Haha I'm wondering about the few who will actually read this whole thing xDD I highly doubt anyone will because it's just a rambling of my adventures, but in any case, I'm gonna write it all out anyway.
So hello there everyone and Happy Independence Day! I hope you guys are all having wonderful summers ^^
I'll break down my trip into parts so you can read the parts you care about(unless you skipped the journal altogether) xD
Las Vegas
I live in central Florida so we left at 2:30am and had to drive up 6 hours to the Atlanta airport in Georgia before taking our flight out to Vegas xD We got onto our flight and omg the funniest flight attendants were there! If any of you have seen Say Yes to the Dress, their voices and attitudes were exactly like Randy's! xD They were just hilarious and so sassy LOL. It was a long flight but they made it fun anyways ^^
We get to Las Vegas and it is just DANG HIT IN THE FACE WITH GIANT SKYSCRAPERS AND CRAZY BUILDINGS! But I was really pleasantly surprised because some parts of it reminded me of Korea, with the big city life and all. We stayed the first night in the Mariott, which was actually a pretty okay hotel and then enjoyed our food at the cafe. We were so busy going back and forth at the airport though that I didn't eat for almost 14 straight hours hahaha. Just breakfast in the morning at 2:30am, another meal at 9:00am and then dinner at like 7:00pm at a cafe at our hotel hahaha xDD It sucked but I was enjoying Vegas so I didn't mind! We were all really tired though so we didn't check out the night life the first day we were there.
The Grand Canyon
So the following day we went straight up to the Grand Canyon and MY WORD it was a really dry and monotonous drive xDD around 5.5 hours or something? It really took a lot to stay entertained haha. I sketched the mountains I saw on the way there and listened to my phone for music but the phone died about 5 hours in so that didn't last long xD We stopped by Wendy's and then we arrived to the Grand Canyon and MAN THE WIND WAS CRAZYYY @__@ My dad unfortunately caught a cold from the airport so by the time we got there he was pretty sick =/ The first day at the Grand Canyon we spent up at Mather Point and OMG it looked like it came straight out of the movies! The crimson color, eroded cliffs and EVERYTHING were just absolutely stunning and we liked it so much we stayed up there for several hours and walked around quite a bit. It was getting dark though so we ended up heading back to our lodge called the Yavapai Lodge(lol which was highly Japanese...which surprised me xD), and we spent the night there. My mom, sister and I went to all of the viewing sites by shuttle bus(trust me the weather up there is NOT made for hiking lol only go hiking if you're experienced because it's pretty intense from what I've heard!) and wow the sun was just blaring down on all of us >.< My sister and I even got sunburnt even though we didn't notice! And my lips were horribly chapped T__T But luckily the view was worth it and so were the cute little chipmunks that ran by the lodge haha~ my dad couldn't go with us though, since he was sick so he stayed at the lodge T__T We headed back on the third day though..another long 5.5 hours, onto THE LUXOR HOTEL!
Las Vegas: The Luxor Hotel
THIS is where you REALLY got to see what Vegas was like! My goodness it surprised me SO SO much to see everything inside being almost exactly like you see in movies like Ocean's Eleven with the casinos and just WOW. I was in awe when I got to the Luxor Hotel...it's basically an Egyptian-themed hotel, with a modern twist! The outside is HUGE, with something like 2-3 swimming pools split up by a walkway leading into the hotel and the hotel itself being a large pyramid with a Sphinx outside to match! The hotel is so huge, you can see it as you're driving into the city 0__o So I couldn't believe I was staying at such a wonderful place! Not many people have the opportunity to do that so I'm really grateful >.<
But yeah when you walk in, it's basically a big maze of gates(as you try to navigate the horribly crowded and disorganized parking garage to get to the elevator leading to the casino) and then you get into the casinos and just DANG neon lights, fun sounds and slot machines, blackjack dealers and wheels of fortune everywhere! Even some shops and an upstairs escalator followed by some huge Egyptian statues at the entrance and a FABULOUS-looking bar(even though I'm underage, the signs are fun to look at xD). And man people were REALLY dressed up! There were so many colors, I was just completely in awe...and I swear if any of you go to Vegas you HAVE to go inside the large hotels while you're there because it is just nothing like you'd ever imagine! And I'm interrupting this program to see who will read this haha, by announcing that I will be doing another art raffle on here! Basically I will be picking a number of people(I won't tell how many haha but trust me it's more than 1 or 2), to have their requests sketched by me! It will partly be based on appeal, so make sure you choose characters wisely- make sure you PM me, I repeat, PM me ONLY of who you'd like me to draw for you. I will do anything from originals to fan to canon characters but as you know no anthro, yaoi/yuri or mecha. By the way, it'll be a surprise as to when I will post these, and I'll take raffles all week. So give it your best shot and please please pleaseeee don't say anything about this in the comments! I want to see who actually read this journal enough to see this. There was also a HUGE registration line when we got in and I mean HUGE like 200+ PEOPLE!! 0__o It reminded me of waiting in line for a ride at the amusement park! XD And so when we got to our hotel room, we were really surprised that..despite the nice view, the room was REALLY plain and lacking in amenities xD The TV was really really old and barely had any channels LOL and there was no refrigerator despite the high cost of the room OTL. But as long as we had a place to sleep, it was good xD Bagels and Cream cheese were $9.00 though LOL so we decided we'd get breakfast at a store instead haha.
Yosemite National Park
I'll keep this one relatively short because there really wasn't much besides looking at the FANTASTIC landscape!! It was like STRAIGHT out of a painting like you won't BELIEVE @__@ And we even got to see the huge waterfall, Bridalveil Falls and tons of people went to look at it up close and got soaked! *laughs* It was a lot of fun seeing everything but I was really sad that the only animal I saw there was a squirrel xD Perhaps it's because I didn't go hiking there...hm. But yeah I totally recommend going there..minus the 9 hour, yes 9 FREAKING HOUR LONG drive from Las Vegas and back xDD We ate hotdogs there, so no worries there's food!
We stayed in Bear Cub Den(lol) at Papa Bear Cabin(hahaha I thought of goldilocks and the three bears, seriously haha) up in the park and it was great except for the fact that the cabin was really sketch since we got there at night, there was pretty much a treasure hunt quest to get the keys out and no service since we were so high up in the mountains xD And even MORE on the downside was the loudness of cars passing by and 20-40 degree mornings/afternoons @__@ Everyone got a cold when stayed there because of it! Including me OTL. So we spent 2 nights there, and then back to Vegas!
Las Vegas: The Bellagio/ O show
The HIGHLIGHT of my trip no doubt! I AM SERIOUS IF ANY OF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE O SHOW, IF THERE IS ONE REASON TO GO TO LAS VEGAS, THAT IS IT. It is INSANE and unlike any show you'll ever see! The Cirque Du Soleil gymnasts, divers and synchronized swimmers are just beyond words...and there's also an element of humor and fun that make it really entertaining and enjoyable! You'll deifnitely be amazed at how the show is executed >.< We sat up in the balcony which was actually pretty cool! The stage is HUGE and they love involving members of the audience so that's fun to watch xD I really really recommend it to anyone going to Vegas sometime!
So a lot of you probably don't even know what it is, but The Bellagio is basically this really large and famous hotel in Vegas that you see a lot in the movies. And no kidding I couldn't believe I was staying there! >//< It's just amazing...seeing the bathroom and the beds and the city light view! Plus the interior of the hotel is beautiful and unique...even down to the expert piano players in the cafes!! We ate at an Asian restaurant there of course(at my dad's discretion, go fig), called Noodles xDD And we just went around touring the city at night finally..it's really..I can't even describe in words how amazing it is. The Hard Rock Cafe, the New York New York roller coaster and EVERYTHINGGGG is GREAT except for the SUPER SUPER sketchy people handing out telephone cards of pictures with naked girls all over the streets and the horrendous amount of smokers(plus the smog overall, which caused me to start having breathing issues until we went back into the hotel T__T). And we saw the fountain show in front of the Bellagio which was WONDERFUL.
There are just SO many things to do in Las Vegas, I'll have to save another post for the rest of it maybe and about my amazing time in Atlanta! This post is already horrendously long enough xDD
I'll leave it at that! I've got to go to Preview/Orientation at UF tomorrow so I've gotta sleep soon! Take care everybody!!<333
