Family Road Trip

So the fam (family), which also encompasses my aunt and her family, decided to trek out to see the Grand Canyon, the day after Christmas. The following is an interesting account of our "After Christmas Family Road Trip".

Day 1

The fam decided to drive halfway and spend the night in Las Vegas. What should have been an easy 4 hour drive through the Mojave Desert out to Vegas, ended up being an almost 8 hour drive. My brother, two younger cousins and I drove separately from our parents, who left about 4 hours earlier than we did. Let's just say the trip out to Vegas wasn't much left to be desired. Between my 19 year old cousin who acts like she is still 15, my hormone happy 17 year old cousin, and my brother, who has a penchant for encouraging the 17 year old's "overly active" hormones, I honestly would have happily jumped in front of a fast moving train had I known I was going to be stuck in traffic moving at a snail's pace, literally all the way out to Vegas, with these three characters, two of whom have this tendency to drive me literally off the wall. By the way, did I also mention that I also had to deal with this nasty throat infection, and a horrible cough and cold throughout the trip?

Day 2

So we spent the night in Las Vegas at the Caesar's Palace Hotel on the strip. Trust me people, I don't think it gets any more cheesier than Caesar's Place. As I mentioned earlier, Vegas was our rest stop before we made the rest of our pilgrimage out to see one of the Seven Wonders of the World. I was just in Vegas this past May with some friends and since I was feeling miserable with my cough and cold, I had no desire to peruse through the strip.

After packing up our things and checking out of our hotel, my uncle herded us for the brunch buffet at the Rio Hotel. Come to think of it, a "brunch buffet" in Vegas is truly an understatement. I'd like to call it gluttony in the worst sense. My uncle, the clever man that he is, somehow timed it where we paid for the brunch price about 15 minutes before the lunch prices took in effect. Don't ask me how much I ate. Come to think about it, it was pretty embarrassing.

Day 3

We arrived at the Grand Canyon the night before and spent the night at the lovely Quality Inn. A nice step down from the Caesar's Palace Hotel, but hey, we're talking the Grand Canyon here. Don't expect the Hilton or the likes of the Waldorf Astoria.

The fam wanted to get an early start - after all, this IS "The Grand Canyon". What I found hilarious was that it's not like we would have lost out on the best seats if we had a later start. The Grand Canyon is only about 18 miles wide and 227 miles long. I must honestly say however, that with the misery I was feeling throughout the trip, leading up to this point was almost worth every minute of it. Almost. Everything that people say about the Grand Canyon is true. The place is absolutely spectacular. I would have liked to ridden an ass down the canyon or even hiked down, but unfortunately we only planned to stay for a few hours. There will definitely be a next time. The fam, of course, went crazy with the photo opps. And I, well, had to pee like a banshee the entire time we were there. Sadly enough, there were no bathrooms anywhere in sight. A National State Park and no freakin' bathrooms in sight! I normally have a bladder of steel, but somehow the OJ from this morning's continental breakfast decided to make it's way down at a quicker pace than usual. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and so guess what yours truly did? Yep. I peed behind some of the brushes in front of the Grand Canyon. Let's just say that nature and I had our "moment" together. In fact, it was almost a spiritual moment fertilizing Mother Earth.

After having our fill of the Canyon, the fam and I headed out to Sedona, AZ. A nice tourist trap of a town nestled amongst dramatic crimson towers of sandstone. These towers are actually a climbers' dream. The fam and I had lunch at a lovely Mexican restaurant and then proceeded with the eight hour drive back to San Diego. I ended up driving back with my dad, brother, and 17 year old cousin.

Eight hours with three males in a Toyota Camry.

EIGHT......

LONG........

HOURS.........

The testosterone levels in the vehicle were high enough that by the time we arrived into San Diego, in order to assure myself of my own femininity, it made me want to run to the local spa for a full spa treatment, gorge on chocolate, and hit the local mall for a nice girly shopping spree.