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The first 10 days of the trip, I was with my son Damian ( 38 years old and married with 3 kids). Damian had never been out West, well no further than Minnesota, so I planned a great sightseeing tour for he and I to enjoy together.
The first day we left home before 6:00 am and drove a little over 800 miles to Terra Haute, Indiana. Our only casino stop was at Wheeling Downs - we pickeed up some slot cards, but NO roulette chips - table minimum was $10.00 per spin and nobody was at the table.
The next day we got up and drove to St. Louis. Our first stop was the Gateway Arch. We went up to the top[ of the Arch and the wind was blowing around 30 mph. The arch was actually swaying back and forth about 2 feet in either direction when we reached the top at over 600 feet high. Walking around was kinda like trying to keep your balance in a boat on a choppy day. We left the Arch and hit around 4 or 5 casinos and picked up slot cards and I harvested some roulettes. That night we made it to Kansas City and stayed at Harrahs. More slot cards and roulettes were harvested.
The next morning we drove thru Kansas and into Colorado, where Damian got his first site of some "real" mountains. We went thru the Valley of the Gods in Colorado Springs and wandered around Manitou Springs that night for dinner, etc.
On Saturday June 7th we got up and took the first tram - cog railroad ride - up to the top of Pikes Peak. It was a little cool at 8:00 am when we left Manitou Springs, around 50 degrees. When we got to the top of the mountain it was 24 degrees, the wind was blowing, it was snowing and the wind chill was around 10 degrees. It was so cloudy that we could only see about 50 feet in front of us. When reached the bottom of the mountain we headed west again toward Monument Valley and the 4 Corners area.
After having a scenic ride thru Southern Colorado we arrived around 9:00 pm in Kayenta, Arizona only about 20 miles from Monument Valley. We had tried to find the 4 Corners Monument on our way in, but some how in the drakness we missed it (well maybe next time we will be able to stand on 4 states at the same time).
The weather was really mild in Monument Valley - only around 80 degrees instaed of the usual 100 dgrees. We took a private tour of the Valley with a Navajo guide in a jeep - just George the guide, Damian and myself. We had a great time with George teling us some neat stories and pointing out all the sites. That night we drove about 70 miles to Tuba City, Arizona which is just outside of the East entrance of Grand Canyon.
We got a little confused by the time zone changes in Arizona - the Indiana reservation were Tuba City is located is an hour earlier than the time when you get to Grand Canyon. The result of the time change got us into Grand Canyon around 7:00 am. We were the first visitors to enter the park from the East gate and the ranger station at the park entrance was not open, so we drove in with out having to pay. For the next 3 and a half hours we had the Grand Canyon virtually to ourselves as we stopped at various overlooks, etc. We ate a nice breakfast at the Bright Angel Lodge and saw the Condors flying over head on the Canyon rim. I had been to the Grand Canyon several times but this was Damian's first visit and like everyone else who sees the Grand Canyon for the first time he was totally amazed. We left the Park and never had to pay at all - it wouldn't have mattered since I had a Senior National Parks Pass which gives you free access to all parks, but it was kinda cool to go thru really unhindered or stopped. That afternoon we drove across the Hoover Dam and saw the new suspension bridge that is being constructed over the Colorado River. Around 6:00 pm we were driving down Las Vegas Blvd. and heading for Harrahs.
We checked into Harrahs and we had to alter our plans a little because of a change in tee times - not ours but Tiger Woods !!! I had purchased tickets for the US Open back in February, when I had made plans for the trip. The tickets did not arrive before I left home so I had them sent to Harrahs in Las Vegas. The tickets - well some of the tickets were waiting for us when we got to Vegas - only for the opening round on Thursday June 12. I got hold of the ticket agent and told them to send the tickets for Friday, Saturday and Sunday to Harrahs in Rincon, California. We also had to cut our Vegas stay short because Tiger Woods tee off time was 8:00 am on Thursday morning. With some help from the Diamond host, we rearranged our Rincon stay to arrive a day early. With all that out of the way we headed our to see Vegas and boy dids we see Vegas!!! Stratosphere tower, downtown Fremont Stret experience up and down the Strip, riding in the van and then walking about 3 or 4 miles.
Less than 24 hours after we had arrived in Vegas we were off to San Diego !!! The entire time Damian was with me we had smooth sailing - no bad weather or traffic backups,etc. - everything ran like clockwork.
At 7:00 on Thursday, Damian dropped me off at Torrey Pines and I began one of the greatest sporting adventures of all time the 2008 US Open Championship. As some of you know I am a huge Tiger Woods fan and I was bound and determined to follow him arround and see every hole he played for the next 4 days. Well, I got a little more than I bargained for and I enjoyed every minute of it. After a slow start - double bogey on the first hole - no one could imagine what would unfold over the next few days (more on this later). That afternoon, Damian picked me up and we saw the sights in San Diego - Mission Beach, Del Coranado Hotel, Old Town, etc. and then back to Harrahs Rincon for the evening. Harrahs Rincon was really a nice hotel with a great buffet, pool and grounds and the best part was that I was fully comped for everything for 5 days.
On Friday, I saw the second round of the Open while Damian toured some of the small towns on the California coast North in La Jolla. That evening I took Damian to the airport and got him on a flight back to Philadelphia.
The first part of my journey was completed - I had spent 10 days of really quaity time with my son and I had shown him parts of the country that I had experienced many times, but that were totally new to him. To see his reactions to all the sights was really fun for me and an experience he and I will never forget.
This concludes, part I of my journey to the Convention, but many, many adventures still lay ahead. Stay tuned fot Part II.
I know this was a long post, but if you read it all I hope you enjoyed it.
Take care,
Jerry
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