Oh How The Mighty Have Fallen

Halfway through my internship, my first (girl) roommate moved back to New Jersey, so I moved in with the only place available at the time, currently inhabited by boys.  I think the following pictures describe the change pretty well.

From this:

To this:

The good thing about living with boys is that no one gets on you about being clean.  The bad thing is that no one gets on anyone about being clean.  You should have seen the inside of the microwave.  I ate out a lot.

Hoover Dam, Baby, Hoover Dam!

One of the best things about living in Phoenix was it's proximity to Las Vegas.  If you Google-map it, it's just over a five hour drive.  If you go a little faster, maybe, than the posted speed limit, you can make it in about four.

I don't remember much about our first trip to Vegas, as it was fairly uneventful (I'm not much of a gambler) and I could only find three pictures.

This is the Luxor:

This was probably taken from the cab on a drive through downtown Las Vegas:

I think this is a shot from our hotel room, maybe it was the Excalibur, but I'm not sure.

But what I do remember in detail is stopping at the Hoover Dam!  On the border of Arizona and Nevada, the Hoover Dam is cool for so many reasons.  Political controversy, over a hundred construction deaths, amazing feat of engineering.  Plus, it's HUGE.

Here's a much better arial pic I found online:

There were many, many trips to Las Vegas over the months, but after we discovered Southwest Airlines 2-for-1 deals and didn't drive as much, we never spent as much time at the Hoover Dam again.  I can't believe I'm saying this, but just like Bali, Borneo and Australia, I really hope to be back one day.


I'll leave you with the lyrics from the Hoover Dam song by Sugar:

Standing on the edge of the Hoover Dam

I'm on the centerline

Right between two states of mind

And if the wind from the traffic should blow me away

.

.

.

If the Mississippi should wash me away

Down to New Orleans

And maybe someday in my dreams

I'd wake up feeling the sweat

From the gulf in my mouth

.

.

.

Standing on the edge of the Hoover Dam

I am standing on the edge of the Hoover Dam

Mexico on the Fly

Where were you in the summer of 1994?  As for myself, I had just turned 21, and had left Minnesota to spend six months in Phoenix working as an intern engineer for Intel.  I didn't know a soul, and had worked there for less than one week when a girl from my orientation group, Jen, invited me to Mexico for the weekend.  "Sure!" I said. "Wait, do I need a passport?"  "No, of course not, it's just Mexico." was the reply.  (It was 1994, remember, back when college kids could cross the border willy-nilly and there was no risk of getting caught in a drug war crossfire.)  How exciting, my first trip outside of the country!  I packed a bag, met the other five people we were going with in a parking lot, and we were off, us two girls in one car, and four guys in the next.

To get to Mexico (Rocky Point, specifically) from Phoenix, you basically drive south and turn right.  Jen and I, in charge of the map, headed south, with the guys following behind, when we came to a T in the road.  Confused, we stopped to look at the map.  One of the guys came up to the window and knocked.  "I'm sorry ladies, but is there a problem?"  "We can't figure out which way to go."  He stared at us, dumbfounded.  This is why:

Now, it may seem obvious to you, but the map told us to go right, and now this sign was telling us to go left.  After a short discussion, we decided the sign knew best, and we were on our way.  The guys, however, decided we were not to be trusted as navigators, and took over from there.  They then promptly got us all lost for several hours in the Mexican desert as night fell.  At around 3am, we finally arrived at our little cottage we rented, happy to have finally made it.

What to do at 3am in Mexico?  Get your relax on, of course.

Here's our place, which we could finally see as soon as the sun rose.  It was pretty great, and since it was summer in Mexico, we pretty much had the beach to ourselves.

And what what was my first accomplishment for the weekend?  Getting sunburned in about 10 minutes.  

I spent the rest of the trip indoors, or taking pictures at sunset.

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No passport was required so I don't have a stamp to prove it, but I had made it out of the country!  Next adventure?  The Hoover Dam and Vegas, Baby, Vegas!!!