Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

I'm finally home from a full month of non-stop travel! Huzzah! The village rejoices! Here are some odds and ends from along the way: A visit to Arizona wouldn't be complete without Sabino Canyon, where holiday spirit was in the air and mutant Christmas trees abounded. Despite the deceptive sunny skies and cacti making it seem like everything would be warm, the water was freezing cold. A friend of mine from school was in Arizona for an interview so we went up to see the Grand Canyon, which was gorgeous all covered in snow. This is from California's Joshua Tree National Park a few days later. They have some of the most amazing rock-climbing sites I've ever seen, ...plus a massive, eerie skull-shaped boulder. Later, there was a trip to Hoover Dam, which I'd always thought was just a nifty place to drive past. This time, I stopped for the tour and gained a whole new appreciation for why it's considered the engineering achievement of the 20th century. Finally, New Year's Eve with friends in Las Vegas. We partied like only sober people can, including front-row seats for David Copperfield, Le Reve (I have no idea what the plot was supposed to be about, but it sure was pretty), a visit to the pawn shop where Pawn Stars is filmed. I saw The Old Man in real life! And Rick! I thought I'd faint! (...in related news, I've begun to suspect I'm a dork), and an exhilerating sidewalk meeting with The Peanut M&M. (...further evidence for the dork theory.)