This is the world famous sentence #1 of the world famous blog #3 of the world famous honeymoon of the world famous Josh & Rachel Fife. Now back to the world famous reality: not everything is world famous. But apparently putting “world famous” in front of anything can make it an international landmark, or so thought Rosie and her café in the middle of Podunk nowhere, Arizona. Seriously, (this is to be taken literal), it was 100 miles from everything. It was the only place for hundreds of miles on our way to Phoenix from our exciting Vegas stay. It seems that the state of Arizona does not believe in rest areas. We saw no rest stops for hundreds of miles and then out of nowhere, there were 2 that were extravagant. They could have made those 2 a little less extravagant and added a few more earlier on, but Arizona planning and zoning didn’t ask us. Thankfully, like many 3rd world status countries on this earth, they believe in McDonald’s which we used as a make-shift rest stop where we fixed our own meal in the parking lot and only used their restrooms.
Our trip turned into a divine adventure when Rachel was titled a “Guardian Angel” by the nephew of an 84 year old woman who had fallen in the parking lot of the Excalibur hotel as we were loading up our car. Rachel was in the restroom when she saw the lady cleaning up her bloody hands and knee. Being a nurse, instincts took over and Rachel couldn’t help but offer her services. She remembered that they had packed a $9 first aid kit from Walmart in the car, and knew that’s exactly what she needed. Security thought it more important to mark the occasion with photographs than to help a profusely bleeding 84 year old woman (I say profusely to add effect to the story) – it wasn’t really gushing blood but definitely didn’t look good. Not having time to wait for security to document everything, Rachel left the lady and her nephew with band aids & ointment for her to bandage herself up after security was done filing a report. Finally, an hour later than we had hoped, we managed our way out of the city of Las Vegas leaving behind a world that you can only take so much of; two days was certainly enough.
Hoover Dam, although not terribly exciting, was cool to see. Going around the entire Dam at 5 miles per hour was not too cool but it gave us a chance to take in the enormity of just how large this Dam is. It was one of those things we could have stopped for and spent an hour and a half looking at and then have been able to tell everyone what we saw but the view from the car was sufficient. In any event, we can now say we’ve seen the largest Dam in the United States *yeah*.
Our trip turned into a divine adventure when Rachel was titled a “Guardian Angel” by the nephew of an 84 year old woman who had fallen in the parking lot of the Excalibur hotel as we were loading up our car. Rachel was in the restroom when she saw the lady cleaning up her bloody hands and knee. Being a nurse, instincts took over and Rachel couldn’t help but offer her services. She remembered that they had packed a $9 first aid kit from Walmart in the car, and knew that’s exactly what she needed. Security thought it more important to mark the occasion with photographs than to help a profusely bleeding 84 year old woman (I say profusely to add effect to the story) – it wasn’t really gushing blood but definitely didn’t look good. Not having time to wait for security to document everything, Rachel left the lady and her nephew with band aids & ointment for her to bandage herself up after security was done filing a report. Finally, an hour later than we had hoped, we managed our way out of the city of Las Vegas leaving behind a world that you can only take so much of; two days was certainly enough.
Hoover Dam, although not terribly exciting, was cool to see. Going around the entire Dam at 5 miles per hour was not too cool but it gave us a chance to take in the enormity of just how large this Dam is. It was one of those things we could have stopped for and spent an hour and a half looking at and then have been able to tell everyone what we saw but the view from the car was sufficient. In any event, we can now say we’ve seen the largest Dam in the United States *yeah*. Now I want you to look at this sign.
Now we all know that had I lived another life, it would not have been lived as a mathematician; however (call me crazy) but I think the mileage between Flagstaff and Phoenix equals 36 miles according to the sign. But if you check your local atlas, as we did, you will see that Flagstaff and Phoenix are not 36 miles apart. Hmmmm….so we have one thing telling us one thing and another telling us another thing. It turns out, whoever is in charge of road signs in Arizona makes mistakes. What we thought was going to be 3 hours, turned into 5.5. If I had the right mind (which apparently I don’t) I’d say we take up the popular thing to do in the United States and sue over “emotional distress.” This could be our million dollar “McDonald’s cup of coffee.” But alas, we won’t even complain too much about a non-working air conditioning unit, a broken television, a burnt out light and noisy kitchen staff at a $280 Anniversary Inn hotel stay (on our wedding night!) so something tells me hundreds of other people will also experience the syndrome known as SDS (Sign Dysfunction Syndrome) as they are heading to Phoenix, Arizona.
Some other quick notes about our day in Phoenix (Scottsdale actually): the 3rd floor of our hotel was bouncing/swaying. They should probably put little tablets of Dramamine on your pillow instead of mints. While the hotel was nice, it would have been nicer if they knew how to control water temperature. The sink water was warmer than the hotel’s hot tub (when turned to cold) and the hotel maintenance custodian man, seemed to think a 1 degree temperature rise in an already cold hot tub was sufficient enough for an “enjoyable” dip in the hot tub – it was not! Other than that, the few people we came across in Old Town Scottsdale were very helpful and nice and it was a nice one night stay on our way to bigger and better things.
For your daily lesson, never underestimate the power of generosity. It can completely revitalize a dying hope in random people and you might just be in the position to be someone’s “Guardian Angel” which is semi-ironic in a city such as Las Vegas where people are all about themselves, good times, selling their bodies for a buck, and drinking nights away. As sad as the world can be, I find extreme hope in one thing: kindness can still rule the day, and that is an encouraging thought in a world that needs some encouragement. More from Van Horn later…
From the Road Less Traveled,
Josh & Rachel
Phoenix/Scottsdale highlights: A super soft (double) bed, a nice shower head, less than expected hot temperatures, generous people, Denny’s within walking distance, 29 mpg gas mileage on our Escape, Rachel’s map reading skills, not having to carry a heavy cooler 10 miles from our car to the room (Vegas…*cough*)
License Plate Update: Idaho, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Indiana, Texas, Florida, Oregon, California, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Illinois, Oklahoma, Maine, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Minnesota, Alaska, Michigan, Iowa, New Mexico, Arkansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina (go Tar Heels!), Virginia (32/50)
