The Dynamic Duo

I’m not sure why, but Ubob thought some of you may be interested in reading about the week long vacation that John (husband), Johnny, Jim and I took in the week in between the boys’ college term and the start of their summer jobs. I edited a little, but for the most part couldn’t bring myself to cut and slash. I wrote this kind of generic account so that I could send it to all of my family and friends at once and be done with it. Enjoy! (or if you don’t, pretend that you did, cause I have a very fragile ego, thanks to the constant criticism of certain of my sons).

We left early Sunday morning and after much driving and exchanging of drivers arrived in Las Vegas about 7 pm, after gaining an hour for good behavior. I had gotten a “super” deal on a motel room and “package perks”. All that was required was for John and myself to listen, ad naseum, to a simple little explanation of the great benefits that would be ours if we purchased a time-share in the Royal Hotel in Las Vegas. All I can say to that is…….NEVER, NEVER, NEVER again! I felt like it wasted our entire morning, while Jim and Johnny, lucky dogs, were lounging in the pool.
Our motel room was okay; the benefits of it were: close to the south end of the strip, ie Circus, Circus, Frontier and Stardust; close to a WalGreens and several discount shopping plazas (4 T-shirts for $10!), a nice swimming pool, although unheated, and not very crowded; and no casino in the motel itself.
On Monday evening, we walked (hotel hopping along the way cause it was very, very HOT) to the Excalibur and got tickets to the evening dinner show. That was very enjoyable, and we got to cheer for Ireland’s knight to win the jousting, etc. And the black king was defeated and we did eat Cornish game hen with our hands, and though the good king was killed (boo hoo), the bad one was too (huzzah!), and there was a jolly coronation of the good king’s son and much merriment and some awesome tumblers (the amazing something brothers). And we did take a Strip shuttle back to our motel, which was located at the opposite end of the Strip.
The next day, we went to Harrah’s to watch Mac King, a comedian magician. As part of our perks package, we got these “free” tickets, which only required the purchase of an $8.00 drink apiece. So free = $35 or so. Anyway, he was very funny and very magical, and did lots of tricks with cards, of course, but also fig newtons, goldfish and carrots. And then, Johnny and Jim treated us all to a very wonderful “Fresh Market Buffet” at Harrah’s. It was VERY good, and was the most expensive meal we ate on our trip (next to Excalibur), and I didn’t have to pay for it, so that made it even better! That evening, Johnny, Jim and I played a little poker in our motel room with candy for currency, and Jim ended up with the whole candy store. I guess I don’t know when to hold em, or when to fold em.
Oh, I forgot to mention that on Sunday night, we walked out on the strip just in time to have good standing room for the Pirate Battle at Treasure Island, which I had seen before, but no one else had. As I remembered, the pirate brigands sank her Majesty’s Royal British ship and there was lots of cannon fire, as my brother Dave would say, “right in the fireworks”..
On Wednesday, we changed hotels, as the package involved 3 nights, and I booked the 4th night at the Gold Coast, where we stayed last year, and got a great rate and a very nice room. Also, there is a free shuttle that runs you right into the middle of the strip. We went to the Rio, right next door, and saw a ventriloquist, Ron Lucas; another $8.00 apiece “free” show. He was a pretty good ventriloquist, but not so great a comedian, and I thought his show kind of dragged. Ron Lucas’ show started off by showing video of his performances for famous personalities (such as the Queen of England), after which he pretended, modestly, that the showing of such things embarrassed him. I guess he just couldn’t control those staff members in charge of the video equipment! We had a free breakfast buffet at the Sahara (another perk) that day, but John got sick that afternoon, and we theorized that it may have been the food he ate there; perhaps the omelets (yes, he had multiple omelets.) The rest of us were fine, and we swam in the pool that afternoon. Then we went on the strip for a little while and saw a few water shows at the Bellagio.
On Thursday morning, we said goodbye to Las Vegas, and headed towards the Grand Canyon. On the way, we stopped and saw a little of the Hoover Dam. It is very impressive, and we walked along and looked at it, but it was so VERY hot, that I think some of it’s significance was lost on us as we longed for water and to get back in our air conditioned car. We spent that night in a Holiday Inn in the town of Williams, Arizona about 30 miles west of Flagstaff. There was an indoor pool, so we availed ourselves of that, and we went into the downtown street of Williams to view a museum of “miniatures”; little village scenes, mostly to show off the collection of little vintage cars, I think. There was also a museum in an old filling station and a lot of Route 66 kind of stuff; souvenirs, cafes, etc. They were getting ready for a Memorial Day Black Powder shoot, so there was also a carnival set up with a Ferris Wheel and carnival barkers.
Friday we headed for the south rim of the Grand Canyon. We didn’t stay for a real long time; we still had a lot of road to cover, and wanted to get home on Saturday. But we stopped at several scenic overlooks and at a museum where we saw Indian artifacts and saw some Anasazi ruins. One picture in the museum was covered up, for cultural sensitivity reasons, it said. So, of course, the first thing you want to do is to see that picture, or at least know WHY! Well, I guess that it pictures a sacred dance that the Hopi do not wish for outsiders to see. I don’t know why they don’t just remove the picture and remove the sign, unless they want everyone to know just how very sensitive we are now, after so many years of not giving a darn. The Grand Canyon is very impressive, and I wish we had had more time to explore a bit more. I would have liked to go the north rim also, which is supposed to be much less visited and quite different.

We also stopped at a place called Moqui Cave, that the operator’s father had put together. It had a lot of Indian artifacts, dinosaur footprints, and rocks and minerals, as well as a lot of artwork by the guy and lots of stuff for sale. There was a woodcutting of the guy’s grandfather with all his wives and kids (and I think grandkids, etc.). Quite a group. The grandfather’s 6th wife was the first woman mayor in the United States and there was an article about that.
We spent Friday night in a little motel in Kanab, on the Utah/Arizona border. There was a pool (freezing cold water) and a hot tub, so that was fun. At 6 A.m. there was a knock on our door. I answered it (probably shouldn’t have, but I did) and a little Hispanic/Indian man stood there rattling off something in Spanish. I just kept saying, “I can’t understand”. The only thing I did understand was the word “Idaho” thrown in now and then. Finally, John said “he wants a ride to Idaho and saw our license plates” and I said “Sorry” and shut the door. And then I couldn’t go back to sleep!
We went to Bryce Canyon on Saturday, and that was really impressive. We all enjoyed that, and took a little walk along the rim to look at all the unusual geological formations. Johnny and Jim liked to get quite close the rim and then want me to take a picture of them acting like they might be falling off. I think my heart went into a few irregular rhythms about that time, but I seem to be fine now.
We arrived back home about 2:00 A.M. on Sunday morning. Johnny did all of the driving after leaving Las Vegas to come home, and he did an excellent job. We listened to a lot of Mark Twain’s “Roughing It’, which was interesting cause it covered some of the same country that we did, except that Mr. Twain is even more wordy than I am! We did well for being in such close quarters for the most part. Johnny says that Jim thrashes about a bit in his sleep, and was on the lookout for something to bind Jim’s arms and legs together. Also, one night, Jim knocked a glass of water over onto his father’s pants, which were beside the bed, but not noticed til the following morning when said father tried to put said pants on.
My one regret is that we didn’t start taking vacation many years ago. I think, before last year, the only vacation I can remember taking was when Johnny was a baby. But more about that another time. I have some really interesting stories to tell about THAT trip. (Johnny, remember the sea shells and the water bottle?)
Au Revoir.

Ultramom