I just got back from a fun long weekend in Las Vegas with my gal-pal Angie…who also turned 30 this summer. We had a great time hanging out at the pool, shopping, seeing Cirque du Solei, visiting Red Rocks, going out for great food and drinks. We even got a "job". Had we not been on vacation…we may’ve been more annoyed about spending 20+ minutes of our afternoon sitting at a desk, watching a lame movie clip, and giving feedback. Instead, we just found it amusing that we didn’t even think to ask how long it would take and how much we would get “paid”...we were rewarded with a $2 check. I'm keeping it as a momento of our trip. My highlights of that trip were:
1. Hanging out with Angie
2. Randomly seeing Flava-Flav at our hotel
3. Our Mustang convertible "mid-1980's" photo shoot at Red Rocks that resulted in probably 30 minutes of straight laughing
4. Seeing the Grand Canyon
I could comment on all the trip highlights…however…I’ll stick to the Grand Canyon since that was one of the things on my list. Some of my favorite things were:
1. It was big and neat.
2. We visited the West Rim—closest to Vegas. This area is more “desert-ish”…apparently not nearly as green as the south rim. The West Rim is pretty much owned by some Indians, they built the big glass skywalk you’ve probably seen in pictures. Basically, it’s a glass “bridge” that is hanging over the canyon. It’s a really weird feeling to walk and look straight down into the canyon. (http://www.grandcanyonskywalk.com/index.html) You feel a lot more nervous walking and looking down vs. just standing there and looking down. Most people didn’t walk on the glass; instead they walked closer to the sides which was not see through.
3. At the top, we had to take a shuttle from point A to point B to point C. I liked that Jarvis was at our first stop. He was such a nice lil’ Indian man. I liked that he really enjoyed his job.
4. I liked that our shuttle driver listed off about 25 different creatures one might find at the Grand Canyon in the same way Bubba Gump lists all the ways one can cook shrimp. You probably had to be there, but it was funny. Oh, and for the record, our bus driver wasn’t trying to be funny.
5. We rented a convertible and drove ourselves to the Grand Canyon vs. taking a tour bus from Las Vegas…even that was fun and scenic…but really long. And Hot. It was about 110* the whole drive—there and back!
6. I liked that I left thinking, “The Grand Canyon is a really massive reflection of God and his creation." We saw the West Rim...which apparently has a different feel than the South Rim. For some reason, I liked knowing there are still other things to see and do at the Grand Canyon…hike down, kayak, camp, helicopter ride, etc.” Despite the fact that on 8/30/09 I could scratch something off my list…I left knowing there was still so much more to see and do and I could go back and still have a chance to experience something new. All of that reminded me of when Paul prayed for the Ephesians:
“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And
I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
So, those are my thoughts on the Grand Canyon. Since it’s such an impressive part of creation…I thought it was appropriate for me to end this post on a serious note.
