Boot Camp day #7 (free-day)
I am awoken by my wife, Patsy, calling to remind me that I need to call MetLife to get a quote for our home insurance. My employer offers group insurance rates and I'm trying to find out if I can save money by going with them for auto and home insurance. So I tell her about my previous nights activities and we chat a little about other stuff. My son went to a dance at his school the night and I'm told he "shook it". Whatta boy!
I finally get outta bed, eat a bowl of Kashi Go Lean Crunch http://www.kashi.com/index.aspx with Silk Soy Milk and take a shower.
I have to do laundry today. I gather all my dirty laundry in a platic bag. Go down to the little store in the lobby and charge a small box of Tide to my room and start my load of clothes. Meanwhile I'll sweat out the toxins in the Fitness Center. Do the usual 1 mile walk-15 minute elliptical-1 mile walk routine and transfer the clothes to the dryer and finish up the work-out. I fold my clothes and take up to my room. Sweating like a freakin' hog I go outside and see one of my colleagues working on her laptop ( give it a break sister ).
We still need to get the car from MGM Grand valet, so we take the shuttle to the Mandalay Bay and walk the rest of the way to MGM Grand. On the way we talk about kids and how she used to be a stay at home mom (as Patsy does) and agree that it's better for children to have that privilege. I tread lightly on the subject of children beacuse she informed me yesterday that her only son died 3 years ago from cancer at the age of 18 after he went blind 3 months prior. Man, that's heavy and to choose a career that exposes you to cancer patients daily. I guess it's healing to continue down a particular road, painful or not, repeatly. Get the car and, because I'm starving, we go to Chipotle. Then I go the grocery store Food 4 Less. I buy more yogurt and Go Lean and 2 bananas.
I have planned on going to Red Rock Canyon since I got here and today I will go. I try to take a quick nap before I leave, but I'm too excited. So I grab my camera, water (beacuse it's drier than a mother out here), extra batteries and head for the door. I'm borrowing another employees car to get there beacuse I was advised not to rent a car for this trip. I stop at coffee Starbucks order a grande cappucino breve (that's w/ Half n Half for the uninitiated) wet with one Splenda .
Alright people, this one of the most beautiful drives I've been on (highway 160 west and take a right on highway 159). I see signs warning for burrows on te road and sure enough I see 2 off in the distance grazing.
I find mountains especially awesome, maybe because they are so humbling and for humans it's important to feel humble against nature because we're not doing a very good job of respecting our planet. The mountains literally stand above you looking past our minute statures and daring us challenge them. Their faces are stern and yet inviting and powerful. I think if mountains could love they would love the animals that inhabit them and find shelter within their many crevices and caves. Plants don't even stand a chance on a mountain, but every now and then they, too, find the mountain to be home.
I stop at the first place I see to pull over and get on a trail to address the mighty rocks. I turn to see that I have acted too hastily and double-back towards the car because I spy the real reason for my drive today...red rocks.
This park is a BLM visitors center featuring a scenic drive for free. I park and head for the red rocks. They are spectacular! I walk down a steep trail towards the face of a group of giant stones. The colors, patterns, stripes and angles of the rocks are so interesting. I've never seen anything like this. I walk about 5 feet and notice the small bats flying over my head beginning their evening meal of insects. I reach a left turn in the rocky trail and follow it north for about 20 minutes looking all around me for small creatures, interesting plant life etc. Someone is yelling a name to the rocks, like they're looking for a missing person, I hope that's no the case. I snap a few digital photos of rocks, plants and try to capture an image of a bat on my digital camera...silly me. It's getting dark now, so I head back to the car.
I now am on the scenic drive back the main road, but it's too dark to be scenic, which leads me to the decision that I will drive the windy road as fast the little Malibu can safely go.
The moon is fighting to be seen through the wispy clouds tonight and it's loosing it's cosmic footing. As I make numerous turns I see the lights of Vegas and strip illuminating the the night.
I get back to the hotel and grab one of the beers my Canadian colleague has left in my care before he left for home. The morning he leaves I run into him at the elevators and he hands me a sack of 4 Molson beers (what? do these Canucs carry Molson on them where ever they go?). If that's the case stop a mexican and ask him for the Dos XX in his pocket and tell your white-trash brother to quit hoggin' the Pabst Blue Ribbon . I walk down to the lobby watch a portion of a Disney movie on the flat screen TV and think, "Hey, I could drink beer and blog down here.". I return to the room grab another Molson, laptop and CAT-5 cable take a seat in the lobby and discover the damn ethernet connections don't work...ugh, back the room. And here we are.
I finally get outta bed, eat a bowl of Kashi Go Lean Crunch http://www.kashi.com/index.aspx with Silk Soy Milk and take a shower.
I have to do laundry today. I gather all my dirty laundry in a platic bag. Go down to the little store in the lobby and charge a small box of Tide to my room and start my load of clothes. Meanwhile I'll sweat out the toxins in the Fitness Center. Do the usual 1 mile walk-15 minute elliptical-1 mile walk routine and transfer the clothes to the dryer and finish up the work-out. I fold my clothes and take up to my room. Sweating like a freakin' hog I go outside and see one of my colleagues working on her laptop ( give it a break sister ).
We still need to get the car from MGM Grand valet, so we take the shuttle to the Mandalay Bay and walk the rest of the way to MGM Grand. On the way we talk about kids and how she used to be a stay at home mom (as Patsy does) and agree that it's better for children to have that privilege. I tread lightly on the subject of children beacuse she informed me yesterday that her only son died 3 years ago from cancer at the age of 18 after he went blind 3 months prior. Man, that's heavy and to choose a career that exposes you to cancer patients daily. I guess it's healing to continue down a particular road, painful or not, repeatly. Get the car and, because I'm starving, we go to Chipotle. Then I go the grocery store Food 4 Less. I buy more yogurt and Go Lean and 2 bananas.
I have planned on going to Red Rock Canyon since I got here and today I will go. I try to take a quick nap before I leave, but I'm too excited. So I grab my camera, water (beacuse it's drier than a mother out here), extra batteries and head for the door. I'm borrowing another employees car to get there beacuse I was advised not to rent a car for this trip. I stop at coffee Starbucks order a grande cappucino breve (that's w/ Half n Half for the uninitiated) wet with one Splenda .
Alright people, this one of the most beautiful drives I've been on (highway 160 west and take a right on highway 159). I see signs warning for burrows on te road and sure enough I see 2 off in the distance grazing.
I find mountains especially awesome, maybe because they are so humbling and for humans it's important to feel humble against nature because we're not doing a very good job of respecting our planet. The mountains literally stand above you looking past our minute statures and daring us challenge them. Their faces are stern and yet inviting and powerful. I think if mountains could love they would love the animals that inhabit them and find shelter within their many crevices and caves. Plants don't even stand a chance on a mountain, but every now and then they, too, find the mountain to be home.
I stop at the first place I see to pull over and get on a trail to address the mighty rocks. I turn to see that I have acted too hastily and double-back towards the car because I spy the real reason for my drive today...red rocks.
This park is a BLM visitors center featuring a scenic drive for free. I park and head for the red rocks. They are spectacular! I walk down a steep trail towards the face of a group of giant stones. The colors, patterns, stripes and angles of the rocks are so interesting. I've never seen anything like this. I walk about 5 feet and notice the small bats flying over my head beginning their evening meal of insects. I reach a left turn in the rocky trail and follow it north for about 20 minutes looking all around me for small creatures, interesting plant life etc. Someone is yelling a name to the rocks, like they're looking for a missing person, I hope that's no the case. I snap a few digital photos of rocks, plants and try to capture an image of a bat on my digital camera...silly me. It's getting dark now, so I head back to the car.
I now am on the scenic drive back the main road, but it's too dark to be scenic, which leads me to the decision that I will drive the windy road as fast the little Malibu can safely go.
The moon is fighting to be seen through the wispy clouds tonight and it's loosing it's cosmic footing. As I make numerous turns I see the lights of Vegas and strip illuminating the the night.
I get back to the hotel and grab one of the beers my Canadian colleague has left in my care before he left for home. The morning he leaves I run into him at the elevators and he hands me a sack of 4 Molson beers (what? do these Canucs carry Molson on them where ever they go?). If that's the case stop a mexican and ask him for the Dos XX in his pocket and tell your white-trash brother to quit hoggin' the Pabst Blue Ribbon . I walk down to the lobby watch a portion of a Disney movie on the flat screen TV and think, "Hey, I could drink beer and blog down here.". I return to the room grab another Molson, laptop and CAT-5 cable take a seat in the lobby and discover the damn ethernet connections don't work...ugh, back the room. And here we are.
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