Liz From St. Louis

I took a little roadtrip out West, my first, a little over a week ago.

It was a mother/daughter trip that took me through some of the most spiritual places I’ve ever visited; the smell of rain and the rolling clouds in the painted desert of Arizona, touching petrified trees, purple sunsets over the mountains in Flagstaff, AZ, an orange sunset over the Grand Canyon… pretty much made me want to move to Northern Arizona.

A Flickr set of photos from the trip

Being among the lights and debauchery of Las Vegas was too overwhelming for me and I had what I can only equate to a panic attack after being there for two hours. After turning $2 to $25 on the slots, some sleep and a trip to the Paul Frank Store, I was feeling more keen on the city. Seeing the Chihuly pieces at Bellagio and having a fantastic lunch there made up for all of the drunken trash I saw the nite before. I don’t care if it is all old folks and touristy during the day, Vegas is much better before the sun goes down. I would like to go back out there to see Bette Middler, truth-be-told.

The Scion United event had it’s good and bad, but even with all of the over-tired cranky complaints, especially about shuttle bus snafus, it was a great time. I got free parts for the car, met some fantastic new car friends, enjoyed the luxury of staying at a $300-a-nite resort on Lake Las Vegas and… two words… OPEN BAR! Another two words, WATER SLIDE! It was pretty sweet, I really wish I could have told the world to eff off and just live there at Loews – work on a tan, have drinks pool-side and read a book.

Alas, I’m back in Missouri and have been for a week now. The good things never last, sadly.