I left Las Vegas yesterday at 0500. Only after crossing into Arizona's northwest corner did I realize that I pulled out of Sin City without looking back, not even once.
Despite no love lost for Vegas, I did enjoy working at the hotel, and after checking out and turning in my uniform, my colleagues took me out to a bar where one of my favorite sous chefs taught me to play pool. Loved it!
Once I got on the road, I detoured, if I may use that word (is it even a word?), to Capitol Reef National Park and then Arches National Park. Arches is supposed to be one of the most beautiful NPs in the country. I dunno about that, but it's certainly one of the most popular. It was hella crowded and I realized, about halfway along the Scenic Drive, that I'd had enough of it. It was a combination of clueless tourists milling about and more red rocks. Yes, the arches are neat, but I've seen a lot of red rocks the past few months. I mean, a lot: the aptly-named Red Rocks, Valley of Fire, Cathedral Gorge, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, random roadside formations... I could go on and on.
So I turned back from completing the Scenic Drive and headed here to overnight before setting forth, momentarily, on another detour, this time to The Black Canyon of The Gunnison (yes, that's its official name), a national park that is full of black rocks, as the name suggests, which should be a lovely diversion.
I have photos but can't remember where I put my UBS cable, so they'll have to wait for another post. I do feel the need to mention a couple randoms:
- For those of you who know how much I love those "my special child" bumper stickers, I saw a new low in the genre: My Child Excels At Crawford Preschool Academy. Oh, the horror. Can a preschooler actually "excel" at anything?
- As the ranger was suggesting the best things to see at Arches given my "condition" (more on that in a moment), an old man walked up, interrupted him to demand directions to a place to eat outside the park boundaries, then walked away. I said to the weary-looking ranger "I'll thank you on his behalf" and he said "I'm used to it. Nobody thanks us." Rangers get paid almost nothing and are often caught in the crossfire of political quibbling and budget cuts. Yeah, they get to live in places like Zion, but they have to deal with idiots and rude people all the time. So this is my Earth Day Plea: Be extra super nice to the next ranger you see. Take a moment to thank him or her not just for giving you directions, but also for dealing with the muttonhead who wants to climb a fragile natural formation, leave his or her beer cans in a tree or carve initials into a fossilized mollusk.
- You may have noticed I'm not mentioning any hiking. That's because I broke my toe! Derrrrr. Yes, Thursday night, in a rush to do some packing before going out with the bakery gang, I slammed my foot but good into a doorframe. It's just my little toe on my right foot, so it's not debilitating, but even with my good hiking boots on, it's really not up for much trekking. So I'm... shudder, car-touring.
More soon, including an answer to the question that I have often pondered: what's in Nebraska, anyway?
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