Vegas and history beckons

When people ask me where I'm going on vacation, I tell them Vegas. That elicits a particular response, mostly on the lines of "bring me back some money." Most likely my money will stay in Vegas, and I'm fine with that. Will I be able to resist making a silly sports bet or two, like the Titans for the Super Bowl or the White Sox for the 2008 World Series? Probably not. I'm thinking more of the second leg of the journey.

The mid-point of this trip will be most of five days in Arizona. I'm thinking back to the last time I went to Arizona:

My best friend got married.

I was about six months past a long hospital stay.

I was in the death throes of a long-term relationship.

The only intersecting portion of the last trip and this one will be a day at the Grand Canyon. The most memorable part of that trip was hiking down a mile and a half. I was in bad shape then. If I stood up for ten minutes straight, my lower back would get sore. I wasn't used to having a permanently tingly sensation in the back of my left leg all the way to my foot. Once I got to the bottom, I would have to go up. Somehow the trip up seemed easier than the trip down. I got tired but kept pushing through. Making it to the top was a triumphant moment within a week that had one overriding theme. I'm alive.

Will that first view of the seemingly endless canyon stir the echoes, so to speak? In a way, I hope so. It's impossible to measure one's progress through the years. I'd like to think that I have matured in that time. For one, my companion on this trip is a life-partner, rather than a temporary presence. For another, I'm in good enough shape to hike to the bottom and back up if need be.

We'll see how it goes. My Internet connection may not be constant on this trip, so I may have to put my "daily" posts in all at once upon my return. Go Titans.