Welcome everyone. I am your dam guide, Arnie...

Last night we arrived in Las Vegas and went out to explore the strip once we had the cover of darkness, not to hide in the shadows, to see the city of lights in their full on glory. Our hotel was conveniently located along the monorail line so we were able to hop a quick ride up to MGM Grand to start our light show. As you get off the monorail you have to walk through the entire casino (a half mile to a mile inside most of them if not more) just to be able to get out to the strip. The insides of the casino were much of what I expected from the ideas that I had received from different movies set in Las Vegas; lots of slots, lots of people, big buffets, and tons and tons of shops. Outside was also very typical from the movie scenes with one exception…you don’t really take in from the movies the voyeurism of people handing out cards for call girls and how they get littered all over the street. Like I said it’s exactly what you would come to expect from the movies with the bright neon signs, Elvis impersonators, extravagant buildings, waterworks at the Bellagio, and pirate fights at Treasure Island. Other than the casino night life I couldn’t really grasp any other kind of culture or reason why Las Vegas should really exist, but gambling is a very big industry out there.

On the way out today we passed by Lake Mead and crossed over the Hover Dam that was impressive in it’s size, but also a little depressing as the Colorado River was very low (maybe 25’ or so). They’re also currently constructing a large single span concrete arch bridge that will over look the dam and I’m assuming the future construction that I’ve heard is down the line to update the turbine system that they use to generate power.

Now to what I’ve wanted to talk about since I finished eating about 20 minutes ago. Chip and I stopped in a little town on historic route 66 by the name of Williams, Arizona. The town itself is pretty quaint and has some fun historic buildings that are a snapshot of what one would assume it looked like in the 1920s-30s. We fueled up and then made way to the Pine Country Restaurant (we’re back into some greener vegetation), which seems to be one of the few restaurants that stayed open between lunch and dinner. I had checked them out on the internet before we got into town and already had my eyes and stomach on a certain menu item that caught my eye, the Texas Red Burger. As the waitress brought the plate of “hot mess” in front of me I have to admit that it looked even better than I had imagined. It consisted of an open faced burger on a slab of corn bread topped with a bath of chili with beans and shredded cheese and a side of battered freedom fries. I would describe the taste as a merry go round of enjoyment, not one particular item stood out or would have been pleasing by itself with the exception of the fries (they were quite good all alone). What I mean is that the burger wasn’t very juicy, the corn bread wasn’t sweet or moist (and it didn’t involve a guess the secret ingredient game, one of these days I’ll guess correctly Tommy D), and the chili lacked some kick. However, all together it worked for me and was very tasty and I was able to remedy the lack of kick with a bottle of my girl Cholula or as Jay likes to call it “Paulula”. For the work campers that went with me to Elmira, NY this summer the answer is no, it wasn’t my own personal bottle, like I brought with me then, although I should have now that I come to think of it.

The internet signal hasn’t been really reliable today, so I’ve been writing this post piecemeal. Right now we’re watching the sunset at the Grand Canyon at the Grandview Point and it’s quite the view as you can see in the video below and the pictures in the album. We’ve been in the park for a couple hours now and have been able to see how the canyons seem to change and shift as the sun rises and falls in the sky. Parts of the canyon that are hidden at one point are later revealed as well as the visibility of the red, grey, copper, and brown layers of the canyon walls. There’s quite a bit more vegetation around here once you step away from the canyon cliffs as well as being much cooler then what we’ve experienced in the last couple days (mid 80s was the high), but what isn’t really? We’ll camp here tonight and then tomorrow we’re off for Four Corners and then to Los Alamos, New Mexico to visit with the Hornes.