Sightseeing and racing!

Las Vegas!

We had a fabulous time in Las Vegas, but we are so very happy to be back in our home state where the color green dominates the landscape.  After arriving in Las Vegas on Tuesday evening, we grabbed a quick dinner at Chipotle (my new favorite fast-food type restaurant!) and headed down to the Strip to see the lights and sights of Las Vegas.  Shortly after seeing a few of the big hotels/casinos, the kids promptly fell asleep in the car.  The lights and buildings were astonishing, especially after living most of my adult life in central West Virginia where most buildings are under four stories tall and the stars shine brightly in the absence of bright city lights.

Where is the fence??!!?!?

The next day, we piled in our very small but very fuel efficient rental car for the long four hour drive to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.  The drive was long and tedious.  The southern Nevada and northern Arizona landscape leaves much to be desired in the minds of an east coast family.  I don’t think we saw a single animal other than a few birds circling high in the sky.  Trees are a scarcity until you get within 30 miles or so of the Grand Canyon.  The landscape is barren and flat which made the drive seem so  much longer than 4 hours.  When we finally arrived at the Grand Canyon, I am not sure who was happier to get out of the car, the kids or the adults.  The South Rim is a popular tourist attraction but we were told by a shuttle bus driver that we picked a perfect day for visiting the park – the weather was perfect and the crowds were light.  You could have fooled me.  The viewing areas were crowded with people from all over the world.  English was not the language most frequently spoken by people I was near.  The views were stunning and astonishing.  It is not possible to describe the grandeur of the place without seeing it with your own eyes.  Even looking at the pictures we took, the place does not look real, but more like a back drop to a movie set.  Many of the viewing areas were protected by fences so that you could not fall.  However, there is a trail that winds around the rim of the canyon that is not fenced at all.  The paved path meanders along the rim only 3 feet from the edge of a cliff in some places.  This made for quite a nerve wracking day for the parents of three fearless children.  My dare-devil son insisted on walking very near the edge of the canyon.  His sisters insisted on following him.  I insisted on walking as far from the edge as I could get.  My husband took some pretty amazing photos of the kids from some rather perilous positions.  I sat far from the edge, trying not to hyperventilate.  Our day at the canyon was amazing and I am glad we went, but I was also ecstatic to leave the great heights of the Grand Canyon.

A quiet drive back to Vegas after a long day!

The next day, we took the (thankfully) short drive to visit the amazing Hoover Dam.  Yet another day of height anxiety with a little claustrophobia thrown in for good measure.  My kids started the visit off by running and jumping as high onto the concrete wall as they could to see the dam.  Oh my.  We took the power plant tour of the dam.  This involved cramming into an elevator with 50 other people and going down some 500 feet.  The elevator opens into a tunnel of rock.  I was alright until I realized just how much land was above my head.  The tour was very interesting though.  It is amazing to think that we were capable of this kind of technology in the 1930s.  Hoover Dam uses water to very cleanly provide enough power for something like 3 million homes.  Amazing.

Scary tunnel far under ground.

Hoover Dam.

Trey Canard and Jeremy McGrath

We did not spend a lot of time sightseeing in the Strip.  Quite frankly, Vegas is not very appropriate for little kids.  However, we did go to the Strip one afternoon to go to the DC Store for an autograph session with Trey Canard, Jeremy McGrath, Nate Adams, Robbie Madison, and a few other DC-sponsored athletes.  After getting some autographs, we walked to Caesar’s Palace to see where Evil Kneivel famously jumped the fountains.  It took some time and some searching old youtube videos to do it, but we finally figured out his path.  Probably the funniest thing happened when we saw a “statue” and told the kids to go stand by it so we could get a few pictures.  The kids were wary but they went to stand next to the odd looking statue anyway.  Once the kids were posed, the statue came to life and just about scared the pants off our youngest daughter.  She jumped and yelled.  They were not expecting that!  My son put a few bucks in the artist’s bucket and the statue fist bumped him.  Good times!

Nice "statue"!

On Saturday, my son and I went to the Supercross race at Sam Boyd Stadium.  I had never been to a Supercross race so it was quite the experience.  It was amazing to see Kevin Windham perform his final awesome transfer!  The racing was great and it was wonderful to be able to spend some one on one time with my son.  It was an evening I will never forget.

Las Vegas Supercross!

The Amateur National Arenacross Championships took place on Sunday.  It was a long and nerve-wracking day but my son came home with an eighth place finish in the nation and no bad wrecks or injuries.








We had a great vacation, although it was not very relaxing!  Now, it's time to get ready for our next racing season - hillclimb!