West Coast getaway was zoo-manity
Have you ever
felt like you must be about to die because so many things in your life are
going well?
That was my
April 2015.
Somebody pinch
me.
I have felt this way before. It happens whenever I’m checking off things on my bucket list. My warped psychology tells me that whenever I complete everything on the list, my time here on Earth will be up – so as I check off, I add on. I said it was warped.
Anyway, in early
April, I completed three things on my bucket list during my West Coast getaway
for my 45th birthday. (In addition to starring in a one-woman play
at a community theater, but that’s another column).
The trip
included Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and a drive to California, where we
visited Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles and Hollywood.
I’ve wanted to
go to Hollywood since I was a child, so much so that my brother-in-law’s
nickname for me was Hollywood.
While it was exciting to finally walk on the famous Hollywood Boulevard, what totally took me by surprise was my fascination with Sin City.
The entrancing
lights, the high energy, the spectacular shows, the architectural magnificence,
the myriad of people, the amusing characters, the tempting casinos – all were
the cynosure of my eyes.
I was literally
enthralled by it all.
I saw my first
Vegas show, Zumanity (zoo plus humanity, meaning human zoo), a Cirque du Soleli
perfomance in the New York, New York Hotel & Casino. Let me just say it was
erotic, to say the least.
It’s billed as, “The sensual side of Cirque du Soleli.” Imagine very talented acrobats acting out 50 Shades of Grey to music. Get the picture.
My best friend
recommended this show to me. The jury is still out as to why.
I played
blackjack in Caesar’s Palace – and lost money in Caesar’s Palace; watched the
light show at the Bellagio Hotel; watched a volcano erupt in front of the
Mirage; drank a cosmopolitan in the Cosmopolitan (It was only fitting, right?);
and darted in and out other casinos just to be able to say I’d been there.
On every corner,
half-naked women, your favorite movie characters, musicians and yes, even a
real pig were offering photos for donations; and hired help littered your
pockets and the streets with cards of more half-naked women.
They don’t call
it Sin City for nothing.
On Day 2, all
the temptation on the Las Vegas strip couldn’t keep me from rising at 5 a.m. to
catch a tour bus to Arizona to see what I had only read about in books: the Grand
Canyon
On the trip there, we stopped at the Hoover Dam and the famous Route 66 – the first major U.S. highway.
If my eyes were
not my own witness, I would never believe something so naturally formed could
be this magnificent. There isn’t an adjective to describe the beauty of this
world wonder.
God is in the
details. And in Part 2 of this column series, I will delve more into that.
Somebody pinch
me.
The drive to
California was a journey through the Mojave Desert. While some have said the
scenery is drab, I found it sightly.
Yes, it’s dry.
The region only gets three inches of rain per year. Yes, there’s not much
greenery, just small bushes they call Joshua trees. Yes, water is scarce for
desert residents as many of them have to haul it in and store it in tanks.
But the
mountains that hug the desert and the roads that carve their way through the
mountains are captivating, especially at the entranceway into San Bernardino,
Calif.
We were warned
of horrific L.A. traffic, but it didn’t seem that bad to me. I’m always a
half-glass full kind of girl, anyway. We got there in five hours from Vegas.
With only a day and half in the Golden State, we hit the highlights:
• The Santa
Monica Pier, where we rode the famous Ferris wheel that you see in a lot of
movies;
• Rodeo Drive in
Beverly Hills, where a dress I inquired about cost $5,000 and it was just a
yard of cloth, if that. “It just came off the spring runway during Fashion
Week,” the clerk told me. I tried not to choke but my eyes gave it away – such
ridiculous extravagance. The only thing I could afford on Rodeo Drive was a
selfie.
• We had
cocktails with my actress friend and her husband in L.A. near Universal
Studios, then we went to Universal City, where a larger-than-life King Kong towers from a building and the
iconic Universal Studios globe begs for pictures.
• Then finally
Hollywood Blvd. By the time I got to the one star on the Walk of Fame that I
wanted a photo of – Michael Jackson – my cell phone had died. But I did manage
a photo in front of where Jimmy Kimmel Live is taped – the last voice I hear
before going to bed each night.
It was a grand
trip and one that I’ve wanted to take for a long time. I often find myself
daydreaming about it and thanking God for the opportunity to travel and see
places that my heart yearns to visit.
Not only is
April my birthday month, but it is also the month I got laid off from my job
two years ago. So creating a happier memory also made this my best April.
For many reading
this, a West Coast getaway may seem trivial on your list of things to do or
places to go.
But for a little
girl from a small town with big dreams of seeing the world, this was a dream
come true – one that seems so surreal at times.
I’ve marked it
off my bucket list, but I’ve added to it a repeat visit to Vegas to see another
show…one that won’t make me feel like, well…
Like I’ve been
pinched.
