Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Just a quicky...
My trip to Yellowstone was amazing! I went with my friend Ellen, we saw tons of bison and elk. We caught a glimpse of a coyote and heard rumors that there were three wolves lurking on a distant bank but couldn't see them. We hung out long enough to see the unfaithful geyser known as Old Faithful erupt. All and all I would have to say that it is something people have to see at least three times in their lifetime, that means that I have to go back at least twice more!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
With such a short time left...
I ponder what have I not done yet that I really would like to do since I am already this far west. I am going to Yellowstone this weekend, so that will make 6 states that I have been to on my journey in Montana (Montana, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and Wyoming). I have been to a natural hot springs, I have seen the art movement in Whitefish, I have seen some of the historical things like Madison Buffalo Jump and Bannack. What else is there that I should not leave the state without seeing? My guide book is full of things but most of them don't really interest me and won't produce pretty pictures. Anyone with suggestions?
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Vegas, reveled...
So, just about a month ago I decided to take a trip down to Vegas, by myself. I drove from Butte, MT to Salt Lake City where I stopped and had Olive Garden! Yes, Olive Garden there is not one in Montana, and I hadn't had it since Jon, Amanda and I went out for dinner like the third night I was home for Christmas.
From Olive Garden I decided, with Jon's ever so subtle insistence, that I should look for a place to stay the night. I ended up deciding that a hotel room was too much money so I chose a hostel in Salt Lake City. I had never been to a hostel before and to be honest wasn't quiet sure I knew what I was getting myself into. And, boy oh boy was I in for a shock. I chose to go with the most economical room plan, which happened to be called the "dorm room" style, yeah freaking right I went to public college and there was never 3 sets of bunk beds in any of the rooms I lived in or saw! Well, any way I am getting ahead of myself in this portion of the story, first I had to have help finding the women that was going to be checking me into this wonderful establishment. To my rescue who should come? That's right a real live crack whore, fresh (and I'm using that word very very liberally) from what I am sure was a lovely binge/money making extravaganza! So, once the women and the crack whore come back into my sights I am promptly asked, "How long you stayin'?" I quickly weighed my options, leave and run far far away or go all-in with the experience, I answered, "Just the night, thanks." After the business aspect of the encounter was taken care of, you know copying my driver's license and accepting my cash and deposit (which I was told was for the room key and 'stuff') I was handed what I assumed was a mistake. That's right the women checking me in handed me a wad of cloth...I dared ask what it was for and she responded, those are your linens. Linens?!? I had to make my own bed, ok. But then, she told me that in order to get back my 10 dollar deposit I had to return them in the morning, I guess I got what I paid for there! So then I hike upstairs, the hostel is a renovated quad-plex with seperate men's and women's wings, I realize that my first encounter with the crack-whore was not going to be a rare occasion, as there were several people seemingly living in this place intended for travelers on a tight budget, not unlike myself. I quickly did another scan of things, remembering the no refunds sign prominently displayed at the check-in counter, and decided that I would just do what I needed this place for which was shower and sleep. So I gathered up my things and was off to the bathroom...NO TOWELS?!? There I was dripping wet after my shower, staring at the sign that says, no lie, "Towels for sale $5, Towels for rent $2". Well hell, I was naked and wet what was I going to do then? I just went on about my business and was the resourceful girl that I am, using my dirty shirt to dry my clean body off with...WONDERFUL! From there I took myself on the 1¢ tour, I learned that this hostel offered two bathrooms per floor/wing, and a living room as well as a kitchen, all of which reminded me of the half-way house I used to work in. After that I was off to my room, which I shared with one other women who was indeed traveling. She was from Australia, she was a bit too open with her sexuality for my personal taste being that she could easily have been my mother's age. Some things are just best done in the privacy of the shut and locked bathroom. What struck me as odd was the fact that, I was given a key to my room but when I tried to lock the door it was impossible, and after checking with my roommate she confirmed that some gentleman from the hostel was up earlier and had deemed that it was broken-AWESOME! Well the night was fast, and I was up at 6:45am so I could check out at 7. As I waited, yet again for the management person I had a discussion with one of the males that I assumed resided in this hostel. He was slightly more fresh than the first but more creepy so it evened itself out. I packed up the Dodge and was on my way.
Oh, yes I forgot to mention that the car I rented was a 2009 Dodge Caliber with power windows, power locks, air conditioning, cruise control and satellite radio! It was the perfect car for the trip, it got an average of like 27 miles per gallon and didn't have a problem going 80+ mph (what, the speed limits are 75 90% of the way and some even had 80mph test zones!). But, the best feature by far was one that I didn't even know it had until I was returning it...a regular wall outlet, you know like the ones in your house PERFECT!
So then from Salt Lake City I am headed, with the eye on the prize, towards Vegas. The drive was beautiful, but it also offered some very scary parts. Who knew that Arizona had the scariest piece of road I had ever seen, not me that's for sure! It was a twisty-turny nightmare with deadly consequences, what with the rocky sidelines, and straight drop-offs. Damn the Virginia River and erosion leading to the pretty but terrifying views.
So, I pull into Vegas after another 6.5 hours of driving tacked onto yesterday's 6.5 hours, and I have never been happier. It is the most breathtaking thing I had seen in a long time, huge buildings, ethnic variation, and places to spend money as far as the eye could see. I drove straight to the hotel of my choice, which also happened to be in my price range, the Motel 6 on Boulder Hwy. Now, let me clue you in Boulder Hwy is typically where most CSI units are sent on the show CSI, but I found no trouble with the neighborhood I was in. I was given the option of an internet ready room or not, it didn't cost anymore so I was slightly suspicious...I ended up in an internet ready room even though I didn't bring my computer. From there I drove the 5 miles from the Motel 6 to the Las Vegas Strip. I parked the car and decided to walk to Caesar's Palace, where there was a small WSOP event slated to happen that day. I was too early to see any of the stars so I walked over to Baileys Casino. And to my great surprise there happened to be a WPT event going on there, and it was break time! I watched Phil Hellmuth, Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, Mike Sexton, David (Chino) Rheem, Jennifer Harman, along with many others walk and mingle their way back into the room. My trip to Vegas was complete, well minus one other part, but more about that in a bit. I was so stunned, I was standing in the presence of great poker players! From there I walked around, I toured Paris and whatever other casino that is adjacent to Paris. I walked around, I scouted the purse selections, I decided that I was tired from all the walking and made the executive decision to relax while still seeing all of Vegas. I took the monorail, best $5 spent in Vegas. I didn't have to drive, I didn't have to sit in a hot car with no air conditioning, it was a wonderful experience. Oh, yeah and the monorail has a deal with the devil and sold Monster drinks for $1.50 per can. That is almost cheaper than I had ever seen it anywhere else! After my monorail experience, I was tired so I headed back to the hotel for a quick nap. That night I ate at Buffalo Wild Wings, my second favorite place to eat-so-much-I-get-sick at. And, I almost hate to say it but that night, my only night in Vegas I was sleeping by 11pm. Hey don't judge me, that was like 12am Montana time and I had been awake since before 7a. Besides, that next day I had big plans; it was shopping day! I had borrowed a GPS from a friend and scouted out where all the shopping was that I wanted to do so I was off and ready long before the stores even opened on Sundays. I made a quick pit stop at one of the many Vegas adult stores and then headed towards the outlet mall marked for my Coach shopping. I went, I saw, I purchased a REAL COACH WALLET!!! Now my trip was complete, professional poker players and Coach! I ate lunch at Jimmy John's, who knew I could miss certain foods so much?!? I did the touristy thing, you know took some pictures, hit Circus Circus, and the largest gift shop in all of Vegas. Then I took the strip a little further west and discovered all the wedding chapels, and pawn shops...it was great. I departed earlier than planned but it was necessary, remember the crazy roads I was to face?
The drive home was fairly uneventful, no accidents thankfully I made it to Idaho Falls (appx. 9 hours from Vegas) and then had to sleep. I slept in the Wal-Mart parking lot and then had Starbucks for breakfast and was on my way to finish the journey back to Butte America.
So, that was my journey. Want to see pictures from this event? Go to my flickr account to check them out!
From Olive Garden I decided, with Jon's ever so subtle insistence, that I should look for a place to stay the night. I ended up deciding that a hotel room was too much money so I chose a hostel in Salt Lake City. I had never been to a hostel before and to be honest wasn't quiet sure I knew what I was getting myself into. And, boy oh boy was I in for a shock. I chose to go with the most economical room plan, which happened to be called the "dorm room" style, yeah freaking right I went to public college and there was never 3 sets of bunk beds in any of the rooms I lived in or saw! Well, any way I am getting ahead of myself in this portion of the story, first I had to have help finding the women that was going to be checking me into this wonderful establishment. To my rescue who should come? That's right a real live crack whore, fresh (and I'm using that word very very liberally) from what I am sure was a lovely binge/money making extravaganza! So, once the women and the crack whore come back into my sights I am promptly asked, "How long you stayin'?" I quickly weighed my options, leave and run far far away or go all-in with the experience, I answered, "Just the night, thanks." After the business aspect of the encounter was taken care of, you know copying my driver's license and accepting my cash and deposit (which I was told was for the room key and 'stuff') I was handed what I assumed was a mistake. That's right the women checking me in handed me a wad of cloth...I dared ask what it was for and she responded, those are your linens. Linens?!? I had to make my own bed, ok. But then, she told me that in order to get back my 10 dollar deposit I had to return them in the morning, I guess I got what I paid for there! So then I hike upstairs, the hostel is a renovated quad-plex with seperate men's and women's wings, I realize that my first encounter with the crack-whore was not going to be a rare occasion, as there were several people seemingly living in this place intended for travelers on a tight budget, not unlike myself. I quickly did another scan of things, remembering the no refunds sign prominently displayed at the check-in counter, and decided that I would just do what I needed this place for which was shower and sleep. So I gathered up my things and was off to the bathroom...NO TOWELS?!? There I was dripping wet after my shower, staring at the sign that says, no lie, "Towels for sale $5, Towels for rent $2". Well hell, I was naked and wet what was I going to do then? I just went on about my business and was the resourceful girl that I am, using my dirty shirt to dry my clean body off with...WONDERFUL! From there I took myself on the 1¢ tour, I learned that this hostel offered two bathrooms per floor/wing, and a living room as well as a kitchen, all of which reminded me of the half-way house I used to work in. After that I was off to my room, which I shared with one other women who was indeed traveling. She was from Australia, she was a bit too open with her sexuality for my personal taste being that she could easily have been my mother's age. Some things are just best done in the privacy of the shut and locked bathroom. What struck me as odd was the fact that, I was given a key to my room but when I tried to lock the door it was impossible, and after checking with my roommate she confirmed that some gentleman from the hostel was up earlier and had deemed that it was broken-AWESOME! Well the night was fast, and I was up at 6:45am so I could check out at 7. As I waited, yet again for the management person I had a discussion with one of the males that I assumed resided in this hostel. He was slightly more fresh than the first but more creepy so it evened itself out. I packed up the Dodge and was on my way.
Oh, yes I forgot to mention that the car I rented was a 2009 Dodge Caliber with power windows, power locks, air conditioning, cruise control and satellite radio! It was the perfect car for the trip, it got an average of like 27 miles per gallon and didn't have a problem going 80+ mph (what, the speed limits are 75 90% of the way and some even had 80mph test zones!). But, the best feature by far was one that I didn't even know it had until I was returning it...a regular wall outlet, you know like the ones in your house PERFECT!
So then from Salt Lake City I am headed, with the eye on the prize, towards Vegas. The drive was beautiful, but it also offered some very scary parts. Who knew that Arizona had the scariest piece of road I had ever seen, not me that's for sure! It was a twisty-turny nightmare with deadly consequences, what with the rocky sidelines, and straight drop-offs. Damn the Virginia River and erosion leading to the pretty but terrifying views.
So, I pull into Vegas after another 6.5 hours of driving tacked onto yesterday's 6.5 hours, and I have never been happier. It is the most breathtaking thing I had seen in a long time, huge buildings, ethnic variation, and places to spend money as far as the eye could see. I drove straight to the hotel of my choice, which also happened to be in my price range, the Motel 6 on Boulder Hwy. Now, let me clue you in Boulder Hwy is typically where most CSI units are sent on the show CSI, but I found no trouble with the neighborhood I was in. I was given the option of an internet ready room or not, it didn't cost anymore so I was slightly suspicious...I ended up in an internet ready room even though I didn't bring my computer. From there I drove the 5 miles from the Motel 6 to the Las Vegas Strip. I parked the car and decided to walk to Caesar's Palace, where there was a small WSOP event slated to happen that day. I was too early to see any of the stars so I walked over to Baileys Casino. And to my great surprise there happened to be a WPT event going on there, and it was break time! I watched Phil Hellmuth, Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, Mike Sexton, David (Chino) Rheem, Jennifer Harman, along with many others walk and mingle their way back into the room. My trip to Vegas was complete, well minus one other part, but more about that in a bit. I was so stunned, I was standing in the presence of great poker players! From there I walked around, I toured Paris and whatever other casino that is adjacent to Paris. I walked around, I scouted the purse selections, I decided that I was tired from all the walking and made the executive decision to relax while still seeing all of Vegas. I took the monorail, best $5 spent in Vegas. I didn't have to drive, I didn't have to sit in a hot car with no air conditioning, it was a wonderful experience. Oh, yeah and the monorail has a deal with the devil and sold Monster drinks for $1.50 per can. That is almost cheaper than I had ever seen it anywhere else! After my monorail experience, I was tired so I headed back to the hotel for a quick nap. That night I ate at Buffalo Wild Wings, my second favorite place to eat-so-much-I-get-sick at. And, I almost hate to say it but that night, my only night in Vegas I was sleeping by 11pm. Hey don't judge me, that was like 12am Montana time and I had been awake since before 7a. Besides, that next day I had big plans; it was shopping day! I had borrowed a GPS from a friend and scouted out where all the shopping was that I wanted to do so I was off and ready long before the stores even opened on Sundays. I made a quick pit stop at one of the many Vegas adult stores and then headed towards the outlet mall marked for my Coach shopping. I went, I saw, I purchased a REAL COACH WALLET!!! Now my trip was complete, professional poker players and Coach! I ate lunch at Jimmy John's, who knew I could miss certain foods so much?!? I did the touristy thing, you know took some pictures, hit Circus Circus, and the largest gift shop in all of Vegas. Then I took the strip a little further west and discovered all the wedding chapels, and pawn shops...it was great. I departed earlier than planned but it was necessary, remember the crazy roads I was to face?
The drive home was fairly uneventful, no accidents thankfully I made it to Idaho Falls (appx. 9 hours from Vegas) and then had to sleep. I slept in the Wal-Mart parking lot and then had Starbucks for breakfast and was on my way to finish the journey back to Butte America.
So, that was my journey. Want to see pictures from this event? Go to my flickr account to check them out!
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