Vegas!

Leaving Los Angeles, it was about 9pm. I had house music blaring so that I wouldn’t get too tired at the wheel and fall asleep. FYI - Once you leave LA there is literally nothing until you hit Vegas, all you see is a line of lights snaking off into the distance until it eventually disappears. I pulled in around 1AM, checked into my bad ass hotel room at the V’dara and went right to sleep.

The V'Dara

 The next morning I woke up and called my friend Meghan who works in Vegas as a showgirl (j/k, she is an event planner). She said she would be done working around 6 so I decided to hit the strip and meet up with her later.

White Trash Wedding @ The Mirage (The father of the bride was wearing open toed sandals... Classy)

As I walked around I realized what a strange and confusing place Vegas is. Everyone talks about going to Vegas to get married, but I was absolutely blown away when I saw a different bride every 15 minuets.

Bier Garden??

Running around Vegas by yourself is not as much fun as in other citys so I was happy to meet up with Meghan when she got off work. We decided to head to a new Beer Garden that had just opened up near my hotel but as soon as we got there we realized it was just a night club that opens its doors early in an attempt to bring in more business. We had a drink before deciding it was too loud and we headed towards Margaritaville for a “Perfect Margarita”.

Great Picture taken by our inappropriately dressed waitress

As we walked around the strip I started to experience something that people talk about but I have never understood: there is no concept of time in Las Vegas. I swear it was 7 and the next thing I knew it was 11. I think it was more that Meghan as a great tour guide but either way it was weird.

By midnight, we were having a blast but I needed to head towards the Hard Rock Hotel to see Tiesto. After trying to sneak Meghan into the show we parted ways.

Tiesto changed my life. He is the #1 DJ in the world and it was awesome. He went on at 12:15am and didn’t stop playing until 5:45 in the morning… it was amazing. I literally danced my face off until 3:45 when I decided that fajitas would be a good idea (Luckily there is a restaurant in the casino) then reentered the concert around 4:15 to catch the rest of the show.

Tiesto!

The next morning I woke only to realize that checkout was 4 hours earlier, when I called down to apologize they told me not to worry cause it happens all the time. I packed up my stuff and headed towards the Michael Jordan Celebrity Golf Tournament to meet up with Meghan. I made it in just enough time to see MJ finish out his round and then donate a huge wad of cash to charity – all in all it was pretty awesome!

MJ in his Carolina blue golf cart

The next day I went out to Red Rocks Canyon to do some hiking… I think I got lost back in the rocks for a little over 3 hours, but it was well worth it.

That night Meghan and I went to this fancy resturant that is one of her dads favorites and dined it up! After, we made it back to Meghans’ place to make some sangria and talk about Mary Kate & Ashley Olson.

SANGRIA!

I woke up the next morning, packed up my stuff and headed towards Mt. Zion National Park, but not before eating at Hash House a Go Go with Meghan. This place was on Man vs. Food so I had a few leftovers to take with me.

It was enough for 3!

As I drove towards Zion, I made a checklist in my head of all the things I might need over the next few days. I was going to be living out of a tent from here on out so I needed to stop and grab some supplies at the local Wal-mart in Colorado City. As I was shopping I realized where I was. I knew Colorado City rang a bell but I was not sure why, but then it clicked – Polygamists! I read an article in National Geographic a few years ago about the Polygamists communities in Southern Utah. The entire polygamist thing is strange but these people take the cake. There is like one man with 20 wives and 60 kids and 100 grandchildren. They all wear prairie dresses and wear their hair up in buns. Apparently since there are not enough women for all the men to have multiple wives, they kick out a majority of the guys (they are called the lost boys) who have to move away from the ranch and try and make it in the real world. These people are fundamental Polygamists and practice a very extreme form of Mormonism. I think its just plain weird.

When I got to Zion National park I set up camp, kicked my feet up and started to soak in what was one of the best parts about my trip… solitude.

A picture is worth 1000 words...

The next few days I spent hiking and camping, not only through Zion but also through the Grand Canyon. Note to self: go back to these places.