Day 40, Las Vegas, May 13th

May 14, 2013

19 RV miles today, 6,064.8 total

I met with the most interesting man in the world today & Shelby hung out with Justin Timberlake. We explored the various resorts including Mandalay Bay, The Wynn, Caeser’s Palace, The Venetian, Palazzio & Circus Circus. We had lunch at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant at Paris way up in the tower overlooking the strip. Hot again today ~ 102 degrees. We took Toby into PetSmart for his grooming and did a little bit ourselves. After dinner in “Thumper,” we headed back down onto the Strip to see Caeser’s Palace, The Mirage watching the volcano erupt & Treasure Island watching the outdoor ship battle.

“The night before I left Las Vegas I walked out in the desert to look at the moon. There was a jeweled city on the horizon, spires rising in the night, but the jewels were diadems of electric and the spires were the neon of signs ten stories high.”–Norman Mailer, An American Dream [1965]

1) On every continent in the world, there is a sandwich named after him. 2) He once had an awkward moment, just to see how it feels. 3) He is fluent in all languages, including three that he only speaks. 4) Once while sailing around the world, he discovered a short cut. 5) If he were to mail a letter without postage, it would still get there. 6) The police often question him just because they find him interesting. 7) His business card simply says “I’ll call you.” 8) He has won the lifetime achievement award, twice. 9) In museums, he is allowed to touch the art. 10) His passport requires no photograph.11) When he drives a new car off the lot, it increases in value.–Quotes from Dos Equis ‘The Most Interesting Man in the World’

“Everybody has their own path. It’s laid out for you. It’s just up to you to walk it.” –JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE (American Musician, Born January 31, 1981)

Day 39, Hoover Dam, “Viva Las Vegas,” May 12th

May 13, 2013

283.5 RV miles today, 6,045.8 total

We left the Grand Canyon early Sunday morning for the 283 mile drive to Las Vegas. On the way, we stopped by Hoover Dam, an incredible man-made feat. We took the tour taking the elevator down to the deep tunnels of the dam. We arrived in Las Vegas in 101 degree temperatures…dry heat but still pretty hot! We took in the Cirque du Soleil performance of “O” at the Belagio & then the impressive water fountain show. Yet another WOW moment of this trip! We had dinner at the Belagio Cafe & walked around the Strip and then back home to “Thumper.” From Las Vegas Strip at Circus Circus RV Campground, m, b, s & t

“This morning I came, I saw, and I was conquered, as everyone would be who sees for the first time this great feat of mankind. . . .Ten years ago the place where we gathered was an unpeopled, forbidding desert. In the bottom of the gloomy canyon whose precipitous walls rose to height of more than a thousand feet, flowed a turbulent, dangerous river. . . . The site of Boulder City was a cactus-covered waste. And the transformation wrought here in these years is a twentieth century marvel.” –Speech by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, September 30, 1935 at the Dedication of Boulder Dam, September 30, 1935

“I shouldn’t be near Vegas and have money in my pocket.” –Adam Sandler

Day 38, “GRAND CANYON,” May 11th

May 12, 2013

0 RV miles today, 5762.3 total

We hiked off the rim down into the canyon today at Kaibab South going about 3 and 1/2 miles. Another surreal experience! Being in this environment is quite extraordinary. WOW, m, b, s & t

“Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it. What you can do is to keep it for your children, and for all who come after you, as the one great sight which every American… should see.”– Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States, speech at the Grand Canyon, Arizona on May 6, 1903

Day 37, “GRAND CANYON,” May 10th

May 11, 2013

268.3 RV miles today, 5762.3 total

Surreal…that is what seeing the GRAND CANYON for the first time appears! We left our gracious cousins outside Phoenix & travelled through Flagstaff, Arizona to arrive at the Grand Canyon, elevation 7138 feet at our campsite in Trailer Village near the South Rim. We spent hours overlooking the rim including watching the sunset in awe. Words cannot describe it and pictures do not do it justice. We tried to imagine what pioneers must have felt while hiking the land not knowing what lay ahead and all of a sudden coming up on this massive presentation! After sunset, we went over to the Bright Angel Lodge for dinner before settling in for bed. From the rim of The Grand Canyon, m, b, s & t

“The wonders of the Grand Canyon cannot be adequately represented in symbols of speech, nor by speech itself. The resources of the graphic art are taxed beyond their powers in attempting to portray its features. Language and illustration combined must fail.” –John Wesley Powell

It’s like trying to describe what you feel when you’re standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon or remembering your first love or the birth of your child. You have to be there to really know what it’s like.” –Jack Schmitt

“Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.” –George F. Will

Day 36, Phoenix, Arizona, Will Departs, Shelby Arrives, May 9th

May 10, 2013

0 RV miles today, 5494 total

Will left to go back to Shanghai this morning and Shelby & Beth arrived from North Carolina late this afternoon. I washed “Thumper” today, a fun & monumental task. Jen (my 1st cousin, once removed) & I went out to lunch at Joe’s Farm Grill. She will be starting medical school at U. of Arizona at Phoenix this summer. I did not listen to the sign by the tree!?!? Tom flew in from Texas & we all went out to a Mexican dinner. Our families are combined by parents who were siblings. Hopefully planning a family reunion in 2014. From Gilbert near Phoenix, Arizona, m, b, s & t

“You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.”–Desmond Tutu

“Family Rules: Always tell the truth; WORK HARD; Keep Your Promises; Try New Things; Don’t Whine; Laugh Out Loud; Alswys say I Love your; Use kind words; Do Your Best; Be Grateful, Be Kind; BE PROUD OF YOURSELF; Say Please & Thank You; Remember you are Loved.”

“Peoples’s souls are like gardens. You can’t turn your back on someone just because his garden’s full of weeds. You have to give him water and lots of sunshine.” —The House of the Scorpion, Nancy Farmer

“A bend in the road is not the end of the road… unless you fail to make the turn.” ~Author Unknown~

Day 35, Travel Day, Cousins, Gilbert, Arizona, May 8th

May 9, 2013

447.6 RV miles today, 5494 total

Will got up near dawn & went surfing again. We checked out at San Onofre Beach Camp Pendleton Military Campground and headed most of the day (400+ miles) through California & Arizona to Beth’s 1st cousin’s home in Gilbert, AZ. We went up over 4000 feet and down to 40 feet below sea level passing through Yuma, Arizona. We were able to look several hundreds yards over into Mexico along the route and even went through a border patrol checkpoint. We also saw an apprehension in progress by border patrol agents just off the highway!?!? We stopped by UPS for a package & met Brant Miller (distant cousin, perhaps), an aspiring physical therapist. The sunset picture is from Dale & Tom’s backyard in Gilbert, AZ. Cousin Dale prepared a delicious meal on the grill enjoyed outside by Dale, her daughters Liz & Jen (1st cousins once removed), Will & me. It was a nice reunion, m, w, & t

“Land of extremes. Land of contrasts. Land of surprises. Land of contradictions…. That is Arizona.” ~Federal Writers Project, Arizona: The Grand Canyon State, 1956

“You know you’re an Arizona native when you think Taco Bell is the local phone company.” ~Emma Louise Philabaum, quoted in You Know You’re an Arizona Native, When… compiled by Don Dedera, 1993

“The trip across Arizona is just one oasis after another. You can just throw anything out and it will grow there, I like Arizona. ” ~Will Rogers

“One of the greatest things about the sport of surfing is that you need only three things: your body, a surfboard, and a wave.” — Naima Green

Day 34, San Onofre Beach, Sun & Surfing, May 7th

May 8, 2013

21.3 RV miles today, 5046.4 total

We awoke to the sound of the crashing waves literally ~ 10 to 15 yards from our RV. Check out the picture through our front windshield. We relaxed today, read, and did some shopping for Will’s friends. We rented a surf board and wet suits and went surfing this afternoon. It was a bucket list completion!. We watched the sun set, rode our bicycyles over to Sonic on base for milkshakes and set up camp. Surfs up, dude, m, w & t

“The best surfer out there is the one having the most fun” –Duke Kahanamoku

“The joy of surfing is so many things combined, from the physical exertion of it, to the challenge of it, to the mental side of the sport” –Kelly Slater

Not to sound too deep or weird, but I think that the times when you really appreciate surfing are the times you’re really sort of becoming one with nature. Surfing’s as raw of a sport as it gets.” –Kelly Slater

“So many worlds, so much to do, So little done, such things to be.” –Alfred, Lord Tennyson

“In retirement, I look for days off from my days off.” –Mason Cooley

Day 33, Dermasensa LA Day, “Dolly,” San Onofre Beach/Camp Pendelton, May 6th

May 7, 2013

97 RV miles today, 5025.1 total

Beth caught the red-eye flight back to Fayetteville last night. She will be up to Chapel Hill to move Shelby out of her dorm having completed her freshman year! I drove up to Chatsworth, CA to visit Steven @ West Coast Cosmetics. I toured his facilities and got to meet his family. It was a nice visit & hopefully we will establish a lasting relationshipy with them. After turning in our Hertz Rental Car at LAX, we drove to Gardena to visit Philippe @ O.T.S. Astrocon. He will be air & boat freight shipping our Dermasensa US products to China from LA & Miami. Will & I had a nice Mexican lunch at the traveling van & then headed down to San Onofree near San Clemente. It is a gorgeous RV campground inside the Marine base of Camp Pendleton. We walked the beach down to the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant, nicknamed “Dolly Parton By The Sea” for the two large domed, bosom-like structures that you can see in the background of our picture. We had roasted chicken for dinner and then retired. m, w & t

“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.” – Pat Conroy (American novelist/author)

The nuclear plant’s two large containment structures are briefly shown in the 1988 movie “The Naked Gun” when detective Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) talks about how everything reminds him of his ex-wife’s bosoms (quote: “Everywhere I look something reminds me of her”). –“The Naked Gun”

Day 32, Sunday Half-Marathon Biking, Thai Gathering, May 5th

May 6, 2013

0 RV miles today, 4928.1 total

We biked 14 miles today up around Marina Del Rey to Venice Beach…literally over a half-marathon (13.1 miles). Met Michelle & her husband, Dean, at the Siamese Garden Thai Cafe on Washington Blvd for an excellent Thai dinner. Took Beth to the airport to fly home for 4 days to move Shelby out of her dorm for the summer. Beth caught the red-eye overnight flight to Atlanta then Fayetteville, m, w & t

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine

All my life I used to wonder what I would become when I grew up. Then, about seven years ago, I realized that I was never going to grow up–that growing is an ever ongoing process.” –M. Scott Peck

Day 31, Hollywood Briers Day, May 4th

May 5, 2013

0 RV miles today, 4928.1 total

We spent the day in Hollywood with Hannah Briers walking the streets of Hollywood/Larchmont having an outdoor cafe lunch at the Bungalow. Will headed off to go surfing with friends & we got the nickel tour of Hollywood including Grauman’s Chinese Theater with the star’s handprints/footprints & sidewalk “walk of stars.” Even saw Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Spiderman, Darth Vader, Shrek & numerous other celebrities perusing the sidewalks offering photo ops. We relaxed at HB’s apartment before walking to the Grove. Had French crepes for dinner reminding us of one of our favorite restaurants, “Crepe Nanou,” when we lived along St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans. Back to Dockweiller State Beach for an evening stroll on the beach. b, m, w, h & t (the NewMillermans)

“Let’s put it this way, if all the people in Hollywood who have had plastic surgery, if they went on vacation, there wouldn’t be a person left in town.” –Michael Jackson (I’d still be here!?!…m2)

“Once we truly know that life is difficult — once we truly understand and accept it — then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.” -‘The Road Less Traveled” –M. Scott Peck