The long and winding road…

Finally bought some new batteries and uploaded the photos from my vacation. Wanna see? Well ok then, here they are:

vac1.jpg

Sunrise from my hotel window at the Marriott International Resort in Orlando. One of the benefits you get from jet lag is waking up with the crows…

vac2.jpg

And here he is eating the pistacios I left on my balcony…

vac3.jpg

After finishing the conference in Florida, I jetted back to San Francisco, the city on the bay…

vac4.jpg

On the way to my brother’s house, I took a stroll across the Golden Gate Bridge…

vac5.jpg

My brother Keith, his wife Kathy, and me…geez, I can tell from the “v” sign that I have been in Korea too long…

vac6.jpg

A wonderful drive through the mountains was just what I needed. Here’s a high Sierra lake I happened upon…
vac7.jpg

On the other side of the Sierra Nevada’s sits Mono Lake. Given its name, it may be best not to drink the water…
vac9.jpg

The road winds ever downward into the desert…
vac10.jpg
Then straightens out for the journey to Death Valley…

vac11.jpg

In the valley of death…

vac12.jpg

And on the other side is the oasis that is Las Vegas. My abode was the Monte Carlo, convienently located in the heart of the strip, next to New York, New York and across the street from the MGM Grand. I was quite comfortable there…

vac13.jpg

The aforementioned New York, New York hotel and casino. I left behind some money there to help pay for upkeep and such…

vac14.jpg

To be honest, I prefer old downtown Fremont Street to the strip. It’s more like the way Vegas used to be. And lots of single deck Blackjack….

vac15.jpg

The entrance to the Monte Carlo. More affordable than the glitzy new places, which suits me just fine. I got my room for less than half of what the MGM was charging. The money I saved was was instead invested in a failed attempt to get rich gambling. Alas…

vac16.jpg

Traversing the stip was made easier via the Las Vegas monorail. Good thing too, it was 110F which made walking not too fun…

vac17.jpg

The Paris hotel and casino. As close as I’m likely to get to France. Which suits me just fine…

vac18.jpg

A view of the strip at night…

vac19.jpg

The famous dancing fountains at the Bellagio…

vac20.jpg

I took a day trip to the Hoover Dam. Yeah, I am such a tourist.

vac21.jpg

On one side of the dam is Lake Mead….

vac22.jpg

On the other the mighty Colorado River…

vac23.jpg

Pretty damn impressive, eh?

vac24.jpg

I also took a plane ride to the West end of the Grand Canyon. Done the North and South rims previously, but I can’t get enough of this amazing hole in the ground…

vac25.jpg

The plane was small and full. I was in the last row, right next to the emergency exit. Luckily, I didn’t need to use it…

vac26.jpg

The west end is on the Hualapai Indian Reservation…

vac27.jpg

No photo ever does justice to the immensity of the canyon…

vac29.jpg

I did the new skywalk over the canyon. It was pretty freakin’ amazing. That first step onto the glass with nothing but a chasm below was a weird feeling, but definitely awesome. A whole new way to look at the canyon for sure. I took the $25. admission fee in stride, figuring it was just the red man’s way of getting some revenge on the white man for past injustices. Although I already repaid my debt in the Indian casinos I suppose…

vac31.jpg

The Colorado river from the air with Lake Mead in the distance…

Ok, I have a few shots of LA’s Korea town and the trip up the California coast but I’m have about enough of this for now. I imagine you have too, right?

3 thoughts on “The long and winding road…

  1. Pretty darn amazing pics you have there John. A few things of note…

    “pretty damn impressive” ouch…
    “and that suits me just fine” I laughed out loud at that…really

    Catch up with you soon

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *