How Vegas Tempted to Lure Us Away from "Heaven"

When Jenny and I arrived in Las Vegas to begin our vacation last week, we were excited about our trip to the National Parks.  To us, Las Vegas was just the gateway to the parks, it was the cheapest way to fly into the area and a convenient place for car rentals.

Yes, Vegas is a special place to Jenny and I.  We met each other in Vegas back in 2004.  But after seeing the hotels and sights in Vegas we both agree a few years ago that there are no reasons for us to visit there again.  So we had this attitude when flying into Vegas: Get into Vegas, grab our rental car, crash for the night, up early the next morning to grab some supplies before making our way into Zion.

We those that would have been an easy task because we were not influenced by the usually vises offered in Vegas.  We don't gamble, so we just ignore the casinos.  I have my beautiful wife, so we don't care about the gratuitous display of flesh and sex.  And we are not the party type.

However, the one thing we were not prepared for was the temptation of food.  Since we did not have dinner when we left Toronto, we were looking for a meal in the middle of the night in Vegas.  And in the city that never sleeps, there's no shortage of food.

24 hours All You Can Eat!!!

And the next morning, we were once again tempted by (and fallen to) a $4.99 breakfest buffet.  Along with the very inexpensive stay in our hotel ($32 per night), we begin to reason with ourselves: "this is not a bad place to spend our vacation after all."

No salad is complete without two strips of bacon!

Finally, we summed up our strength and decided to leave town, after a final stop for picking up supplies at REI, the US west coast equivalent of MEC.  Oh boy, Jenny and I in a camping equipment store.  We almost didn't leave until well after noon.  And we still have a 2 hours drive to Zion, losing one hour due to timezone changes, and the sun down is at 5:00p.  You can do the math...

REI

Las Vegas almost made us give up on the idea of heading into Zion that day.  Zion, the place where the Mormons calls it is like heaven.

Sin City was hindeing our journey to "heaven"... funny how that is very similar to our journey in life.

Finally arrived in Zion: Kolob Canyon.  Kolob - in Mormonism, Kolob is a star or planet mentioned in the Book of Abraham as the one nearest to the throne or residence of God

PS. Though Zion National Park was breathtakingly beautiful, I believe the real Heaven will be even more amazing. 

Vacation Time:: Going to Heaven and Hell

Another year, another vacation with my wife, Jenny.  Lastly year the awesome train ride across Canada, this year, we are going Heaven and Hell.  :)

We are flying out tonight to Las Vegas (no, that neither heaven nor hell), but it will be cool to be back in the city where Jenny and I met.  We will not be staying long in Vegas, we are boogieing out to the land of Mormons, driving straight into Utah.  First stop, to visit a few FLDS (Fundamental Church of the Latter Day Saints) towns en route to Zion National Park.  If the Mormons calls the Zion Canyon heaven on earth, it's good enough for me.

From there Jenny and I will go canyon hopping.  Zion, Bryce, Paria (Coyote Buttes), Antelope, and finally Grand Canyon.  At Grand Canyon, we will make an attempt to descend into the canyon.  Some people calls this trek descending into hell.  Hence going to Heaven and Hell.

For me, I'm most excited to see Zion National Park and we are doing this trip in reverse as I would have liked but because of permit issues (hoping to get early walk-in permits for Coyote Buttes) we are circumventing the canyons clock-wise. 

In the meantime, no internet at all.  Woo-hoo.  Looking forward to see you all when I get back next weekend.  Also don't worry, we will not convert to Mormonism... nor will I go marry another wife. 

Rest cannot be banked

Two weeks of high pace work, and all of a sudden, yesterday I crashed.  Flu.  Fever.  Body aches. 

Two days of sleep later... all better.

When will I learn?  Messing with the rhythm God design since creation.  I must confess, I wanted to be a bad boy.  I knew I had vacation coming up next week.  I knew I had many things to take care of before I leave for vacation: I had Habitat for Humanity details to handle, Kin Village Children Christmas Party to arrange, one more sermon to prepare through video recording... I even had several pastors and lay-leaders lined up to record for the video sermon... so I thought I could cheat on Monday and get a jump start on work... but God holds up the STOP sign.  Flu. 

Everything got put on hold.  While in bed with a fever, I resolved to scratch the video sermon idea, canceled all the interviews with the other pastors and lay-leaders.  Losing two day of planning and recording, no time to record the interviews and city stock footage I needed. 

H4H and Kin Village planning was put on hold till today.  But with a extremely productive day, I had everything completed.  Praise the Lord.

God created the universe in 6 days, and rested on the 7th.  That's the rhythm of life.  You cannot cheat the Sabbath.  You cannot bank rest.  Funny, I just told a good pastor brother to take the Monday rest even after his vacation, and I in turn tried cheat Sabbath with a reasoning that my own vacation is coming up... silly me.  Thank God for smacking me down with the flu.