Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Last week, Dale and I left for a relatively quick trip out West. We couldn't take the kids since they had started back to school the day before we left, so my Mom (the best Mom in the world!) came over to our house and stayed with them.

Dale has to go to Las Vegas at least once a year, sometimes twice a year for business. We have been so many times that the place really does nothing to excite us. However, I have family out there and so, about every other year, I will tag along with him to visit them. Last time Mom and Bill went with us and we all 4 stayed for the week to visit Mom' s brother, who wasn't doing well at the time.

Dale had gone out in November a couple of months before that trip and, as usual, met Uncle Bennie for dinner. We knew he wasn't doing too well physically and was on breathing treatments, but we had no idea how bad it really was. Uncle Bennie had(has) COPD. He couldn't walk from one side of the room to the other. He was in REALLY bad shape after dinner and Dale ended up having to get him a wheelchair to take him to the car where they contemplated going straight to the hospital. He just couldn't get his breath. Dale was on his way to the airport, and finally Uncle Bennie said he was going to be ok. So, Dale came back and reported to us the state that he was in and that he was on hospice, which we had not known.

Uncle Bennie is retired military. He is one of the STRONGEST people I have ever met. He isn't a huge man but he is stocky and built like a brick wall. To think that he couldn't walk across the room broke my heart. The only thing that would save his life was a lung transplant. So, we prayed and prayed and planned a trip for all of us to go out in January 08. We had a good trip, but left there with heavy hearts as we didn't know if we would ever see him alive again.

God answered our prayers. Unfortunately, when you pray for something like this, you feel guilty because you know that someone must lose their life to have your prayer answered. And those people have loved ones that are probably praying for their lives. Our prayers were answered by a family who lost their 24 yr old son in a drive-by gang related shooting.

Uncle Bennie was quickly life-flighted to California where the surgery was performed as soon as possible. It worked and the battle for his body to accept the lung began. I am happy to report that, as of right now, he is doing well. He can walk around without getting winded, he can do some work, he doesn't do breathing treatments every hour, and he can live a normal life. However, he takes a TON of medicines multiple times every day which has caused swelling and weight gain. He doesn't look like my Uncle Bennie so much on the outside but he's the same sweet guy inside. He always fears another rejection, as he had last year. Mom & Bill went out to see him in November and had a fantastic visit with him and the family. We did too. I am so happy that God has decided that his time here on earth isn't up yet.

Wow, I got sidetracked... Anyways, this trip started with us heading towards Vegas on a plane last Wednesday morning. It has been unusually cold here before we left and while we were gone. Dale had to do a job before we left, so we left early and headed for Classic Caddilac where he did the work as quickly as possible while I changed purses so that none of the forbidden items where in my purse when I went through the airport.

Dale has never believed in checking luggage. And I don't believe in carrying it. We always have this debate each time we fly. If I didn't have much luggage, I understand. Maybe a quick day trip or something. But this was a 5 day trip. I needed clothes to cover differing temperatures and this involved thick sweaters and sweatshirts. I also needed to take my new laptop as I was hoping to do my 2009 family yearbook on Thursday while Dale was at the CES(Consumer Electronics Show) show. Of course, I needed reading material. And shoes, and undergarments, and hair stuff and makeup, and...well you get the idea. But I told him I would TRY to fit everything in a carry-on. Well, the night before we went, I checked the airline requirements and saw this:

For carry-on baggage, all customers traveling on AirTran Airways will be restricted to one carry-on item and one personal item. Personal items include handbags, umbrellas, walking sticks, coats, cameras, reading matter, infant food, briefcases, and laptop computers.

Now, let me tell you that God performed a miracle and I was able to get EVERYTHING in the suitcase that needed to be in there. But I still had one, well maybe 6 personal items. I couldn't believe that my purse was going to be my personal item. I needed to take my coat, of course!! And I had to take my camera bag with all the lenses-after all we were going to the Grand Canyon for the first time ever!! I had my laptop which was in a briefcase type bag. And of course, my reading materials. I am reading the twilight series which is a thick book and needed some magazines too. Oh, and of course, some snacks for the plane since they don't feed us anymore. Now, I ask you....How am I supposed to fit all that in my purse???!!? I slightly panicked, tried fitting the camera and book in the suitcase and promptly ran to Target where I looked for huge purses on clearance. Dale took my laptop as his personal item. I stuffed my camera bag in my purse and wore my coat. I wasn't sure if we would pass, but we did. Coming back was another story though. :)

We have a friend who is an air marshall at the airport, so he met us and hung out with us for a while before we flew out. It was interesting to hear about what he had in store for that day.

We flew out to Vegas, got our rental car, and headed for the condo. The condo was really nice. We always stay in the same place, for the most part, since Mom & Bill own a timeshare there. But they have built new ones, so this was our first time in the new condo. They had a fireplace where there was a button on the wall. You could just push the button for 30,60,90, or 120 minutes of fire and voila, there it was. It actually put out heat too. I enjoyed that one morning. They also had a towel animal. I got so excited since it reminded me of a cruise.Dale had a meeting that afternoon, so I hung out at the condo. After he got back, we met Uncle Bennie, Aunt Nita, her sister and niece, and my cousin Phillip and his wife and two little boys for dinner at the buffet. It was good to see everyone. Afterwards, we all went back to Uncle Bennie's house to hang out. Dale had brought a radio/CD player for Aunt Nita's car and he installed that for them. We grabbed a few groceries on the way home to have at the condo.
On Thursday, Dale left early for the CES show and spent the whole day there. This was a fantastic day as I had the whole day to do whatever I wanted. I read, watched TV (several movies!), took a nap, and made some calls. I could never get a good internet connection so I wasn't able to do my family yearbook, but will work on it soon. It was very relaxing.

That evening, Dale & I went to dinner and walked a little of the strip. We went over to the Venetian hotel, which is a really neat place. Probably one of our favorites. They have a river that runs through it where you can take a romantic gondola ride while a man or woman serenade you. The ceiling is painted with blue skies and clouds to appear like you are outside. We have had dinner waterside in the past and it is always nice. They usually have a mime that we love to just watch and see how he interacts with the crowd. There are other street performers as well. We listened to a band this time. We've seen guys on stilts and parades, etc.
Friday, we slept in and checked out of the condo and went to Uncle Bennie's where everyone joined us for lunch and then we headed toward the Hoover Dam, which is 10 minutes from his house.They are building a new bridge over Hoover Dam and it is a massive structure!! It should be completed the next time we are there, so it was the last time on the old road. Lake Mead's water level was really low. Here are some pictures of the new bridge.
This last picture is an older picture but it gives you an idea of how high it will be-I pulled it off the web.

We didn't have time to stop this time, but we took a FANTASTIC behind the scenes tour several years back which we will always remember.

We drove toward Williams, Arizona where we checked into a nice hotel. We walked over to the train depot to get our tickets for the train ride to the Grand Canyon the next day. There were kids everywhere getting very excited about going on the Polar Express. This was the last day they were doing that ride and it was all still decorated with Christmas lights and decorations.
They also had lots of SNOW!! This wasn't something I had ever thought about in Arizona. I always pictured a desert when I think of Arizona. But there was lots of snow around.
The next morning, we checked out and went to a show before the train ride. It was really cute with 3 bad cowboys and the sheriff. Then we all boarded the train for a 2 1/2 hour ride to the Grand Canyon. We rode the train through the snow, looking for wild animals, and hearing stories from our wonderful hostess. They also had entertainment on the train both ways.Our hostess, Morgan, was different. Different in a good way. She lives alone at 54 years old on the top of one of the mountains she showed us. She lives "off the grid" which we found out means that she has to supply her own power,water,etc. She moved out here from Las Vegas where she was a blackjack dealer and bought 5 acres of land for $1000. That's $200 per acre!!! Then she built a 2 car garage. She put her car in one side and lived in the other while she built her own house. She did it all completely by herself with the exception of hiring day laborers once for when she wasn't big enough or strong enough to put the A-frame structure for the roof up. Total cost for everything for the house, including appliances and everything was less than $25,000!!! She uses solar power for her electricity that she bought from a government auction. She also has a 2500 gallon water tank where she gets her water. She hauls her own water up the mountain in a trailer with a 450 gallon water tank and then puts it in the big tank. She has everything we have...refrigerator, washer, dryer, microwave, internet, TV. It was very interesting to hear her story. But she was also very interested in each of our stories. She had a passion for her job and the Grand Canyon. She got so excited when someone spotted a wild animal. You don't see many at this time of the year, but we saw a coyote, a herd of antelope, and a herd of bison. She walked around several times and talked to each person to give them ideas and hints of what to do and where to go before we got to the Canyon and before we left at the end of the day.
The Grand Canyon was awesome. Hard to explain in words. And, of course, the pictures do not do it justice. Everyone should see it once before they die. It really is breath-taking. We took some looks and then went to have a bison burger before we went hiking down the rim trail. It was very icy at places and there was snow all around. I really had never thought about that. That was a shocker for me. I slipped on the ice probably around 40-50 times. It was amazing that I never really fell and busted my butt. I came REALLY close twice, but one time I went down on one knee and the other time I did a backbend and caught myself with my hand. It was really funny looking and luckily, I didn't hurt myself either time. I gave Dale many heart attacks and he was scared that I was going to fall off the side several times. There was a wall in some spots, but other spots didn't have any barrier at all. We walked a pretty good ways and then had to head back to catch the train again.Dale is actually talking to the kids here but we are out on a point and both sides fall off. The average depth of the canyon is 1 mile deep, so that would be quite a fall. On the train ride back, there was a train robbery where the bad cowboys came on and robbed the train. Normally, they ride up on horses, but with all the snow, they didn't use the horses. :( They stopped and took money and valuables. They were kinda scary, but funny at the same time. It was cute when they stopped the robbery to take pictures with little kids. Then the sheriff showed up to save the day.After the train ride, we headed south to Phoenix. It was a longer drive than we expected, so we got in late that night as well.

We met Dale's cousin Larry on Sunday morning and got to spend about 3 1/2 hours with him before we headed back to the airport. It was really good to see him. I hadn't seen him in about 15 years or so. And God performed some miracles to allow this visit too!

We got to the airport, and headed toward the plane. As we were standing in line to board the plane, this mean Delta employee-man asked me to put my carry-on in the little box that they measure the suitcases with. I panicked. My heart skipped a beat. I knew my suitcase wouldn't fit in that little area. The other lady saw that it was an expandable suitcase (of course!!) and told me if I could just zip the expandable part up, it would be fine. Well. I'm sure it would, but it is expanded out for a reason!! I was mortified-I thought I was going to have to sit on the suitcase in front of everyone to try to get that thing zipped. Dale had already gone through by this point so he was waiting for me and couldn't help me at all. I'm sure privately he was thinking.. I told her she shouldn't bring so much stuff. But he never said that-and that's a good thing. Well, I was trying to zip it and trying and trying but the zipper was stuck. It really wasn't the fact that the material was stretched as far as it could go, it was just stuck. Normally, you would pull the zipper back and get a running start again but I was too scared to make the zipper go any further back than I had already gotten. So, I told the nice lady(while ignoring the mean man) that it would collapse down but the zipper was stuck. I also explained in my nicest voice that it had gone into the overhead bin on the way out with no problem and I assured her I hadn't put anything extra in there. Everytime Dale saw something that he wanted to buy, I replied "We don't have room to take that back". So, he ended up putting all the goodies in his suitcase. I showed her how I could push it down and she said that was fine. I had totally gotten around putting my FAT suitcase in that little bin.

Well, by that time, we were almost last getting on the plane. So, there was no overhead storage left. The stewardesses tried to make room by rearranging stuff and a lady pulled her purse and coat out for me to put my suitcase up , but it was about 6 rows past where we were sitting. It dawned on me mid-flight that we were going to have trouble getting to that suitcase when we landed. But Super Dale rushed back there and got to it, so that we didn't have to wait for the entire plane to be disembarked.

We got home around 11 pm Sunday night and had had our fill of planes, trains, and automobiles for the last 5 days.

I told Mom about the suitcase miracle and she couldn't believe that I had been able to take just a carry-on. She brought this cartoon over yesterday:
I wonder why she thought of me when she saw this. LOL