Day 10: Zion to Vegas
Back to the Lodge dining room for breakfast. It
was quieter. Different waitress. Quite a difference from the morning
before. Zion is at about 4000 feet elevation, 5000 feet lower than
the Grand Canyon. So, morning in Zion was warm. And snow free.
After breakfast we hiked the mile and a half trail
to the Emerald Pools. It was nice. Except at one point the Simp
Twins had to do one of their comic routines, funny only to them, as
you can see in the photo on the right. Lulu did do some complaining
about the supposed misrepresented distances, even though the 
exercise
put a very lovely glowing color in her cheeks. But, despite the glowing, the Gigabees bailed part way in the Narrows Hike at the
Temple of Gods and bailed totally on the Weeping Rock Hike so they
could get in the first of their daily naps.
Leaving Zion we stopped in Springdale at a Trading
Post where Lulu sucked the life out of a Navajo Blanket Durango
wanted that was in his signature colors. (years later Durango would
learn Lulu was correct, those blankets are in every feed store in
America) We hurried out of the Zion zone passing many interesting
looking Trading Posts, waiting for Homer to decide which one he
wanted to stop at. But he couldn't make up his mind so Trading
Posts were soon visible only in the rear view mirror.
We reached St. George and stopped for gas and
lunch at Carl Jrs. Not necessarily in that order. After lunch it was
decided to call Excalibur for Express Check-in. Jack made the call
from his cell phone. The phone call seemed to be going okay when
suddenly Jack seemed to be getting quite testy with whoever he was
talking to. Jack handed the phone to Durango. The Excalibur
receptionist was fairly flustered. Durango was able to sort it all
out in that soothing sophisticated always in control way he has. The
poor girl was in tears as she told Durango she had found out that
very day that her baby brother was dying of Leukemia and that she
didn't have enough strength left to be able handle being yelled at.
Durango tactfully let the girl know he sympathized with her without
letting Jack and the others know what his words were really meaning.
(Later that night, at Excalibur, Durango sought out the
distraught receptionist and apologized for the verbal abuse. There is more to this part of the story, but we
will leave it out of the Internet version...)
An hour or so after leaving St. George we arrived in Las
Vegas, keeping close tabs on the Gigabees as we neared the
increasingly hectic Strip of Vegas. They did not get lost or do any
unexpected maneuvers. We circled Excalibur a couple times looking
for a spot to park, finally landed, got our rooms without further
yelling and proceeded to navigate what was then the world's second
biggest hotel. We settled in and soon after hit the elevators to
head to our first of many Vegas Buffets, the first one being at
Excalibur, because Durango knew the buffets would only get better,
so why not start with the mediocre so the sublime could be
appreciated.
After dinner the Simp Twins disappeared after they
were given instructions to meet up with the four adults at 8:30 at
Luxor by the Obelisk where ride tickets are sold.
Durango, Wanda, Jack and Lulu then walked in quiet
relaxed peacefulness into the night towards the now dark pyramid and
the glowing sphinx standing guard in front. We stood and watched the
laser display and the holograms projected on the fountains. It was
very peaceful. Durango was enjoying himself. This is what he had
looked forward to. Vegas with grown-ups, some of them actually fun
grown-ups. We walked inside and listened to the two camels and marveled
at the bizarre architecture. We went to the Obelisk and bought our
tickets. Jack went to buy a giant Luxor drink. The time was
approaching 8:30. Where were the Simp Twins?
