Lalarge´s first week ... phew!!

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This morning was the first sleep-in for a week. It has been go-go-go! We were wakened to the sweet sounds of Mexican television on maximum volume and the clack-clack-clack of the air-conditioner. This is the first night of hotels that are actually in our budget--a little below the standard of the New York-New York in Vegas. But it was so wonderful last night when I put out the light and in the total darkness of the window being located about 30cms from the building next door, the ceiling lit up with glow-in-the-dark stars. It was like being out on the mesa, asleep in a swag with the countryside surrounding you, the soothing sounds of sirens and the locals partying the Saturday night away. I know--why wasnt I partying like all the others? To tell you the truth, Bernii and Charlie are a little bit like fuddy-duddies when it comes to partying the night away, and unlike my prepared self with party gear already supplied (aka my tutu), they have only ugly cargo pants, and practical shoes (ugggly!!!)
I cant believe it has only been a week! We did Vegas in a very a-typical way. Instead of drinking cocktails in plastic cowboy boots, we photographed the different casino carpets ... I love the diversity of casino carpets!! Instead of seeing a show we rode the monorail--although we did check out the freebie circus acts at Circus Circus and Bellagios fountains. Instead of gambling, we trawled the "Ross-Dress For Less¨store (which was absolutely marvellous!!) It is such an over the top place--Vegas that is, not Ross'Dress for Less. I still sort of dont believe that I have even been there.
We then had a crazy couple of driving days around the Grand Canyon. When we valeted our car on the return trip, the valet knew we had been to the Skywalk. It is obviously not done by most of the adventurers who do a day trip out there, as ours was one of very few vehicles that was covered in the fine dust of travelling about 40 miles on unpaved roads there and back. Little did I know also that the trip is 5.5 hours in each direction. The skywalk was quite amazing though (but very expensive). The glass "U" goes out over the edge of the canyon and sits 2500 feet above the floor. You get given these really silly slippers to wear over your shoes so that you dont mark the glass and you are not allowed to take anything out there, including cameras. Bernii and Charlie did manage to smuggle myself and Valentina out there. Now the only photograph in existence that proves we were out there is one where we are all jumping up off this glass floor above ... well, nothing, except a rather hard landing ... and the perspective is so silly that Charlie looks like a midget and you can see under my skirt. As usual, Bernii and Valentina look like their usual model/glamour pornstar selves respectively. You should have seen Charlie turn into the butterfly-stomached one as she stepped off the edge onto the glass--I really didnt think she would get that funny about it, but credit where credit is due, by the end she was walking from edge to edge with almost no hestitation and almost fully believed that each sheet of glass did not curve at the edges where she could possibly slip between the centimeter-wide gap.
The next day we went in a helicopter over the canyon. All the hesitation of walking on a glass floor over the canyon was gone. This was so exciting. First time in a helicopter for me and we lucked a small one with only 4 passengers in the back and so we all got window seats. All I can say is wow!!! But still, surreal. I cant believe I have been. I think that maybe I will only believe it when I am face to face with someone other than my three travelling companions (I, Charlie, am having trouble keeping up with the illusion of writing a blog under the persona of a sock, so sorry to all who have just come to hear what Lalarge has to say, as I think Charlie will just always interupt with her "opinions" and "theories". And really I dont know who is talking when). Anyway, I think I will only really believe it when I can say it to someone who wasnt here with me.
Part of the road we had taken from the Skywalk on the West Rim of the Grand Canyon to the South Rim--where the hotel, helicopter and helluva view were--was on Route 66. There was a great station on the radio--the Route 66 Golden Oldies station--and they were playing a song I havent heard for ages--is it called ''Rock and Roll Hero''? Anyway one of the lines from there has become the holiday´s catchcry--''If you believe in forever/Then life is just a one night stand''. Although I still dont know what that makes a one'night stand?
The next part of the journey was from Vegas to El Paso. El Paso is actually a great little city. It has an extensive arts scene and lots of activities. We ended up staying a couple of days. Charlie got a bit of what was either heatstroke, altitude sickness or just a wimpy excuse for an afternoon nap (with a good pretense at headache and not being able to keep lunch down). We had stayed in order to go to the Mexican Consulate as that most annoying of things--the guidebook--recommended picking up your tourist card from there rather than risking them running out at the border. We got to the consulate and no'one really knew what we were talking about. We were sent to another booth. A man there said, Australians need a visa dont they? Ah, no, but, ah, wouldn´t you be the best person to answer that? We persisted in asking about the tourist card and were suddenly ushered into a behind-the-scenes office, and asked where it was exactly that we were planning to travel. We answered "Everywhere". I thought we had blown it. We should have just tried our luck at the border. Now we were going to have to pay for visas if we were lucky; plan a new trip in the United States if we werent. Two ladies came in to talk to us, one being the person who spoke the most english (they had heard our attempts at Spanish). She looked up at us with an official look and then commenced showing and giving us tourist brochures, letting us know the sights to see and the opening hours of major attractions around the country (it´s a big country). She was so sweet, they were both so keen for us to make the most of visiting their country. Turns out it is not that hard to get the tourist card at the border! That night we went to the square in town where there was a free concert--Alfresco Fridays--and the mayor got up to sing, as well as pssibly one of the worst looking, but not bad sounding Elvis´ I have ever encountered (not sure if it was the heat that made his wig look like it was about to fall off).
The best investment I have made to date on this trip is a die. We have used it a couple of times when decision making has been too hard. We let the die decide when we were trying to find a hotel in El Paso: do we wing it and go down town and see what we find, or, do we plan which hotel we are going to before we leave the airport. The former won. The die then was used to decide on the lovely and regal looking Camino Real Hotel or a 7 block walk in the sun to the slightly shadier Garden Hotel. The Camino won. The die told us that catching a taxi to border control and then onto the bus depot in Cuidad Juarez was the better option than the buses whose routes seemed to change dependent on who you talked to (and we had talked to too many people). The die also directed us to try the recommended (by a receptionist at a too expensive hotel) hotel, rather than the guidebook hotels--and that gets me back to where we started with a starry ceiling.
Its hard to say yet too much about Mexico. I am loving it. The heat isnt as oppresive as I thought it would be (my heat rash says otherwise--euuuw, thanks for sharing!!). The food is great. The beer cocktails refreshing, if bizarre--last night it was the ´clara´ option which is blonde beer poured over a stack of lime juice and ice in a salt rimmed glass and drunk through a staw. Tee-totaller Charlie was a giggling mess after one, quoting the old "it´s bubbles through a straw" excuse. Tonight we will try the dark beer alternative which is as above with worchester (excuse spelling) sauce and tabasco sauce--I am both scared and intrigued!
Anyway, better run so will be back with more at another time soon, somewhere on this one'night stand! I have run out of alloted hour so have done no editing ... apologies for any boring, confusing parts or bad grammar and spelling. Take care all.

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Comments

[Dee]

hello fabulous travellers
Dear Lalarge, I am so excited to finally get onto the blog....my first ever. I have been trying for ages to get on through Mum's invite and was starting to despair a tad. So fab to hear of your travels for the first week. I hope you are taking the time to take a breath and smell the cactuses. The trip to the canyon sounds great and is now on my list of things I would like to do before I leave the mortal coil. El Paso is my favorite song in the whole world. I hope you are taking lots of pickies. Hope the weather is great and that heatstroke comes a close fourth to all the other reasons for wanting to take a nap. Things are going along swimmingly here. We are preparing for Benji's party and no one is more excited than little sammy. We are going to miss you heaps. Make sure you have some bubbly for little benji all the way over on the other side of the world. Have to run but look forward to the further adventures of Lalarge, Valentine and their daggy travel buddies. May the die lie as you want them too. Much love from your Thursday coffee buddies and Pete