Chris, Andrew, Stephen and I headed off to downtown LA for the 7th game of the NBA finals. We went to a bar called "Casey's" a few blocks away from the Staples Center where the Lakers were going to playing their hearts out. Andrew had reserved a table so when we arrived at 550, just as the game began we were led through a packed bar to our own special seats, untouched by the many crazy Lakers fans crowded around. We were soon met by several of Chris and Andrews friends from TO. While everyone started drinking and getting rowdy we soon had to buckled down for a crazy game where the Lakers were falling behind until the 4th quarter when suddenly they pulled ahead and at te very end, Andrews favorite player (who's jersey he was sporting) Sasha #18, made two pentaly shots that pretty much sealed the game. Everyone went crazy, a plate was broken, everyone high fived and cheered. A disgruntled Celtics fan looked on angrily. Andrew immediately became a celebrity simply because of his jersey and slight similar appearance to Sasha. Everyone hugged him and cheered for him and free beers were given to everyone. It was crazy but really, that was tame to what awaited us outside.
When we walked out the first thing we heard was sirens and horns. People were leaning on their horns and cheering out their windows. As we rushed toward the Staples Center we started to encourer one of the wildest celebrations I've ever encoutered. Police everywhere: on bikes, on foot, on horse back, in cars, decked out in crowd control outfits. Traffic was blocked by insane Lakers fans running through the streets. A crazy fan threw a safety cone into the window of an apartment building lobby area and the window was eventually broken and shattered. We made our way to the staples center and honestly my description can't do it justice. I took many videos and pictures.
Highlights and terrifying moments of the night: running with a crowd toward a group celebrating in the middle of the street. Police shooting tear gas off that sounded like a gun being fired and everyone fleeing like mad to get away and not be arrested. Seeing mounted police usher people out of the way. Getting told off by police and completely cornered everywhere we turned. We saw fireworks lit off in the middle of the street and people setting things on fire. Everyone was hugging and laughing and crazy.
We spent about 2 1/2 hours celebrating and then finally went to Andrews car, packed it all up and took off, at exactly 12midnight for the Grand Canyon.
The night, for me, was sprinkled with sleep and a terrible stomach ache. Andrew and Chris stayed awake the entire time with Andrew driving the entire time. Stephen slept a little but it ended up being the 3 boys having a 7hr conversation while I contemplated vomiting or just killing myself my stomach hurt so much. Andrew dodged a coyote and only with very quick reflexes did we avoid coyote juices all over the car. As the sun began to rise on Arizona around 530am, my stomach pains easing with the help of alka seltzer, we all started getting really pumped. The sun revealed a beautiful landscape of desert, mountains, painted red with vibrant green bushes. The excitement took away some of the fatigue and we all stayed wide awake all the way to the Grand Canyon.
Along the road to the GC we came across a peculiar roadside attraction that was called something like "Bedrock Campgrounds". It was a very weird/odd tourist attraction of life sized replicas of the Flinstones town, Bedrock. We were the first customers of the day and a creepy little old lady charged us each 5 dollars to get in. I think it was one of the weirder expereinces of my life. All the houses were fully furnished and there were weird dinosaur sculptures and cars and people. I think the pictures will explain this all best, and I took many.
Grand Canyon National Park was not what I expected. We were surrounded by tall green trees and as we climbed higher it seemed impossible that we would soon come across a giant desert abyss. After paying $25, we entered the park and caught a brief glimpse of something that I can only say was unreal. It was about 7 in the morning when we arrived so needless to say there were few people around. We walked to the view point and saw one of the most spectacular and sublime things Ive ever seen in my whole life. The only thing that could compare would be the Milford Sounds in NZ. The silence and grandeur of the place was breath taking. Again, I can't do this place justice by describing it so I'll leave it to the pictures. We went to view points that looked like we'd go over the edge if we weren't careful. Clutching the railing we snapped a lot of pictures. We ate breakfast and changed clothes and brushed our teeth. Then we explored more touristy parts and all agreed that our first impression was the best.
Around 10 we said our goodbyes to the beautiful GC, we headed on. We are now embarking on a 17+ hr drive to Dallas.
I will update more on our way to Dallas. We've already passed through Flagstaff, AZ and are enroute to Albuquerque, NM - my birthplace.
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