MY TRAVEL JOURNAL: THE GRAND CIRCLE by Nicholas Ng

CONQUERING THE DESERT

DAY 1: Don’t you just hate airplanes? Airplanes make me throw up and my ears pop. Airplane food makes me puke! Well, on my family trip to Las Vegas and the Grand Circle, my ears popped for five hours! The three cans of orange juice helped a little. When we arrived at Las Vegas around 12:00 EST, my eyes couldn’t support my 2-ton eyelids. Unfortunately, I had to wait. The computer broke down when we rented our SUV. So the cashier, in a frenzy, was trying to work her brain instead of pushing keys on a keyboard. I rolled my eyes half way; everything went black. As light poured back in to my eyes, I saw us in a 4x4 Jeep rolling around in Las Vegas. Its electrical clock blinked 3:00 A.M. We arrived at Plaza Hotel and checked in. Everyone dashed to the elevators and zipped through the hallways except me. I thought everyone craved sleep, too. We opened the door to our room; a blast of weird smells gushed at us. I took a step in, hoping to sleep. I did find a bed but what really bothered me was the SMELL of CIGARETTES!!! The cashier ruined my night! Eventually, half an hour later, my dad came back with a new room key. We tugged our luggage to a new room on the other side of the hotel. As soon as the door opened, I ran inside and jumped in bed. I took one last glance at the clock: 3:45 AM.

DAY 2: I woke up at 9:30 AM. My eyes still drooped downward. We shopped for water and food supplies. Frozen Gatorade, checked! More frozen Gatorade, checked! Two 24 packs of water, checked! Three bags of chips and snacks, checked. We were completely prepared to conquer the desert. Stepping into our jeep, we began an unforgettable adventure. After we arrived at our lodge-looking hotel, we immediately took a shuttle bus to Zion National Park. The bus went around the entire canyon. Here and there stood skyscraping towers of rock, streaked with rusted iron ore. For one second, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The bus driver explained these famous “monument rocks” and then took us to other sightseeing spots. For the first time in my life, I was in awe. I ended my day with my jaw opened.

DAY 3: There it was. The sign said THE NARROWS and right beneath it were a group of bold letters that read FLASH FLOOD WARNING! I looked up at the sky. I didn’t know it was gray until now. As we hiked and hiked, the sky seemed to drop lower and lower. Finally we took a break. I looked across the path. There was a ledge. It looked unstable. It was 3 feet out and 2 feet wide. I wanted to take a picture on the ledge so badly but I was afraid the cliff would fall into the rushing muddy water right below it. It took me 10 seconds to gather all my courage and ask my parents’ permission. To my surprise, they agreed. I took 2 steps out and my parents snapped several unforgettable pictures. I quickly leaped off the ledge onto safer ground. “I did it,” I thought. “I DID IT.”

DAY 4: I looked up at the trail ahead of me. It was just a dirt path snaking its way up a 50 foot cliff with slopes up to 40 degrees steep. I let out a sight knowing it would be a long time before we finally made it to the top. “What comes down must go up!”I thought. So I began my adventure. As soon as I started walking up the slopes I saw my friend Charlie climbing the mounds of dirt and sand between the bottom level and the next level. It was a shorter distance and didn’t even look tiring. So instead of forcing my legs to go up and around 5 walls, I began to climb. This was so much more fun than walking up boringly. The only bad thing was that every step Charlie took, small little rocks rained on me. We climbed and climbed until we reached the top. I looked at my parents below me. They were walking around the second slope. Under the shade, I sat back and enjoyed my precious water.

 

END OF THE TRIP: I had a fun-filled crazy adventure in the Grand Circle. Maybe the furiously hot sun and the lack of air conditioning set me back, but the adventure taken was well worth the cons of my trip. I don't think I'll ever saw something as jaw-dropping and eye-popping as these canyons and national parks. I recommend all of you to visit!!! Save up, this was one expensive summer vacation!