2005 Year in Review

What I did on my summer vacation

Departing slightly from my usual, more international, viewpoint I'd like to tell you a little about our trip to Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and surrounding area. In fact there is still an international connection if I stretch it a bit. Ten years ago my wife and I were married and we went to Bellagio, Italy for our honeymoon. To celebrate our tenth anniversary we decided we'd try the next best thing and go to Las Vegas (neither of us had been to Sin City before) and stay at the Bellagio Hotel. We did learn some things.

Las Vegas is not exactly what I anticipated and not cheap. You can still get deals, maybe drink for free if you are gambling and tip well, but the hospitality industry is no longer 100% fueled by gambling. It is now a family destination where you will see every generation, every ethnic group, and every culture, hear many languages and everything is geared to fun and consumption. This might not sound like the ideal family fun place, but there sure were a lot of them around. No one is excluded (except for minors in the casinos) and odds are, at any gaming table or block of slots, you'll see an 80 year old woman, next to an Arab Sheik next to a quadriplegic in a wheel chair and on oxygen, next to the next world poker champion want-to-be and etc. Where else can you go and within walking distance see the Pyramids, the Eiffel Tower, the grand canals of Venice or second honeymoon at a downsized Lake Como with spectacular water displays? I suppose the one exception is there probably are not a lot of poor people - except the ones who are leaving.

The Grand Canyon was much as I expected and grand. I think everyone who has the chance should go see it and take in a little of the geological history that created it and wonder at its magnitude, but I anticipated this. What I did not anticipate was that well over half the people who were there are probably from some other country. The crowds were large, but manageable and you never had to walk too far for a great view. On the hiking trails you were more likely to hear a European tongue than a native American one, but all were represented. It is truly one of the world's wonders. We had also driven through Zion National Park and it too provides geological wonders that are probably best seen up close and personal by taking short hikes - maybe next time.

Another thing I had not anticipated on our journey was the third world country within our own borders called the Navajo Nation in Northern Arizona. You do not have to leave the USA to see hard conditions and poverty. There are numerous Indian reservations in the area and we did not see all or experience much outside our rental car windows, but the term "bleak" comes to mind. The scenery is beautiful in a remote and unspoiled and geologically significant way, but lack of water, lack of industry, dilapidated mobile homes and extremely sparse habitation in a large area seemed sad. We did visit an Indian Bazaar outside the Grand Canyon and the jewelry and artifacts were beautiful, but it didn't look like sustainable economic development or even enough for survival. I don't know how Native Americans can live although I do know that they seemed to be able to manage for a good 10,000 years before our ancestors came to conquer and take over. I also suspect that no one had to live on beautiful lands with no resources.

We had a good time on our whirlwind tour. I do recommend visiting friends and family in the region if you have them. You should also plan some downtime or some back-to-nature time if you do spend any time in Vegas, where resting and sleep in general, is not encouraged. We saw Hoover Dam, a true engineering marvel and London Bridge, the world's largest antique now set in a somewhat incongruous setting of Lake Havasu City (which I now equate as the sort of "Wisconsin Dells" of Arizona). We live in a vast and wonderful country. You should see it. Drink plenty of water.

by Marc Adami, Guest Columnist
August 17, 2005