November Travels: Return to SoCal

After a few nice days of relaxing in beautiful Colorado, it was time to pack up and head back. After all, half the point of visiting was the roadtrip itself.

The morning we packed up the car started out like any other morning, except for an occasional snowflake drifting slowly to the ground. I didn't think much of it; we'd heard there may be a little snow as we got closer to Denver and then headed west. But within half an hour the streets went from dry to significantly dusted in snow, and continued to accumulate. I was actually impressed with how quickly Liz and I managed to pack the car and get out; we were gone about an hour after getting up.

With so much snow already accumulating at home, threats of a big storm west of Denver, and a little too much experience trying to get in and out of town during the winter, I was a bit nervous about our day's plan. The intent was to make it all the way to Las Vegas, which is about 12 hours in good conditions. Thankfully, though, there were only small spots of snow, and none caused any major problems aside from getting the brand new car incredibly dirty.

The trip was as beautiful as expected, with dramatic scenery and the trademark colors of the Southwest. We'd managed to find a MadLibs book at Garden of the Gods, and enjoyed all silliness that entails. It was an amusing review of our parts of speech, too, as it took a little reminding between the differences of adverbs to adjectives and so on. The drive made for a long day, but we enjoyed each others' company and the wonders of the open road. And the day was not without it's adventures; the most significant, and humorous, of these adventures came right around lunch time when we stopped for a bite to eat...

When I travel, I tend to 'treat' myself to the junk food I avoid on a regular basis. So that means I finally get to indulge in my fatty Taco Bell and McDonald's. This day was all about Mickey D's. As roadtrips go, a lunch stop of course also meant a bathroom break, and this is where the adventure begins.

I'm sure any of you who travel know the types of bathrooms you'll find - never really knowing what you're gonna get. This was one of those bathrooms. It was clean enough, but the trouble always comes with the doors. There were two stalls, so each of us got one, and drew figurative straws for locks. Liz's didn't work at all, and mine worked a little too well. When I tried to leave, the handle would no longer release. These weren't standard stall doors, either, but reached both unusually high and low. There was room to literally crawl under the door, but I wasn't interested in actually laying on a public bathroom floor, so Liz rushed off for help.

I honestly expected them to come back with a screw driver and remove the handle to let me out (yeah, I expected McDonald's to have a screwdriver on hand). After disbelieving Liz that her "friend is stuck in the bathroom!" (complete with British accent and all, in middle-of-nowhere-Colorado), two employees came in, and the guy crawled under the door to try and fix it from the inside (apparently they not only have no screwdrivers, but no keys, either). The final solution? Bust right through the door. I guess they're ok with having bathroom doors that just don't work.

With that adventure over, though the disbelief followed us for a while on the road, our next intended stop was Las Vegas!

If you ever visit Vegas, be sure to go at night if you can. And not just seeing the main strip at night, either. I mean drive in at night, especially from the east. It is BREATHTAKING! Imagine turning a bend along the highway through dark nothingness, and then laid out below you is a sea of lights. A vast, extensive sea of lights. There is just no other way to describe it. I've often enjoyed going up the mountains a little bit and looking down on Colorado Springs from above... I used to say it was like Christmas every night of the year. That holds nothing to Las Vegas. Absolutely incredible.

Surprisingly enough, we'd found a great rate on a room at the Bellagio, so upon arriving we checked in to the most prestigious hotel on the strip before going to explore a bit. Neither of us had a terrible desire to gamble, and we were tired from the day's drive, so we just walked out to the strip to enjoy the lights. It was rather chilly, so we walked to the end, had dinner at another hotel, and then turned back. It was fun to visit a few various casinos and compare the themed decor. Paris is certainly an interesting one, with a blue sky and fluffy white clouds painted on the ceiling for a perpetual summer's day inside. Returning to the Bellagio, we of course hung around to see the fountain show before coming back to the warm indoors. This is another attraction you don't want to miss, especially at night, with the fountain and lights choreographed to music (we saw All That Jazz).

Back inside the Bellagio we explored a little more, visiting the confectionery and chocolate fountain, and then wandering through their seasonal indoor garden. When Ant and I visited, it had been decked out for the summer season with snails made of roses, a giant windmill, Chihuly flowers 20ft tall, and a little greenhouse full of birds. Now it was all dressed up for fall, complete with creepy talking trees that would move and look at you as you passed. It didn't take too long, however, for the day to feel complete, and us to wander up and finally find our beds. It certainly did make for a great day, and despite the shortness of our visit in Vegas, that felt rather satisfying, as well.

The next day was just another quick four hours in the car, and returning to sunny SoCal. The previous days had showed us temperatures of 11 degrees mid-day; returning to LA it was well into the balmy 60s and even low 70s. It was certainly an odd return; we'd just come from a land of certain winter, returning to find it looking like October with colorful leaves still decorating the trees. It's taking some time to get used to living here, but at least I can look forward to snow in CO for Christmas again soon.