Vegas to Pagosa

As we passed through The Kaibab National Forest a light rain blessed our drive and left a wonderful scent in the air. Neither of us could remember the last time we experienced that aroma – you know, the kind of fresh and dank rain that you can smell coming on the horizon. After several days in the dry desert the lush green forest couldn’t have come sooner. We nestled into a cozy campsite next to a pasture of horses and sat around the fire drinking cold beers and taking swigs from a bottle of E&J. Vegas was buckets of fun, but as we both unwind under the stars we finally feel like we’re on vacation.

In the morning we drove to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon which was absolutely AMAZING. I visited the South Rim when I was a kiddo, but this less populated view is spectacular and the drive in is great too. I learned a Native American folk tale about how the Grand Canyon was formed – “According to an Indian legend there was a very honored and great chief who loved his wife dearly. Upon her death, his grief was so great that the gods offered to take him to visit his wife, who was in a happy land, to see that she was really contented. In exchange he was to stop mourning her loss when he returned to the land of the living. After the chief had promised this, the gods made a trail through the mountains and created the Grand Canyon. When the chief returned, the gods sent a river running over the trail so that no one could ever use it again, and this is how the Colorado River came into existence.”

The next stop on our Arizona Desert Extravaganza is Monument Valley. The drive through the desert is almost overwhelming as skyscraping rocks reach over the car and huge vast landscapes make us look incredibly small. The sun is baking the world around us and we are thankful for the air conditioning inside the car. As we wind over the Colorado River and past Lake Powell we made a spontaneous decision to skip our camping plans at the San Jose River for the night and haul ass to Colorado for some heat relief. We stop in Monument Valley Navajo Lands for a Red Bull and a cigarette. Sand storms pellet our skin with red dirt and we make friends with a couple of Natives. The monuments are amazing and their shier magnitude is utterly impressive.

I have been waiting for miles for a bathroom and as we approach the four corners I can’t wait to pee in four states at once. Little did we know that the four corners is a fenced in area that was “closed” for construction. Jarvis finds it hilarious – it was one thing that he was really looking forward to on our trip. I step one foot into New Mexico and feel at peace knowing I’m getting closer to my loves at home.

We book it to Durango and then wind through the rolling green foothills of Colorado. We pull into Pagosa just as the sun is setting over the deck in the back of the house. It was a long day of driving, but we are thankful to be home. Frozen pizza never tasted so good.

It’s Saturday evening and my parents just arrived at the house. Hanging with Mamma T while Jarvis and Dad are playing horseshoes and grilling out back. Totally happy...Couldn’t ask for more!

Vegas Baby

Holy shit Batman. Talk about a warped sense of reality. As we rolled up to valet at the Palms Place Hotel I could see the overwhelming look in Jarvis’ eyes. Nothing can describe the sensory overload one feels upon their first visit to Sin City and I keep telling him that we haven’t seen shit yet. We checked into our room and as we walked into our suite my heart drops. This place is fuckin’ immaculate. Nicer than any house I have ever seen for sure. The room has a stainless steel kitchen, a plush living room with a open fireplace and a flat screen, a beautiful bathroom equipped with a shower that offers several showerheads, the most heavenly bed I have ever felt, a HUGE and wonderful bathtub in the bedroom next to yet another flat screen, and a wrap around deck that overlooks the city. Wowza. Blessed for this hook up for sure! The first night is mellow and after the ten hour drive that bed was calling our names.

In the morning I decided to let Jarvis sleep and spent nearly an hour in that shower. There is a television in the bathroom and I watched part of the Price is Right as I chilled under the rainfall shower head. I went on a walk to check some of the hotel out and stopped by the liquor store to get some reinforcements for the room. Coors Light, smokes, orange juice and rolling papers – ya know, the usual. Get back to the room and Jarvis is in the shower. I brewed up a pitcher of mimosas and drank on in the bathtub (no water) while I painted my nails pink to match my shoes and sunglasses. By the time we left the room I was rocking a mild champagne buzz and I could already tell where this day was headed. For the next six hours we hung at the pool...and not just any ordinary pool, but the Palms Place pool which is swank and unlike any pool we have ever been to. You can find the Palms Place pool on the sixth floor of the building. There are multiple chilling options here – a six inch deep area equipped with new age artsy plastic furniture; a deeper area for full body submersion, a couch area with a fireplace, a hot tub, and of course a pool bar. A bottle of champagne, a couple of buckets of beers, two daiquiris, and a box of sushi later we are both pissed up and ready for an afternoon nap. But, despite our better judgment, we take a cab to the strip and keep the party going. It is SO hot as we walk around that we have to stop in nearly every casino and bar for a cold beer. One hundred and four degrees today in Vegas and this alcohol buzz I have been accumulating in this Disney Land for adults is dehydrating the life out of me. Several casinos later we made our way back off the strip and ended the night with a casino steak dinner.



Day two in Vegas. Just woke up and my throat is sore from binge drinking and chain smoking. I think today will be a bit more mellow. Room service and movies on the flat screen. Planning for our next destination.

The Departure

As we took our last drive through the Mission I realized how badly I needed to escape the double parked, no public bathroom, parking-ticket-ways which I have grown so accustomed to over the last several years. Don’t get me wrong – I totally dig San Francisco and all the wonderfully crazy people that it has to offer, but I had recently reached a breaking point and it seems like the right time for a self induced time-out. Three hours later we are at a truck stop somewhere along interstate five between reality and retreat – standing in the baking hot sun in the middle of the desert. Just like that we are gone and all the stresses of getting out of town just faded away. Now we were just two vagabonds chain-smoking next to a semi truck and a redneck. The Mojave Desert blessed our drive with a radiant orange sunset and it reminded me of many I had seen as a kiddo. The desert is a beautiful place and it’s comical that Jarvis just finds it creepy. Those hills totally have eyes and we were being watched the entire way. As the warm dark desert faded behind us, there were lights on the horizon. First stop on the agenda - Vegas baby.