Mother's much anticipate trip actually happened as planned. She has been looking forward to the gathering of her small town, that was scheduled to take place first week of August, in Las Vegas since last year. Seeing as Father's work schedule is erratic, she ended up bringing Baby Bill and myself.
Truth be told, I dreaded the trip. My uneasiness, which rapidly translated into annoyance, seemingly increased as the day neared.
I've never been to Las Vegas, and quite frankly, given the choice, I could live without setting foot in that city. In reality, the place only hold two things of interest; drag shows and Cirque de Soleil. Other than that, it essentially represents everything I dislike; crowd, excess and debauchery. Never mind the dry, hot weather, I really can't stand the business and over crowding of mostly drunk individuals, geared up for a few nights of unconstrained depravity.
I am slowly coming to the realization that, although I can hold myself in a crowd quite decently, I fit into the category of introvert. Ironic, seeing as I can easily be the loudest person in the room naturally. Not only am I in the habit of rarely introducing myself, but unknown crowds of people actually often turn my thoughts hostile, and even company of people I am friends with, almost always, momentarily feel like an intrusion. Of course, courtesy and common decency dictates and forces me to act polite, but doing so actually takes a lot of my energy, so nothing comforts me more than staying in my room for days on end with virtually little physical social contact aside from my family. I can actually stay in near solitude for prolong periods of time that when I do see people, it takes a while for me to readjust and not fumble over vocalizing my words.
I've got to say though, my expectations were so low, that the whole experience was very anti climatic. I was expecting....more. More lights, more buildings, more noise, more clubs, more drunkenness, more party, more debauchery. Maybe it was due to the nature of our visit, and the area with which we stayed, but my expectations weren't met and it made the trip more bearable. I even enjoyed some of the things we visited (Titanic Museum, Aquarium and Body Exhibit) that I wouldn't mind revisiting.
Though I guess, going on a tour to see the Grand Canyon wrap things up nicely, seeing the scenery put me back in my element and provide me with a recharge. It still doesn't come close to the hikes we had in Hawaii,but even still.
There is something about nature that keeps me calm and grounded. Again, something I hadn't realize about myself until recently. Not to say I have become one of those individuals that could rough it out for days, and weeks on end away from civilization. I still enjoy basic, first world commodities. But I could envision myself in that scenario, and would actually chose it over a night out in the city. I like the simplicity of it, I like that it's away from technology and it's distractions. I like that it feels safer and liberating. This comes as a surprise, I've always pegged myself as someone who likes to be on the go and in constant motion.
So this is why people enjoy outdoors.
Now if only I could find a group of people that could guide and start me out.
Another thing that I never figured I would enjoy is river rafting. This summer, my siblings and I have been exploring. We never really had the means before, so I guess now is the perfect opportunity. A few days ago, Jadeh has gotten it into his head that we should go kayaking in the island. However, he changed his mind and opted for rafting instead. So this morning, bright and early, and with Father in tow, we headed up to Lytton, about a 3-4 hours drive for a 2.5 hours rafting down the Thompson River. It was such a hot, beautiful day. Over all it was nice, but not as rough as I thought it was going to be. The moment of nausea and panic I had experienced upon starting was almost embarrassing. Jadeh purchased a waterproof, disposable camera, but we hardly a chance to utilized the film so it might be a while before the photographs will be developed.
-Elle Are Emm
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