on my feet. Quite an experience. After the ocean walk, we headed towards the old town of San Diego. San Diego originally founded by Spaniards, used to belong to Mexico until 1848, and the old town still has that Spanish culture in its air or so we were told by the Fodor's guide. A walk in the old town ended up with a dinner in a Mexican restaurant. Everybody seemed to have fallen in love with San Diego. I picked up two post cards in a little store which stood right next to a gallery which had the photograph of “the famous Afghani girl with green eyes,” peering out the gallery window. Sean's friend recommended the restaurant we went to and thanks to him, it was one of the best Mexican restaurants I have ever been to. I loved my Chille relleno, enchilada, and tamale along with a smooth Mexican beer. I scribbled some notes on the back of the postcards-- one for Kalpana and one for Peter and Beatrice. We then drove to Amy's friend's place where she got dropped off. Chris was reluctant to take a chance with sleeping conditions and I don't blame him. The rest of us went to Sean's friend's place which was a university housing of UCSD. They had an amazingly big balcony and a lovely apartment. The valedictorian was a friendly guy, and we found the floor and the couch very comfortable after being on the road for a while. I noticed Mitch Albom's “Tuesdays with Morrie” lying around and told Divyani about it. She read a few pages and seemed to love it. It is impossible not to like that book unless you're made out of stone.
Friday 5/19/2006
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| Sea World. Ref: http://www.alltravelingkidsfamilyvacations.com |
The plan was to get to LA before the day was over. Of course we had to spend the whole day in Sea World, the plan we've been plotting from the beginning of the trip. The story of Shamu as told by our best friend Fodor and generous Don in Vegas was in the back of our head and there was no way in hell we were going to miss Sea World. We paid a handsome entry fee of $53 for a day of fun at Sea World and thus the day began.
