In reality... (Vegas Edition) Part 1

        

I’ve been to many places in around and out of the country as far as Ontario, Canada and Cancun, Mexico. This isn’t a story about those trips, this is a story about a recent trip to Las Vegas, Nevada. One of the weirdest trips I have ever taken.

This was last summer and we’ve all been planning this trip for a while. I heard a few recent stories from people in school about their trips to Vegas. Some said that they had to stay in the hotel the whole time because “kids” weren't allowed anywhere inside any building on the strip or even near it. Others said that they had so much fun and that there were so many things to do. These people always acted older than they are, but around everyone else, they’re little kids. I wasn’t really sure who to listen to. So the time came around and I remember leaving in about the middle of June and waking up at about four in the morning to coffee and breakfast tacos. I don’t usually drink coffee but breakfast tacos are the usual. I had my bags packed and phone charged.                                   

I’ll skip a few hundred miles into El Paso to get the story started. We were also going to every McDonald’s that we passed by. Not to eat, not at all, but to get a movie at the redbox. Those were really cool because once you’re done watching the movie, you don’t have to drive all the way back to the same redbox. It’s like a library, as long as it has their name on it, it’s accepted. My dad kept pointing at the mountains in the pitch black. I think I could see a few, mostly because of all the orange lights coming from Mexico. It looked like the lights on a landing strip, paved for miles. It never seemed to stop.. We ended up stopping in Las Cruces, NM. It was  really small and quiet, but they have the nicest public bathrooms in the world. The same thing happened the next day and we stopped in Sedona, AZ. Sedona is the prettiest place in the world. It’s really calm and down to earth. The Grand Canyon was just a few miles away. The view from our hotel room was amazing. The next day we passed through Phoenix and ate at a small mexican restaurant that is supposed to be really famous. It was terrible.

Fitting in. (Austin, Texas Edition) Part Dos

      Knowing how to pronounce the streets and places is very important. For example, the two most important ones to know how to pronounce are Manchaca and Guadalupe. You would pronounce Manchaca like “Man-chack”. Guadalupe would be almost the same without the “e”, like “Gwad-a-loop”. Koenig Lane is also mispronounced a lot. It should be pronounced like “KAY-nig”.

    Getting used to loving Austin music shouldn’t take too long, unless you’re hooked on Lil Wayne, we’ll pray for you. Also because that we’re the live music capital of the world, it’s hard to stay away. While you’re checking out that band you heard about, someone suggested pizza afterwards. That’s when things get a little out of control. There’s numerous pizza shops around Austin, usually within 200 yards of each other. There’s isn’t  a ‘best place for pizza’ because every place has their own style going on. There’s Home Slice, East Side Pies, 313, House Pizza or even Conan’s. If you are new to Austin and live close to downtown, get used to your neighbors because they’re not gonna change. A neighbor of mine that moved in several years ago would always play music for countless hours a day. She still does, not as often, but usually for days that should be celebrated in some way. You can get a lot out of your neighbors. They know things you don’t know and you know things they don’t know. It’s also good to know your neighbors in general.

    Knowing what’s going on around your city is a big plus. There’s always something happening on the weekend, even on weekdays during lunchtime, you’ll always find something cool to see and do. Those times during the weekdays are always the best time to go to events or lunch. The reason is because when it’s a Friday night and you want to go out to a casual dinner with someone, it won’t happen unless you’re willing to spend a lot more in a fancier restaurant away from the parties. Other than that, the lines will always be long and the music will always be loud.