From March 31st through April 8th we were on vacation, 4 of us & Sunita my sister who joined us at Newark from Toronto. We headed to Phoenix first and next day onto Sedona Arizona. The red rocks at Sedona are awesome. Nice, artsy town to hangout. Whole compounds of artistic habitats, shops, places to eat etc. Great tours through the red rock mountains, lots of pride in the history and traditions! Saw a lovely cathedral built in the mountains – next to a Madonna & child & 2 sisters rock formations that were built by this daughter of a rich pharmaceutical family as a memorial to her parents whose vast wealth made it possible for her to live her life as an artist in different parts of the USA. It was a peaceful sanctuary with a raw rock power that you have to see to experience what I mean.
We drove from Sedona to Flagstaff through winding roads at high elevations – it was a hard drive for Pramod as he has a real problem with vertigo. Due to that he pulled over to let 4 or 5 cars him by & a few miles later it was literally 4 or 5 cars ahead of us that a huge dry tree fell off a mountain side and crash into pieces across the 2 lanes! Thankfully nobody was hurt but people had to get out of their cars and help clear the debris before anybody could pass. All of us in the car believed it was God protecting us!!
The hills/mountains all along the way in Arizona & Nevada are not as spectacular as the Rockies or the ones in the Northwest. Very dry & arid or then some with pine trees which did look much better. Nevertheless mountains everywhere are awe-inspiring!!
Next day it was onward to the Grand Canyon. Pramod & I had been here 16 years ago – Thanksgiving 1996 – things had changed so much around the Canyon. Well laid out roads, buses carrying tourists to the various spots, hardly any unprotected edges anymore. This was a little bit of a visible relief for Pramod & his vertigo! Rutha surprisingly was also very nervous looking down at the Canyon & Rohun who fretted for months about whether he will fall off the edge & if his Mom & Dad will walk ahead & behind him in order to protect him – had this surge of courage and fearlessly posed as close to every edge as he possibly could!!
The Grand Canyon was just the same in its beauty & majesty!!! I was filled with the same feeling I had 16 years ago - a fall to my knees to worship the Creator of this magnificent beauty and knowing that the same Creator made me too (the latter in all humility!).
Then onto Las Vegas Nevada – Circus Circus was our resting place in the glitzy town. This time we didn’t hit a single slot machine and did not miss it at all. Rohun’s eyes lit up when he saw them though – he thought it was a large video games arcade. This place also had an adventure land with plenty of games for little suckers and big ones too. The uncooperating claw that refused to clutch a 50 cent made in china stuffed toy to some made in china ipods in tantalizing colors to the baskets & basketballs that would be a challenge for Michael Jordan too!! Still we saw kids carrying stuffed toys larger than themselves & wondered at what cost!!
Outside Circus City there were many attractions – anybody who wanted to could get transported to Italy, Venice, Greece, Rome, Paris, NYC – rides, replicas, glamour, pizzaz, all of it & more! While we did worry about having to answer curious questions on some adult images we were spared in the careful choices we made through research done by Pramod & Sunita to pick better experiences. The water fountain show at Bellagio, the ride up the Eiffel Tower, Madame Tussaud’s wax museum & the Mac King Comedy Show were great! The wax museum had Rohun pose everywhere in crazy poses that made him look like one of statues – sans the glamour or fame! The coolest thing was people could wander about the exhibits & pose for pictures without worrying about knocking them over or touching them – no security watching your every move & not letting you touch anything from a foot away! Lots of famous people from show business to sports to historic characters & also the President – Obama & Bush Jr. It was funny to watch Georgie all by himself while Barak had a spotlight & an employee taking pictures with a spotlight using her camera (with an opportunity to buy) and your own camera too!
The Comedy Show was great – very funny, kid-friendly & the Dave comedian patiently waiting through a long line of spectators at the end of the show wanting his autograph on his book, magic kit, and family photo – all smiles and good humor! We also would have loved to watch David Copperfield but the shows were all sold out. Also the lion show by Seigfried & his partner is no more.
We ate at a wide variety of places – good restaurants, fast food joints, 1 buffet experience! The flora & fauna of this part of the country was also varied – cacti, silver pine, juniper, elk, common raven, and the majestic condor (had a citing at the Grand Canyon) etc. The people living and visiting here also offered some rich insights. Families, lonely souls, young & old. Huge bodies at slot machines and at buffets with plates loaded with the unhealthiest foods you can imagine. Grand Canyon had different crowds lots of visitors from all over Europe – especially the North – young & old all Americans – clearly proud to visit a natural wonder! Houses around these states are also varied – mostly small & poor-looking with a few mega mansions – but none of the affluence of the Northeast! A rich Romanian doctor’s vacation home in Sedona right in front of the cathedral mentioned above was the most opulent I saw! It is a National Park area so the guy must be very influential to have a home on it or it must be right outside it!
We had a last extra day of the vacation and at Rutha’s request decided to go back to the Grand Canyon and spend it there! This was a great & relaxing time – away from the usual daily hustle & bustle, work, cleaning, cooking, schools etc. – a great time to connect with the family, reliving old memories & new ones, laughter & a little bit of pain (had a burn accident with a curling iron – the price of beauty)!
We all made a vacation charter when we started – no whining & complaining (all whining limited to 10 minutes per day), no negative talk, build each other up & have a lot of fun!! One personal moment for me to remember – considering the holy week & a reflection of Jesus’ miraculous sacrifice that allows me direct access to the deliverance He made possible for all who believe – was a decision to not junk my body with food that it does not need. It’s an act of willpower, an artifact of my character built over years of conditioned thinking that my Savior has the power to deliver me from.
