Approaching the Final Leg of the Journey: Saying goodbye to a much needed week in Las Vegas

7:43pm
Las Vegas, NV
Larry

So here we sit upon metallic chairs facing a wall of outlets, and with little else to do our thoughts reminisce the week that has now passed. My thoughts are delightful, a welcome change from the realism that my life has took on since my return from Iraq. To see a city where people are no longer in reality but rather in the land of shimmering wishes and drunken hopes. I cannot help but to feel as though I have stepped into the adult version of Fantasy Island from Pinnochio, where boys are allowed to follow their fancy and drink and smoke. In the end it turns that they were all being tricked into drinking a beer which would turn them into donkeys, which were then sold as pack animals. Seems so true then that we should should sit in a place where beer seems to turn men and women into Asses. Here people gamble away what little they have in an economy that can break anyone who is not wary with their expenditures. Still though, even with the enviornment of sin there lies another feeling, one which can not be truly captured by word alone. This city, above any that I have traveled to before, is Alive. There is a pulse to this place, one which can drive even the most cautious person to step up to one armed bandit and take a swing at whatever prize it was claiming was waiting for you.

As many people around me know, I do not gamble, however even I caught my self staring at the cars and millions in prizes and thinking what I would do with the money. I know that had I been an average person I would have walked up, popped my pocket change into the machine, and taken luck for a spin. However, I know that once I start, I don't know that I could stop. This is a place that will cost you plenty to exist, and then nickle and dime you to death.

Fortunately, Andrea and I did not gamble, we instead focused on our true intent here, which was to see attractions that genuinely interested us. Since the last post, we have taken a Helicopter ride to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (Photos to follow), have seen the Phantom of the Opera, and seen Bodies: The Exhibition.

Andrea and I have now spent 6 1/2 weeks at one another's side continuously, with the farthest distance between us being my going to the store while she was in the apartment for 20 mins. This is the longest in my adult life that I have spent with a single person, and the only one that I have not wanted to take a break from after 3 weeks. This time that we have spent together has been full of a very diverse and dynamic emotional and physical roller coaster for us both. Whether it was the tragedy of Andrea's brother's death or the pain the we both have daily, we have gotten through with one another. I will not get too gooey since this isn't just about how much I love Andrea, but I have to say that talk it cheap, and when through action it has been proven to you that you love a person and that you are willing to stand by them, nothing can stop that. Andrea has told me that these weeks I have seen her life at the worst, which while it may be true only means to me two things: 1) that her life can only go up from here, and for that I am glad, and 2) that I can stand by her through anything that our life throws at us.

I was thinking as I walked our dinner back up to our room while Andrea was sleeping off a bout of pain, that Love is not the feeling that you get from being with a person, or the feeling you get when you kiss them after a nice dinner out. Love is when life is upside down, and people are asking you why you are willingly putting yourself through other person's pain, all you can answer with is that even if their hair is a mess and is having the worst day of their life, you still see how beautiful and special they are. When you see that person and you are happy to be with them regardless of the circumstances, then you know that you are in Love. With that being said, I can tell you that I Love Andrea.

Well, I went and got all soft and thoughtful on the blog, oh well. I hope that you have all enjoyed following our blog through the legs of the journey, through the ups and downs and across this stretch of time we call life. Look for a blog whenever Andrea and I travel, which according to our aspirations, should be often. We love and miss you all, and until the next and seemingly the final post of the trip, stay safe and healthy.

Andi & Larry