This past weekend was UEA break. And for weeks before I was thinking about road tripping for a few days over the break.
People said they were coming, then dropped out, on and off.. for days.
Finally the break came, and on my first day off, I talked to Weston and Ashton around 5 PM, and we decided to leave for St. George at 6. So I got my camera, packed a backpack, and grabbed my wallet.
Our first stop was Holiday, the gas station I mean, in Orem. We were filling up when I spotted what I though was a nice, pink canister of air freshener. So I spun the cap and sprayed it all around me. A few seconds passed and I realized I had sprayed myself in the face with a canister of pepper spray. I seriously couldn't breathe. Almost threw up.
After tons of water, and maybe even a few tears of pain, we were on the road. We got there later than we expected, around 10:30, so our campground was closed. We called up our friend Topher, who has a place down there, and he said we could crash with him for the night.
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| Weston forgot some undies, so he grabbed the first package he saw at Walmart. A little big. |
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| Topher, he provided us with nice couches and all-we-could eat grilled cheese for the night. |
The next morning, we got up early and drove out to Snow Canyon to hike out to some Lava Tube caves. They weren't as interesting as they seemed to be last time I was there, but it was still a cool place to explore. They're supposed to be some of the youngest caves around. A whopping 60,000 years old.
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| The hike to the Lava Tube caves is a short, bland one. |
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| A shot climbing out of the Lava Tubes |
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| It's for reals not easy carrying all that gear through jagged tubes barely wide enough for your shoulders. |
After leaving Snow Canyon, we passed "The Ledges" a super nice neighborhood of houses, with it's own golf course and country club. So we sat outside the gates til someone would give us the password and we got in. Our luck was amazing.
But, the thrill of being somewhere we weren't allowed didn't last long. We had a good time trying to get inside houses that we thought weren't bought yet, then found out we were actually just walking into people's houses. So we bailed quick.
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| An HDR against the Whiterocks |
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| Ashton "Megan Foxing" outside our first victim house. |
Later that afternoon, we went to Sand Hollow State Park to do some cliff diving and hang out at the beach.
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| The names are carved ALL over the cliffs. |
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| Ashton about to give some lizard CPR |
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| The CPR didn't work, we lost a good lizard that day |
As it got later in the evening, Ashton, Weston and I decided we needed a new adventure. We gave it some thought and decided to drive to Vegas for the night. So at around 7:30, we topped off the tank and hit the highway.
The drive should've taken around 1 1/2 hours, but thanks to some car troubles, it took a tad longer. But I was able to get some cool shots along the highway.
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| The sky, from the desert off the side of the road. You can tell how much the stars move in 30 seconds if you open this up bigger. |
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| Long exposure of the freeway in AZ, I got some gnarly thorns in my feet for this picture. |
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| This one's of the freeway heading into NV |
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| Another shot near the NV border |
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| Las Vegas |
We got to Vegas around 10:00, and the search for a parking spot was an adventure in itself. After a while, we found a spot in the parking structure by The Circus Circus. So from there, we checked and double checked that the car was locked, and we set off down the strip.
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| The first thing I saw while we were driving down the strip, the car window kinda screws the image |
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| The Denny's we took refuge in for an hour or so to eat |
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| No matter how bad Vegas gets, I can always take comfort knowing they stock my favorite hot sauce. |
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| The best meal $6.99 can buy |
Walking through Vegas, you should know that it isn't any safer walking through with your head down than it is if your looking all around. And don't take the magazines or cards. I even had a guy offer me a DVD, don't even want to think about what was on that.
You also should know that prostitutes are real. I mean, I always knew they were, but seeing them first hand all around me, changed my vision of people; some are nasty. They also don't seem to like it when you take their picture. I'm not posting those, haha.
We spent all night walking the strip, going through the casinos and hotels. And when we realized we had no where to sleep, we almost resorted to sleeping on the benches inside the Forum of Caesars Palace.
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| The REAL Caesars Palace |
Caesars Palace is tight, I love that hotel. We spent a lot of time in The Forum (basically the mall of Caesars Palace) looking at the shops and interrupting people's lives.
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| Inside The Forum at Caesars Palace |
Our night was filled with untold adventures, and some will be left in Vegas. And I'm not gonna lie, I miss Vegas a little bit. The sweet/tobacco smell in the air actually started to smell alright after a while. I plan on going back to visit again soon.
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| This was virtually the ONLY place I found to rest that night. |
Our driver, Ashton, was growing weary at about 3 AM, so we decided since we didn't have anywhere to sleep, we'd better start driving, and see how far we get.
I fell asleep in the passengers seat minutes after departure, and nothing woke me up the whole time. Until I heard Ashton scream at the top of his lungs.
Me and Weston burst out of our naps and Ashton went on to explain the "skinwalkers" following the car. I blame the lack of sleep mixed with one too many energy drinks, but once we were out of the indian reservation, he calmed down and I fell asleep again.
I woke up around 5:30 and we were back in St. George. We decided to cut to the chase and find somewhere to sleep. Luckily I told everyone to pack sleeping bags in case this happened. So we laid down a tarp on the grass outside a church and fell asleep right there.
4 hours later, we woke up in a rush to get out of there before someone saw us. Too late, the parking lot was filled with cars, people walking in and out of the church. I grabbed Ashtons keys and ran to the car, we loaded the car and quick as possible. In the rush of things, we all ignored the bushel of bananas by our things. I asked if it was one of ours. Weston and Ashton said nope... I guess someone took pity on our pathetic little scene and left us some food.
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| Our makeshift hotel room. |
Take note of the crappy image quality. My camera died, so I had to document on the phone.
We left the bananas and went to McD's to grab some food. And at that, we decided it was time to head home. Suddenly, Ashton decided we should fit one more adventure into our weekend.
He took us to a dumpster and we took some cardboard, and wrote a little beggars sign, and took it to Smiths.
We sat outside the sliding doors holding our sign, begging for gas money. We made 3 bucks, and decided to move to the corner.
We made 3 more bucks from a lady who claimed to be a lawer for "abused and mistreated children". Apparently we looked the part. I blame Vegas for the bad smell and lack of sleep.
All was going well, we had 6 bucks in our little Kermit hat. Until the cop pulled up, and led us to his car.
He went on to inform us panhandling is against the law in St. George and we were in trouble of being arrested.
I explained that I'm 17, and we're from out of town. I think that saved us, because both Ashton and Weston are 18. He let us off with a warning and went to talk to the Smith's manager since we were "on private property".
The manager said we aren't allowed on the premesis ever again, and we had to leave right away. So we got in the car and drove home.
The drive home was a sleepy one, and when I got home, I got straight in the shower.
It was one of the best trips of my life. And this was the longest blog post of my life.
