no internet = no blog posts

Hello friends,

I'm currently sitting on a couch in a strangers' house listening to my sister sleep. Doesn't that sound creepy?

Fear not, I met these people through couchsurfing. All is legit. Try it out yourself. (Don't you wish real life would give you free stuff like it seems to for celebs just for mentioning stuff? That would be great.) Seriously though couchsurfing is great!

Today Leann and I met up with our dads in Colorado Springs. They have been her for two days and they are head of heels in love with the place. In fact, rumor has it Dad has been picking up local real estate magazines. haha...oh boys...

Getting to Colorado Springs (dads) wasn't easy.

First up, we had to leave Vegas. That was hard. Perhaps a little too hard. No one ever wants to leave but seriously only a day there is such a tease. I never got to swim with the sharks. I didn't get to see pirates fight at Treasure Island. Leann never got to go to giant M&M store. ah, such is life.

Secondly, we had to drive to the Grand Canyon. Have you ever done that? Not a horrible drive unless, of course, it's the opening weekend/WALKthrough for the new Hoover Dam overpass. Then, if that's the case, you get to wait 45 minutes to go 4 miles. Thank you 17,000 people who decided to walk over the new overpass on Sunday. (Btw, word of advice, never try to recreate the scene in "Fools Rush In" by throwing a quarter out of the window while passing the state line. You may end up hitting an unexpecting person. I didn't but I came awfully close. oops) After we got past the Dam, it wasn't too bad. It was just another 4-5 hours. We arrived and it was dark. It got dark at 5. We had left Vegas around noon. oops.

Thirdly, we had to sleep. in a tent. in a forest. full of mountain lions. near a giant canyon. Okay, maybe we didn't have to do that to get to Colorado Springs but it sure was a happy perk. :) I loved it. Leann is a camping pro. Good thing because, as this math equation points out: darkness + new tent + rain + no real flashlights + no food except instant potatoes and PB&J = challenging! Now I should point out 2 things. 1. This was not supposed to be a new tent by now. Mom and I were supposed to have used it in Yellowstone. And the girls and I were supposed to have used it in the Redwoods. neither happened. 2. We had cellphones (our Droids are bright!) for light and, after the tent was raised, I remembered we also had lanterns.

After our tent (and fly!) was raised and we had had our fill of potatoes, there was nothing to do but sleep. Well this is about the time I got just enough phone signal for all the texts/FB updates started coming in warning me about mountain lions. Thanks guys. Honestly, it got me a bit shaken, but there as no way I was tearing down that tent after all the struggle we had just put up! Mountain lions or not, I was sleeping outside! (Also, I looked up info and found out how to fight off a mountain lion. Bring it on...)

The sleep itself was pretty good except for the onslaught of rain that continued to hit our tent. However, we were dry. We were cozy. And, most important, mountain lions aren't going to come out in the rain.

When morning came there was a lot of work to do. More than I had even expected or even had the energy for. Instead of doing the things I absolutely needed to do ie: make breakfast (oatmeal & jelly toast), tear down our tent, fold our tent (the worst thing ever!)..., I decided to completely repack our car. I took everything out, laid it on a dry tarp, and set to work. To be honest, I felt a million times better after that. Sometimes a girl has just got to organize.

The fourth thing we had to do before reaching Colorado Springs was take in the Grand Canyon. Oh, take it in we did. I would love to talk in great detail here about the "giant hole in the ground" as I affectionately call it. Sadly, the Canyon is something that needs to be seen. I have some really beautiful shots. We stopped at 3 different viewpoints before heading to our next destination. Perhaps one day I'll upload some shots, until them find them on FB if we are friends.

The final attraction before meeting up the dads was 4 Corners. That sadly, is another story for another day. (because my laptop is dying...)

Goodnight friends. :)

--the nomad

What happens in Vegas... waits a day before being shared with the world.

Alternatively titled: "How to do Vegas (and Hoover Dam!) in a day"

Due to the fact that Leann and I rushed through The Hoover Dam and Las Vegas, I figured the easiest thing to do was to give you an outline of our schedule. Put on your tennis shoes, we were busy! (speaking of tennis shoes, thanks to valeting my car, I got stuck in my brown tennis shoes the entire time I was in Vegas! ugh.)

October 15

1: Leave LA, drive to Vegas

5: Arrive in Vegas almost 6 hours before I was supposed to pick up Leann. oops

5:30: check in to hotel, update some stuff, watch some tv and take a much needed nap

10:30: drive to airport to pick her pick

10:40: arrive at pick up, sit in long line

10:50: sit through line again because Leann hadn't been there when it had finally been my tour

11: pick up Leann and head to find food

11:15: drive the strip

12: finally give up, grab quick sandwich, and head back down the strip and to our hotel

12:45: arrive at hotel. love it (Courtyard)

1: catch up

2: go to sleep

October 16:

6: wake up, shower, dress

7:15: head to our pick up point

7:30-7:55: wait for our tour bus

8: get on the "Comedy on Deck" bus

8:05: find out our tour is cancelled (no breakfast, no Lake Mead boat tour, $20 refund) but they our going to auto change us to the other tour (went into the Dam)

9: arrive at Hoover Dam: go on 2 dam tours (one over, one under), check out dam museum, buy dam pictures, laugh at dam tour guide (he wasn't funny on purpose except once: "Do you know our picture policy? The Federal Govermenet says 'Take all the Dam pictures you want!'" haha!)

11:20: get back on bus, head to Boulder City

11:30: take pictures of Lake Mead

11:45: arrive in Boulder City

12: take Boulder Dam Hotel museum tour

12:20 EAT (Finally!)

12:45: back on bus headed to chocolate museum (uh...it was added on too. lame)

1:15: arrive at M&M Store, Ester M's, and "Botanical Gardens" (it was a cactus garden. uh...)

2:15: arrive at Harrah's in Vegas

2:25: call and make dinner reservations (good thing because we didn't know we had to)

2:30: go to the Mack King Comedy Magic show

2:45: get first drink

2:47: wear first drink (real cool Leann!)

2:49: get second drink

3: Mack King's show (we LOVED it. best thing we could have gone to. LOVE LOVE LOVED it!)

4:30: meet Mack King and take pictures with him

5: try to figure way back to car

5:10 get distracted by MGM Grand

5:20: find lion cubs and take pictures for at least 20 minutes

5:45: debate going to a tv pilot screening

5:55: find car and drive to Hilton

6:15: check into Hilton at the VIP lounge

6:25: quick change for dinner (realize I only have my brown tennis shoes. Freak out a little. ha)

7: arrive at Beninhana for dinner

7:01: get seated with random people

7:02: try to explain that we had a dinner package

7:03: get out cell phone to show dinner package

7:04: leave Leann, go back up to room on 11^th floor to get printouts about the dinner package

7:09: arrive back to restaurant, hand confused waiter the printouts

7:11: talk to manager

7:12: talk to head manager at front counter (leave Leann again)

7:13: get sent to VIP lounge to straighten it all out

7:16: VIP lounge understand that they dropped the ball and begin to print out corrected paperwork

7:20: paper jam in printer

7:23: 2 more paper jams

7:30: finally have papers in hand and head back to Bennihana

7:34: show papers to mangers and server

7:36: finally sit down next to Leann as the waiter grabs my menu out of my hand and says “steak or chicken?” Everyone else at the table already has drinks

7:38: received a Buddha filled with some strong mystery substance

7:39: got the delicious onion and mushroom soup

7:40: our chef arrives and sets right to work. (this was seriously the fastest & quietest table I’ve ever been at at a Bennihana!)

7:43: salad arrived

7:44: chef tries to be fun and entertaining. He makes an onion smokestack, whistles like a train, and even flips a shrimp tail into his hat. Our tablemates are not impressed. They continue talking and barely look at the chef. Leann and I clap and smile.

7:46: chef dishes out the shrimp and vegetables he had just sautéed

7:47: as we begin to nosh, the chef begins making fried rice. Leann and I are handed small bowls of white rice by the server. Apparently fried rice doesn’t come with our package. (Can I just say here, we didn’t not get a free meal. I paid a lot of money for this Hilton/Bennihana package. Ugh)

7:52: finishes the fried rice and portions it out to our tablemates

7:53: he begins cooking the main meats as we finish the shrimp, veggies, and rice

8:05: chef hands out the meat, asks if everything is alright, bows quickly, and leaves

8:08: half of our tablemates get up and start to leave. (bills have not been dropped)

8:09: watch server and exiting tablemates discuss stuff and glad that for once it isn’t me

8:11: get asked if we want tea, we decline

8:12: get asked if we want dessert, in the same breath told that we’d have to pay for it because it’s not included but the Buddha mugs were and to take them home. (Seriously, did he think we were poor? He was amazingly and continually rude.) We declined dessert and then left a big tip. (take that!)

8:14: leave the table, confused by all that had transpired and that it all happened so quickly

8:15: take pictures of the cool Japanese pagoda/waterfall in Bennihana

8:17: head back up to our room…(I think it’s time to mention, we were equally underwhelmed by our room. It was supposed to be a really sweet room that my friend had even been sweet enough to upgrade for us. It ended up being smaller than the Courtyard we had stayed in the night before. The beds were not nearly as comfortable. And the showers were probably the worst I’ve experienced this trip, that includes the pay showers at the campgrounds! The “view” was nice but the hotel itself was actually quite far the strip so the view was not what we were expecting or even as it had been advertized. In the end, I was not happy that I had paid so much for this package. However, the point of Vegas is to not stay in your room. This experience certainly taught us that.)

8:22: drop off the buddhas, make any wardrobe changes that needed to be made, whine about brown shoes, leave room, and head toward the monorails.

9:30: get off monorail and walk down strip toward Bellagio

9:50: arrive at the Bellagio just in time to see the end of the fountain water show

10: watch the next water show on the edge

10:10: move to the center and watch another show. (what can I say, I’m an Ocean’s Eleven nerd.)

10:20: walk down the strip to catch the “deuce” bus

10:30: get on bus and head to the top of this lovely double-decker

11: miss the laser lights show because still on bus…boo (spoiler alert: we made the midnight showing.)

11:15: finally make it to Frement Street Experience

(The next few hours are nearly impossible to break down times or even the order so I’ll just list until I can catch back up…and, Mom, remember these things are already over and done so you can’t yell at us!)

• - walk around staring at the “World’s Largest TV Screen”
• - take a lot of pictures
• - gamble and win ($12.50 on $.50 not bad) at 4 Queens
• - gamble at Golden Nugget
• - take more pictures
• - laugh at the people dancing in the middle of the street
• - get a Mai Tai at Mermaids for $1!
• - Leann is the big drawing winner at Mermaids. She pulls the lever and wins a whopping $2
• - Play nickel slots for an hour at Mermaids
• - Watch the midnight laser show
• - Find French Toast for $3.99
• - Find out that French Toast isn’t sold til 2 am
• - Eat the world’s worst eggs instead
• - Eat a donut to make it better
• - Acquire beads
• - Gamble at Bayou
• - Walk in and out of casinos left and right
• - Look for souvenirs at a shop (sorry…I didn’t buy anything. I hate all those tacky thimbles, shot glasses, mugs, keychains, etc…)

(For those of you keeping count: Yes that was a lot of casinos. However, you should know that I didn’t spend more than $20 [19.40 to be exact] in all of the casinos in Nevada, including the ones not in Vegas. I even walked out with some winnings. That’s why I loved the nickel slots so much. Start with a quarter. Win $3 and play it till it’s gone or you’re a big winner. You are only out a quarter.)

1:20: decide to leave Fremont Street Experince and head back to the bus

1:35: bus comes and we hop on -- best bus driver ever

1:45: get off at bus stop still half mile from hotel (Hilton…grrr…) – btw, Leann still claims we got off at the wrong stop and so our walk was even longer. Whatever.

1:46: decide to walk to hotel instead of paying the $8 it would be for a cab. Ha. We are cheap!

2:05: arrive at Hilton unscathed except for our nose hairs. (seriously Vegas smells. We call the aroma “elephant pee”)

2:10: head up to our room

2:15: arrive and head to bed

October 17:

Wake up

Take Shower & Pack

Check out through the tv in our room

Drop keys downstairs

Receive our free $20 chip

Try one round of Black Jack

Lose to the house

Leave Hilton

Wait for the valet to bring our car

Tip the valet

Drive out of Vegas.

Shoo…that was a super long, but fun 36 hours! Next time needs to be days. I want to swim with sharks at The Golden Nugget.

--the nomad

Have you ever?

Have you ever driven from LA to Vegas?

Have you ever driven from LA to Vegas by yourself?

Have you ever driven from LA to Vegas by yourself averaging 78 mph?

Have you ever driven from LA to Vegas by yourself averaging 78 mph and get bored?

Have you ever driven from LA to Vegas by yourself averaging 78 mph and get bored

so you talk to your best friend on your cellphone?

Have you ever driven from LA to Vegas by yourself averaging 78 mph and get bored

so you call your mom after you talk to your best friend on your cellphone?

Have you ever driven from LA to Vegas by yourself averaging 78 mph and get bored

so you call your mom after you talk to your best friend on your cellphone and in the middle of the call get blown away by the beauty of the mountains?

Have you ever driven from LA to Vegas by yourself averaging 78 mph and get bored

so you call your mom after you talk to your best friend on your cellphone and in the middle of the call get so blown away by the beauty of the mountains that you take out your camera and begin snapping pictures?

Yeah, me neither... ;)

--the nomad

I'm the queen of good deals!

I just officially confirmed the sweetest package ever in Vegas. Thanks to a random email I received yesterday from"The Chef's Table" program at Benihana, Leann and I are now getting the following for $185:

• Hotel accommodations at the Las Vegas Hilton (with strip view) for one night
• Two five-course Hibachi Steak or Chicken dinners at Benihana Las Vegas
• Two collectible ceramic Benihana mugs with your choice of beverage
• $20 in Complimentary Bet Chips

(*Squeal! *Swoon! *Sigh!)

This will happen directly following the best Hoover Dam day a girl could ever ask for. (Courtesy of Comedy On Deck Tours and, my best friend on this trip, Groupon!) Seriously, I picked up this sweet little package a couple months ago for $75! Here it is:

• Pick up on the Vegas Strip
• Buffet Breakfast at historic Boulder Dam Hotel
• 30-45 minute tour on top of Hoover Dam led by tour guides who claim to be comics
• 90 minute paddleboat cruise on Lake Mead
• Free tickets to the "Mac King Comedy Magic Show" on the Vegas Strip

Vegas is shaping up to be a lot better than I had orinigally planned. Now, we just need to find a place to stay Friday night and all will be perfect! Yay! Yay!

Anybody been to Vegas? What do we have to see on Sunday?