The vacation Day 1

Jamaican Woman

So we get to the airport bright and early only to discover a massive line at the ticket counter. Wrapping all the way around the corner. Whoa. This was my first flight anywhere since September 11th and I knew things would be slower. I just didn't realize they'd be this much slower. As we wound our way around the corner and into the Disneyworld-esque ropes we noticed the woman in line in front of us. She wasn't really paying very close attention to anything. And after about 10 minutes a man and another woman came up to her. After pleasantries and hugs the second woman left leaving the man in line with his suitcase and the original woman. After the man got in line the woman ceased to care about her luggage at all. She paid no attention to it, expecting the man to make sure it followed her towards the ticket counter. A couple of times they were a good 20 feet ahead of her bag, before he came back to pull it forward. Mind boggling. She'd been perfectly capable of pulling it before he got there, and it had wheels so it wasn't hard to move or anything. The funny part...she was picked for a spot security inspection before we boarded the plane. Serves her right for not pulling her own bag if you ask me.

The Puerto Rican Dandies

The other funny folks we saw in line were heading to Puerto Rico. These two men could only be called "dandies." Both were well groomed, well tanned, and rather TOO well dressed. They both had on the most hideous "fashionable" shoes I'd ever seen. Not to mention a cartload of luggage. They must've gone up to NY for one hell of a shopping trip. Each had two big bags, a rolling carry-on a piece, a hanging clothes bag a piece, and assorted plastic shopping bags. And one had, I kid you not, a purse. Not a "Friends" Joey, man-purse kind of thing. A small black, rhinestone studded, handbag. Actually it could have been one of those fanny packs and he was just carrying it over his shoulder. But there was no mistaking the rhinestones. Also, they seemed to keep getting shuttled all over the ticket counter area. I'm not sure if it was where they were going, or the fact that they had SO many bags, or that maybe they didn't speak English (I only ever heard them speak Spanish). But they were entertaining to watch as they got shifted around.

Dallas Fort Worth and the TrAAin

After getting on board our flight, and enjoying our lovely airplane meal (we ordered Kosher so we'd get the good food) we landed for our plane change in Texas. I was tired of sitting, so I suggested we walk to our gate instead of taking the TrAAin, the American Airlines tram. So we took off, and let me say right now that the airport at Dallas is freaking HUGE. After about 6-7 minutes of walking I wished we had taken the TrAAin (and yes we said it like it's spelled, every time we saw a sign) once we got to our gate and saw that only drinks would be served on the flight, Andy hopped in line for McDonalds. While I paced nervously between him and our already boarding flight. We made it, no worries, and we had McDonalds to boot.

Ahhh Las Vegas...Where are the trees?

We landed in Las Vegas after an uneventful flight, and started going through the process of picking up bags rental cars etc. The one thing I kept wondering though, looking out the airport windows was Where are all the trees? Where's the grass? Is there anything green out here? Can you tell I've never been to the desert before? It was astounding to me that there were no large trees of any kind, excluding the occassional palm, and that people enjoyed living here were there weren't green things.

Thrifty Car Rental is Cool

After getting the luggage we went to find our rental car. Upon arriving at the Thrifty counter we saw a sign that said "Blue Chip Members, take bus to lot" Andy and I looked at each other. You mean we don't have to wait in this line? He went up to the counter to double-check and found out sure enough we should head straight out to the bus. COOL! After we got to the Thrifty lot Andy went in and waited at the semi-short line only to find out there was a Blue Chip Counter that he could've walked right up to. COOL again! After a quick check in we got the keys to our car, a bright red Neon. We checked it over for chips and dings, the way you check a dorm room before signing the paper. THOROUGHLY. And we were off!

Go Hampster Go!

For all those curious about what a Dodge Neon drives like...it drives like a hampster powered tin can. But there were plenty of cupholders! Ever notice that all American cars are loaded with cupholders? In any case, it wasn't a bad car but I will personally never buy one.

Dam! That's big! And Art-Deco-y too

After we started out and looked at the directions we realized that driving from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon would not be the 3 hour drive we'd imagined. But 5 and a half hours instead. Ah well, what else did we have to do. We're on vacation right? We reached the Hoover Dam after winding through a neighborhood, I swear that's the way the signs told us to go. Never mind we didn't go back through the neighborhood when we went back to Vegas. In any case, the dam was huge beyond imagination. I've seen specials about it, seen it in movies etc. But I just had no idea it was so tall. I also didn't realize it's a relatively short distance across. Which as Andy pointed out made sense. Why would they build a dam on the widest part of the river? Plus all the buildings and clocks on the dam were Art Deco, and fun to look at.

Approaching the Canyon

As we got within about 30 miles of the canyon I started looking for it. I don't know what I was expecting, but I thought something that was THAT big, surely could be seen from 30 miles away. No such luck. We also didn't see any of the wildlife the signs demanded that we watch for while driving.

Summer Staff

We made it finally to the Canyon, and drove for what seemed an eternity (after 5 1/2 hours in a car, 10 minutes seems an eternity when you know your hotel is close) to our hotel. We weren't exactly sure where it was but knew it was on the rim. So we followed the signs and got to it hurrah! Andy dropped me off with the bags and went to park. We were staying at Bright Angel Lodge and were meeting up with Andy's folks, brothers and grandparents, who had all checked in the night before. Andy talked to his mom the night before we left and she had told him jokingly that when they had arrived his brother annnouced "Here come the Griswolds" and the girl at the desk didn't really seem to get it. As I approached the desk to check in I noticed that the staff was very...well...young. Checking in the girl started gushing about this and that and filled me in on where to find the "hot Brazilian guys" that were also working at various other lodges. As she chattered, another girl approached and looked at the computer and said "Hey this is the name I check in last night. They said they were the Griswolds."

Each staff member had a name tag with where they were from printed under their name. She was from Australia, and apparently someone had filled her in on who the Griswolds were overnight because she found the whole thing very funny when I checked in. I also asked where she was from in Australia, I couldn't resist since my folks are staying there right now. She was from Brisbane, and when I mentioned my folks were living in Alice Springs she made a face like she'd eaten a lemon and said "OH why why why why???? Hot hot hot hot!!!" this from the girl working at the Grand Canyon during the summer where temperatures each day hit about 110. As I finished checking in the chatty girl asked if I'd like somone to help me with my luggage. I said that's ok my husband will be in in a minute. At which she stared at me for a good 2 minutes, I guess to determine if I was lying. I'm short, so I guess I don't look very old, although a waitress seemed to think so, but that's another day.

Cool room!

We walked around to our cabin and ooohed and ahhhed over the view. We were literally right on the rim. There wasn't much blocking our view from our bed to the great big hole just outside. After cleaning up and semi-unpacking, we met up with the fam, showed off our super cool cabin, took a little walk down the trail and collapsed into bed.