On the Holiday Road 2013: Las Vegas

July 12, 2013—Day 7

Today’s plan had been to relax by the pool and see a show in the evening. HOWEVER, since our Santa Fe horseback riding adventure was cancelled, we were doing a make up ride this morning at 6:30 am. What the what??

Cowboy Trail Rides picked us up right on time for our Canyon Rim Ride. There were only four of us on the ride, plus our wrangler, Mikey. Yes, an adult who called himself Mikey. He was a good guy, though. My niece had the awesomely named horse, Diesel. I want to buy a horse just so I can name him Diesel. I was put on a mule named Mulla. Come on! I had Greg the horse at the Kentucky Horse Park in April, and now Mulla? (I loved Mulla, but this was the best name they could come up with?)

I think a mule was a brilliant choice for this ride. Mikey was on a mule, too.

On the Holiday Road 2013: Grand Canyon to Vegas

July 11, 2013—Day 6

We were up at around 4:00 am to head out for the sunrise. We drove to the visitor center at Mather Point (I think) and didn’t see one other car. We also had no idea how far it was to the rim from the visitor center. And, it was dark. My niece got a nosebleed. We decided to drive to the next lookout point, which was, I believe, Yavapai Point (or something like that). Still no cars to be seen. I volunteered to see how far the rim was from the parking lot. Armed with the tiniest flashlight ever, I cautiously started down a path. Something small, white-ish, and furry darted in front of me. I stood stone still, afraid that furry thing’s larger, ferocious mother might pounce on me. I thought about my dad’s sighting of a “panther.” Hmmm, was this really worth it?

After a few seconds, I sucked it up and walked a little way to find that we were at the EDGE! I went back to find the rest of my party, and we made our way to a seating area on the rim. We could see a faint orange glow in the distance, but for the most part, we were socked in with clouds and weren’t expecting too much. A few other people trickled in. It was cold and windy. But, we were loving it.

The Grand Canyon Trumps Las Vegas

My final Conchordcation of 2009 was to Las Vegas, with a day trip to the Grand Canyon.

What can I say about Vegas? I think everyone should see it once. There was always something going on. I had a terrific time. But, I’m not much of a partier, I’m a pretty conservative dresser, so this really wasn’t my scene.

At least I got to fly for this little excursion. While I love a good road trip, I about killed myself trying not to fall asleep on the way home from Hannibal, MO. It was nice to leave the flying/driving to others this time.

Viva Las Conchords

I finished up my westward following of Flight of the Conchords in Las Vegas. They played at the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel, and Jemaine took many opportunities to point out how rock ‘n’ roll the memorabilia throughout the hotel was. “Jewel’s tank top is hanging out there.” “I saw Bon Jovi’s jeans.” There may have been mention of some rocker’s girdle, but I can’t be sure.

Arj Barker was the opening act, and he was my favorite of the openers I saw (I was lucky enough to catch all three–Kristen Schaal and Eugene Mirman were the others). I’ve seen Arj live several times now, with and without the Conchords, and although some of the jokes were old hat, he had some new material and has perfect comedic delivery, so I never tire of his routine. Plus, he’s hot!

The crowd was a bit different at this venue. I got the feeling that many of the people there weren’t particularly fans, and may not even have known who the guys were. I was in the sixth row, and there were quite a few empty seats in the first five. Disturbingly, the couple in front of me found the show to be a perfect make-out opportunity. I swear, they didn’t come up for air once during “Albi” (totally a make-out song!). Why bother coming to the show (and blocking my view)??