we got a hotel at the Knight's Inn in Flagstaff, az and had big piles of snow all around. We cooked pasta on the coleman right outside of our room and updated our blog. I might have said that already in the last blog... anyway, we spent a little time the next morning for breakfast at the dwtn diner in Flagstaff and stopped in az bikes to say hello to someone Jon's friend Jared knows from living there.
So anyway, the Grand Canyon was really beautiful with the snow capped buttes and ridges. I almost busted my arse several times by wearing slick cowboy boots. We stopped at several overlooks and even saw an elk grazing around in the snow at one of the overlooks. I thought it was a mule deer but I overheard someone saying it was an elk? We enjoyed looking into the canyon but next time would love to camp & hike inside of the canyon, maybe in the spring.
after absorbing the beauty of the grand canyon we left for sin city! We went over the Hoover Dam at night and into the lights and glamour for my first time in Las Vegas. We scored a room at the Stratosphere for $25 per suggestion of Daryl McMahon, Jon's tax guy. We had to stuff Rudee in Jon's backpack b/c pets aren't allowed there... no exceptions. She was great, especially after we confirmed our bribe with a cheeseburger for no barking and being a great dog. I think she's thankful we took her with us.
Las Vegas is crazy! Next time too, we learned, we're going to give ourselves an extra day to accept an offer to view a resort so we can get free show and dinner $. We first went to a show called "Bite" which is was basically sexy topless ladies gyrating to 80's hair bands. It was actually pretty cool though. One of the girls even pulled me out of the audience and put me on stage. They couldn't have picked a more nervous, self conscious person...I just tried to look cool. Jon took some pix but they didn't turn out so we have no evidence of this, just a show poster. We hung around our casino most of the time which was pretty cool. Jon won money playing blackjack and I got pissed at losing $20 at it.
Then we decided to take the shuttle bus the wrong way home and waited at the bus stop for the driver to take his 30m break amongst shady but interesting people until finally getting home at 4:30 am. The next day we walked around and oggled and won our brunch money playing blackjack. Jon has good luck and was able to pay himself back for our hotel and stuff too! I'd say Las Vegas was a successful trip and I can't wait to try it again! We dropped Rudee off in the car, went to the top of our hotel and had a nice view, filled up our bellies with platefuls at brunch, and then left for California by around 2:30.
after las vegas we left for Bakersfield, Ca to have a visit with my cousins. They had the most !awesome! pizza I've ever eaten accompanied with a Sam adams beer and christmas sugar cookie. It was awesome seeing everyone again and I can't wait to come back for a longer visit.
We left for Venice around 10pm for Matt Potter's house. The next morning Jon did perfect pullups, then we went outside and enjoyed the most awesome weather and most wonderful characters on the strip! We had lunch with Jon's friend Bobby at the Sidewalk cafe, checked out the beach and scene on bikes, then went back to Matt's to get Jon's bike to ride with Bobby before sunset. It was soooooo beautiful! Jon ran into an innocent adorable child named Zephyr accidentally - crashed head on, bmx to scooter but Zephyr ended up ok and his mom was super cool. It wasn't that bad really. 
Later that night we ate big fat burrito's at Whole Foods per Matt's suggestion and went back home to watch a movie which we all fell asleep during because of eating those big burrito's. The next day Jon and I rode bikes and ate breakfast at one of the many beach cafe's, went to Jon's bmx jam in studio city, and walked around Hollywood that night. also, I had my first "in out" burger and it was awesome.
That night Matt had some friends over and we had kind of a pot luck of meats and stuff and had an awesome time. The next morning Matt lead us by bike to the farmer's market where we had awesome fresh omelettes, fresh oj, and bitch's brew coffee.
Jon: We woke in Flagstaff, AZ to snow everywhere! After packing the car we decided we still had a few minutes before the maid came so we took advantage of that ;)
We then rolled into town after calling my good buddy and wielder Jarred. Jarred had lived in Flagstaff 6 months prior. I figuered he could reccomend a good place to eat. He suggested we check out AZ bikes downtown and to talk with the owner Brice, Brent, Blair or something like that? Cool dude and a sweet shop! Next door was the Downtown Diner where we got some breakfast. Good eats and good window seating. They just couldn't manage Anne's honey request. After about asking four times we did finally get some honey :) I would still recommend the downtown diner to anyone looking to grab a decent breakfast.
After breakfast we headed to the Grand Canyon!
Apparently 60 million years ago the tectonic plates shifted and lifted the Arizona plateau creating the Colorado river and the start of the Grand Canyon. Everyone needs to see this place for themselves! What an amazing place!
Next stop Las Vegas! We got room at the Stratusphere. Only $25! I showed Anne around a little and played some Black Jack. We headed to the Sahara and then decided to take the bus home which was a mistake. We somehow headed the wrong way and wasted an hour of potential sleep time. After it was all said and done I walked away about $125 richer which more a less paid for our hotel, show and food. I was happy with that :) Las Vegas is always a good time!
So after Las Vegas we headed to Bakersfield to meet some relatives of Anne's. They were delightful and fed us some delicous pizza! We also saw a coyote right of the side of the road there!
I just want to say thanks to Matt Potter for putting us up and to all the dudes the came out for the unofficial Hollywood Jam! Jon
Glad you guys could come out and hang wiht me before heading out for the holidays.
ReplyDeleteSafe travels back...
See you in Athens..
Jon you better have my Keys