June 3 - United States: Cedar City, Utah
Today marks a very important day….
One Year of Traveling !!!!!
One year ago today, we flew from New York to Atlanta to Johannesburg to Victoria Falls. Who would have thought that the trip would last this long? Definitely not us, but we're sure glad it has.
And for our one year anniversary, we seasoned travelers – who have been through all sorts of adventures both traumatic and otherwise – proceeded to COMPLETELY lose each other in the Luxor Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
See, it was a total mix-up in communication. I stepped out of the elevator and Jon stepped in, and he told me he was taking some luggage down. I told him I’d bring stuff down too. (Our budget doesn’t include a bellman). So I heaved on my backpack, daypack, and a few other bags, and schlepped them across the casino and into the parking garage in back. But there was one problem: I had no idea where the car was. So I looked around the parking garage as best as I could. Then, hot and frustrated, I set my bags down in a major thoroughfare and sat on my backpack with the hopes that Jon would walk by me.
Twenty minutes later, still no Jon.
I made another round of the parking garage level before going back into the air-conditioned hotel. Since there were no house phones in the back of the hotel, I begged one of the housekeepers to let me use the phone in a room she was cleaning. Luckily, Jon answered the phone. He’d been waiting for me in the room. As it turns out, he'd brought the car around front and said that he told me that when we passed in the elevator. Of course, I didn't hear any of this. So it was just a major break-down in communication and - while we were both frustrated - there was no one to be angry with. (You'd think that, after a year, we'd have figured out this communication thing).Childhood Home
After we'd got our act together, we headed into North Las Vegas to see my old 'hood. The other day, I'd looked at the map and found Vaughn Street, where I lived in third and fourth grades. But before we headed there, we stopped by my old school:
St Christopher's
The funny thing is that this place is so much smaller that I remembered it! Is that really the parking lot in which we played dodge ball? And is that really the church where we went to weekly mass? That little playground is where I fell and hurt my ear? It's strange how my memories have it as so much bigger.
Then we turned onto Owens St, then Mojave Blvd, and then Selinas (or something) until we got to Vaughn Street. Sure enough, the long street of my childhood memories isn't bigger than two or three blocks. It felt a lot longer when I was on my bike!
1005 Vaughn Street
The neighborhood hasn't improved very much. This is the same place which was once broken into while we were all gone for the day. And one morning, we woke up to find that our VW Bus had been rolled into the street as someone had tried to siphon off the gas. Luckily, VW had put a protective screen over the gas tank so this couldn't happen. Dad got a big laugh out of that one.
There was a little fountain out front in which a family of black widows lived. And our pop-up camper sat on the left side of the driveway. And at one point, Dad built a speed boat in the garage. I remember once helping him and climbing all over the fiber glass body of the boat which, of course, caused a terrible rash on my knees.
Such good memories! Later, however, my parents were desperate to sell the house when we moved back east. It sat vacant for a while, and then someone broke in and vandalized every room. Finally, after a few years, it sold and my folks were thrilled.
Cedar City
We left Vegas and drove north on I-15 through Arizona and into Utah. We stopped in Cedar City for a late lunch at El Gallo - our beloved Mexican restaurant. After we left there and continued north, we tried to decide where to stay the night. Unfortunately, the only place we'll be able to get Internet access is here in Cedar City. The rest of Utah is a veritable black hole for Earthlink dial-up. So after hmmming for a while, we decided to stay.
Murphy's Law, we had a difficult time getting online. But it finally worked out! Jon went for a run while I updated journal entries and whatnot. (I'm two weeks behind!!) And so that's what we did for the rest of the evening.
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