the great american road trip - day 3

Day 3 started with a game of giant checkers in Moab. The life-sized checker set was part of the playground at our campsite. Punk and Kooka had a ball playing - and true to form, hyper competitive Kooka won, while Punk was content to just jump his pieces all over the place.

Our first stop for the day was Arches National Park. We tried to get an early start to avoid the heat, but at 10 am it was already 98°. Punk was excited to see this place because scenes from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade were filmed in the park. We drove through while playing the Indy theme song.

I did request that we actually get out and make the 100-yard hike to see Delicate Arch. If you ask Kooka about this hike, she will regale you with tales not unlike the Battan Death March - so feel free to inquire. ("Miles," she says, "miles with no shade - no water - it was soooo difficult.") I am pleased to report that she made it back down the hill in record time - before the rest of us, so apparently she suffered no serious injury.

After arches we were on the road to Vegas - which basically meant we saw nothing but Rock and canyons for 5 hours. Nothing - and that is not an exaggeration.

Vegas has been a whirlwind for us all.

Part of the appeal of the Canyonlands was the sheer "nothingness" of it all - just rock - just earth - no water, very little vegetation, empty space . . . so to travel from nothing, to the overcrowded decadence of Vegas in one day, was a bit of culture shock.

Both kids loved the lights, and the crazy ceiling on Freemont street. We watched the street artists (the guy with the spray paint cans knocked Punk's socks off when he finished an outer-space-star-wars-scene in under 3 minutes). We caught a bit of the pirate show at Treasure Island (enough to see the explosions) and the water dance at the Bellagio.

Punk spent the better part of the night protecting his little sister. "Kooka - don't look at that poster." "Kooka you should not be seeing this." - which only enticed her curiosity. I, on the other hand spent the better part of the night distracting him from the pimps - hoping that he wouldn't even think to ask about them.

For now, we need sleep - desperately - we have to get to California tomorrow!