Big holes and bright lights

After typing that title it seems like a casting call for a porno, but i'm not changing it. Yesterday  I woke up a few miles from Grand Canyon national park. I gathered my shit, took full advantage of the free breakfast, handed the housekeeper a beer on my way out the door (he was pretty stoked) then made my way to the Grand Canyon itself. It was only 7 miles away so it was pretty quick drive. I paid $30 to get in, which seems steep but considering it's one of the most breathtaking sights on the planet, it's worth the price of two movie tickets and a large popcorn.

I parked the Wolf, grabbed my shamefully purchased selfie stick and marched my way to the rim. This is the second time in my life going to the Grand Canyon and the sight of it has been described so many times, all of it is cliche. I'll put it this way, it looks so impossibly beautiful that it could/should be fake. It's as if someone's screensaver at work just all of a sudden became reality.

I wandered around the rim for a bit, taking pictures, soaking it all in, and watching people stand of the cliff edges like maniacs. I found my own little path with minimal people around so I could look over the edge, try to conquer my horrible fear of heights. Side note, it makes zero sense to me that not everyone is afraid of heights, they're insanely scary! Anyway, I found my path and took a pile of great pictures. A couple families found the same path and I chatted with them and took some pictures for them. What blew me away was this little boy who wasn't phased at all just walking around the edge like we weren't 800,000 feet in the sky, or however high we were. Good for you little kid, I told him he was brave and he just laughed at me haha.

I decided to call my mom to freak her out a bit, mission accomplished but it was also nice to hear her voice. After the boundless majesty of this massive hole, I got in my car and made my way to Vegas. My driving conditions (bad) luck had continued, it was overcast almost the entire ride to Vegas. The lack of sun wasn't the worst part, it was the wind. It was so fucking windy outside it was pushing my car all around the damn road. Once I was about an hour outside of Las Vegas the sun started to poke out, which was great. Driving through the mountains by the Hoover Damn was more jaw-dropping views for the day coupled with strong wind gusts, I thought I was going to be blown over the edge.

After a little traffic near Las Vegas I finally made it to Kyle's (my cousin) place. It was a big relief to see another familiar face on this trip. We caught up for a while then Kyle's fiancée Jen (I'm the best man at the upcoming wedding, not to brag or anythingggggg) joined us. We met up with Adam (other Boston friend living out here) and we made our way to my favorite poker room at the Bellagio. We had some time to kill since Ben's flight was delayed util almost midnight. We flung the money into the middle of the table with reckless abandon and stacked our chips to the ceiling. I made a whopping $55 and couldn't be more pleased.

Stock Matt Vegas picture from last year (coincidently I'm wearing that shirt today, weird)

As we were about to leave another old friend showed up, WSOP bracelet winner and most main event consecutive cashes record holder Mr. Ronnie "Ronnasty" Bardah. It was great to see Ronnie, Ronnie is like the jewish James Bond. He travels the world, gambles for a living, charming exotic women, and funny as hell. He's a good dude, keep an eye out for him this World Series of Poker. After the Bellagio we grabbed dinner, played some pool then finally got the call from Ben that he landed. He scooped him, exchanged hugs then made our way to the Luxor hotel. I hadn't seen Benny in a while so we decided to stay up till 4am exploring casinos and drinking.

I'm paying the price today with a horrible hangover and now we are about to get breakfast. Fun fact, I've already thrown up. I used to love coming to Vegas, it was a like a second (albeit demented) home. I've grown to really dislike this town, I like some of the casinos but hate the city itself. Hate is a strong word but I dislike it a great deal. It's like a moronic junk drawn of foolish things stacked up on top of one another. I think I'm, dare I say it? Growing up. About time I suppose. Today it's Saturday and around this time tomorrow I'll be in California finally, already homesick. A new life about a day away, we'll see how I feel about it. Thanks for reading folks!

Keep smiling (even when the space between who you're becoming and who you were starts to grow further and further)