I am back from my Backroads trip to Bryce, Zion, and Grand Canyon national parks with my mom last week. We had to stay in Vegas a night coming in and a night leaving for logistical purposes, and it was dramatically awful. I won’t at this exact moment elaborate on the hatred for Las Vegas which fills me when I think of the place, but I will throw out a few bullet points. First, I never liked the place because of its environmental footprint, which I knew about before I had ever set foot there. Upon arriving, everything was more grossly capitalist and more importantly fake than I could ever have feared. The masses of sheep feeding the slot machines, the 100+ degree heat, the commoditization of everything… the experience combined was extremely dreadful. United Airlines made us suffer by essentially ruining two entire days of my life; wasting first one coming in and then, unsatisfied, another leaving. Both were due in some part to mismanagement but more to the fact that in its drive for a profitable bottom line it cut flights, increasing delays, damaging the consumer experience.

I will not go to Las Vegas again unless someone is paying me a considerable amount of money to do so, and United… well, thankfully Boston is a Continental hub.

However! Lest my experience sound wretched in its entirety, I can not emphasize enough how amazing and fabulous the week I spent in Backroads‘ care was. United just got our bags to us this afternoon so I haven’t yet fished the digital camera out and uploaded pictures, but I will soon, and the raw beauty of these places I saw will be yours to share! Cedar Breaks, Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon, and Zion were all spectacular, even more so for my not ever having seen anything nearing their scale or nature. It was a majestic alien landscape which was often harsh but was consistently beautiful. I love the national parks and hiking and seeing new wonderful things, and this was unparalleled hiking luxury with Backroads, really immensely enjoyable.

Just getting back in the swing of things today, pictures and general return to posting will commence soon.