Grand Canyon

Morning; got woken up by Cole to tell me Cat could bring me to the hotel if I got up right then! After a quick search, as Cat’s phone had died, so no gps. I got home and the lazy four musketeers were still sleeping, while I thought I was fine! The switfness of my rise had made me forget I was sleepy as it turned out, as within 5 minutes of waiting I was wrecked. But within little time, as we had packed the largest part yesterday, we were ready to go! Grand Canyon here we come, but first food! Between the booze and the hangovers I had barely eaten for two days, so a bit of food was more than welcome! The drive was tiring but nice, we even had rain(?)! One part of the desert doesn’t that much from the next though, so we were glad when we finally got some trees back, also because this meant we got close to the GC and we were excited! The first glance we got, we barely even realized what we were seeying. We saw some people standing at the side of the road, so we looked to the side, I remember me looking over to where they were supposed to be watching and looking back to the cars again, bored, thinking I just saw some clifs. If you would’ve listened closely you would have heard the lightbulb turning on, as I turned back to the side. The sheer size of the Canyon just is so beyond comparison it doesn’t even register properly the first time, like it isn’t even real. We just stopped on the side, just to try and comprehend what was lying aside from us. I am not going to lie, it was smaller than I expected (or just so unbelievably big, I couldn’t register the sheer size). I sort of expected it to be so large I wouldn’t even be able to see the opposing side and a five mile drop down! Don’t get me wrong, it was still unbelievable and so beautiful. It was like when you see a slide when you are a kid and think it is a mile high, but as you return there as a (young) adult, it is not as big as you remember it to be, still very impressive, but not as jaw dropping, physics defying as you remembered it to be. Our expectations were just so high, nothing could live up to it, especially not after everything else in this country was bigger than expected! So after taking in the, still breathtaking, view, we were back on our way! After agreeing that lake Powel was off the table(bit of a miscalculation in the driving distance) we headed down to our last stop; Vegas. After eating at the worst Italian restaurant I had ever eaten in my life, we continued our way down route 66. After a short while though the sky lit up, not the lights of Vegas, but the lights of thunder, struck our vision. At first it was fun, even made some cool videos, but it took a turn for the worst when we ended up below the cloud, these thunderbolts came from. We’re Dutch, we know our share of rain, but this was a friggin’ Brazilian rainforest during the monsoon season on a bad day type of rain. We always act tough, but on a completely dark, foreign road, in a rental car, while having a field of vision for maybe 10 meters (excluding tail lights) we agreed to go a bit slower… Luckily the weather settled at some point, not just because it sucked being in there, but it would be even worse if it continued up in to Vegas. It didn’t though, we had clear view, thank god, because what a pretty sight. Because all of the movies and pictures that show Vegas only show the best parts, meaning the strip, none of us had a clue Vegas was so big. We came over the top of a hill and the whole of Vegas just streched out below us. Miles and miles of sparkling light, just everywhere you looked! This size also meant a longer drive, as we expected we would just drive onto the strip as we entered vegas, however it took us a while. But it was worth it though, Vegas is the biggest overstatement I have ever seen. The sheer size, the themes and the uniqueness made it such an astonishing sight. Everywhere we looked we saw different cities, countries or even continents, all with an excess of lights and font size! The strip was so much longer than we expected (eventhough everybody had told us) and we were glad, so much to see… But at some point the strip still ended and we agreed not to go back, so we at least could do the full experience with the full party! So after arriving at Circus Circus, not as fancy as we expect the MGM to be, not even close, but still it was a bed and we needed our sleep. But first a quick gamble, we were in Vegas, it was mandatory! We just kept it at a quick gamble though. We won, took it as good luck and went to bed, happy with the anticipation of the rest of the week.