The Wayward West

The broken, inside out plane set at Universal Studios, like L.A was fake, disarrayed and expensive
Primarily it is the blatant farce that prevents me from ever liking Los Angeles. Sure, there is a beach. And yes, it doesn’t have slushy dark long winters. But, amidst those perfectly tanned blondes and expensive convertibles, lies a city whose identity is only characterized by the fictional Hollywood. And that indeed is very saddening because it has such potential. The roads are excellent, there are mountains at a stone’s throw and the Pacific Ocean is a constant highlight. But the downtown is broken and is best avoided by those who have no interest in life of crime. The suburbs range from housing fake-breasted-pouted-lipped personalities to immigrants who get by without speaking a single word of English. Liking the city becomes a moot point when the premier attractions lie in the neighboring suburbs that traveling to involve bumper to bumper traffic on the famous LA interstates. Of all the big cities I have seen, this is by far, my least favorite.Inside the Casino Venetian, they managed to capture the sky. On the contrary, Las Vegas makes it case entirely on extravagant farce. Having made that perfectly clear by the ridiculously expansive casinos, enjoying the city becomes quite easy. No longer are you upset by the scaled down Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty but instead you wow and shake your head in amazement as you walk through a recreated Venice. The sky is recreated on a wall with panted clouds and amazing light hues and indoor green canals flow silently as Gondola’s waft by. Las Vegas is a city that does not exist as its own but as a wonderful assortment of obscene amounts of foreign wealth and concrete. Whilst the fountains of Bellagio played to the sounds of opera music, I was surrounded by seas of gamblers. Each Casino seemed equally full and with the same demographic. You had you non serious players who really wanted another excuse to drink. Then the semi serious gamblers who were half hoping to make a fortune while not losing the rest of their possessions. The serious gamblers of course parked themselves away from the crowd and did their job as any self employed individual would do. The ones that broke my heart were the eighty year old ladies and the lonely men and women who would stare emptily at the dazzling slot machines as their limp hands would press the “spin” button over and over again. Despite the insane amount of artificial light in Vegas, darker times it seemed were always almost around the corner.The Grand Canyon What wasn’t fictional or farcical at all was the absolutely superb Grand Canyon. Nothing can prepare you for its first sight. A geographical wonder that safely exhibits 2 million year old stories stands silently and impressively. The eyes stretch, in vain, their limits in width as sun, shadows and layers of rock put on a unique show. And from different observation points, new shades and shadows would create and almost different perspective. And this was only the South Rim! The North Rim is even higher and supposed to be even more impressive. What I remember most about the Canyon was that every time I looked up from something else, it held me in awe, just as I had when seen it the first time. The West coast trips always tempt me with the perennial sun and twisty mountainous roads. However, the temptation is thankfully short lived, as I return to cold, flat, insanely straight but a distinctly four seasoned Midwest. Quite simply, I can do without the tan.