NOV-20-99, Saturday I haven't seen Frank in a long while so I thought I'd stop by in Santa Barbara on the way to Las Vegas. If you're gonna be going to Santa Barbara make sure to stop by and visit him. The view from his apartment building is unbelieveable. It's literally like (for those of us who are bay areans) the view from the top of Mount Diablo. It's on this mountain hill side facing the ocean. So we went out for dinner at this Sushi place, which made Juliana really happy. Joanne and I had the one non sushi related meal. Then we walked around on State ST and I bought this funky Gyro Wheel toy for $2. We rented this movie called VIRUS with Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Sutherland, this alien computer virus infects this Russian ship and turns people into cyborgs. Wasn't too bad. NOV-21-99, Sunday Headed out to Las Vegas. Stopped at the border town between Nevada and California. Apparently there's a cool Roller Coster at Buffalo Bills. Well it was shut down cuz it was hella cold. Like I'm talking Canadian blizzard cold, super high pressure wind, and the desert gets crazy ass cold at night. So we had a snack, and then chilled to LV. Once we got there we checked into the MGM grand. Walked around a bit, but it was already late so went to sleep. NOV-22-99, Monday Was a scout out the situation day. Walked down most of the strip, picked up some tour guides to see what attractions are currently going on. Ate too much at the buffets. NOV-23-99, Tuesday I think we walked down to the Paris like Hotel, walked inside. These hotels really go all out with this theme stuff. The Bellagio has this funky water show outside and stuff. Actually before that we went to the Comedy Stop for the afternoon stand up comedy show. So after the Paris thing we went back, cuz it was extremely cold outside. NOV-24-99, Wedsnesday I'm probably getting things in the wrong order as my memory is decaying. I think we went to the Hoover dam, that was awesome. This is one thing you have to see. It's huge, enough cement to pave a two lane highway across the country. And how they made it is amazing. It was built in the 1930's, and you walk around in it and it's like it was built yesterday. Totally flawless. And it blows my mind they had this kind of engineering technology back in the 30s. They thought of everything. Even every 500 years or something there's a huge overload on the colorado river, and they anticipated that, and made this overflow system. Las Vegas only consume 1% of it's power. In fact, it's primary purpose isn't even to generate power, it's to control the river. And because they control the river, the agriculture that feeds off it provides more produce then the rest of the U.S combined. AND... they finished the project a year early or something. Oh before the dam we went to this chocolate factory and this cactis garden, and saw Mike Tyson's house. NOV-25-99, Thursday I think we went to this Star Trek exhibit at the Hilton. That was cool man, there was like Klingon's and stuff walking around. I was so high on the situation I had a grin the whole time. It was like being a kid. I bought a Borg drone toy at the store. And then we had lunch on the promenade at QUARK's. Then we went to the Stratosphere, which is like this CN Tower thing. And they got this ride at the top that shoot you straight up in the air like 5000mph. First the building was swaying back and forth due to wind and the roller coster at the top. Then at the top, just watching people go on that big shot ride was totally scary. So we get strapped on, and I'm scared out of my mind and I keep reminding myself I'm not gonna die. And the guy goes "ok I'll give you guys a big countdown 10, 9, GO!" And I'm like you bastard (insert doppler effect)! But once I was up there it wasn't as bad as I let my imagination let me believe. Even after the ride, it was way more scary watching people go on it, then being on it. I think it would be way more scary if the ride was land based. Cuz on the land, you'd see the ground dissapearing from you so the relative change is huge. But on the stratosphere, it's like you're already so high in the sky that you're gonig from super high to a little more super high. This ride would kill Wahab garaunteed. NOV-26-99, Friday So the long weekend rush came in and the hotels became packed, and that was the day we left. Had something to eat (another buffet, I ate too much) and chilled to Williams AZ. As I was going there, the engine warning light came on.. And I'm like Oh God not now. When we arrived I asked the guy if there was a garage that knows how Honda's work, and he's like nope. But said not to worry about it, cuz that commonly happens cuz of the elevation. NOV-27-99, Saturday We got up early. Wait like an hour for Marvelous Marv to pick us up. So we got on this tour for the Grand Canyon. What impresses me with this guy, and our Hoover Dam bus guide tour person is their ability to ramble continuously. Actually the hoover dam guy was Cuban with a major accent but the guy was EXTREMELY funny. That particular tour company I think makes sure they find drivers that are part time comics. So we see the Grand Canyon, and I thought it was just this one long huge chasm... But it's just unbelieveable and something everyone has to see. You can see like the periods of time in the layers of rocks and stuff. Pretty amazing. So after the Canyon our next stop is the IMAX theatre, so we walk in there and low and behold Imad, Nabeel, Amel, and Huma are there. I was like...what the hell! That definately caught me by surprise. The film was lame (not enough explosions). So then we didn't wanna drive all teh way back in one day, so we headed back to California and stopped over in Bakersfield. NOV-28-99, Sunday Casual drive back to home, stopped in Livermore to play mini-golf. Came home, took a break. And then went out to dinner to conclude our honeymoon. THE END.