Spencer's Long Recap....read it if you wish!

Trip to Las Vegas & Arizona w/ D&D
October 6 – 13, 2007

Saturday, October 6, 2007…We met at the dealership at around 8:00 for our direct, non-stop flight aboard Southwest Airlines from Buffalo to Las Vegas. I had asked Aunt Pat to drive us up…her reply was “only if you can’t find somebody else!” Fortunately Laurie Helfrich overheard the conversation and offered to take us up, because I would’ve walked before I had Pat drive us up! We took Laurie up on her offer and she dropped us off at around 8:30 AM for our 10:45 flight.

No problems with check in or security and we were the first one’s in line…so we thought! After us standing in line for not quite 2 hours, some big Italian looking old fart jumps up and says “time to take my place in line!” I am like, what the what the? He says… “I have been here since 8:30, what about you?” I thought that you actually had to BE in line and not just at the airport…but I guess if you are some big fat Italian bastard, you can just put your bag in line and that will suffice. Dan asked him where he planned on sitting…he said up front where he can flail his arms about him. We were heading for the EXIT seats, so I didn’t pursue this fat bastard! Oh, and I wasn’t surprised when the Southwest agent called him Vito!

No problems on the flight and actually had a bonus when Kathy and Art Jackson sat next to us…in the EXIT seats! That is as good as First Class as far as I am concerned…well…almost!

We landed in Vegas, got bags, taxi and headed to the Venetian Hotel where the Chrysler New Car Announcement Show would be taking place in the next few days. Our rooms weren’t quite ready so we searched out a bar or two in the second floor mall area at the Venetian. Annette & Denise found some shops…go figure! We finally got our rooms which were awesome…and decided to head to Old Downtown Las Vegas, away from the Strip. We ate at Vic & Anthony’s inside the Golden Nugget Hotel. It was spectacular…expensive, but spectacular. It was the beginning of our eating like Vikings quest!

From Vic & Anthony’s it was outside to Main Street for the show in the deal overhead. It was cool…much different than when I first saw it years earlier. And, they sell beer outside…cold Bud Light in the aluminum cans! Very cool. I couldn’t convince anybody to join me in Glitter Gulch…so I had to go in alone for one quick one…a drink that is! Taxied back to the Venetian for a relatively early night after a hectic travel day!

Sunday, October 7, 2007. After a Viking like breakfast, we walked along the strip and eventually went to Mandalay Bay where Annette and Denise saw the Shark Exhibit. I would’ve rather had a shark chew my arm off than go through the exhibit, so Dan & I found some football games to watch in the casino area. Taxied back to our hotel and went to Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville Café for continued Viking eating…lunch! Back to Venetian and hooked up with Elharts, Downtown Gary Brown, Bob Mayberry, Jim Hillery, and crew at the pool. It is Africa Hot!
Eventually went back to clean up for the beginning of the Chrysler Show. The first night was simply a cocktail reception with “eating stations.” So, we had cocktails and ate. Actually fired in the beers at a machine gun pace…and ate these really little burgers…good! Met up with Dick Farr and a bunch of other Chrysler guys! It was fun, but once again the 3 hour difference between Eastern Daylight Time and Pacific Time is a killer…so off to an early night…kind of! Annette, Dan & Denise were affected more than me…cuz I stayed out with a bunch of the dudes, including Dick, whom I don’t see very often! Eventually I even hung out with Andy Palmen…who was really busy with the Chrysler guys. It is always good to see Andy!

Monday, October 8, 2007. SHOW TIME…we began the day with a quick breakfast, hooking up with Allan, Gary, Mayberry, Jim Hillery and a few others. We went over to the Convention Center for part one. We listened to Steven Landry, Bob Nardelli, and Jim Press. Bob and Jim blew us away! All the dealers were apprehensive about Bob Nardelli and his history of a “slasher” at Home Depot. Well, unless he was bullshitting every one of us…he is the real deal! Then, Jim Press, fresh from 37 years at Toyota, addressed us! Well, at the end of his speech, the entire dealer body would’ve run through a brick wall for this guy! We are as excited as ever to be Chrysler Dealers! We are hoping like crazy this Cerberus deal will be tremendous for all of us!

We left part one for a business meeting that included a Q&A session. Nardelli and Press continued to wow us…and left us all still feeling really good! We headed over to an outside lunch, (more eating) and all kinds of activities. I didn’t do too many of the activities, but did check out the new products, especially the new Dodge Challenger! Very cool! It’ll be my next vehicle, especially since we just sold my SRT8 Charger! The new Dodge Journey looks pretty cool as well! Dan, Denise & Annette were able to do some activities, by not attending the business meeting. This included meeting Richard Petty and getting bounced around a track by professional tire burners driving SRT8’s!

Dinner was more stand up stuff, so a few of us went to a bar to eat and watch the Monday Night Football game which was Dallas vs. Buffalo. As usual, Buffalo lost, but on a last second field goal as the clock ran out. That didn’t make it any easier! But, we did get to watch a concert featuring Lifehouse, a band that I had never heard of until this trip…go figure Dan, Denise & Annette have. I guess I am just out of touch…but I am ok with that! This band actually does the music for our Dodge advertising, so I did recognize some of the stuff! The concert was followed by a half hour routine with Jay Leno…very funny! After this it was more pounding at the casino with the dudes. D&D & Annette went to see the water show in front of the Bellagio and the Pirate Show at the Mirage. I stayed back to fire ‘em in and enjoy the 20 Group guys!

Tuesday, October 9, 2007. We got a relatively early start on our way to the Grand Canyon. We loaded up the rental minivan with a ton of stuff, programmed Jill (our Garmin navigation unit) and hit the road. Then we remembered we hadn’t eaten in a few hours, so we stopped at an IHOP and drilled some breakfast. Once again, off to the Grand Canyon. We stopped to check out the Hoover Dam, which we found out was not named after Hoover Pkwy, but actually President Herbert Hoover…which is probably what Hoover Pkwy is named after as well! The dam was built in 1931 and finished in 1935. The water in Lake Mead is incredibly low.

Back in our minivan and off to the Grand Canyon. But wait…we had to stop at a Wendy’s in Kingman, AZ to eat first! It took a little more than four hours to get to our hotel in Grand Canyon, AZ. We checked in an immediately headed for the canyon. It was just about 4:30.

The Canyon is absolutely breathtaking, but we all had a little attitude change when a TV News crew showed up right next to us. We heard the hot little TV chick interviewing a Park Ranger who was explaining that a 4 year old little girl had fallen into the canyon a few hours earlier and died. WOW, what a wake up! I still can’t figure out that one…how could they let a four year old lose up there? Oh well…we all took tons of pictures and video as the sunset behind us creating fantastic picture opportunities. Dan is quickly filling his memory stick…or whatever his deal inside his camera is called!

We left the park around 6:30 because we hadn’t eaten in a few minutes. We headed directly to Yippee Yahaee Steakhouse to drill like Vikings! Which we did…we are certainly helping out the Arizona economy! Back the Grand Canyon Inn for a final final (or two!). To bed early for an early start tomorrow!

Wednesday, October 10, 2007. I got up early to go out exploring. It was a really refreshing 30 degrees outside! I had to let the van warm up to get the ice off of the windshield! But it was up to 78 in no time! Back to pick up the rest of the crew…and guess what we did? Yep…we had to go find a restaurant to drill. We did!

A super highlight was about to take place. We headed to the Grand Canyon airport to board up for a helicopter ride across the canyon! Grand Canyon Helicopters didn’t disappoint…although Dan was stuck on an inside seat…all because of some German dude who showed up late! But the ride was incredible! It was especially awesome as we flew over the bank of the canyon going from a few hundred feet about the ground to several thousand in a mere second! Check out the cool video! The flight took us over the not so visited “northern rim”. Our pilot pointed out several cool spots in the canyon and Colorado River. The flight lasted about an hour and Annette took advantage of her “free time” to go shopping! But she was there upon our return! We bought souvenirs to commemorate our fete! And then, back to the canyon!

We drove back to Grand Canyon Village, parked and jumped aboard a shuttle that took us further back into the canyon. We unloaded and hiked back along the bank of the canyon. They say only 1 or 2 people a year fall in…that is truly unbelievable given the fact that you are literally walking on the edge of the canyon without any railing or anything else to prevent a fall. Actually, the only fall was when we had to walk along the road and Denise lost her footing in the gravel. Although the only damage was to her brand new pants, however, it did leave Dan even more uneasy than before! To see the people climbing out on crazy precipices and still only have 1 or 2 fall per year is even more remarkable! We soon had enough of the canyon and set out toward Sedona…oopps…we forgot… we have to eat first! Another Wendy’s stop!

The drive to Sedona, at least the last 12 miles is another incredible deal! To look at the street map as performed by Jill, our nav unit, it looks like an intestine! The hairpin turns as you scale down the mountain is really cool! I think this is called Oak Creek Canyon!

We got to Sedona around 5:00 PM and checked into the Amara Hotel. Very swank! Denise was looking forward to a free spa, and I wasn’t…so we separated. I had a couple at the Cowboy Bar and then had a little snack at the Amara. Eventually Annette followed because it seems that tons of people were looking forward to a free spa. I am not sure that anybody in our group ever got touched…not my bag! (kind of like Lifehouse!). Although, Annette & I did do a hottub which did take out a kink or two! Our room at the Amara was right outside the pool on the first floor…which was cool! We had a few more in our room before calling it a night…cool stuff going on early tomorrow morning! (Although I think Denise had 3 final finals!)

Thursday, October 11, 2007. Up at the crack of 4:45 AM to get picked up precisely at 5:45 AM by Bill, our new best friend and Hot Air Balloon pilot! We loaded into the back of his Suburban which was towing his Northern Lights Hot Air Balloon…all $51,000 of it! We stopped and picked up another Bill and his wife Sue, two more passengers that would defy death with us! They are from Maryland, but we will never see them again, so this was just an FYI! (Although Dan did get his email address to email his pictures to him!) We drove out to Red Rock State Park where we watched pilot Bill and his sidekick Roger blow up our balloon, along with 4 other pilots and sidekicks from Northern Lights! It was really cool! After a half hour or so of prepping and blowing up, it was literally up, up and away! (Kind of like a song!) What an incredible experience. 14 million BTU’s of flame going up into the inside of this thing and we sailed across the wilderness with four other balloons! It is a “must do” on your “things to do” list! We were up as high as 2000 feet and down as low as skimming tree tops! We sailed over highways with people honking their horns at us and over wilderness looking for wildlife. We landed about an hour after takeoff, without incident, other than the fact we were probably ten miles from where we started. No problems though! Our ground crews followed along and picked us up out of a baron field! They then let the air out of the balloons and served us up a champagne breakfast of strawberries and stuff to celebrate our successful landing! All this for $780.00! But it was worth every penny and I would do it again in a second! This time Annette joined us…of course this was her second time in a balloon having once before done a ride as a teenager! Bill drove us back to the Amara and we were back before 10:00 AM! Guess where we headed? Yep…right to the restaurant! More food…this time our second breakfast!

After breakfast we relaxed around the pool for a couple of hours. This was much needed as we have been going non-stop for 5 days straight! A little after noon, we jumped in the minivan for a tour of the area. (Annette and I had been here in March, so we knew a couple of the tour stops!) A trip to Sedona requires a stop at The Chapel, a chapel built up in the mountain of red rock! We all lit a candle, me for my dad! We continued on down paved roads, non-paved roads and all kinds of different places…until, yep…lunch time! Back to the Cowboy Bar for late lunch…our third meal of the day! We actually made reservations for dinner right then at the Barking Frog (wonder if they know Al Bluemle?) We eventually cancelled these reservations, but it was good to know that we were still thinking of food!

Once again, back to the Amara. Denise made her second unsuccessful attempt at the spa. Dan went to rest…I played with Annette’s pictures while she rested as well! We met at our room for cocktails at 6:00 PM and decided to take a GEM ride to the top of the hill for dinner at the Canteena, rather than load up the minivan for the Barking Frog. (The Amara has a very cool SIX PASSENGER GEM…WE HAVE GEM ENVY! The GEM ride was cool…right up until Dan dropped wind…Spencer was right in the line of fire but he thought all was well…that was until he noticed the driver nodding off and leaning a little left! He was actually smirking quite a bit! I feel sorry for Denise! We sure had a lot of fun with that one later on that evening…like a bunch of High School kids!) It was the right choice not going to the Barking Frog as the Amara hired the Sirius Looker, who is a weird star gazing dude with an awesome homemade telescope that only he and Dan could understand! He showed us places in this telescope that I neither knew existed, or cared for that matter. But he sure knew his stuff and had a laser that would rival Scottie’s! (Most of the people were actually more excited about the laser!) Dan did enjoy the deal though! He also understood it! More beers and blogging in room 135 at the Amara!

Friday, October 12, 2007. Up early (not as early as yesterday though) and right out to the restaurant for a slow, expensive breakfast. Dan and I hung at the pool enjoying our last day in the sun and warmth before our long Western New York winter months ahead. Denise and Annette went shopping, their favorite pastime! We checked out of the Amara at 11:00AM and loaded up that sweet minivan for some more touring before heading to Phoenix. Our first stop was the Red Rock Yarn Store for Denise to load up on authentic Sedona, Arizona yarn! I am not sure how that differs from other yarn, but it doesn’t matter! We then took a little ride through Red Rock State Park, before heading to the Enchantment Resort for more drilling…this time lunch! The Enchantment is a cool joint located right at the foot of one of the big red rocks! I think it is right below “Coffee Pot Rock.” We then loaded up and made one last stop at the Sedona Airport lookout point for one last picture of Sedona! We were then off to Phoenix! It was about 2:00 PM.

The drive from Sedona to Phoenix should only take about 2 hours, but took longer because of the stop and go traffic at the Phoenix city limit. Phoenix is growing at a much more rapid pace than Lockport. The drive was white knuckle going from 80 and 85 to zero and back again. Driving through the mountains with miles and miles of nothing is also boring! But, we finally made it and checked in to the Radisson Airport hotel. We cleaned up and set out for a dinner party at Jim Whipple’s step brother’s place. Jeff and Mary Frances were incredible hosts! We were joined by Anita and Chris Hughes…so it was a reunion of Lyndonvilleites, so to speak! We had a blast drilling wine, beer, chicken, and some incredible ribs that Jeff cooked up! He has a beautiful set up there in Tempe, about 5 miles from the Radisson! Once again we had a fairly early evening as our 6:30 AM departure for the Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix. But, it was a fun evening to cap off our vacation!

Saturday, October 13, 2007. I took the rental van back while D&D & Annette took the bags and the shuttle over to the airport. We got there more than 3 hours ahead of time to stand in line for the EXIT seats, and were actually second in line! Oh well…we ended up getting the EXIT seats anyway, and met some nice Canadian people to chew the fat with for a couple of hour wait!

We are now on our way home flying at 37,000 feet! It is a little bumpy, but we had a freaking blast, doing tons of stuff. The helicopter and the balloon were the highlights, although I really can’t think of a lowlight! This was a well deserved gift for GREAT friends. The 31 years that Dan has worked for us and Denise’s graduation from college made for a great excuse to drag them along for this experience! As I said, Annette and I had done this trip six short months ago, however we saw such beauty and really didn’t see enough, and wanted to come back! We definitely want to bring the kids out next time. Laura says we can’t until she is at least 21! That time will come WAY TOO SOON!

Zing dada bing!