Thelma and Louise Trip Day One and Two

For now, I am skipping the two days in Las Vegas, to bring you up to speed on the actual start of the trip.
Tracy (Thelma) and I left at 8am on July 16th, the infamous day of our mother's birth. We were supposed to be up early, to leave by 7, but as usual, things never go as planned. Due to an alarm issue, the morning passed in a whirlwind of packing, and trying to locate my shoe in the couch as the ferrets had stolen it the first day of my trip. Actually, it was a very efficient for the Robbins sisters to make it out as quickly as that. A quick stop for gas, and ice (which I managed to drop on the ground when the bag broke), and we were on the way.
The rest of Nevada passed quickly, with minimal wind issues, although riding in the Jeep does take some getting used to. We passed the Speedway (just for you dad), and we were quickly in and out of Arizona.
And then it was Utah. Ah, Utah, while beautiful, is the longest state by far, made longer with my tone deaf sister singing at the top of her lungs. (She wanted me to write that, as long as I mentioned her motto, "If you can't sing well, sing with enthusiasm".) We started Travel Bingo, making a list of things we must accomplish before the end of the trip, like finding all the states license plates, and all the characters of the Village People. (So far we have spotted the police man, and the construction working... though we passed by the Indian reservation so Tracy thought we should count that).
After a loooooong while in Utah, we were in Colorado, although we were not sure if we had missed the road side announcing our arrival. Colorado is very beautiful, and mountainous as we followed the Colorado River. Under mountains, up mountains, and winding around, we moved closer to our destination, the home of Jenny!
Finally, with minimal near death experiences, and while getting a little loopy, we made it. And the fun has not stopped! Today (Nick's birthday) we went on adventures as Jen drove us around Colorado and Tracy tried not to get car sick. Jen got us a bit lost on the way to Horsetooth Reservoir, and we ended up taking a long way, but it was soooooo worth the view! After Vegas and the hot weather, the reservoir of cold mountain runoff was refreshing to say the least.
As Tracy worked on school work, I finally met up with my friend Kelly, in the hospital of all places! She has had some complications from her C-section, so tried to keep her company for a while. I did get to see her new baby girl Hayden, and give her the knit turtle. I will try to go see them all again tomorrow before we leave on the next leg of the journey. Not where I imagined seeing my long missed friend, but I am glad I got to see her all the same.
We ate at a nice Mexican restaurant, reminicing and sharing stories, and being thoroughly entertained. We are watching a movie now, and sharing stories and generally enjoying our time. I wish we were here for a much longer time, but tomorrow we have to start the next part of the journey. I am excited to get back on the road, and what we will see next, but I will miss Jen and Graham, as they have opened their house to us and have shared some wonderful funny moments.I will remember making Franklin B (bulldog), "farting dog wonder" jump on the couch by hitting someone. I will also be sure to add Graham as my Facebook friend, and tag him in each and every one of my pictures of Colorado. :)

And so it begins: subtitled Why I hate the Atlanta Airport

(View of the mountains this morning from Tracy's house)
Well, it is 11:30 Vegas time, and I am ensconced on my sister's couch, as she and Noah slave away at work. I feel especially bad for Tracy because she had to go to work this morning on very little sleep. As I have my 8th cup of coffee this morning, let me regale you with the awesomeness that is my (Cue funny echo voice here)..."Journey to Las Vegas".

****Disclaimer: The following is solely the opinion of the writer, as I am sure, in general, Atlanta is a nice city, and not the hellhole the author will lead readers to believe it is, but if you really have that much of an issue, discontinue reading now, and start your own damn blog!

Everyone kept telling me how easy the trip would be, that they have never had any issues in flying before, yadda yadda yadda. Hop, skip and a jump, no problem, I thought.
Mom, dad, and I arrived at the airport at 5pm because I like to be very early. My flight was supposed to leave Rochester at 7:25. Looking at the board, it is not leaving for Atlanta now until 8:25. Okay, start the time with an hour delay, no problem.
Go through the line and all the security, and I am still feeling good. That is, until I get inside, and I see that now the time to leave is 9:03. So, that does not leave me very long to try to make my connection in Atlanta to Las Vegas. Still doable, I am assured at the gate, just move quickly. The problem is that there were serious thunderstorms in Atlanta and no chance to land.
They just make an announcement that we will be boarding in 20 minutes and earlier than first thought, when the bad news is given, the flight will not leave until 10-somethingish now, making me miss my connection to Las Vegas by a long while.
Now the mass rush to the gatekeepers to be the first to secure new tickets. The good news? I can still get to Atlanta tonight. The bad? I cannot leave for Vegas until, at the earliest, Tuesday night...and to top that all off, I get to pay for my own motel, but at a reduced $45.99 a night! Great! It began to feel like I was absolutely doomed to spend the night in the world's worst airport in the world.
Like a gift from above, the clouds parted, and they allowed us to take off much earlier than the 10ish we were given, there was still hope! (right after I had a mini-meltdown on the Air-Tram guy, for which I still feel badly because it was not the poor guy's fault, he didn't make the weather)
I needed to make a quick connection, or so I thought, and it would be close, damn near impossible. In fact, as I got there, I called Tracy and gave her the disappointing information, there was no way I would make it now that we were stuck waiting to gate. That is when I got the second shock, I would be fine, our other plane was not taking off right away, according to her checking the info online! There was a God/Goddess and they wanted me to gamble! :)
Fast forward to the longest wait in the world, at the most awful airport in the world. I hate to upset the good people of Atlanta, because usually they are some of the nicest people. Except if they work at the airport. I have been fortunate to avoid that airport for at least 4 years, and I do believe that they are as far now on their construction as they were 4 years ago. I really really really really really dislike this airport! I have never had luck here, I have missed connections, dealt with rude "gatekeepers", even had a flight cancelled that left me stranded there for quite a while! It is loud and annoying, especially after waiting all evening in one airport only to wait another 2 hours in another airport.
Let us just fast forward through that wait, and the horrible flight with tired and cranky flight attendants, an awful crying for no reason baby with a "modern mommy" who believes in letting him express himself by crying it out, the non-English speaking, kind of stinky (we all were) seatmate who insists in being all up in my personal space. We will just fast forward through all of that and the lack of sleep, to the seeing of my sister. It was 2:30 am Vegas time, which means it is 5:30 on the east Coast, and I have been up for almost 24 hours. Awesome, and now I am here!
So, I am thinking a nap and then see what the plans are for this evening... so I can get on with the real adventure!
(Here is the one picture I managed to snap of the Strip as we drove away from the airport this morning... I felt hung over to the max!)

Oh the first ever blog... what to say? what to say?

Well, I guess the first thing to say would be welcome!
Okay, now what? Know your audience... well, since I am the only one that knows this blog even exists, I guess I can write whatever the heck I want... hurray! I hate little children and puppies, and I know that Aunt Em is...
wait a minute, I intend to use this blog to allow friends and family to share in the fun as Tracy (my sister if you didn't already know) and I cross the country in her little yellow Jeep and some people MAY actually go back and read all postings, sooooo ....
I LOVE puppies, and children, and I have NO idea what crazy Aunt Em is hiding (I actually don't believe I have an Aunt Em!)
I am setting all this up now in preparation for the big trip. The Great Sister Trip starts on Monday July 12th, when I fly out to Las Vegas to the home of my younger, more talented, and much richer sister. From there, the idea is to travel and bond, and not die in a fiery crash "Thelma and Louise" sort of way, all the way from Vegas back to little old Upstate NY, with a stop in Colorado to see some very awesome people (and perhaps a half-person if they grace us by being born before then).
I am very excited as it is my first trip to Nevada and the City of All Night Gambling! I also am a bit hesitant as my sister is (a) a very scary driver and (b) not known for planning ahead while travelling. But, I have decided to throw caution to the wind, kick of the heels, and let it all fly (with the purchase of extra life insurance at my husband's insistence)... come to think of it, why IS he the only one on that policy....
So, as I go to make a quick call to my insurance agent, who most certainly is NOT Aunt Em, I hope that you enjoy, that you check back often and that you comment as you do so wish, as I will be checking it often as we stop, or as I need to keep my hands busy instead of constantly praying or grasping at the Jeep's roll bar...I hope she has one of those! See you real soon!