Tuesday, June 5, 2007
What's over there?
One interesting thing about traveling is that it makes you aware of all of the things that you take for granted about the place where you live. Living in Chicago and Boston, Jacob and I just sort of assume that department of transportation knows where everything is. This seems not to be the case out in Fredonia, AZ.
Bye Jacob
1:30AM PDT | N32°48'21" W117°13'57"
Jacob and I got to Irvine at around five o'clock and ended the road trip and the first half of my trip. We met up with Molly and went out to dinner at the Vegetarian grill down the street which was pretty good. We later went to the beach and walked around a treacherous peer lined on both sides with people fishing. At one point a fishing rod snapped back over our heads making a loud noise and swinging a hook over our heads. After Jacob and I got out from behind Molly she explained that this place is always like this. I notice there is a conveniently located sushi restaurant on the peer itself and it made me wonder if that's possibly where they get their fish.
Joe drove up from San Diego to pick me up and begin the second part of my journey. One that will undoubtedly find me marooned on a boating dock yards from civilization with no clothing or any memory of the prior 15 minutes. I look forward to such time with excitement and hope you'll all stay with me though the good times and the bad. Unlike that no-good Jacob who stayed in Irvine.
Jacob and I got to Irvine at around five o'clock and ended the road trip and the first half of my trip. We met up with Molly and went out to dinner at the Vegetarian grill down the street which was pretty good. We later went to the beach and walked around a treacherous peer lined on both sides with people fishing. At one point a fishing rod snapped back over our heads making a loud noise and swinging a hook over our heads. After Jacob and I got out from behind Molly she explained that this place is always like this. I notice there is a conveniently located sushi restaurant on the peer itself and it made me wonder if that's possibly where they get their fish.
Joe drove up from San Diego to pick me up and begin the second part of my journey. One that will undoubtedly find me marooned on a boating dock yards from civilization with no clothing or any memory of the prior 15 minutes. I look forward to such time with excitement and hope you'll all stay with me though the good times and the bad. Unlike that no-good Jacob who stayed in Irvine.
Monday, June 4, 2007
As the San Bernadino sky showered over you
1:56PM PDT | N35°11'24" W116°9'16"
We're 73 miles from L.A. and I haven't much to write. I spent most of
the past 100 miles writing the previous blog post. We're now back in an area where much like Nebraska, I have to remember to get the camera out for a shot to go with the post. It's very sandy with mountains off in the distance and the highway has been lined with billboards, power
lines, and numerous businesses and small communities. We're passing through San Bernardino right now so Jacob and I sang the lyrics to a Mountain Goats so which makes mention of the town until we could make an accurate guess as to which song it was or which album it was on. I
ended up finding it and playing that and also Jacob's traditional entering L.A. song, Los Angles, I'm yours by the Decemberists, per his request. I really need to pee. I hope we find a rest stop soon. Looks like we're also running a little low on gas.
We're 73 miles from L.A. and I haven't much to write. I spent most ofthe past 100 miles writing the previous blog post. We're now back in an area where much like Nebraska, I have to remember to get the camera out for a shot to go with the post. It's very sandy with mountains off in the distance and the highway has been lined with billboards, power
lines, and numerous businesses and small communities. We're passing through San Bernardino right now so Jacob and I sang the lyrics to a Mountain Goats so which makes mention of the town until we could make an accurate guess as to which song it was or which album it was on. I
ended up finding it and playing that and also Jacob's traditional entering L.A. song, Los Angles, I'm yours by the Decemberists, per his request. I really need to pee. I hope we find a rest stop soon. Looks like we're also running a little low on gas.
(Entering Las Vegas) * -1
12:25 PM PDT | N36°6'41" W115°9' 45"
Last night Jacob and I rolled in to Vegas and looked for a place to stay. It wasn't long before Magellan suggested we check the fabulous Super8 Motel and Casino just blocks from the strip. We got a room and then headed out looking for excitement and quickly found the Paris hotel and casino. We wandered in and ogled the millions of slot machines, card tables, and well undressed waitresses.
We soon decided we couldn't really continue on with this until we ate. So we left for the large mall next door and found Cheeseburger Las Vegas which earned it's name.
Later we went to the Bellagio and decided we'd try to find some game to play. We settled on Big 6 mostly because of its low minimum bet. If we were going to keep under raps our well know playboy higher-roller reputations, taking a $500 blackjack table for all it's worth was certainly not the way to do it.
We stood and watch for a little while to get the idea of the game. There were spots on the table to place bids marked 1to1, 2to1, 5to1, 10to1, 20to1, and 40to1, named after their pay offs and a large wheel several notches labeled in the same way. A one comes up, the 1to1 bets pay off 1to1 and everyone else is screwed.
So we hopped in and placed our bets on the 1to1 square hoping for the highest probability of getting any kind of return since we were both only betting with $20. I noticed that the 1 notch was nearly every other notch on the wheel so I was playing on the 1to1 and 2to1 so I'd have a better than 50% chance of making some kind of pay off, which made the game a lot more fun. I was actually kind of surprised I only needed to play on two squares to do this.
So then I wondered what my actual expected return on the bets were so over then three or four rounds I counted the number of notches on the wheel and Jacob and I calculated the expected value. There two 40s on the wheel and between them two symmetric half wheels with 27 notches, 10 ones, and 7 twos. Placing the same amount of money on both means when a one is rolled I've broken even. 7/27 times I get 50% back and all the other times (10/27) I loose my two bets. $0 * 10/27 + $1 * 7/27 - $2 * 10/27 = $-13/27 = $-0.48. So I expect to lose 50 cents every time. This is unfortunately pretty consistent with the fact that we both left with less than we came. When all was said and done I left with $10 of my $20 and Jacob only $4.
Later we went to the Rio, where we heard the week-long World Series of Poker was just beginning. We went for a little while and checked it out. On the way through the Rio casino I found a guy carrying a brand new World Series of Poker t-shirt, so I asked him where it might be. He seemed to know and lead us around the casino back and forth looking around and later realized he was drunk and really didn't know at all where he was.
He was there for the week playing the satellite games trying to get into the full World Series. We walked shoulder-to-shoulder aimlessly around the casino, Jacob five feet in tow, and he explained to be the the mathematics of poker tournaments.
"You see I just came with $125 for the lowest bracket buy in, and I won my first games" he said proudly. "Ten players and me and the last guy split, so I got $500 after the casino rakes the pot." And then came the tricky part. "Now, I can take that $500 and buy into a bigger game with a $500 buy in. I win that I can get into a bigger game." I soon learned that if you do this enough you will, in fact, have enough money to buy into the World Series of Poker. Jacob later pointed out how little his monologue was dependent on any displays of interest coming from me.
Much to our amazement this walk lead us to the floor of the World Series and we checked it out. We stood idly by various tables and realized just how many games are determined before the flop. I was thinking in ten-player games we'd see the flop quite often but that was just not the case in the games we saw.
Jacob mentioned how very bored he was. I seconded and we left and wandered back to the strip to see Caesar's Palace, which was pretty much exactly like the Bellagio and Paris except a lot more Roman. We wandered around for a little while and found a pretty amusing blackjack installment where the dealers were police officers, only not carrying guns and where much smaller uniforms. The policemen dealt cards and occasionally check over their shoulders to ensure the incarcerated dancers behind them didn't escape their cages.
It was kind funny how blatant they were about how sex sells. The waitresses at the Rio wore bikinis. All over the city in small plastic bins where you'd normally find free newspapers or used car magazines were advertisement booklets for escort services.
In the morning, we headed next door to the Elise Island restaurant and casino for some really cheap breakfast and a bigger piece of ham than I think I've ever seen. We sat and ate and watched the occasional gambler push buttons on the slot machine. It's amazing how pretty much every place in Vegas has a casino. Even the first rest-stop gas station on i15 coming into Nevada was a gas station / casino. I really wanted to stop off at some of the local government services to see if they're the same way. Las Vegas City Post Office and Casino. Vegas Memorial Hospital and Casino. Hurst Family Funeral Home and Casino. But we had little time we have to get to L.A. We'll let yo know how that goes.
Last night Jacob and I rolled in to Vegas and looked for a place to stay. It wasn't long before Magellan suggested we check the fabulous Super8 Motel and Casino just blocks from the strip. We got a room and then headed out looking for excitement and quickly found the Paris hotel and casino. We wandered in and ogled the millions of slot machines, card tables, and well undressed waitresses.We soon decided we couldn't really continue on with this until we ate. So we left for the large mall next door and found Cheeseburger Las Vegas which earned it's name.
Later we went to the Bellagio and decided we'd try to find some game to play. We settled on Big 6 mostly because of its low minimum bet. If we were going to keep under raps our well know playboy higher-roller reputations, taking a $500 blackjack table for all it's worth was certainly not the way to do it.
We stood and watch for a little while to get the idea of the game. There were spots on the table to place bids marked 1to1, 2to1, 5to1, 10to1, 20to1, and 40to1, named after their pay offs and a large wheel several notches labeled in the same way. A one comes up, the 1to1 bets pay off 1to1 and everyone else is screwed.
So we hopped in and placed our bets on the 1to1 square hoping for the highest probability of getting any kind of return since we were both only betting with $20. I noticed that the 1 notch was nearly every other notch on the wheel so I was playing on the 1to1 and 2to1 so I'd have a better than 50% chance of making some kind of pay off, which made the game a lot more fun. I was actually kind of surprised I only needed to play on two squares to do this.
So then I wondered what my actual expected return on the bets were so over then three or four rounds I counted the number of notches on the wheel and Jacob and I calculated the expected value. There two 40s on the wheel and between them two symmetric half wheels with 27 notches, 10 ones, and 7 twos. Placing the same amount of money on both means when a one is rolled I've broken even. 7/27 times I get 50% back and all the other times (10/27) I loose my two bets. $0 * 10/27 + $1 * 7/27 - $2 * 10/27 = $-13/27 = $-0.48. So I expect to lose 50 cents every time. This is unfortunately pretty consistent with the fact that we both left with less than we came. When all was said and done I left with $10 of my $20 and Jacob only $4.Later we went to the Rio, where we heard the week-long World Series of Poker was just beginning. We went for a little while and checked it out. On the way through the Rio casino I found a guy carrying a brand new World Series of Poker t-shirt, so I asked him where it might be. He seemed to know and lead us around the casino back and forth looking around and later realized he was drunk and really didn't know at all where he was.
He was there for the week playing the satellite games trying to get into the full World Series. We walked shoulder-to-shoulder aimlessly around the casino, Jacob five feet in tow, and he explained to be the the mathematics of poker tournaments.
"You see I just came with $125 for the lowest bracket buy in, and I won my first games" he said proudly. "Ten players and me and the last guy split, so I got $500 after the casino rakes the pot." And then came the tricky part. "Now, I can take that $500 and buy into a bigger game with a $500 buy in. I win that I can get into a bigger game." I soon learned that if you do this enough you will, in fact, have enough money to buy into the World Series of Poker. Jacob later pointed out how little his monologue was dependent on any displays of interest coming from me.
Much to our amazement this walk lead us to the floor of the World Series and we checked it out. We stood idly by various tables and realized just how many games are determined before the flop. I was thinking in ten-player games we'd see the flop quite often but that was just not the case in the games we saw.Jacob mentioned how very bored he was. I seconded and we left and wandered back to the strip to see Caesar's Palace, which was pretty much exactly like the Bellagio and Paris except a lot more Roman. We wandered around for a little while and found a pretty amusing blackjack installment where the dealers were police officers, only not carrying guns and where much smaller uniforms. The policemen dealt cards and occasionally check over their shoulders to ensure the incarcerated dancers behind them didn't escape their cages.
It was kind funny how blatant they were about how sex sells. The waitresses at the Rio wore bikinis. All over the city in small plastic bins where you'd normally find free newspapers or used car magazines were advertisement booklets for escort services.
In the morning, we headed next door to the Elise Island restaurant and casino for some really cheap breakfast and a bigger piece of ham than I think I've ever seen. We sat and ate and watched the occasional gambler push buttons on the slot machine. It's amazing how pretty much every place in Vegas has a casino. Even the first rest-stop gas station on i15 coming into Nevada was a gas station / casino. I really wanted to stop off at some of the local government services to see if they're the same way. Las Vegas City Post Office and Casino. Vegas Memorial Hospital and Casino. Hurst Family Funeral Home and Casino. But we had little time we have to get to L.A. We'll let yo know how that goes.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Entering Las Vegas
7:48PM PDT | N36°10'39" W115°9'4"
As it happens, we drove past the sign that marks the Las Vegas city limit at exactly the 100-mile marker since our last post. Nothing really has happened since then other than a really spectacular drive through a mountain on I-15 in Arizona, but we're both excited about getting to see Vegas for the first time. We'll let you know how it turns out.
As it happens, we drove past the sign that marks the Las Vegas city limit at exactly the 100-mile marker since our last post. Nothing really has happened since then other than a really spectacular drive through a mountain on I-15 in Arizona, but we're both excited about getting to see Vegas for the first time. We'll let you know how it turns out.
This is Zion, and we are not afraid!
7:34 PM MDT N36°56'26" W113°49'20"
You'll be glad to know that we made it to Zion National Park, and as reported it was pretty impressive. As far as sheer jaw-dropping impressiveness goes, I think the Grand Canyon has it beat, but there was much more to do and see. Zion National Park is a really cool region of red, twisty rock formations that's miles wide and filled with neat stuff.
Getting to the visitor's center was probably about half the fun. There are two entrances, and we happened to enter on the side farthest from the visitor's center, so we had to drive through the park through 17 miles of mountain road, around some spectacular mountain formations and through mountain tunnels (twice!). By the time we got there we were already pretty impressed. Which was good, since by the time we got there we didn't have a whole lot of time left before we needed to head out. The Zion people were nice enough to make a "Zion in Under 3 Hours" sign with ideas for quick visits into the park, which we very much appreciated. We decided our best bet was to try and see a thing called Weeping Rock.
The trail to Weeping Rock, the sign informed us, required us to take the canyon shuttle, so we walked over to the shuttle center and got onto the shuttle of a man who announced that he was Dan Dan the Wonderful Driving Man. I did not get the impression that he was also Dan Dan the Wonderful Walking in a Straight Line Man, but he was entertaining. As we drove up the hill, he pointed out that the beavers "live in a bank, but won't give you change," then repeated that, then waited for everyone to groan before continuing. A little later, he informed us that the trail to our right could be used by pedestrians, bikers, pets on leash, and even children --- but they didn't have to be on a leash. He waited for us to groan again.
Things went on this way until we got to the Weeping Rock trail head. Then we got off, and climbed up the trail for a sorta unsatisfyingly short distance until we got to Weeping Rock, which Dan Dan the Wonderful Driving Man had informed us was spilling out water that had actually been inside the mountain for 1,200 years. Very cool. We sat there for a while, then realized that both of our phones were dead and we didn't know what time it was. Another person up there rather confusedly indicated that it might possibly be 5:40, though, so we decided we needed to leave.
We climbed back down and went to the shuttle stop to wait. When the shuttle arrived, it was none other than Dan Dan the Wonderful Driving Man at the wheel. As we wound our way back to the visitor's center, we heard his spiel in reverse, pretty much like a tape played backwards, down to the children not needing to be on leashes and the beavers not giving you change. But towards the end, a conversation between a German family, a New York Jewish woman, and an ex-Army guy who'd been stationed in Germany --- about the Autobahn and its lack of speed limits --- spread to the entire bus, including Dan Dan the Wonderful Driving Man, and so the spiel was cut short.
Then we quickly got back into the car and started towards Las Vegas. At this point we're about a quarter of the way there, and the scenery is changing dramatically, yet again. Just think, only half a day of driving and two states left!
You'll be glad to know that we made it to Zion National Park, and as reported it was pretty impressive. As far as sheer jaw-dropping impressiveness goes, I think the Grand Canyon has it beat, but there was much more to do and see. Zion National Park is a really cool region of red, twisty rock formations that's miles wide and filled with neat stuff.Getting to the visitor's center was probably about half the fun. There are two entrances, and we happened to enter on the side farthest from the visitor's center, so we had to drive through the park through 17 miles of mountain road, around some spectacular mountain formations and through mountain tunnels (twice!). By the time we got there we were already pretty impressed. Which was good, since by the time we got there we didn't have a whole lot of time left before we needed to head out. The Zion people were nice enough to make a "Zion in Under 3 Hours" sign with ideas for quick visits into the park, which we very much appreciated. We decided our best bet was to try and see a thing called Weeping Rock.
The trail to Weeping Rock, the sign informed us, required us to take the canyon shuttle, so we walked over to the shuttle center and got onto the shuttle of a man who announced that he was Dan Dan the Wonderful Driving Man. I did not get the impression that he was also Dan Dan the Wonderful Walking in a Straight Line Man, but he was entertaining. As we drove up the hill, he pointed out that the beavers "live in a bank, but won't give you change," then repeated that, then waited for everyone to groan before continuing. A little later, he informed us that the trail to our right could be used by pedestrians, bikers, pets on leash, and even children --- but they didn't have to be on a leash. He waited for us to groan again.Things went on this way until we got to the Weeping Rock trail head. Then we got off, and climbed up the trail for a sorta unsatisfyingly short distance until we got to Weeping Rock, which Dan Dan the Wonderful Driving Man had informed us was spilling out water that had actually been inside the mountain for 1,200 years. Very cool. We sat there for a while, then realized that both of our phones were dead and we didn't know what time it was. Another person up there rather confusedly indicated that it might possibly be 5:40, though, so we decided we needed to leave.
We climbed back down and went to the shuttle stop to wait. When the shuttle arrived, it was none other than Dan Dan the Wonderful Driving Man at the wheel. As we wound our way back to the visitor's center, we heard his spiel in reverse, pretty much like a tape played backwards, down to the children not needing to be on leashes and the beavers not giving you change. But towards the end, a conversation between a German family, a New York Jewish woman, and an ex-Army guy who'd been stationed in Germany --- about the Autobahn and its lack of speed limits --- spread to the entire bus, including Dan Dan the Wonderful Driving Man, and so the spiel was cut short.Then we quickly got back into the car and started towards Las Vegas. At this point we're about a quarter of the way there, and the scenery is changing dramatically, yet again. Just think, only half a day of driving and two states left!
The Grand Canyon
3:23 PM | N37°0'28" W112°31'39"
Well, we've been to the Grand Canyon now. We got into the park entrance and drove a really long way afterwards, about 25 miles, before we got to a parking lot. We'd been seeing little glimpses of canyon-ey things through trees to our left for a while, so as soon as we got out of the car we headed to the treeline and saw it: an incredible red gash in the ground that was so far across you couldn't really make out the details of the other side, and so deep you couldn't see the bottom. We stood there, mouths open, for about five or six minutes before I noticed a sign that said "Roaring Springs Canyon. Grand Canyon 100 yards to the right." It turns out we'd been looking at a little finger off of the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon itself was about ten times larger; I don't think I could even see all the way across at the farthest dimensions. I don't think anything I say can do it justice. Honestly I don't think the pictures we took will do it justice either, but we might as well post them anyway to give you an idea of what we looked at.
We went around as much as we could, though we had to budget our time pretty carefully. Part of this was because we want to get to Las Vegas tonight, and part was because we decided at the spur of the moment to take a detour through Zion National Park, which is close enough to the route we'd have taken to Las Vegas anyway that it doesn't add significantly to our travel time. We've had three people independently recommend Zion to us: my friend Adam before we left, a guy at Arches as we were climbing to Delicate Arch, and the receptionist at the Super 8 last night. Actually, if I'm remembering correctly all three of them told us that Zion was more impressive than the Grand Canyon. I guess we're about to find out.
Well, we've been to the Grand Canyon now. We got into the park entrance and drove a really long way afterwards, about 25 miles, before we got to a parking lot. We'd been seeing little glimpses of canyon-ey things through trees to our left for a while, so as soon as we got out of the car we headed to the treeline and saw it: an incredible red gash in the ground that was so far across you couldn't really make out the details of the other side, and so deep you couldn't see the bottom. We stood there, mouths open, for about five or six minutes before I noticed a sign that said "Roaring Springs Canyon. Grand Canyon 100 yards to the right." It turns out we'd been looking at a little finger off of the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon itself was about ten times larger; I don't think I could even see all the way across at the farthest dimensions. I don't think anything I say can do it justice. Honestly I don't think the pictures we took will do it justice either, but we might as well post them anyway to give you an idea of what we looked at.
We went around as much as we could, though we had to budget our time pretty carefully. Part of this was because we want to get to Las Vegas tonight, and part was because we decided at the spur of the moment to take a detour through Zion National Park, which is close enough to the route we'd have taken to Las Vegas anyway that it doesn't add significantly to our travel time. We've had three people independently recommend Zion to us: my friend Adam before we left, a guy at Arches as we were climbing to Delicate Arch, and the receptionist at the Super 8 last night. Actually, if I'm remembering correctly all three of them told us that Zion was more impressive than the Grand Canyon. I guess we're about to find out.
Good morning Gill. I said good morning, Gill
10:58AM MDT | N36°29'7" W112°7'36"
We're headed towards the Grand Canyon and we should be there fairly soon. We're currently in Fredonia, AZ. I took a picture of the sign for Sarah who went to school in an entirely different Fredonia.
Last night we pulled into the Best Western in Kanab, UT to find a woman complaining about her room and trying to get her money back. Some of the highlights of her argument: 1) The room next door is being loud and her husband can't sleep. 2) There's something yellow and sticky in the sink. 3) The carpets are dirty.
We left for the Super8 next door since it was mentioned in the conversation that there weren't any other rooms. We went our own little walk for hunger once we got settled in only to find that Kanab closes down at 10:00. It did seem like a pretty nice little town. There were lots of a little closed cafes that we wished we could have eaten at. Oh well. On the advice of our concierge we headed to "the only stop light in town" as it was referred to by three separate residents. Upon reaching the fabled stop light we found a Mexican Restaurant.
We're headed towards the Grand Canyon and we should be there fairly soon. We're currently in Fredonia, AZ. I took a picture of the sign for Sarah who went to school in an entirely different Fredonia.Last night we pulled into the Best Western in Kanab, UT to find a woman complaining about her room and trying to get her money back. Some of the highlights of her argument: 1) The room next door is being loud and her husband can't sleep. 2) There's something yellow and sticky in the sink. 3) The carpets are dirty.
We left for the Super8 next door since it was mentioned in the conversation that there weren't any other rooms. We went our own little walk for hunger once we got settled in only to find that Kanab closes down at 10:00. It did seem like a pretty nice little town. There were lots of a little closed cafes that we wished we could have eaten at. Oh well. On the advice of our concierge we headed to "the only stop light in town" as it was referred to by three separate residents. Upon reaching the fabled stop light we found a Mexican Restaurant.
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