"I hope your hair burns off!" - unsuccessful con at the Mirage
PICTURES POSTED
I'll get to that later, we don't want to start at the end, and miss the middle before we even get to the beginning...
We did have our nice dip in a hot tub and some very satisfying chili to end up our Trail Day... it was wild walking back from the hot tub in the total mist - we went from beautiful, sunny and dry to almost rainforest in less than 18 hours... And, we woke up more than once last night to the sound of hard rain, maybe hail... It was, as I remember some Texan saying, a woolybugger.
When we got up, we heard folks saying another front was on the way, so we took care of business and packed up, decided to get out off the mountains before we got blown off. We drove out and did go through Zion NP on the way (thanks Jendan!); unfortunately the Park is having some road and tunnel issues, so we had to pay for an escort - which we never received - and then there was about a 20 minute delay at the tunnel. The roads were really curvy, and in poor shape, and still fairly crowded, so while the views were great (at least for me), the driving was not fun for Marge.
As we climbed out of Southern Utah, and into Arizona, the scenery once again changed and was gorgeous. The rain had made the drive down through Zion a lot more green and clean, and the drive back up into the mountains was a whole different set of geology and topography...
The drag was that we were on roads that already had permanent signs saying "Rock Fall Ahead," "Dangerous Cross Winds next 6 Miles" and "Road Damage"; add to this the fact that there were huge gusts of winds (when we got to Vegas, they had posted a Weather Advisory), and we were sharing the road with 26-wheeled 3-trailer Fed-EX trucks, changing lanes with the gusts - Marge kept the ole Conestoga on the trail, but she was feeling it... I think her experience is best summed up by her response to the Welcome to Arizona sign, emblazoned 
with their state flag, to which she spit out "Fuckin' Maoist Sign"...
About 12 miles out from Vegas, we stopped for fuel; turn away if you're faint of heart:
315 miles
45.159 gallons
$138.14
3.059/gallon
6.97 mpg - pretty bad, but we were fighting nature...
When we got back on the road, we could just barely make out the Stratosphere peeking out of the dust cloud, so we had our goal in sight. Funny as it is, our Kampground is actually behind Circus Circus' parking lot, and is a big asphalt flat with hook-ups... It's hysterical, we are pretty much on The Strip, but at the far end and behind a Casino - not a super nice one at that.
We checked in, got a site, took care of business, laundry and showers, and fed Dawn and Missy. Jen and Dan want to know how the ladies are doing, let's just say they are champs; they sleep for most of the drive and when we go to do something, Dawn gets in her kennel and Missy just chills out. Most Kampgrounds have been empty enough or have great fields or open areas so we can run them and have fun - this one is the exception. They have these Guantanemo Bay holding pens filled with gravel for dog runs... Dawn just pooped on the pavement last night...
We had 2 great RV sightings today: the first was on the road when we saw a typical Euro license plate, except red where it is normally blue. They also had one of those GBM country stickers... finally, I realized the symbol in the red area was the triskelion, and then it hit me - Great Britian, Isle of Man - the triskelion is the Manx symbol; check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Man
The next was the Tuetonic Post-Apocalyptic Road Warrior Mobile -
I have serious RV envy on this one; everyone in the Kampground is checking them out, and still no signs of life...
Headed over - in the KOA Kourtesy Golf Cart Shuttle - to Circus Circus to catch a cab to the Mirage. The Bellman was like a caricature of the worst, low class Bellman that you could imagine, it was tragic...
Got to the Mirage with time to spare, picked up our tickets at will call (the only way we got them was due to cancellation) and proceeded to the Libation Fountain - not what they called the bar, but a better name I'm sure. They had a good Crimson Martini, so we each had a few; and while sitting there, as you only do in Vegas, watching people check into the hotel as entertainment, I am approached by this man who starts with "I used to have hair as long as yours..." [Let me tell you, this is the stupidest thing anyone ever says, and if you really call them on it, they had a Shaun Cassidy cut, and not even a pony-tail, so don't ever say this to someone, even if it's true...]. My other advice is don't come to Vegas to wear your sweats and beachwear or hiking gear; that also makes you much an asshole...
Then, he proceeds on some story about his incredibly nice and expensive car he can't get into because he's locked the keys in and blah and blah, and I'm fully blowing him off and finally realizing I'm not falling for it, he marches away with the parting shot - "I hope your hair burns off".
We headed into the show, and it was like deja vu - our seats were at about 9000 feet above sea level... I wanted to see LOVE because I keep hoping Cirque du Soliel will return to their roots and because this one was raved up about the remixing of the songs and that each seat was wired for sound. Well, it was another big CdS disappointment, apparently acrobats are in short supply or earn too much, because about 75% of the new shows are people dancing and waving their arms around, and maybe every 20 minutes, some acrobat does about 2 minutes worth of action.
The seats were wired, but didn't crank, nor even give bass; and on 2 occassions, we spent 4 or 5 minutes watching silhouetted figures of the Fab 4 talking during recording sessions. Not like the cool out-takes I've heard where you get to hear them plink out the lead to Hey Jude the first time on piano, just pointless cockney banter; maybe if you're a big fan, but I came to see something still billed as a CIRCUS.
Disappointment in tow, we headed out for a bite to eat at a Deli - as I described it "The Low High-Rollers eat here". I ate about a pound of pastrami, which means about 1/3rd of my sammich and we headed out for a cab. The taxi we were in was NOT a Taxicab Confessions taxi, unfortunatley, but the driver and I shared an affinity for all things Bill Maher, and enjoyed the banter.
That was CIBOLA, day 1. Decided we will go back around the Grand Canyon, and probably not back through Zion - other parts were closed to larger vehicles and Marge needs a break from the mountaineering.
Vanity Plates - on the road to Vegas, we were rich:
LVN SMRT
LAZY DAZ
SOOIEE
C F I
FORD 51 - on an actual '51 Woody with the wood still intact
NMYLENT
1 NME
H N C
ABT
SEARCO5
TAPTOUT - I like this one
KLOUD
G8R MOM
Roadkill:
Deer - possible same sighting, we were backtracking
Skunk
Pink furry intestines
Tumbleweeds - many
Coyote
Live:
Buffalo (not Bison)
Elk - finally
T-Shirts - too good to not mention:
COCAINA - Refineria Medellin Regal - white cursive on powder blue
RUBBERBANDMAN - mylar glitter on black with lots of vinyl dolla bills pouring out on the shirt
Track of the day: Vey Heyladim Ba'im by Yehuda Poliker from Live at Cesearea...
Harve...
We did have our nice dip in a hot tub and some very satisfying chili to end up our Trail Day... it was wild walking back from the hot tub in the total mist - we went from beautiful, sunny and dry to almost rainforest in less than 18 hours... And, we woke up more than once last night to the sound of hard rain, maybe hail... It was, as I remember some Texan saying, a woolybugger.
When we got up, we heard folks saying another front was on the way, so we took care of business and packed up, decided to get out off the mountains before we got blown off. We drove out and did go through Zion NP on the way (thanks Jendan!); unfortunately the Park is having some road and tunnel issues, so we had to pay for an escort - which we never received - and then there was about a 20 minute delay at the tunnel. The roads were really curvy, and in poor shape, and still fairly crowded, so while the views were great (at least for me), the driving was not fun for Marge.
As we climbed out of Southern Utah, and into Arizona, the scenery once again changed and was gorgeous. The rain had made the drive down through Zion a lot more green and clean, and the drive back up into the mountains was a whole different set of geology and topography...
The drag was that we were on roads that already had permanent signs saying "Rock Fall Ahead," "Dangerous Cross Winds next 6 Miles" and "Road Damage"; add to this the fact that there were huge gusts of winds (when we got to Vegas, they had posted a Weather Advisory), and we were sharing the road with 26-wheeled 3-trailer Fed-EX trucks, changing lanes with the gusts - Marge kept the ole Conestoga on the trail, but she was feeling it... I think her experience is best summed up by her response to the Welcome to Arizona sign, emblazoned 
with their state flag, to which she spit out "Fuckin' Maoist Sign"...About 12 miles out from Vegas, we stopped for fuel; turn away if you're faint of heart:
315 miles
45.159 gallons
$138.14
3.059/gallon
6.97 mpg - pretty bad, but we were fighting nature...
When we got back on the road, we could just barely make out the Stratosphere peeking out of the dust cloud, so we had our goal in sight. Funny as it is, our Kampground is actually behind Circus Circus' parking lot, and is a big asphalt flat with hook-ups... It's hysterical, we are pretty much on The Strip, but at the far end and behind a Casino - not a super nice one at that.
We checked in, got a site, took care of business, laundry and showers, and fed Dawn and Missy. Jen and Dan want to know how the ladies are doing, let's just say they are champs; they sleep for most of the drive and when we go to do something, Dawn gets in her kennel and Missy just chills out. Most Kampgrounds have been empty enough or have great fields or open areas so we can run them and have fun - this one is the exception. They have these Guantanemo Bay holding pens filled with gravel for dog runs... Dawn just pooped on the pavement last night...
We had 2 great RV sightings today: the first was on the road when we saw a typical Euro license plate, except red where it is normally blue. They also had one of those GBM country stickers... finally, I realized the symbol in the red area was the triskelion, and then it hit me - Great Britian, Isle of Man - the triskelion is the Manx symbol; check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Man
The next was the Tuetonic Post-Apocalyptic Road Warrior Mobile -
I have serious RV envy on this one; everyone in the Kampground is checking them out, and still no signs of life...
Headed over - in the KOA Kourtesy Golf Cart Shuttle - to Circus Circus to catch a cab to the Mirage. The Bellman was like a caricature of the worst, low class Bellman that you could imagine, it was tragic...
Got to the Mirage with time to spare, picked up our tickets at will call (the only way we got them was due to cancellation) and proceeded to the Libation Fountain - not what they called the bar, but a better name I'm sure. They had a good Crimson Martini, so we each had a few; and while sitting there, as you only do in Vegas, watching people check into the hotel as entertainment, I am approached by this man who starts with "I used to have hair as long as yours..." [Let me tell you, this is the stupidest thing anyone ever says, and if you really call them on it, they had a Shaun Cassidy cut, and not even a pony-tail, so don't ever say this to someone, even if it's true...]. My other advice is don't come to Vegas to wear your sweats and beachwear or hiking gear; that also makes you much an asshole...
Then, he proceeds on some story about his incredibly nice and expensive car he can't get into because he's locked the keys in and blah and blah, and I'm fully blowing him off and finally realizing I'm not falling for it, he marches away with the parting shot - "I hope your hair burns off".
We headed into the show, and it was like deja vu - our seats were at about 9000 feet above sea level... I wanted to see LOVE because I keep hoping Cirque du Soliel will return to their roots and because this one was raved up about the remixing of the songs and that each seat was wired for sound. Well, it was another big CdS disappointment, apparently acrobats are in short supply or earn too much, because about 75% of the new shows are people dancing and waving their arms around, and maybe every 20 minutes, some acrobat does about 2 minutes worth of action.
The seats were wired, but didn't crank, nor even give bass; and on 2 occassions, we spent 4 or 5 minutes watching silhouetted figures of the Fab 4 talking during recording sessions. Not like the cool out-takes I've heard where you get to hear them plink out the lead to Hey Jude the first time on piano, just pointless cockney banter; maybe if you're a big fan, but I came to see something still billed as a CIRCUS.
Disappointment in tow, we headed out for a bite to eat at a Deli - as I described it "The Low High-Rollers eat here". I ate about a pound of pastrami, which means about 1/3rd of my sammich and we headed out for a cab. The taxi we were in was NOT a Taxicab Confessions taxi, unfortunatley, but the driver and I shared an affinity for all things Bill Maher, and enjoyed the banter.
That was CIBOLA, day 1. Decided we will go back around the Grand Canyon, and probably not back through Zion - other parts were closed to larger vehicles and Marge needs a break from the mountaineering.
Vanity Plates - on the road to Vegas, we were rich:
LVN SMRT
LAZY DAZ
SOOIEE
C F I
FORD 51 - on an actual '51 Woody with the wood still intact
NMYLENT
1 NME
H N C
ABT
SEARCO5
TAPTOUT - I like this one
KLOUD
G8R MOM
Roadkill:
Deer - possible same sighting, we were backtracking
Skunk
Pink furry intestines
Tumbleweeds - many
Coyote
Live:
Buffalo (not Bison)
Elk - finally
T-Shirts - too good to not mention:
COCAINA - Refineria Medellin Regal - white cursive on powder blue
RUBBERBANDMAN - mylar glitter on black with lots of vinyl dolla bills pouring out on the shirt
Track of the day: Vey Heyladim Ba'im by Yehuda Poliker from Live at Cesearea...
Harve...
1 comment:
Sorry Marge! Cool that it had just rained in Zion.
You have to remember that we encoutered a rock slide (in the brand new Saturn) early on in our National Park roadtrips. We're so accustomed to those crazy road conditions but in smaller cars.
Hope you'll see the Arches on your way out of UT; it's our 2nd favorite after Bryce (& not in the mtns). Thanks for all the entertainment!!!
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