Great A.R.T. Part IV: Dam it!

Procrastination is evil. I’ll try not to do it anymore ‘kay? This is a short one.

After we left Vegas we headed to the Hoover Dam. It was a winding and somewhat nervous road. They are building a new bridge that will make it somewhat less windy. It will be cool. I have no good pictures though.

So at the Dam, we opted out of the Dam Tour. We said “lady, you can keep your Dam Tour”. Not really, but I wanted too. Instead we took the Powerplant Tour. Which was still cool.



Did you know that the Hoover Dam is a fallout shelter? I did not see any giant robots though. That was disappointing.


After the tour we walked around on the Dam. It really is very big. Huuuuuge!


There are two of these odd things here. They look very. I’m not sure what word I’m looking for. Monumental? Anyway, you are supposed to rub their toes for luck, so the toes are a bright polished brass color.



So we didn’t hang around very long there. It was very hot. It was time to go through the desert on a horse with no name. Or a car named Isabel.

We stopped when we got to Kingman Arizona on the famous Route 66. We decided this was probably a good place to eat. It certainly was. If you are ever in Kingman Arizona, eat here.



And then we were in the desert again. The funniest part was, when we passed through Yuma, Arizona; which according to Guinness is the “sunniest place on earth”, it was raining. Go figure. That was the most rain we got until we returned to Alberta.



We didn’t see sand dunes though until we got to California. They were cool.

he sang a good song

Ow my head.

I drove to Champion and back today. The family reunion was fun, but my head hurts now. So no continuation today. Maybe tomorrow.

A guy like me doesn't get many dates

Great A.R.T. Part III: Viva Las Vegas!

I should be packing, but I’m gonna try to get this up anyway.
So we were in Vegas. I had booked our room that morning at the Stratosphere and check in wasn’t much of a problem. Finding our room was only slightly complicated. But we did find it. It was an okay room. The view was of a stairwell, but we didn’t come for the view.



We walked down the strip for a bit before we realised that the Strat is pretty far awy from any of the cool hotels. We decided to call it a night. In the morning I got up early and went to the temple. I think that gave me some small measure of protection against the city.

When I got back we decided to use our complimentary tickets to the top of the tower. This is somewhat different from the Calgary tower because the Strat, at 108 stories, is actually alot taller than any of the nearby buildings.


We decided to have lunch while were up there. It was a pretty nice restaurant so I felt a little underdressed, but whatever. The food was good.



We bought tickets to take ‘The Deuce’ around the strip all day. This was important because the temperature in the shade was 110F (43C). But it was a dry heat, which just meant you had to drink alot, and stay indoors as much as possible. I wanted to jump in here, but the water was probably gross. We saw many casinos. Went shopping at a number of places, and ate, I don’t remember where.


So figuring we had to see at least one show while in Vegas, we decided that “the Blue Man Group” was the most interesting. They have Arrested Development at least in part to thank for our decision. The bonus was that the tickets came with admission to the Wax Museum.

That is my Hat on the wax figure of Patrick Stewart. Sonja was excited that she also had that hat on her head.

Ryan Seacrest looked more real than the one on TV. Hmm. And I think Simon really liked me. Look at him – he’s almost smiling.

Blueman Group was awesome. If you ever get a chance – go. I obviously couldn’t take pictures of the show (on threat of ejector seat). But I took this after. I don’t know who that other guy is.

We also tried to catch the free show at Treasure Island. But it was cancelled. Now what happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas, but what happened after might be called a mob. And I may have given someone a black eye, and I may have had to jump off a platform to escape. We’ll leave it at that.


We went back to the Strat. To fulfill a promise I fed $1 into a slot machine. It ate it. It was very anticlimactic.


The next morning as we headed out of town, we stopped to look at the rest of the Strip. It was mostly uninteresting.

I’m careless and I’m cruel

Great A.R.T. Part II: We were once exiles

Well, my car isn’t completely clean, but I’m gonna stop with the procrastination.
We left Provo early in the morning and headed south. The day started out cool and bright and the temperature rose as with the sun. I was very grateful for air conditioning.
We passed through Cedar City and continued to Hurricane. There we saw the sign pointing us to Zion National Park and the Grande Canyon. We turned but didn’t go to either.

This is not the Grand Canyon.
We did drive towards Zion National Park though. We drove through a town called Virgin. We thought this was funny.

We figured this was close enough. When we opened the doors of the car it was like stepping into an oven. I figured that without water you would die in that heat pretty quick. We figured it was time to be getting on.

So we made it to St. George. That temple was closed for maintenance too, but we stopped to take pictures anyway.



So my Dad had told me that I should find a place called Pine Valley near St. George because my ancestors came through there. Despite road construction and a rather steep climb, Isabel made it to Pine Valley. I figured that the historic Pine Valley Chapel was a good place to start.



The sign said to come in for free tours so I did. The couple there gave us some historic background on the area and on the building and then showed us around. They seemed impressed that I was a Forsyth and even more impressed that I was descended from the original leader of the community.


There were even portraits of some of my ancestors, including this woman. Family lore says she is a granddaughter of John Adams (2nd President of the United States). But that might be a myth.


The couple told me that there was a Forsyth Canyon in the area (I’m assuming named after my ancestor) so I decided I should check it out. I’m glad I did. While Pine Valley is generally greener than the rest of southern Utah, Forsyth Canyon was especially verdant, and several degrees cooler I might add.



Before I left I decided I should check out the cemetery. I found a couple of Forsyth names I didn’t recognise. The center of the graveyard was this guy and his 6 wives (I’m descended from the 3rd one).


So now for real we were on our way to Vegas. The most exciting part was where the I-15 cuts through a corner of Arizona. All that there is on that stretch is this gorge. I asked Tyler to take some pictures as we drove. I was a little busy with the steering.



We survived that and made it to Vegas. I was glad we could see our hotel from quite a ways away.



Next: The place that is hotter than Hell and twice as wicked.

Who would ever want to be king?

Great American Road Trip: Part 1: Familiar Territory.

So I said I'd post this like - two days ago. I suppose this trip has not taught me to not procrastinate. hopefully people will come back to see it.

Over the last few weeks I've been on a bit of an adventure of my own. I saw foreign lands, strange people, and familiar faces. I'll be posting this serial-wise, because theres just too much for one post.

I'm counting the trip from when I left Edmonton. My trip meter is on Okm and it is Sunday, July 6. Destination Okotoks.

I drove to Okotoks with Lori early in the morning. We were early for church so we went to Wade’s o see Kate early. She is very cute. I found out afterwards that she looks exactly like Aunt Ruellen.



Afterwards there was lunch at Wade's. There were alot of Forsyths and Williams there and afew others.


That night I stayed in Bragg Creek. Ruellen and Jonathan have nearly finished the basement guest room. It is quite nice, with a rustic feel. They could totally do a bed and breakfast there.

Monday July 7 – I awoke early and Aunt Ruellen prepared a stampede pancake breakfast. It was very good. I should send a thank you to them. I drove to Calgary to meet Tyler on the south side of the city. We had a little trouble getting out of the city. But were soon well on the way. We stopped in Lethbridge and bought a small power inverter for the car and an Aux cable. We made it to the border around 10:30 and were across by 11. The border guard was very nice.


Travelling though Montana was pretty boring for the most part. We filled up in Helena (630 - $47.92), but otherwise didn’t stop. Once we got into the mountains it was very beautiful. We stopped again in Dillon to eat at Sparky’s garage and to teach Tyler how to drive standard. Sparky’s was very good. Tyler drove until we got to Pocatello and then he called his Aunt.

There was some construction on the I-15, but it didn't slow us down too much. What did slow us down was our directions to where we were going. We got to Provo around 10:30pm and took what we thought was the right exit, then somehow ended up in Orem. This was confusing because Orem and Provo use the same system for street numbering soo we weren't sure which was was north or south. This was a type of things to come it seems.

At long last we found ourselves and then found Tyler's Aunt's house. I will have to send them a thank-you because they were quite hospitable to us. Chris is an officer for BYU 5-0 and had some interesting stories. Apparently BYU is a hotbed for terrorists, well, apparently at least 1 suspected terrorist. Crazy. I slept on the floor of their exercise room and it was quite comfortable.

By the morning another of Tyler's cousins had also arived in the night and Aunt Sandy had made Waffles for everybody. And here I was expecting not many hot meals on this trip.

We found our way to Temple square and I was fully prepared to go to the Salt Lake Temple. Unfortunately it was closed for maintenance. Tyler and I had already separated so I decided to take a tour of the Conference center instead. I joined up with a nice tour group. A Sister from Sandy Utah and her friends from Virginia/DC area. All of us were members but for the first half of the tour the guide thought that I wasn't for some reason. It must have been the beard, or the hat?






Anyway, after this I walked around temple square for a bit, took some pictures, and went to a recital at the Tabernacle. It was quite impressive, but the Tabernacle seems smaller in real life. Not much bigger than the Cathedrals in Edmonton.


I eventually met up with Tyler and we took a look in the Visitors center and in the Joseph Smith memorial building. I had no Idea that they used it for church meetings. Also, quite by accident, I found the Distribution Center in the basement and bought some personal church supplies. I also ran into my new friends from the Conference center tour again.





So that's it for today, I have to go finish cleaning my car. Next Up: Family history in southern Utah!

You could be an air hostess in the 60s

Vegitation

I have a tendency to assume that I only have to tell one person some news and that it will eventually get around to everyone I know. This is apparently not the case because there are still people that don’t know that I’ve been unemployed (that is freed from the oppression of wage slavery etc) for the last few weeks.

Most people know that I was planning on quitting my job. However, I was going to do it this month. My employers decided to pre-emptively fire me. This is fine because now I can apply for Employment Insurance (which, like all insurance, is a scam). I have taken the opportunity to self-reflect and vegetate. As well as hang out with my friends who are likewise underemployed.

I shaved off my beard. Took some pictures and deleted them. Decided I didn’t like it, and so grew most of it back. But I’ll be keeping it at a nice trimmed level from now on.

Next month I will post much. Stay tuned: tell your friends.

He works from 9 to 5

Long live the Queen

Well, it’s certainly been awhile since I posted. I’d love to say it’s because I’ve been busy – but it’s really because I’ve been lazy.

Anyway – lets start with the May long weekend. I went to high Prairie. Took some drive by shooting in the Swan Hills. There was alot of traffic.




Hung out with family. Teeter-toters: not as fun as they used to be.


Apparently cookie baking is a family activity.



That is all.
Peace out.

feel the benefit of it