Nuts
Next, the roller coaster at the NY-NY hotel attracted our attention. We tried valiantly to talk our child into riding on this thing, while she tried just as hard to dissuade us from doing it; she categorically didn’t want to ride. But, we stood our ground.
The roller coaster slowly climbed up, and I enjoyed the beautiful views of the city and the valley until it stopped for a moment at the top. I thought, “What the hell am I doing? Am I nuts or what?” as my eyes followed the rails descending almost vertically down. The cars at the bottom looked like kids’ toys, and the people looked to be the size of bugs on a car windshield… My hands grasped the handle with a stranglehold, and when roller coaster finally stopped, my husband had great difficulty pulling me out of the chair.
Our daughter’s eyes sparkled with all the colors of a rainbow, and she begged us to go for a second ride… But, my shaking body and pale face were more eloquent than any words…
MGM Grand Hotel, Las Vegas
Instead, we went to Luxor at the Pyramid Hotel to contemplate their Ancient Egyptian motif.
At Mandalay Bay Hotel, we completely lost our orientation and were stranded at the Shark Reef Aquarium where we rested on a sunken pirate ship and observed sharks, endangered sea turtles, stingrays, sawfish, and many other fish swimming above, below, and all around us.
We finished our day with a calm stroll along a cobblestone walkway of The Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian.
Baptism by fire
The next morning, we raced home making only short stops at gas stations. We stopped for a dinner at China Buffet located at Lynwood plaza in Boise, Idaho.
Spoiled by the Nevada’s sun, we came back to reality at Dead Man Pass, Oregon. Snow, ice, and impenetrable fog made the freeway almost impassable. We drove 25-30 miles an hour; most of the trucks were not able to move and blocked the road. Galina, who had only several months of driving experience, got her baptism by fire as she drove through this hell (plus, the name of the pass made our blood creep as it totally corresponds to the reality of that night …).
Later, Yury took over the driving, and the same horrors repeated at Snoqualmie Pass in Washington. About one hour after we drove through, both passes were closed due to weather conditions…
