Ahhhhhh, I am back from my vacation! Wow, what an awesome time! Today is the 29th of September and I just got in yesterday evening. The first leg of the vacation, which was to Laughlin Nevada was a blast! The road trip in a rental car with 3 other friends took about 7 hours to get to the strip there at the destination. On the the way, we stopped by a small ghost town called, "Calico", almost on the border of California and Nevada. It was a quaint little old mining town from the late 1800s. What made it cool was that everything was preserved and kept to give the visitor a sense of the old-time mining towns. The craziest part was the crooked house built by some old looney man back in the days. There was really some amazing things in that house that really defied the laws of gravity. For example, there was this long wooden plank shaped in a half-pipe that was used for transporting water from one point to another. One end was angled down....almost in a 45 degree. But what was really strange about it was the fact that if you pour water into the end that was angled down, the water would flow up and pour out the higher end! And there were no gimmicks or tricks about it. Not only that but the minute you walked into the house, everyone was standing completely angled. Sorta like the matrix where Neo was dodging the bullets by bending backwards. Another gravity-defying curiosity was a simple wooden ramp. It was much harder walking up it than coming down. I mean, you coul feel it in the legs and the whole weight of the body! How odd! Most of all, there was a faucet that was dangling from two thin wires and with no pipes attached. It was just a faucet by it self hanging by wires. Amazing right!!? Hah hah, no. The amazing part was that there was water pouring out it without any source of it's origin. I was just perplexed! I couldn't figure out how that was even possible..........well, until almost 3 hours later that I figured it out. Infact, I have my video I took of it posted in the Awesome Pics section of my website. It's something you've got to take a look at. If you could figure out how it was done, email me at dreamer.

The trip to New York was an absolute awesome experience! So much eye candy bombarding me every direction I looked. One of the first things that we did was hitting the Empire State Building. We went to the very top and had a look around the whole top view of the city and surroundings. Wow!! Ya, that is all I can say! Wow! You've got to check out the pics I've got posted in the Awesome Pics section. One really cool one I took was of a pigion that landed on one of the ledges. I snapped a shot of it real close with the backdrop being the view of New York city. Very neat contrast I must say. Another attraction was a virtual reality ride that flew over the whole city and did some other neat little things that had everyone oohing and awwing and holding on for their dear lives......since the damn machine was practically tossing us out of our seats. And then, there was the awesome part of the vacation, the Circle Light Tour. This was a boat cruise at night that went on the Hudson river almost all the way around the city of New York. This was just absolutely breathtaking! Sooo many lights glistening, so many buildings lit up made it a tantilizing treat for the eyes. Of course I tried to shoot alot of pictures, some of which were just perfect post-card shots. The unfortunate part was that almost none of them came out clear. Since the boat had vibrations due to it's motors running, it inturn transfered to my digital camara and almost everything came out blurry. Damn it! Some of those shots were too good to lose!! Nevertheless, I did post some of them since they still look pretty cool. But you know, I kick myself in the ass for not buying a better camara. God! Why did I have to be a cheap-scate and buy a $240 one instead $1000 one? Well.........okay, maybe not that expensive. But atleast a few bucks more, one that had some type of "anti-vibration thingamadoodad" on it. Maybe I'll sell the one that I bought to a friend....a shmuck.........heh heh!! Yes, yes, I'm evil but you know what? We all gotta take advantage of somebody right? No? Okay yes, I'm being a dick.

For the most part, we walked around the city, mostly in Manhattan and just absorbed it all.....the sights and the smells of the Big Apple. But God, I spent so much money......more than I wanted to. Well, with dinners at nearly $40 per person. Of course, we decided to go to the more fancier places such as the Fashion Cafe and the so called "excellent" Hard Rock Cafe.....which I didn't think was all that excellent, atleast the food their wasn't that great. However, there were some really neat memorabilia from some great rock legends posted all over the walls. Wall street was a place to behold....(including the big bull in the middle of the street) and so was the Statue of Liberty. Atlast, I can truly say that the people of New York......are the craziest drivers in the US....and not to mention the idiot pedestrians! I learned quickly that one must drive like a New Yorker in order to get anywhere. I mean, I had to cut people off, swerve in and out of lanes, tail gate and drive like a bat out of hell. I even got to yell and honk my horn out of frustration and anger just like a true New Yorker! Wahoo! Now that's really experiencing New York!

As well, we decided to take a road trip down to Philadelphia just to see how that city compared to The Big Apple. I must say, it wasn't what I expected. I found it to be.....somewhat dirty. It was another huge and bustling metropolis but not one that I would encline to tour. But, all and all, this vacation was one to remember. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.......well, maybe for a million bucks.......okay, a few thousand. Heck, who am I kidding, I'd settle for a couple hundred and a nice cold Arizona Lemon Ice Tea! When it comes down to it, I really enjoyed myself and got to spend money that I didn't have! Now how great is that!? Wow! Word of advise when going to New York. If you want to truly experience all of the city, make sure you bring a fat wad of spending money. Otherwise, you'll miss out on so many things that will end up as could've-would've-should'ves. Anyhow, that's enough of my trip. I'm glad to be back in my home town. Now I'll be relaxing for a few days and then back to the same old grind.....work and school. So long folks and catch you on the next entry in the Other-Stuff.