When I visited the Grand Canyon, the most startling thing to me was the snow. There was snow on both sides of the road, surrounding the trees... I didn't expect to see snow. The Grand Canyon is in Arizona, and so I always expected it to be a really hot place, so snow was quite the surprise. But I suppose the Grand Canyon is at a high altitude and that's what causes it to snow.

The snow on the actual canyons had already melted, but the canyons were stunning nevertheless. We were only able to see the South Rim (there is a North Rim and South Rim) because the North Rim doesn't open until the warmer months.

I find it interesting that although California is considered to be a pretty warm state, Nevada and Arizona felt a lot warmer (even the Grand Canyon wasn't all that cold). When I got back home, I was pretty surprised by it. I guess that means Arizona and Nevada are really hot in the summertime, though. And I've heard that old people like to move to Arizona since it's a warm place. It helps with arthritis. (I've visited the Winchester House, which is pretty close to where I live, and I heard that Sarah Winchester had lots of heaters since she had arthritis.)

While I was on vacation, I would watch the Olympics at nighttime. I always hoped to see the skating, which I was interested in. The problem is, the skating didn't go on until late at night, so I'd be really tired by the time it was on TV.

I was watching the Pair Skating, and there was a pair from Russia, Yuko Kavaguti and Aleksandr Smirnov. Yuko Kavaguti is actually from Japan, but gave up her Japanese citizenship and moved to Russia to pursue her Olympic dream. I don't think I saw any Japanese pair skaters. I had heard on television that some people considered her a traitor for leaving Japan for Russia. But you know, making a decision like that couldn't have been easy. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices to make other dreams come true.

I also watched some snowboarding. It seems like having longish hair is a common thing for male snowboarder, though Shaun White, one of the USA snowboarders, had especially long hair... My parents think snowboarding is a risky sport and all. Really, a lot of the Winter Olympic sports seem pretty dangerous. I also watched some of the women's alpine skiing. It was pretty scary seeing athletes get into crashes. It sure is dangerous to do these sports. No wonder when I was watching the skiing, a person commented, "It's like she's afraid of the speed." Wouldn't you be, if you had just nearly gotten yourself killed? Hockey also seemed to be quite the violent sport.

I kind of wonder why people still go into sports despite that they could really injure themselves badly. Do they try not to think about that? Do they feel it is worth the risk? I guess there is a kind of thrill in doing something dangerous, too.

I was really freaked out when I was standing near to the edge of the Grand Canyon, even though there are railings and all. There was a sign saying people have died by falling into the Grand Canyon. My dad said sometimes being by the edge gives him the urge to actually go and jump in. I often feel like I'm going to fall in or drop my camera or something like that, and sometimes I'm really scared of falling in, but at other times I think it will be really thrilling.

My imagination tends to go wild a lot, and I think of myself doing all sorts of amazing things that I would probably never be able to do. When I was younger, I thought of myself with magic powers, being able to control things like a rainbow swirling sort of thing. That was inspired by the old Fishtime Club I was a part of back in elementary school. In first grade, one of my friends decided he wanted to a form a club. We started out with just him, me, and his sister, and we would spend time digging up rocks and walking around the YMCA daycare at my elementary school. But then we met more people, and there were some really fun and happy times. Later on, though it kind of split up, as my friend and his sister stopped going to the YMCA, and eventually I think they must have moved away (I haven't seen them at my middle school). They might still live in this area. I saw someone who looked a whole lot like him at Target once. I don't know if he still remembers me or if my old friends still remember those fun times. (A lot of the people who I spent time with were a year younger than I was. I guess I get along better with younger people because I've always wondered what it's like to have siblings. I like to spend time with my friends' younger sisters, too.) I'd be really happy if they still have those memories.

Labels: alpine, arizona, arthritis, danger, fishtime club, grand canyon, japan, memory, nevada, olympics, pairs, russia, shaun white, ski, snow, snowboarding, sports, temperature, winchester, yuko kavaguti

There's a book called Takeoffs and Landings by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Have you read it? ...Well, anyways, on to the actual post. (I actually wrote up a post while I was on vacation, but I saved it to my dad's computer. I might post it later if I get the chance. I'll try not to repeat myself.)

I've just returned from a trip to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. I have been to Las Vegas so many times I don't really have anything left to see there, but as the Grand Canyon is in a rather rural area, we can't fly directly there, so the second best thing to do was to stay at Las Vegas and then drive to get into the Grand Canyon. This is my first time visiting the Grand Canyon, but my parents have been there before, a pretty long time ago.

When I went to the airport, we had our boarding passes checked and went through security. There seems to be a chamber that I didn't see before. One person walks in, puts their arms up, and something spins around them. Then the person gets out. I wonder if this is the machine I heard about that blows air on you to check for explosives. My family didn't have to go through that, though. We just walked through the metal detector.

I kept expecting to need to take out my passport, but I was never asked for it. (I didn't even need to show an ID, since I'm a minor and they don't expect me to be stealing someone's identity.) I guess I've gotten used to flying overseas. So it's a little funny for me to be having a flight that is only an hour or two. Maybe I should travel more within the USA. There are lots of places I haven't seen, like Yellowstone National Park. And I've barely been to the east coast (I've only been to the airport in New York, basically. But my mom did live in New York in the past). I'd like to go to North Carolina so I can visit a friend that lives there, but unfortunately it's inconvenient. I haven't got relatives there. Sometimes I've wished my grandparents would move from Shanghai to North Carolina. But they're old, and they'd rather stay someplace familiar where they actually know the language, so it's really not going to happen.

This time, in Las Vegas, we stayed at Bellagio. It is absolutely my favorite hotel in the world. If there weren't people smoking in the casino, I'd say it would be perfect. I'm pretty sure I've already spoken of Bellagio in the fast. But I'll rant about it again, because it is really such a charming hotel. (It's got its cons, too, but more on that later.)

The fountains are what I love the most. There are shows every thirty minutes until the evening, when the fountains go on every fifteen minutes. Music plays, and the fountains move to the beat. I've never been anywhere else with such nice fountains. Sometimes the water gets shot up really high, as high as the top of the hotel (and that's at least 30 stories!). I don't get tired of watching it. The music's been changed since the last time I went there. (You still hear repeats, though. I suppose they don't arrange that many different performances. I mean, I heard the Elvis song Viva Las Vegas twice. The fountain show's not all that interesting for that one, though.)

Other things have changed too. The free shows for the hotels Mirage, Treasure Island, and Rio are different now. Mirage has this fake volcano you can see at nighttime. It is more exciting than it used to be (though I can tell that it's just water with color shown on it, not lava). I'm not so sure I like the change in the Treasure Island show, called Sirens of TI, or Rio's Show in the Sky, though. It seems that they wear less clothes, act more suggestive, and do more singing than they used to. I would advert my eyes occasionally. I think you should not take your young children to see those shows. I liked them better years back. (Now they're trying to attract young people to Vegas - and I'm not talking about children, either) They still throw free necklaces at the Show in the Sky, though, which I was glad about. I think I got all the colors of necklaces.

The last time I visited Vegas was back in 2008, at Thanksgiving time, I believe. Las Vegas seems quite different even though it really wasn't that long ago. There are buildings I don't recognize, like Aria and Mandarin Oriental, and shops that I didn't see last time. Expensive shops were opened, which I suppose I should have expected. I wonder if they get enough business, though. The luxury items may be nice, but there are outfits that I can't imagine myself wearing or can't think of a time where I would need them. And I already have a bag which works just fine when I'm going on a trip, not to mention that I don't really like to carry bags, so I don't have any need to buy a handbag either. What is the use of these shops, then? To make people feel good? (I heard that men often solve their midlife crisis by buying a sports car...) But anyways, I guess I really can't expect things not to change, no matter how much I'd like that.

Back to the title of this post. I almost forgot to write about it, I've gone on and on too long. When I leave for vacation, I feel relaxed. I've just left behind my worries of daily life and I still have the whole trip ahead of me, plenty of opportunities to eat good food, take good photos, and try out the shampoo of the hotels I stay at. But after a while, sometimes I get to thinking, "Oh no, when I get home, I have this to do!" or "What if this happened while I was away?" and so on. And my worries of everyday life come back to me, and I lose that nice, carefree vacation feeling. I guess I really prefer taking off to landing. When I'm landing, I'm really tired from the trip and I'm very impatient to get home. I'd like to go on a vacation and not have to worry anymore about what I need to do once I return.

Labels: airport, bellagio, change, fountain, grand canyon, hotel, las vegas, mirage, new york, north carolina, passport, rio, security, shopping, show, takeoffs and landings, treasure island

Top ↑