Viva Los Wages… [S.O.F.T.]

Our Single, Older, Female Traveller continues her journey through America and she has finally reached the Grand Canyon.

While we were in Arizona, the wagons kept rolling on to the Grand Canyon, and oh how grand it was! It was really quite amazing.

I will admit I had another solo senior moment when I realised I was there, minus my camera, an awful mistake to make when you are in one of the most scenic places in the world. It turns out I left it on the bus although I did go through a period of total doubt, “You floozy senior, you’ve lost it for good” my mind was saying.

Of all the places I have visited throughout the world, I have never seen anything crawling with tourists like this! The only place that comes close is the Forbidden Palace in Beijing. It was queue central! Lines for the loo, lines for a cup of tea… Queues of chipmunks!

After the spectacular queues and views at the Grand Canyon, we rolled in to Los Wages (Vegas), Nevada… It was like some surreal bizarre outer galaxy from a 1980s version of Doctor Who. It was SO hot and I wasn’t expecting the heat.

I actually couldn’t really get my mind around the fact that this place existed. I mean, why build this metropolis in the middle of the desert? They run the air conditioning and neon lights 24/7. They must have a huge carbon footprint.

It was quite a shock and a sensory overload. It seems like such an excess of gluttony, noise and consumption, although some folks loved every minute of it.

I made a brave attempt to get the Elvis impersonator to marry me and the New Zealand sheep farmer there, but sadly neither marriages eventuated… Down on my luck again!

To avoid the crazy and overwhelming city, I spent the next day on a raft on the Colorado River, which was a complete contrast to all the razzle dazzle.

The last time I was on a simple river craft was on a felucca on the River Nile. That was BC – Before Children and with FH -Former Husband.

The one thing that was the same this time was that there were no toilets around! This is all well and good if you are a man, however I still vividly remember hanging over the side of the felucca with a strong headwind – and very wet legs, and even more entertained nearby farmers!

After my river adventure I went and saw The Rat Pack and it was worth every cent! I strolled down Freemont Street to watch an amazing laser light show and it was highly enjoyable but I was delighted when we rolled out of town.