Arise Together

Thursday, June 25, 2009

6.24.09

Well we made it out of Vegas and through the traffic in Hoover Dam to arrive in the Grand Canyon. I quickly learned that the dam doesn’t actually have a waterfall like I thought but nonetheless, it was still huge and incredible how they could build such a thing. We had these coupons from the hotel in Vegas for Sabarro’s so before we left we grabbed a slice of pizza to take and eat at the dam for lunch. We didn’t stay long as we were excited to get to the Grand Canyon and besides there were so many people it was almost overwhelming. Anyways, we made our drive over to the canyon coming through the little towns of Williams and Tusayna. We were really surprised to see all the trees out here; we were both expecting nothing but desert so it was quite a nice surprise. After checking in and setting up camp, we drove over to the rim to check out the sunset before it was too late and it was beautiful! Then we headed over to the little village store and spent quite some time browsing around; they just had so many cool things and lots of food! We even ended up getting some premade salads at the deli because we really just wanted something fresh and healthy. We also bought some firewood because it surprisingly gets pretty cool at nights and it just makes for a better camping experience, especially since we have the stuff to make smores! We woke up in the morning to head off to Hermit’s Rest to begin the Rim Trail. After a long bus ride, we made it to our destination to begin the 8-9 mile hike back to the Bright Angel Lodge; and no we are not staying there but we wanted to check it out. It was a long, hot, beautiful hike right along the rim the entire way and it was pretty much flat, something we weren’t used to but definitely appreciated it. The canyons are so deep and so wide it’s hard to get a picture that even grasps a smidgen of what it looks like in person. It’s really amazing, something that takes your breath away but I have to admit we are still bigger fans of Yosemite as there is just more to do. But don’t get me wrong, the Grand Canyon is still incredible and better in Yosemite in the fact of how marvelous, huge and incredible the canyon is itself; it has more of an initial wow factor! After the hike, we made our way out of the park to the little town of Tusayna so we could find some wifi so Steveo could finish and submit his homework for the night. He had quite a bit to do so I just walked around to the different shops, stopped for coffee and read, picked up a souvenir gift for my mom, dad and Shelby and finished off with a frosty at Wendy’s since we had a long hike. Since I missed Shelby’s birthday party, I just had to get her this book after I spotted it; it’s called, ‘Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots?’ As for now, well I’m just updating the blog and touching up pictures as Steveo carves his walking stick he’s been working on for awhile. We’ll probably start a fire here in a little while to relax for the night and make our smores, then it’s off to do some more sightseeing in the morning. Can’t wait to see you all, I’m getting anxious since I know it’s just around the corner :)

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

6.22.09 Pictures

Monday, June 22, 2009

6.22.09

Happy Father’s Day; we hated not being there with you Dads but I’m sure you had a great day regardless. Plus, I’m sure Dad enjoyed me not being there to harass him for eating Burger King. But I can’t blame him after the way me and Steveo have been eating this trip… it’s been horrible! Great food but let’s just say good thing we are young with fast metabolism. Anyways, Sunday was another day of hiking to finish up our last day in Yosemite. We stayed in the Valley but ended up hiking about 10 miles so it was a long day especially since Steveo’s knee was bothering him so bad. It was funny because as we were hiking (which was close to the road) we came across a car jam and I laughed about how it would be a bear since we were hiking and everyone else was in their car. Well just as I said, there was a bear but luckily it was on the other side of the road so we had the cars blocking us. And it was only a cub but where there is a cub, there is a mommy. Fortunately, we didn’t see mommy and the bear never came over to us. After the hike, I decided to surprise Steveo and treat him to this little Mexican restaurant they had at the village since he was in so much pain. We ended the night relaxing in front of a fire, eating our pasta and rubbing our knees with Icy Hot. We woke up early to get a head start on the Grand Canyon as it is about 10 hours away. We didn’t have reservations for the campground until 6/23 so we decided to drive about 6-7 hours, stay the night and finish the rest in the morning. Everyone said we have to go see the Hoover Dam, being said, Las Vegas was on the way and a great split for our drive so we ended up checking in to a hotel here in Sin City. After checking in, Steveo worked on his homework than we headed off on the strip looking for a place to eat. We ended up eating at the Harley Davidson Café; the sign captured our attention after reading ‘best bbq in vegas’. It was one of the coolest restaurants we have ever been to; very Americanized so I was excited to, at least, see some patriotism after seeing all the filthy trash everywhere on the streets. The trash is so bad, especially in the construction along the fence that rats were literally running around at night. After dinner we walked down the strip a little bit to see what all this hype is about but we really weren’t impressed, except for the Billagio’s and Treasure Island’s water show outside the hotel. And being a Monday night we didn’t think it would be so crowded but boy were we wrong; it was hard to even walk around because you had to weave in and out of so many people. After walking around for a while, we made our way back to our hotel at the Monte Carlo. It is a super nice hotel and it was only $45 per night but I now know why after seeing everyone in the casino. We ended up getting $30 in free play and Steveo added $20 to the collection so we went to town for a bit. Instead of inserting coins, you have a ticket or card with credits so at most we had about 50-60 credits but the people we walked by at the slots had anywhere from 700 to 2000 credits and that were just the ones we saw! I just don’t get it but I guess that’s why it took me and Steveo about 30 minutes before we even figured out how to use the stupid card thing with the slot machine. Seriously, it was more frustrating than it was worth; we just couldn’t believe all these old people could figure out how the machine works after it took us 30 minutes to even pull our first slot. After it was all said and done, we had fun once we got it started but maybe that was because we only spent 20 bucks but got to play with 50! Anyways, the resorts are amazing and huge beyond what I ever imagined. If I ever come back to Vegas, I’d definitely enjoy the thrill of relaxing at the huge pools at the huge resorts; that’s about the only thing here for me and Steveo but it’s just one of those places you have to see in a lifetime. So tomorrow morning were off to the Grand Canyon with a pit stop at the Hoover Dam; I think this will be more our style!

Saturday, June 20, 2009

6.20.09 Pictures

6.20.09

After running around for the day taking showers, doing the laundry and getting reorganized; we made it over to the Backpacker’s Campground. The campground is only open to backpackers 1 night before and 1 night after a trip so we took advantage of it after we finished ours. It was a sweet place right on the creek, away from all the busyness of the valley. Between the bear that made an appearance and the drunk girls next to us, we managed to squeeze in a few hours of sleep. We were contemplating whether or not to go for another backpacking trip or try to get a spot at the walk in campground, Camp 4. We ultimately decided to forget the backpacking so we could actually set up camp for a few days without having to constantly be on the move; plus Steveo’s knee is really bothering him after the hard downhill pounding the days before. We woke up that morning at 5:30 to pack up our things and head off to Camp 4 to wait in line in attempt to grab a spot. Fortunately we got a site so it is now our home for a few days. After setting up camp, we did the whole touristy thing of visiting all the villages, gift shops and restaurants. It’s a busy place around the valley but it sure is awesome! I know everyone of you would love Yosemite, it’s beautiful. We ended the night by walking down to the little grocery and buying a jar of pickles to eat with our mashed potatoes for dinner then called it an early night. Today was even more amazing as we hiked up to the top of Yosemite Falls, the 5th tallest waterfall in the world. It was probably the coolest hike, and very strenuous, but well worth the effort. After all the switchbacks we made it to the lookout and felt the mist of the waterfall as we looked over the valley 2700 ft below. We found a huge rock with little cut outs so we plopped are bags down, laid back and ate our granola bars. It was so relaxing that we sprawled out there for about an hour before heading back down. The whole hike was breathtaking as we had so many amazing views of the falls but we were sure glad to be back on flat ground after it was all said and done. It’s crazy how much climbing up and down can take out of us both. I was just surprised to see so many different people all the trail, what an accomplishment for them. By the way, I think the entire state of California is here this weekend; it’s insanely crowded but good thing we have working feet because I would hate to be traveling back and forth in this traffic. Anyways, the pizza is about here so I’m off to eat!