By: Ethan Levine
7/8/03 – 7/11/03
As we exited Texas and entered New Mexico I felt refreshed. Actually, I realized I could finally drive again because we had entered a new state and I didn’t feel like a felon anymore. We were driving alongside  Old Route 66 via Interstate 40, that’s right, Grapes of Wrath which I found to be pretty neat. One of the stops along Route 66 was Tucumcari. Tucumcari was hitting some tough times,  it looked kinda sleazy. We stopped at the local supermarket to pick up some pasta and parked at a local park and cooked ourselves some dinner on Megan’s portable stove (see Picture #1). It was actually a pretty good dinner, Marc and I let Megan cook it while we threw the football around and played on the see-saw.
We headed out and took a scenic road towards Santa Fe that was breathtaking (I tried to keep my eyes on the road as I was driving). When it became night time, we actually stopped the car to go look at the stars. We eventually made it to VEGAS! And when I say Vegas, I mean Las Vegas, NM. We found a really sleazy motel, Marc was less than pleased about the burn marks in the comforter. The beds were surprisingly comfortable and we all slept well.
Megan woke us up in the morning after her run at what she thought was 8:00. Not until we traveled all the way to Santa Fe (about an hour drive) did I realize that Megan actually woke us up at 7:00 because she had forgot to turn back her watch. Well, at least we got a good start to the day.
 Santa Fe is a very pretty city with a nice downtown and marketplace (see Picture #2, see Picture #3). We walked around there for awhile buying some things here and there. I was surprised that the artisans who were laying out  their work on the ground were actually more expensive than the stores. Go figure. After chilling in Santa Fe for a couple of hours, we headed out towards Bandelier National Monument.
At Bandelier there are ancient cliff dwellings which one could walk to. You can also get some beautiful views of the countryside (see Picture #4). At the museum at the visitor’s center, Marc commented at how the life-size wax figure of an American Indian looked cute. Ah, yes, Marc. Megan and I took a walk to cliff dwellings, the 25 stairs was too much of a workout for Marc. We got to see some cool ruins and cliff dwellings (see Picture #5, see Picture #6). Honestly, they kinda just looked like holes in the rock and if I were walking by and no one pointed out that these were cliff dwellings, I wouldn’t have known. I guess I’ll just take the Park Service’s word for it.
After Bandelier, we headed towards Los Alamos. For those of you who are unaware of the significance of what Los Alamos was, it was the site for the development of the first atomic bomb by the United States during World War II. It was an extremely cool place. We explored the free museums there, one of which was a science museum. I was extremely intrigued by the various projects Los Alamos National Laboratories was developing in R & D. Did you know they won 8 of the top 100 U.S. R & D awards from 2003? They developed things like gravity breakers and superconductor films. Alrighty, I’m a huge dork.
After the museums, we checked out this store that Let’s Go recommended called the Black Hole. This place apparently sold old nuclear lab parts from the desks and chairs used to calculators to bomb shells (see Picture #7, see Picture #8). Wow, this place had everything and it was a huge mess! It was totally cool until the owner came out and started preaching to us about all of the terrible things associated with nuclear weapon research and development. It was alright until he took out the Geiger counter and showed us a piece of uranium. We knew it was time to leave as we quickly departed.
 From Los Alamos, we headed back down through Santa Fe, through Albuquerque towards Arizona to get as close to Flagstaff as we could. On the way, we stopped at Walmart for dinner. A funny aside occurred as Marc was using one of the stalls and some little kid starting pulling at his door and then bent down to peek underneath to see if he was doing alright. I, of course encouraged the little kid saying Marc didn’t mind.
After driving towards Flagstaff for a bit more, we eventually ended in Holbrook, Arizona. Well, I guess you never realize all of the wonderful places America has to offer until you actually visit them. Don’t put Holbrook, AZ on your list. The hotel was fine, at least it had a mini-fridge and there were no cigarette burns in the comforter.
The following morning we headed towards Flagstaff, figuring it would be a good place to get our oil changed up. Before we arrived there we tried to see this meteor crater which was a little detour off the road. Well, we unpleasantly found out it cost $12 per person to see the hole in the ground. Fat chance.   We continued onto Flagstaff. We pulled into the Mobile station, filled up our gas tank, got our oil changed and ate our lunch, it was a pretty sweet deal for us on the way to the Grand Canyon.
We eventually made it to the Grand Canyon and presented the Park Ranger with our National Park pass that had worked three times previously. Little did we know, but they checked ID at this one. I guess the Grand Canyon is some big deal or something. Well, the pass was not in our names, as it wasn’t ours so we had to fork up the $20 to enter the park. We also got a red check mark on the pass and the lady said if we get another the pass cannot be used anymore. Hmmm…nothing a little rubbing alcohol cant cure.
Let’s just say this hole in the ground was definitely worth it. Marc and I had been to it in the past, but I was happy to see it yet again (see Picture #9, see Picture #10). We would’ve hiked down it a bit, but the  signs in the visitor center depicted a picture of a person vomiting due to heat conditions. Needless to say, the 100 degree plus temperature on the rim dissuaded our entrance. On the other hand, we became heroes for the day. This elderly looking couple motioned us that they had found a lost boy whose parents had been calling for him. They told us to go tell his parents when we saw them walking in the other direction. We were like, um, ok. Maybe you should go tell a Park Ranger that he is lost. Instead Marc watched him while Megan and I fetched some personnel. We didn’t even meet his parents. Our charity was anonymous. That’s the highest form, isn’t it? Oh, but I just told you. Oh well.
After being unable to bear the extreme heat, we headed out towards Las Vegas. Ah, Las Vegas. It really cooled off there. The thermometer in the car kept increasing as night approached. That’s usually a bad sign. Let me tell you, I was er…looking forward….to…er…seeing it. Anyways, we got to pass over the Hoover Dam on the way there. Unfortunately, since it was late in the day, we couldn’t catch the Dam tour. Haha. Yes, we made lots of those jokes in the car. We are of age, I swear! It was a pretty sweet site despite not having an opportunity to take the Dam elevators. Ok, ok, I’ll stop now. Lake Mead was also very beautiful (see Picture #11, see Picture #12). And onto Vegas we went.
Along the way we stopped at Quizno’s subs. Did you know they toasted your bread for you? Thumbs up!
 Anyways, we were arriving at Vegas on a Thursday night, hopeful to attain a room. To our pleasant surprise we were able to find a $38 room on the strip! Alright, it was the Travelodge and not the Mirage or MGM Grand, but it was near them. Anyways, Las Vegas is definitely not my thing, especially on a budget trip. Let’s just say I needed to get drunk that night to enjoy myself. Fortunately the $6 1.5 Liter bottle of  wine definitely did the trick. I’m not a big fan of Las Vegas as you can tell. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a pretty cool place to visit with all the oversize hotels and cheesy attractions (see Picture #13), but the incessant sound of ringing in my ears from the slot machines gets to me after awhile, especially since I wasn’t the big gambling type. I did enjoy the nickel slots though, it kept me occupied for about 20 minutes or so and I only lost about 20 cents. My attempts to attain free mugs from the Aladdin and china from Caesar’s Palace kept me occupied for quite a bit too. We went to the Aladdin, Paris, the Bellaggio, and Caesar’s Palace (see Picture #14). I had an overall good time with Marc and Megan (minus Marc stepping on my toenail, or was it I accidentally kicked his shoe?) and Marc won $25 at blackjack. A good time was had by all.
The following morning we slept late and basically spent the afternoon driving to San Diego. Staying at the Travelodge appeared to not be a deterrent for some topless sunbathers though. I went out to get ice and clearly I had missed the topless pool signs, I guess to each, her own. We left the hotel around noon, California bound.
I must say, the Southwest is notorious for its heat in the summer, but  we had no idea. Temperatures ranged from 100 to 120 the entire time!  We would step out of the car and the immense heat would make us melt. I felt like I was the Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz or something. Except I would have gladly welcomed a bucket of water being poured over me. Let’s just say Marc’s car and the rest of us were extremely happy to exit Nevada and the Southwest onto California.
I have never been to California and am glad that Marc and Megan agreed to spend a ton of time there. So, you shall receive my next update from a place people (those clearly from California) say has the best weather in the country. As long as it doesn’t involve Tropical Storm Bill and/or plus 100 degree weather, I’m game.
Hope everyone else is enjoying their summers, I most definitely am!
Take care,
Ethan
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