Sunrise

This past weekend, I had my first adventure outside of Los Angeles! I took a 3 day bus tour to Las Vegas and Grand Canyon. Unfortunately, the tour group I went with was allllllll Asian, even though it was a bilingual tour. I was caught in the middle because I'm Chinese so everybody assumed I spoke Mandarin (I only understand the basics of it) but I just wanted to speak English!! So I mostly kept to myself and did my own thing.

Day 1: I had to wake up at the crack of dawn to meet up with the tour group. Luckily, my roommate drove me into downtown so I didn't have to take the bus. Our first stop was the Barstow Outlets. We drove through the Mojave Desert where a bunch of movies have been filmed before. Lots of off-road racing goes on around there. After shopping around for an hour (the tour guide advised people to buy jackets if they didn't have one), we had another hour for lunch. I decided to try out In N Out for the first time... and I don't understand what all the hype is about. The place was packed with hundreds of people. It took 20 minutes for my order (cheese burger, fries, and a shake) and it totally wasn't worth it. After that, we headed for Las Vegas and arrived around 4. The tour group really lucked out the entire trip--during the drives, it was awful weather, but once we stepped out of the bus, every time, the skies cleared. After I threw all my stuff into my hotel room on the top floor of the Imperial Palace (I had two queen beds for myself), I headed out on the strip. There's really nothing to do other than gamble, drink, and go to a show. I mostly checked out all the hotels and walked around. I met up with a friend for dinner and had sushi, and then I continued my trek down the strip. Since I was in Sin City, I decided to play $5 at the penny slots. At first, I was up about $1.50... and then I lost it all. That's how they get you!
I don't know how people can live there... one night was enough for me. It's too commercial and superficial--all about instant gratification.

Day 2: Left the hotel at 8:30 and headed over to the Ethel M Chocolate Factory (where some Mars candies are made). Bought and chugged a coffee. Then we were off to the Grand Canyon (the west side)! The whole drive over, it was rainy and windy. Once we reached the canyons, it was actually snowing! I never thought it could snow in the desert. We finally reached our destination (Hualapai Ranch--part of the Native American reserve). And, like I said, once we stepped out of the bus, the skies cleared up! I think the wind played a part in that as well. After throwing my crap into my single room, I spent some quality time with my Nikon D80... oh, how I've missed it (I had to get it repaired at the end of August)! We headed over to the Skywalk where Eagle Point is. I can't even describe how majestic it is to see the canyons... seriously incredible. So for $32, I got to walk on the skywalk, which was not worth it at all because you aren't allowed to bring your camera (or any type of metal for that matter) and you don't even get to walk on glass (they make you stay on walking mats). Lame.

Our next stop was Guano Point, which was my favorite part of the whole trip. From the top of one point, you can get a 360 degree view of the canyons. Once the tour guide told us we could go to the top, I raced over so I could beat all the other tourists and avoid having them in my photos. It was a bit like hiking/rock climbing, which I LOVE to do but haven't done in so long. When I got to the top, the wind almost knocked me over a few times. The view was spectacular though. The reds and purples in the sky and rocks were beautiful together. I took a TON of pictures. And we were fortunate enough to be there during sunset.

When the sun went down, we drove back to the ranch and had dinner. Apparently, everything on the ranch must be driven or flown in from Las Vegas (food, water, waste, etc) so you have to be careful with the resources. During dinner, some guy played country music on his guitar and in the back of the dining hall was a magician. After I ate dinner, I sat down to watch the magician (named Chris). He did mostly card/slight-of-hand tricks. I was lucky enough to be chosen as his volunteer, so at the end of the show, I got to keep a playing card with my name on it.  It was completely entertaining and mind-blowing; magic tricks have always fascinated me. I ended up talking to Chris for a while afterward, and it was just so nice to have a conversation with someone.
Around 8pm, I headed outside to take some night shots, but there weren't many stars out, surprisingly. After 30 minutes or so, my fingers and toes were freezing, so I headed to my room where I was at a loss for what to do. There was no television or internet, I didn't have a book, and I didn't have any games. Soooo, because I had my netbook, I played Minesweeper and Solitaire for a while, journaled a bit, and then went to bed.

Day 3: Woke up before the sun came up. It was wonderful. Ate breakfast and photographed the sunrise. I can't even explain how beautiful the sunrise was. There were colors that you only see in paintings. Definitely my favorite sunrise I've ever witnessed.

6:30am, off to the little airport 5 minutes away. For $179, I got to take a helicopter down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, take a boat ride on the Colorado River, and helicopter back to the top. Initially I wasn't going to do it because I'm still on a student budget, but at one point, the tour guide said "you can always make money but this is once in a lifetime," and that was a sign because that has sort of been my philosophy since I've been out here. Carpe diem! I'm so glad I did it too because it is just amazing. At one point, I realized where I was and what I was seeing and just laughed. It was so surreal.

After the helicopter rides, we went back to the ranch, packed up our stuff, watched some lame "western gun show" performed by the staff, and then headed out for Los Angeles.
I didn't realize how long the drive would be... it took probably 9 or 10 hours to get back to Monterey Park, then I had to switch to another bus to take me back to Chinatown in LA (another 45 minutes), then I had to get on the LA metro bus to take me to Venice (another hour). All that traveling plus the dryness of Arizona hit me hard. I felt sick on the LA metro and knew I was going to throw up... If the bus driver had opened the door a few seconds earlier, the door would still be clean. But alas, that didn't happen.
I'll save you the details, but I was very sick that night; I couldn't keep anything down, including water. After googling my symptoms, I believe I had dehydration. I went to work on Tuesday and was a complete zombie. Came home and slept for 13 hours and now I'm about 90% better.

I was a little sad for Thanksgiving this year. Really missed home and the family. I didn't even go Black Friday shopping today. It's hard to let go of traditions. Sigh.