awesome... like a hot dog
the grand canyon is the archetypical american icon, in that its most astounding quality is its sheer size. it's hard to explain just how impressive such an ostensibly mundane quality can be: not just the depth, but the width of this gaping chasm is so dizzyingly vast that it makes you lose all sense of perspective.peering over the ledge, it becomes hard to comprehend whether the opposing rim is a few kilometres or hundreds of miles away. after the disappointments of nz, it was a joy to be genuinely stunned by a much hyped attraction that actually proved to be so much more worthy then all the publicity.sadly, the limited time available meant we could not spend nearly enough time at the canyon... you need at least a day to amble along the tracks on the rim and take in the full array of panoramic wonders. the real dream would be a hike down into the depths themselves: i'm not sure if it's possible, but to get down to the banks of the colorado river gushing through the canyon floor and looking up to see sheer walls and stars must be one of the most amazing sights possible, and certainly something that would drag me back to the west coast. still floydie and i had a good wander and were suitably inspired before heading back on the long dusty (we saw actual tumbleweed!) road back to vegas.
by the time we returned it was pushing ten and we were both shattered, but we thought we should really go and check out vegas on a saturday night. las vegas is like a big zoo: you just have to stand back and watch the freaks come out to play alongside the glitzed up suburbanites throwing money down the drain in a futile attempt to morph into high rollers. these guys are truly amazing: i saw one dude drop $3,000 in about a minute on a $1,000 minimum bet blackjack table without blinking an eyelid. floydie and i had both given big chat about setting aside $100 or so just to blow, but when it came down to it neither of us could manage it. i'm just so used to scrimping, i couldn't mentally program myself to throw money away, and after a couple of minutes it was clear that this was what was being done. to enjoy vegas you have to lose yourself and let yourself be swept away by all the bright lights, smiling hostesses, and general artifice, but to me it was so transparent so immediately i could only sit back and watch, rather then become one of the masses intoxicated by the false promise of instant riches... i've spent so long losing money, it was hard to buy into the dream that it suddenly wants to jump into your pockets.
as such we settled down on the dollar blackjack machines, wherein i invested a whole $4, kept myself amused for a couple of hours, and eventually won a massive $1. there's a lot of chat about the free booze you get in the casinos, and it is not a total lie: a waitress comes round, asks you what you want, gets you the drink, and all you pay is whatever you tip her. however english politeness and a communication mix up between the two of us meant that we ended up paying $10 for two beers. damn! still at least the waitress was happy... these things happen after a few days being harassed by the american tipping mafia.
posted by bicrom @ 8:29 am
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