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Wednesday
I got two hours sleep, had to get up at 10am to take Zeus to the vet for his shots. Came home, got a two hour nap, went to work. Came home, packed. Mark came over so we could spend time together before I left. He took Zeus with him. I got to sleep around 5am.

Thursday
Woke up at a quarter to 7, less than two hours sleep. We rode to the airport in a limo! How cool is that! Nice ride to the airport. We had a decent ride to Cincinnati airport (could not sleep on the plane, too uncomfortable), where we met up with Aunt Jeanne, Uncle James and my cousin, Brandon. We then took a plane from Cincinnati to Las Vegas. Brandon and I were convinced the flight was NEVER going to end. Jerrod's battery had died, so no laptop usage on the plane. We did play a few rounds of Rummy to pass the time (couldn't sleep on this plane either, too uncomfortable). He and I were VERY happy to finally land.

Interesting airport, neat sculptures. When we walked outside waves of heat washed over us; I thought it was just because we were walking behind busses. Nope, its really that hot. We barely managed to fit all the luggage in the van and drove our way to Westgate Flamingo Bay condos.

The first condo we were in had a washing machine in the middle of the living room, so they moved us right across the balcony to the next room over. James, Jeanne and Brandon share one bedroom with two double beds. My parents get the master bedroom with one full or queen bed, not sure. I get the living room. I immediately claim one corner of the living room as my own, and set up Jerrod to start charging. I also wanted to get my journal started.

Jeanne, Mom, Brandon and I hung out in the condo while James and Dad went looking for a grocery store. I kept trying to show Brandon cool stuff on my computer, like my mp3 and wave files, but we were sharing the space with Jeanne and Mom, so we kind of had to alternate talk time. Too bad there was only one living space, and it happened to be "my room."

James and Dad finally came back with minor snacks and drinks. We all loaded into the van and went to the Mirage Buffet for dinner. It was expensive, not really worth it IMHO. I mean the food wasn't bad, it just wasn't anything special. Jeanne and James started messing around in the casino. But Brandon wasn't allowed to "loiter" around the machines, because he's under 21. Seeing that he was at a loss for something to do, I declared "We're leaving" and dragged him off for adventure.

We went up to the Bell Desk in the Mirage and asked what the best way to get to Gameworks would be. The lady suggested we take the trolley (only $1.65 per person!) to New York New York, and Gameworks would be right across the street. We find said trolley and climb aboard. The driver sets off towards the strip. We are in the right lane. A huge semi is in the left lane, turning right, literally turning right into the trolley. He clips us. The trolley driver gets out and a verbal volley insued. Brandon and I decided it would be faster to walk after all, so disembarked. Oh well, I only lost $3.

Well, we got off the trolley. And looked around. Yes, here is the Mirage, but which way is the strip? I march right up to two guys who had gotten off the trolley as well and asked them which way to go. They didn't know either, but they finally picked a direction, and we followed them. Now Brandon and I are on the strip. Where do we go from here? We know it's a mile in one direction or another. Brandon says "I think it's this way." So we go that way. And lo: we find New York New York, and then Gameworks.

I put $20 on the Gameworks card. Then I discovered they only had DDR USA Mix. How LAME is that? Blah. But I'd already put the money on the card, so I started challenging myself to do songs I wasn't sure I could do. You know, too easy on trick, too hard on maniac. But I surprised myself and passed a few I wasn't expecting to. Of course I nearly passed out on the first round I played, because I'd just stuffed myself on dinner and walked a mile in the heat.

Oh, let me tell you about the heat. I like Florida weather. Heat does not bother me there. We have high humidity. So the "feels like" is supposedly the same. But in Florida, where it is 85-90 degrees and at LEAST 80% humidity, it is 108 degrees in Las Vegas, with 0% humidity. 0%. That's ZERO. Kelly does not like dry weather. As James put it "Usually when the wind blows it feels good. Here it just feels like a hair-dryer in your face." My eyes stung. My skin hurt. So strait from that to DDR, I suddenly found myself unable to SEE.

Anyway, after a rest and some water, Brandon and I alternated. He would play a game of his choice, then I would play DDR. It was good in general. Like I said, I did some things I didn't think I could do. We played games until about 9:50, when mom calls my cell, and says the adults are ready to go. So Brandon and I wait outside of Gameworks for the adults to arrive. What was supposed to be 10 or 15 minutes turned into 45. We waited outside until 10:30, when finally the van arrived. Brandon and I dove in, and we were on our way back to the condo.

So we hunt around the condo for the bedding that's supposed to go with the fold out couch. I'm sleeping on the couch, but not folding it out (that's too much of a pain). I finally get to take a shower and wash the dry salt off (and there was a lot of dry salt...) and I get to sit down to start fiddling on the computer. The Adults have all gone to bed. Brandon is on James' laptop, I'm on Jerrod. I find it amusing that I got so little sleep, and yet I still outlasted the adults.

Its 11:48pm local time. Its 2:48am home time. Hehe. So now I'm going to start work on the photo gallery (33 images already, and it's only day 1 of 10.) This way I'll have a lot less work when we get home. And then I think I'll work on my gargoyles music video some more, since I think it's coming out rather well :)

Friday
I have no idea what time Dad came out of the room the first time, but I drifted back off. He must have gone back in his room at some point, because he woke me up when he came out again. Mom ranted about the weather a little: record temperatures are expected while we're out here. 116 to 120 degrees. They'd also apparently been watching the news in their room, because Mom started ranting about how Bush is making enemies of the only people who are willing to be our friends.

Anyway, once everyone was awake we went to IHOP for breakfast. Um, correction. We went to a GHETTO IHOP for breakfast. I put a couple of dollars worth of quarters into a slot machine, but didn't win anything back. They didn't have room for six people at one table, so Brandon and I sat at a separate table. We amused ourselves running experiments on Eclipse breath strips, and generally making a mess of the table. The food was okay.

James, Brandon and I wanted to ride the roller coaster, so after a quick diversion to a DDR 3rd mix machine, we road the Manhattan Express. It was $12 and SO not worth it. The ride was very violent, I hit my head so hard on the headrest that I saw stars.

Then we went to the Star Trek experience. Apparently when Mom looked it up online it only cost $18.95. But the price has since gone up, and it now costs $29.99 to get in. Well, we knew we would only be in Las Vegas once, so we went in anyway. I don't think it was really worth $30, but it was fun none-the-less. I bought a bottle or Romulan Ale, and had a glass of it at the bar. I thought Romulan Ale was supposed to be strong! It tasted like a really light beer to me ;)

At this point the group split up. Brandon and I were dropped off at the Adventuredome, an indoor theme park. We road the Canyon Blaster twice, their roller coaster. It was much smoother than the Manhattan Express, quite a bit more fun. We also road the Rim .. Something. A water ride. It was okay, mostly nice to cool off a little. Though I got water all down in one shoe.

Now let me tell you, Adventuredome is a DDR friendly park. Downstairs there's only one machine, I don't even know what mix it is. Because it didn't SAY. And it only had like six songs, and I couldn't figure out how to get it off basic. So that sucked. HOWEVER. Right near the exit to the coaster and water ride, there is an arcade. And this arcade has FOUR DDR mixes. Two 8th mix, a 7th and a Disney mix! I've never played the Disney mix before, but I didn't feel like playing any more DDR by the time I saw it. Ah well, next time.

Brandon and I got some ice cream, and then my mom called and asked if we were ready to go. She and Jeanne had gone to the mall, Dad and James went to a car-show, but they were all done. So they came and picked us up. We went back to the condo to vegetate for a while.

I worked on sorting the photos thus far, and typed up a bit of the journal. Then we all headed to the Tropicana for dinner. (Mom had been craving steak.) We entered the hotel and there were two men performing an aerial strap act. Now the straps happen to have been my favorite act in Verekai, specifically because of the attractive men performing said act. So imagine my delight to find two attractive men performing here :) I did eventually manage to get my photo taken with them, mwee! ^_^

We had dinner at the Savannah Steakhouse. The food was okay.. Though my Ground Steak Diane had a tad too much pepper in it for my tastes. We spent quite a long time waiting for dinner (we were seated at 8pm, we didn't have food until 9:15.) So we were there until 10pm. Then we went to the "Old Downtown Las Vegas" - which was the hot spot 45 years ago. Now it just kind of looks pathetic. Of course, I kind of dislike ALL of Vegas. Definitely not my sort of town. Brandon said it well: "This place is nothing but a bunch of porn and casinos." That about sums it up. Anyway, there's a whole section of Old Downtown where the sky between the buildings is covered in a light-net. Every hour they have a show in the lights. Its cool, I guess. But it blocks out the whole sky.

After we watched the light show, the "adults" wanted to do some gambling. So Brandon and I walked up and down the streets, waiting until the rendezvous time. We then headed back to the condo to shower and sleep. One thought kept occurring to me today: Who's idea was it to come out into the middle of the desert and build a huge urban-opolis?

First New York, then Las Vegas. All FAR too urban for my tastes. Of course I wager the Grand Canyon will be little better. While at least I'll get a dose of nature, the dry/desert climate has never struck me as particularly beautiful. I mean when I went to Williamsburg, VA for the Gathering 2002, that was beautiful. The forests and mountains, I was inspired. Out here, its just sandy and hot. Ultra Urban or Desperately Desolate. But who knows, maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Saturday
I woke up to the sound of the adults talking. I drifted in and out of sleep for as long as I possibly could before finally getting up. Dad went to the store to get breakfast food, because we figured it would be cheaper and faster than going to a restaurant. He and I had Egg McCreights (our version of an Egg McMuffin) and everyone else had cheese omelets. We all got ready to do more touristy things.

First we went to the Luxor hotel. My goodness that place is cool. If I were to come back to Vegas (not bloody likely) I'd like to stay there. I love Egyptian stuff. We also looked at Excalibur. Then we headed to the Rio to see Ron Lucas. I'd been looking forward to this for a long time: The first time I ever saw Ron Lucas was on TV when I was about 7 years old. We get to the Rio and lo- Ron Lucas is on vacation. No go. *sigh*

We split up, Brandon and I went back to Gameworks while the adults gambled. Then we had lunch in the Rainforest Cafi in the MGM hotel. The effects were kind of campy. The food was okay. I brought home Chocolate Diablo Cake for later.

We quickly changed and headed out to our evening shows. James, Jeanne and Brandon went to see some comedians at The Improv. Mom, Dad and I went to see Rita Rudner. She's still funny has hell. Apparently I looked nice because my parents said I was getting looks. Damnit, why don't I ever catch anyone looking at me? I could use the ego boost ;)

Anyway, we came back to the condo. You know showers feel SO GOOD out here. Its so humid in Florida that getting into a stream of water isn't all that appealing. But out here the lack of water... well lets just say we're all coughing, our eyes burn and our throats itch. So showers feel like mana from heaven.

Now to bed with me, for tomorrow morning we embark on a six hour drive to Arizona. Oh, let me tell you how much I'm looking forward to this drive. *gag*

Sunday
We woke up, fiddled around the condo and packed, then headed out the door. To Denny's for breakfast (yay!!) and then on to Hoover Dam. Interesting. Pretty water, nice and blue. But I have to rant for a second.

The guide mentioned how it was 120 degrees outside. And then mockingly she said "But it's a dry heat!" And everyone laughed. My point is: YES. It's a DRY heat. No one is saying that because it's a dry heat that its not HOT. But 120 degrees out here is about like 80 degrees in Florida. Humidity makes a difference. If it ever got up to 120 in Florida, half the population would pass out. Like I said, yes 120 degrees in Arizona and Nevada is hot. But its not as hot as it would be at 120 in Florida. So saying "it's a dry heat" does give some idea of what its going to feel like.

For instance when my plane was going to land in Montreal for Karine's wedding, the pilot said it was 8 degrees Celsius. That's under 50 degrees F. I was wearing a strappy-shirt. If it had been 50 degrees in Florida I would have been FREEZING. But there was less humidity in Montreal, and therefore 50 degrees felt rather nice. Humidity makes a difference, especially when you're going from zero percent humidity to 80 or 90 percent.

Anyway, we are now driving across the desert, on our way to the Really Big Crack. I mean the Grand Canyon ;)

Well, we're here, with no cellular coverage. Completely cut off from the rest of the world. Kelly does not like this, no she does not. We have two rooms, one facing the canyon, one facing the parking lot. I suggested the Adults take the canyon side room, since they want the view. My ulterior motive being that Brandon and I are the ones that stay up late. This way we can stay up late and not bug them. Otherwise we'd have to go to bed when THEY do. *shudder*

Of course Mom says this might be a one-night only thing. She thinks four people in the room may be too much. Of course, before I agreed to come on this vacation, it was going to be all five of them in one room. Besides, I don't want to keep switching rooms. So I kind of hope they stay over there.

So now we're hanging out in our room, watching the History channel, where this cool guy is teaching a bunch of other cool guys about daggers, knifes, and short-blade fighting techniques. Very cool :)

So Brandon and I hung out in the hotel room playing Worms2. Then we all went to dinner down by the rim. Dinner was pretty good. Brandon and I agreed to take a walk down the hike-trail, though he said he didn't want to go the whole 6.5 miles down to the end. I'd like to, even though it would take all day. Oh well. After dinner Brandon and I came back to the room- he fell asleep watching TV and I played Neverwinter Nights until 1:30am. I then took my shower, and went to sleep.

Monday
Dad knocked on the door. I answered. He said "We're going down to breakfast." "What time is it?" I asked. "Quarter to nine. What time did you go to sleep?" "Two." I said. "Plenty of sleep!" He smiled. I nodded and went to go wake Brandon. Fifteen minutes later we were ready to go.

Breakfast was okay, though extremely overpriced. I realized while eating that I was extremely cranky, so when discussing where we were going to go, I said I was going in the opposite direction from everyone else. I put sun block on my tattoos, then Brandon and I set out (10:45am). He walked with me for about 45 minutes, but then turned back. I just kept walking. I figured I'd just keep walking until I ran out of trail. So I walked. I walked from the Bright Angel Lodge (where we are staying) until about 2pm. I managed to get all the way down to Cedar Ridge. I can't tell exactly how far I waked, because the map isn't really clear on mileage. But the parts that I can count on the map, I went at least 5 miles. But there is a mile or two that have no distance labeled. So I probably went between six and seven miles. ONE WAY. I kept laughing at myself as I walked back.

First, I knew I had to be back by 5 for dinner like we had agreed. Second, its just insanely far. I mean, I kept looking over the rim back the way I'd came, and laughing at myself. So I did a lot of walking today. I got burned on my chest where I didn't put any sun block (I only put sun block on my tattoos and my face.) I am so sore. I was so filthy. So I took a shower and marveled at the dirt washing down the drain.

But I did it, all by myself. And there was a side benefit: I met someone new. He and I started hiking down the canyon from Yaki Point at the same time. We sat together at Cedar Ridge and chatted. He gave me an apple (which is probably the only reason I made it back). His name is Oliver and he's from Germany. And he's staying in the Bright Angel Lodge too! He went further into the canyon and I turned back, so I'll leave a note on his door in a minute so he'll see it when he gets back.

Anyway, it was quite a hike back up to the rim. I had to make frequent stops to catch my breath. Once I made it back to Yaki Point, however, I walked quickly the entire way back. I figured if I stopped my muscles would lock up and I'd never make it back. I got back into the hotel room at 4:15. Not bad if I say so myself! ^_^

We ate dinner at the Arizona Room, the only restaurant with a canyon view. I had a half rack of ribs, very yummy. After dinner I put a note under Oliver's door, letting him know what room I was in so we could hang out when he got back. I went back to the room and played Neverwinter Nights until he called. We hung out until about 1am. He had never heard of Gargoyles before, so I showed him Awakenings Part 1. I also showed him all the little movie and sound files I've collected of which I am so proud. *grin* I got back to the room and watched some TV (Voyager was on) until 2am, then went to sleep.

Tuesday
We left the hotel and had breakfast in a small down just outside the Grand Canyon park, Tusayan. The food was okay, again nothing special. I'm kind of getting sick of breakfast food. The server was fun, "he has a lot of personality" as Uncle James put it. For some reason I got into organization mode and was clearing up the trash from the table, and organizing the jelly into its different types. I'm such a weirdo.

We piled back into the van and headed out to Antelope Canyon and Lake Powell. Two and a half hours more of the van. Yay. On the way we stopped at a thing on the side of the road where some Native Americans were selling jewelry, pottery, et cetera. We, as a family, bought quite a bit of jewelry. We went to Antelope Canyon, which was very cool, however at the end of the day its just another rock in the middle of the sun-scorched sand.

We had dinner at a small Italian restaurant, which had the best Bruchetta I've ever had. On the way back we stopped at the stand by the side of the road and bought more jewelry. So now I have two necklaces. I plan on presenting both to Mark, and let him choose which one he likes best. I'll keep the other. *smiles*

[The following paragraph has been edited for language.] The only thoughts that kept occurring to me while I was taking a shower were "Holy s---, I f---ed up." and "Ow, pain." I really, really burned myself. So I guess I can actually get color now. You see I went through several years when, no matter how long I spent in the sun without sun-screen, I did not tan, nor burn. No color what so ever. I always still put sun block on my tattoos, but I figured the rest of me didn't need it. After all, I go to theme parks without sun screen all the time. Well, I burned. And I have funky tan lines because I only put sun block on the tattoos, then blotched it into the rest of my skin. Ow. Holy f---ing ow.

Wednesday
We didn't really do much today, which is fine by me. Dad woke me up around 8am, so I got a good night's sleep. We packed, ate breakfast at Denny's then drove to Flagstaff AZ. I regained cell connection and immediately called my friends, then was able to hop online and catch up on LJ and email. (I'm ignoring web comics for now.) Tonight we went and looked through the telescope at Lowell Observatory, and I got to see a faint cluster of stars. Mom didn't see anything, so she and Dad are going back tomorrow. I think I'm just going to rest. This vacation has taken a lot out of me, I need sleep if I'm going to have energy when I get back home.

Thursday
I just hung around the room all day. Everyone else went to Sedona, but I just didn't feel like going out to see more rocks, then walk around a town and spend money. I took a nap and fiddled on my computer. Mom didn't end up going back to the observatory, because she wanted to see something COOL through the telescope, like Mars or Saturn. Not just a clump of stars.

Friday
Packed up and back in the van, on our way to Las Vegas. I think maybe I shouldn't take such long vacations. Its different for the Gathering, but this.. I'm ready to be home. I booked my tickets already for February, the 2004 staff is going to have a live staff meeting. And I'm sitting here for another six hours in the van, waiting for cell coverage. This land really is desolate. And I'm starting to peel. Yay.

Saturday
Back on the plane home. The plane took off 40 minutes late, I hope we make up some time. Brandon and I played Worms2 for some of the flight. We also each bought a Bliueman Group CD. Too bad we can't afford to see the show in person. Maybe someday he and I can come back out here and see them. I had a really good time with Brandon. He and I used to not get along, but hanging out with him has really been the highlight of my trip. So now I'm going to see if I can get Thanksgiving off to go with my parents to see family again. I wonder if there's such thing as too many vacations. ^_^

We were given free Eclipse Breath Strips on the plane. Since Brandon and I agree that these things are among the grossest things you could ever put in your mouth, we decided to come up with creative ways of getting rid of them.

Experiment #1
What happens to an Eclipse Breath Strip when you stick it to a wet carafe?
Procedure: Wait until the carafe of water on the table is covered in condensed water. Stick an Eclipse Breath Strip on the outside of the carafe.
Results: If you leave it there long enough, the strip becomes cemented to the carafe and has to be scraped off with a knife.

Experiment #2
How fast do Eclipse Breath Strips dissolve in various liquids?
Procedure: Dunk a strip up and down in a liquid and see how long it takes to shrivel up like a plastic table cloth exposed to flame.
Results: It takes several dunks in water to get the strip to start dissolving. Orange Juice takes only slightly fewer dunks. However coffee creamer took many fewer dunks. Apparently creamer is fake, and therefore is better at dissolving other fake stuff. (Note: Later we tried plopping a strip in Bleu Cheese Dressng. The strip will never, ever dissolve.)

Experiment #3
Can you keep an Eclipse Breath Strip dry on the Rim.. whatever at Adventuredome.
Procedure: Hold a breath strip by the corner for the duration of the ride.
Results: No, you can't.

Experiment #4
Will an Eclipse Breath Strip stay on the floor of the Canyon Blaster Roller Coaster?
Procedure: Put a breath strip on the floor of the coaster. See if its still there at the end of the ride.
Results: Yep, still there.