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Published: December 25th 2005
The Newly Weds
Adam & I on our 'honeymoon' after getting married by Elvis in Los Vegas! and a few drinks!!Before I start I forgot to tell you all that I got married by Elvis at the Gracelands Chapel in Vegas!!! Can't believe that I forgot that!!!!! I've got the marriage certificate and all....
Oh yeah, then I did a Britney and got it annulled and so then I was divorced!! it was a joke - I had been 'volunteered' for a dating game on the contiki bus and then when we were in Vegas it was part of the plan to marry me off to the guy that I picked, whilst blind folded... and I was completely unaware of what was going on - I'll show you the pictures mum when I get home!!!
After we got 'married' and got back on the bus, the guy, Adam said to me 'We aren't really married are we!!!' I asked him if he would really have gone through with it if he thought it was for real!!
After we got going we made our first stop at Barstow to get some food. The scenery was amazing and desolate, nothing but rock, hill and desert with wiry bushes scattered about the place. The mountain ranges of sand and rock
were on both sides of the road and are endless.
It is so dry but on some of the mountains there was snow at the top, beside the road is sand - so contrasting. We went by the big thermometer whilst I was the volunteer for the ‘dating game’ where it was 70 degree F. The big thermometer is at the south end of Death Valley, which is the lowest point of the US by 85m below sea level. It gets to be 52 degrees Celsius there.
It’s desert everywhere and the landscape is unforgiving.
So our first day saw us arrive in to Las Vegas, and boy was that an eye opener!!! we went clubbing and through the casinos and even though I'm not a gambler there was plenty to look at and the yard glasses of strawberry Daiquiris that we found helped too!!
Natalie and I trekked around seeing the sites and swapping stories until we happened to come across the daiquiris at the Coyote Ugly Bar - we ended up drinking 2 with the extra shots!! They were gooood!!
Jordon, our Tour Manager, told us we were going to go to a
wedding chapel and have ‘Elvis’ tell us about some of the famous people who’d been married there. I didn’t take my camera in because I figured it was just a chapel and there wouldn’t be much to see in there! Boy, was I wrong!!! After watching the show for a bit the Elvis impersonator was singing a song and dancing around and then he called me up for my wedding to contestant No.2 from ‘The Dating Game’ on the bus!!! I had absolutely no idea that this was coming and couldn’t believe it!! My new ‘husband’ was to be a boy call Adam. We had to recite all these hilarious vows then we hugged and got a certificate and left! I’ve got the marriage certificate and all!! When we got outside Adam looked nervous and said ‘we aren’t really married are we?!’ I told him you had to have a marriage licence first!!! My next question was ‘would you have done it if you thought we were?!?!?!?!’
Oh yeah, then I did a Britney and got annulled and divorced!! it was a joke - I had been 'volunteered' for a dating game on the contiki bus and then when
we were in Vegas it was part of the plan to marry me off to the guy that I picked, whilst blind folded... and I was completely unaware of what was going on - I'll show you the pictures mum when I get home!!!
After dinner we went and watched the light show which was amazing, so much effort and no doubt money spent on this 10 minute show. We drank yard glasses of daiquiris before getting back onto the bus and going to the top of the Stratosphere - it’s an amazing view of Los Vegas, and gives you an appreciation for the size of this city that never sleeps and where anything goes!!!
Later that night we headed to ‘The Beach’ nightclub where we continued drinking beer and dancing to retro music - it was fun. They have some weird fascination with toilet paper as they regularly cover all the dancers in sheets and rolls of it.
They get people up on the stage all the time to do crazy things and you are very aware that aren’t at home anymore!! The action onstage by normal revellers was almost x-rated at times!!
My roomy,
Jenny, from South Africa is great, really nice girl and we are having fun.
The following day I didn’t surface too early after Amy and I got home at 5am… We went and did a bit of outlet shopping then it was time to head out for the cabaret show ‘Splash’. There were lots of ladies without their tops on! The best part was 4 motor bikes riding fast around a sphere simultaneously!!
Jordan arranged for all of us to get a ride in a stretched hummer which was very cool!!
We then went to ‘Rum Jungle’ Bar and drank a heap of cocktails and talked to my new ‘husband’. At some stage we thought it would be a good idea to ring h is family and share the ‘good news’ about the marriage… I managed to convince his brother that I was pregnant - which he said he was happy about, and they all said that they couldn’t wait to meet me!! After we’d finished talking his brother send him a message telling him it wasn’t too late to get it all annulled!!! His Dad was ecstatic, his Mum was upset because she didn’t even know
he had a girlfriend!! Got back at 3am and we were due to get up at 5.45am to get moving to our next destination… Vegas truly is the city that never sleeps and we all get the impression that this tour is going to be tough on us!!!
We were all pretty quiet on the bus today… we stopped at our very first Walmart. We bought some fruit in an attempt to stay away from American food!! Even the supermarkets here are lined with donuts, twinkies and all their biscuits are high in sugar and fat… can’t escape it!!!
The bus touring is full on and tiring but we are all learning how to sleep for hours on the bus to catch up - only problem being that we miss a bit of the country side! But with the purchase of a cheap pillow from Walmart!! We are now pretty comfortable. When we went to buy the pillow from the $5 shop, the shop assistant said they were $5.39 so Natalie gave her $20.39 and the lady asked her if she had anything smaller!!!!
We found out that last night Rob, the guy who only joined us
yesterday, got handcuffed by the police last night for disruptive behaviours, luckily Adam - my now ex-husband, talked the police out of charging him and send him home in a cab.
Along the highway the land is still a major contrast both sides of the roads have massive dry rock hills and you can see mountains still have snow on their caps. A sign says 40 acre ranches from $195 per acre - you couldn’t even run a goat on it!!
We made our way along the famous Route 66 - where they sell Freedom Fries at Seligman, Arizona, as they changed the name when they were fighting with the French awhile back!
We made it to the Grand Canyon and went to the IMAX to watch the show. I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open!
We took a walk and caught our first glimpse of the Grand Canyon - It’s truly breath taking… and FREEZING!!!
It’s massive and spans 446km in length and varies in width ranging from 13 to 26km. It is 2-3km deep in most parts. We are looking forward to our helicopter flights tomorrow.
Legend says
it was the Gods who rolled the raging Colorado into the Grand Canyon to protect the trail from death to the worlds beyond life. The river ranges from 300 feet in width and 100 feet in depth. It is estimated it took 3-6 million years to form the 277 miles of twisting canyon. Until 1950 fewer than 150 people had ever seen the inner gorge. Today ten thousand a year visit this sacred place alive with thousands of species of mammals, birds, reptiles and insects.
Went to the Grand Canyon which was excellent - went on a helicopter ride around the rim and then down to the bottom of the canyon... from the top it looks desolate but you wouldn't guess, unless you went to the bottom that there were pristine waterfalls and green vegetation - which I have to say I thought there would be more of - I hadn't taken into consideration that LA and down south was desert - all rock mountains and sand... although yesterday as we crossed into Colorado and the Rockies we saw the first contrast of snow covered mountains in between the endless mountain ranges of rock....
Following day Nat and
I got up early and made our lunches then headed to the helicopter launch pad. The helicopter took us out over the rim and then down into the canyon - it’s hard to believe that from the top where it’s all rock and rugged that there is such an oasis at the bottom. We started out on the hike - of 6km and took the wrong track 3 times!! We thought we’d have a guide but we didn’t… I wanted to go horse riding but they said it would be difficult to catch back up with the group, so hiking it was to be.
The waters were pristine, the falls magnificent and the terrain rugged but with vegetation. The Indian people were very friendly and initiated the conversations which was a nice change.
Anna, Nat and I ate lunch together. Nat and I tried to be healthy then we made the trek back. It was expensive for the day but well worth it as you had to trek it and fly over it to fully appreciate its beauty, natural charm and vastness… truly an amazing experience and no doubt it’s one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Got back to our cabins and showered then met up with Anna, Nat, Drew, Max and Meg to go to watch the sunset at the Grand Canyon - It was beautiful but so cold we saw some snow on the way!!! Just a few flakes but snow all the same!! And they said it was supposed to be warm over here!!
Finished a long day at the bar and played some pool with the locals.
Went and checked my emails which is when I found out that there were troubles with my travel stuff... The have cancelled the European trip which means I’ll have to change the date of my Egyptian tour by their suggestion at the moment would make my return date later an d my visa would have expired for Egypt… not sure what I’m going to do about that yet. Europe and Egypt where the main reasons for my taking this trip so I’m pretty upset.
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anonymous
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excitement
Lisa I love getting your blogg journal it is so exciting keep them coming okay I wait for them every week. Your mum x - kim tavener