I did discover that Tim Conway was in a western (comedy) by Disney with Don Knotts called "The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again." And the place we ate in Kanab was called the Rocking V cafe.
Another correction, we visited Horseshoe Bend before we visited Kanab, not Deadhorse Point. These areas are very similar to me. I guess the only reason I don't also confuse Goosenecks is because it did not have the color that these other two similar riverbends have.
On the way out of Kanab and to Las Vegas, we passed through two of the most beautiful canyons I have ever had the pleasure of visiting: Bryce and Zion.
Bryce Canyon
Not only is Bryce absolutely breathtakingly beautiful, it is also very high! The summit is 8300 feet. The park is very accessible too, with drives going almost right up to the viewpoints. But one of the funniest consequences of being this high, is the phone signals work! Based on previous visits, I knew my phone would work at the summit, but what was funny was that there were a number of people with the same idea! I didn't actually phone anyone this time but I sent and recieved messages! How did we all survive without being connected constantly!
Bryce also has a number of Pronghorn Antelope. They are one of the fastest creatures on earth, which seems really odd to me. I always think of cheetahs being fast, but not a creature who lives in our National Parks! I had never seen one before and was fortunate to see 3 this time. They are gorgeous too.
Zion Canyon is the extreme opposite of Bryce, you actually drive at the bottom of it, instead of the top, like Bryce. The canyon walls hanging over the road are very intimidating and wonderful at the same time. It is a very easy canyon to view, I would imagine walking some of the trails in the park would be breathtaking, but we did not have time for that. (Zion does not have the amazing colors of Bryce, but is beautiful in its own way)
Zion
One priority of any visit that I make to the United States is shopping! Not only do I love to shop in the US, it is also the only place I can regularly find clothes that fit me. So it is not just "shallow and meaningless" shopping! My friends know this and it became a real issue as our time began to run out before arriving in Las Vegas! Once we arrived in Vegas, my cousins, Mary and Kathy were going to meet us there and it would potentially put me in a great deal of stress that I never got around to finding silly things like Ranch salad dressing mix! So Jim, Jennifer and Alan very kindly offered to cut our journey short so that we could arrive a day early in Vegas! (one wonders if they were not just a bit tired and needing to shop themselves! But either way, I am grateful.)
We got on the internet and found a great deal at Hooters. Since we had been there two years ago, we knew this would be fine to stay in for one night. We did not get to Hooters until almost 8pm and Alan had to whisk me away to a mall! I have a wish list from my kids and malls are the only places to find what they want. Personally, give me a discount mall anyday. With only 45 minutes to go, I also had time to try on a few clothes myself and discovered I was covered in an itchy rash! How I had not noticed before is beyond me. I was really worried that I was getting sick or having a reaction to something. Found Alan and went back to Hooters for dinner at the Mad Onion, with Jim and Jennifer.
In the morning, I was just the same and very uncomfortable. However, I was not going to let a silly rash interfere with my enjoyment, or my shopping. We all went to the discount mall we had discovered the last time and spent a productive, or you could say, expensive morning there, complete with Dunkin Donut breaks!
New York, New York at Vegas
We got to Paris just after 3 and found Mary and her son, Jared there. Apparently, she had been sending me messages on Facebook about where they were, but I did not have access to internet!
I feel very forunate that my friends and husband had the foresight to get to Vegas a day early, or else we would not have arrived til about 7pm and the visit would not have been as good as it was.
Mary and Jared live in North Carolina and used my visit as an excuse to come to Vegas for a week! Me, jealous! what makes you think that! It was wonderful to see them and have time to enjoy them.
We had tickets to see the Comedy Store at the Flamingo that night, so we had to hurry up and eat to be in line for good seats. Little did we know that this would not be an issue, there must have only been 40 people there.
I am really getting tired of saying "the last time we were in Vegas" but I have to say it again:
The last time we were in Vegas, we went to the Comedy Store, but it was in the Tropicana then. And it has been a launching point for a few current comedians. (can't remember any just now). We were very excited about going back and Mary and Jared were also looking forward to the evening. However, with such a small audience, the stand up comedy did not seem as good as it should have been. the first two guys were good and I would even have bought one of their CDs if they had them for sale at the end of the show. But the headliner was just not with us. totally not engaged and seemed disinterested. Maybe it was the size of the audience, but it certainly was not the best night for him!
As much as we thought the show was not that good, we laughed about it and the jokes and situations followed us home. So that tells me it really was better than we thought.
Following our bus journey home ( I do not recommed taking the bus in Vegas that late, it was too crowded and took a long time) we met my cousin, Kathy, and her husband, Don, at Napoleon's in Paris. They live in Arizona and it was really nice for them to come to see us too.
Mary, Kathy and I grew up together and were almost like sisters when we were little. It is always great when the three of us can get together and these occasions are much too rare!
Paris
The next day started with a trip to Walmart because Mary needed something and the Fashion Show Mall because I needed something. Then Alan and I walked to Ceasar's Palace because he needed something. So my relaxing day at the pool did not happen til 3pm! (Mary very wisely identified my rash as prickly heat, so going to the pool was probably not the smartest thing, but it was necessary to my mental health!)
Having prickly heat at my age seems a bit odd, I thought only little kids got prickly heat! It is going away now. After racking my brain about how I got it, I have narrowed it down to the long, hot trek to Horseshoe Bend!
June 3 was Jim's 52nd birthday, so we all went to Bill's for steak dinner. (actually prime rib). this included Mary, Jared, Kathy and Don. A great crowd, but a bit too big when we tried to do something after dinner. We did go to Jimmy Buffet's Marguaritaville and then to an Irish casino called O'Shea's. Don taught us all to play roulette there! We were all over cautious so we did not win anything, but it was fun learning!
Pat, Kathy, Mary
This morning, the same crowd all met for breakfast buffet at Bally's before the four of us set off for our new destination: Santa Monica, California.
It was very sad to say goodbye to my cousins, but I really hope we are able to get together again. Ever since Kathy and Don first came to see us in Vegas the first time, we seem to be more able to get together more regularly, so maybe something will happen next year and we can do this again, only not in Vegas!
Driving to Santa Monica did not seem to take long at all. However, once arriving in the Los Angeles area, the traffic on the freeways was very impressive, and not in a good way! We seemed to mainly be going the wrong way, as in the traffic was going the other way, lucky for us1
As soon as we got here, Alan and I caught the hotel shuttle to the beach! We were only able to stay one hour, but got to see the beach and the pier. It looks like great fun and we are looking forward to returning tomorrow.
The four of us ate at Buddha's Belly, right in Santa Monica on the corner of 2nd and Broadway. this was highly recommended by my son, Martin. And boy was he right, it is a wonderful place to eat!
Santa Monica Pier
That is all for now, it is much past my bedtime, but I really wanted to get this blog up to date!
Good night!
"Anybody who thinks they know everything ain't been around long enough to know anything"
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