Arizona
Arizona is a very interesting state.
Sadly, we only stayed in northern Arizona which is known as the
Indian Country for the many native Navajo Indians that live there. On
the first night we stayed in a town called Holbrook, Arizona.
Arizona has no reception so we had to
navigate with maps, like in the army. We only got lost twice, so it
wasn’t too bad.
Arizona is the only place in the USA,
and probably in the world, that doesn’t do daylight savings time.
We did not know this fact when we entered, so we had a bit of a
problem on the first night. After being confused by all the clocks
showing different times we went and asked the front desk what time it
is. They explained how Arizona works.
The next day we drove to the Petrified
Forest. On the way we were lost due to the GPS bringing us on unpaved
dirt roads that do not exist anymore. After an hour we found the
correct route and continued. The Petrified Forest is not actually a
forest, but it is still pretty cool. It has wooden logs that are over
three hundred million years old, and with time were coated in
minerals that preserved and petrified the wood.
After the Petrified Forest we continued
to Monument Valley on the border with Utah. This park has many
tourists, and it is run by the Navajo Indians. It has spires and
mountain tops in different beautiful formations. These forms are not
sculpted, and are completely natural. It felt like being in an
episode of Coyote and Road Runner. The path is seventeen miles long
and can only be done by car.
We continued the drive that night
towards Antelope Canyon. We stopped at a gas station to ask for
directions and we met our first Native American drug addict. He was
standing in front of the gas station bumming money off of passers by,
while high. Tani asked him how to get to Antelope Canyon. He told us
it was thirty five miles farther north, but that because he told us
we owe him a ride. We didn’t take him we had no room, but his
directions were correct.
We arrived in Page, Arizona at around
nine thirty and began our motel hunt. After an hour and a half we
found out that the Navajo Indians are money hungry people worse than
the Jews. Even the Motel Six was one hundred and thirty dollars a
night (usually it’s between forty to sixty). So we decided to stay
at a nearby campsite. We passed the front gate and paid the fifteen
dollars entrance fee understanding that this was also the camping
fee. We arrived at the campsites and found out that we owe another
twenty six dollars to camp, so we left and slept in our car in a
Denny’s parking lot.
When we arrived the next morning at
Antelope Canyon we were once again attacked by the evil money hungry
Navajos. They wanted eight dollars to enter the park, and another
forty dollars for a tour. We told them that we’ll just walk around
on our own and don’t want a tour, so they told us we can’t walk
around. We had the same experience at all the entrances to the
Canyon, and at one entrance they forced the tourists to buy Navajo
tribal passes because it’s part of their tradition. We decided we
don’t want to help the Navajos and continued our drive to Bryce
Canyon in Utah.
Utah
Bryce Canyon is a wonderful non-Navajo
park, with many trails and beautiful sights. It is a cross between
the red dessert and a forest with many animals. It has rock
formations like Monument Valley. We drove all the way through the
park, and went on a short hike at its end.
Arizona Again
To top off the night we drove down to
the Grand Canyon. We stopped during dusk at probably the best point
in the world to watch it. Right on the border of Utah and Arizona it
had to be the most beautiful place we have seen on the trip yet. If
Tani wasn’t so manly I may have found it romantic.
We camped in the Demontte Campgrounds
right outside the northern rim of the canyon. In order to reach the
northern rim we had to pass it anyways, so it was very convenient to
sleep there.
The Grand Canyon is nowhere as
beautiful as Shenandoah, or even as Bryce Canyon in my opinion. But
what it lacks in beauty it makes up in size. Just looking into the
Grand Canyon can be a bit overwhelming if not scary. Its viewpoints
are set on high cliffs, and protruding boulders. If one wrong step is
taken on its “handicap accessible” paths a person may plummet to
his death. At first I was scared to finish the path we did there, but
then I saw a group of young girls finishing it. I put my hands in my
pants and found my manhood, and continued the trail. I can do
anything as long as heights are not involved.
Nevada
Nevada doesn’t have a “welcome to
Nevada” sign, so we aren’t a hundred percent sure where the
border was. At a certain point we needed to fill up on gas. At the
gas station I asked the clerk if we had already entered Nevada. The
customer next to me answered, “Welcome to Nevada, now gambling and
prostitution is legal.”
This may sound funny, but for our stay
in Las Vegas we stayed at the Hooters Hotel and Casino. It is
actually the most modest hotel on the strip (not joking). The other
resorts have their workers work in their underwear, and Hooters has a
dress code. On the first night in Las Vegas we walked up and down the
Strip. The Strip is full of tourists and workers handing out flyers
for escorts. Vegas seems to be overrun with strip clubs, as everyone
tried to convince us to go to theirs.
The second night we stayed in Hooters
at the bar. We began to drink, and then decided to gamble a buck on
the video poker. Because we played so slowly the bartender thought we
had gambled at least ten dollars each so she brought us a second
drink free. That’s when we formed the plan; if we continue to play
extremely slowly we could get more beer and lose less. In the end we
gambled twenty dollars together, but drank thirty dollars worth of
beer each.
On the third day we were sitting
outside when a man walked over to us and offered us party favors. Not
knowing what party favors are we asked him what he meant. It took me
several seconds to realize he wasn’t talking about Coca-Cola, but
about coke (cocaine) and weed. We politely declined.
On the third night we decided to see
downtown, because we had already been through the Strip. Downtown on
the outside looks very rundown and gross, but it is totally different
on the inside. It is filled with street performers, dancers,
magicians, and musicians. It is extremely lively, and filled with
people. There is a rooftop over Fremont Street that is also a screen
that shows advertisements, announcements, shows, and even has a zip
line across it with people zooming by.
For the Sabbath we stayed by a
religious Jewish family we found on Shabbat.com. They were very nice
and welcoming, and we found out that many people stay by them on
their way across the states. We prayed at the Chabbad of Summerlin.
More or less the Sabbath was very uneventful. At the house they were
celebrating the Shabbat Hatan of a sixty year old couple. That was a
bit different for Tani and I.
On Saturday night we went back downtown
for one last time before leaving for good. We walked up and down
Fremont Street, and listened to Deadpool (heavy metal band). Tani
almost lost his hearing. We returned to the car after an hour, and
continued on our journey.
We drove until we reached the entrance
to Death Valley. We pulled up to a hotel there, but when we found out
there was no reception at the hotel at two in the morning we just
slept in the car.
Summary
Arizona has no reception, so cell
phones are useless there. The city of Page is extremely expansive, so
I don’t advise staying there. Other than for these problems Arizona
has its own sort of desert beauty. The Grand Canyon is a must.
Utah is extremely Beautiful with its
cross between desert and forest, it has a unique mix between the two.
It is a state that must be visited.
I can’t say too much about Nevada as
a whole, but I can talk about Las Vegas. Many people have only heard
of the Strip, and not spent time downtown, which is a shame. Downtown
is just as, if not more lively, than the Strip, and the hotels are a
lot cheaper. There are live bands on the street every night. So for a
true Las Vegas experience both the Downtown and the Strip must be
visited.
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