CNY in the American South West

Chinese New Year brought with it some fantastic new experiences for both me and Faye.  For starters, Faye had her first experience as a tourist in the US.  It was both of our first times in each of the destinations on our trip.  Here is a brief summary of our trip.

We landed in LAX on Feb 7th and stayed in a condo in Long Beach from the 7th-10th.

Then we drove to Las Vegas where we stayed in a serviced apartment in the MGM Signature until the 13th. 

From Vegas we drove to Grand Canyon West where we stayed at the Grand Canyon Western Ranch until the 15th.  

On the night of the 15th we stayed in the Holiday Inn Express and Suites in Lake Havasu City..

We then stayed the night of the 16h in The Ramsey in 29 Palms near Joshua Tree.

Then we spent the 17th-18th in a guest house in Santa Clarita.

Finally we spent our last night in the Sonesta LAX before flying out on the 20th.  After a short layover in San Francisco we took the long flight back to HK.

Here is a more detailed breakdown of our trip with photos and videos.

We landed early on the 7th at around 8am.  I got through immigration, collected our baggage, and waited anxiously for a almost 2 hours for Faye to clear immigration.  

When she finally came through immigration I was much relieved.  We gathered our things and took the shuttle to enterprise rent-a-car.  We got our car, a Toyota Camry, and set off for the nearest T-Mobile store to get a SIM card.  Unfortunately, the first one we stopped at told us neither of  our phones would be compatible.  I thought that odd since my phone had accepted a T-Mobile sim every time I came to the US.  So we went to another T-Mobile.  The second one we went to was in Westfield Culver City Mall.  It turned out that my phone did, in fact, work with the T-Mobile SIM card.  Faye's Chinese phone however, did not.  So, we went to Target to get an unlocked phone, they did not have any.  We ended up getting her a second-hand Motorola phone for a reasonable price.  We popped the T-Mobile SIM in there and it worked just fine.  We got her a case for the phone and a new one for my old Samsung and then we each got a Popeye's chicken sandwich and strawberry lemonade before heading off to the condo in Long Beach. On the way we stopped at Swed-A-Snoop Dogg Dispensary

We were completely knackered because of the long flight and the time zone change by the time we got to our hotel.  We each washed up a bit and before we both knew it we were asleep before the sun even went down.

We woke up in the early morning for a little while and then went back to sleep.  We did not awaken again until almost noon.  I cannot recall if we ate after waking up.  It may have been we did not have much appetite.  Whatever the case we took a long walk around Long Beach and took photos at the Belmont Veteran Memorial Pier, got strawberry shortcake waffles at Bruxie and used their bathroom, then walked to Colorado Lagoon Park before returning for a dinner of chicken and waffles a Bruxie.

We walked back to our condo and just hung out for the evening watching TV. We fell asleep early again. 

The next morning we were up early once again.  So we set off to make the most of the day.  We started with breakfast at a restaurant called Saint and Second.  Our main activity for the day was hiking in Crystal Cove State Park.  Afterward we stopped for groceries and I cooked dinner.

We check out of our condo on the 10th and loaded up the car for the longest drive of our trip.

After a bowl of cereal we set off for Las Vegas.  We stopped for some dry ice to put in our cooler since we wanted to keep our fresh groceries from going bad on the drive.  Then, without further ado, we were on our way.  The drive was scenic.  We took route 15 and made few stops but the most notable ones are in Baker California to take pictures outside of Alien Fresh Jerky.  We didn't purchase any of their overpriced jerky, but we enjoyed the photo opportunity.  We had set out at 11am but did not arrive in Vegas until after sundown.  

After we arrived we checked in at the MGM Signature Tower A and then took a walk along the strip.

On the 11th we did not do much during the day.  In the evening however we had booked tickets for KA by Cirque du Soleil.  It was a really neat show and I absolutely recommend the experience.  Afterward we walked around and visited a bar called Double Down Saloon.

After a few drinks we called it a night and went back to our hotel.

On the 12th we took a hike in Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area.  Afterward I introduced Faye to American style Chinese food at a place called Lucki Panda.  She was not impressed.  Then we went to a Vintage clothing store called Old School Vintage where we got our own private shopping experience because, despite having already closed the store, the owner was preparing for an event the next day and didn't mind letting us shop while she prepared. 

Although neither Faye nor I gamble, we both enjoyed our time in Vegas.  There is so much to do in this city besides gamble.  While it is definitely an expensive endeavor, it is worthwhile to visit it at least once. 

We set off for the Grand Canyon Western Ranch on the 13th.  Our drive included a stop at the Hoover Dam.  

We arrived at Grand Canyon Western Ranch at half past 4 and got settled into our cabin.

We skipped dinner that night because we had hot dogs to cook on the campfire. The resident traveling singer, Arizona Casey, entertained us and the other guests with music, stories, and jokes beside the fire where smores were also on the menu.  At one point Faye and I wandered off to get pictures of the night sky and then came back to warm up and listen to more music before bed.   

Eventually we grew too tired and decided to call it a night.

I was up as dawn was breaking on the morning of the 14th.  Faye was still asleep for a while but I got outside to watch the sunrise.  She eventually woke up too.  The morning almost felt colder than it had all night, but that was likely because we had a fire to keep us warm.  I took some photos and timelapse videos as the sun was coming up.  When I had gotten what footage I wanted we went to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. 

Our plan for that day involved visiting Grand Canyon West (GCW).  The Hualapai Tribe owns and manages this part of the Grand Canyon.  We arrived and I immediately wanted to do the zipline, but Faye doesn't like heights. As much as it upset me to leave her on her own while I went and did the zipline, and as much as I tried to convince her to give it a try, she refused.  I enjoyed it, and I am sure that even with her fear of heights she would have gotten over it and enjoyed herself too. That aside, she stayed firmly on the ground.  I saw her hiking as the van full of zipliners rode away.  

After riding the zipline we had some time to enjoy the view at Hualapai point before returning to the reception area. 

Then we loaded back on the bus and went back to the frontier town.  After some wandering around looking for Faye and trying to reach her somehow, I eventually found her entirely by chance. She was sitting outside one of the shops. 

Together we went to the gift shot where I bought a new coat that makes me look like a shaman and Faye got a cool new hat.  Then we got on the bus to Eagle Point, then took it further to Guano Point, then back to the parking lot.

We drove back to the GC Western Ranch for dinner and then called it a night.  

The next day we packed up, checked out, and went hiking on a trail that led to a landmark called quartz rock.  

We were on the trail for a long time, and eventually turned around before reaching the eponymous Quartz Rock, but the hike was still lovely.  We saw a jackrabbit and otherwise enjoyed the scenery in peace and quite. 

To get there I had to do some driving on overgrown dirt roads.  So you know it was a pretty isolated trail.

We hiked back the way we came to get back to our car and then drove to Lake Havasu City, AZ.  

On the way we stopped in the Red Lake Nature Preserve for a quick picture.  Then we stopped at a Kingman Rock World and Gifts where Faye bought some jewelry and got a Mexican meal at Filiberto's.  Then we continued on our way.

We checked in at the Holiday Inn Express and Suites next to London Bridge in Lake Havasu and then took an evening stroll.  

Faye got to experience her first ever visit to a Walgreens.  

After checking out on the 16th we spent some time walking around Lake Havasu's London Bridge area.  We walked in each direction along the Bridgewater channel, then got some Mac and Cheese at Tasty Waves, and then walked across the London Bridge where I got a beer at the Barley Brothers Brewery.  Then we went to Our Shabby Shack Bookshop where I zonked out and took a nap.  When we left I had to rush back to get my coat, which had my car keys in it.  Fortunately despite having closed up for the day, they had not left yet.  

Once we had reclaimed my coat and car keys we hopped back on the road to 29 Palms, CA. 

We arrived at our AirBnb and settled in.  Then we went to Sky's the Limit Observatory to look at the stars.

The sky was clear and the stars sparkled like diamonds on black velvet.  We even saw a meteor but I was not lucky enough to catch it on camera. 

It was very cold and after about 15 minutes Faye got spooked when she heard coyotes yipping in the distance.  So, we left.  We went back to our hotel and went to bed. 

The 17th was our last day in nature.  So we made the most of it with a hike in Joshua Tree National Park.  Despite our hike taking well over 2 hours we never got very far from the road and spent most of the time bouldering on the rocks beside the road.  The Joshua trees, agave, and many other flowers were in bloom and that added splashes of color to an otherwise monochrome landscape.

We bid adieu to the glory of nature and drove back to civilization.  Our next stop was a home stay in Santa Clarita.

The drive there was treacherous.  It started to rain heavily

We finally arrived safely and checked into our AirBnb and went to bed.

On the 18th we visited the Griffith Observatory.

We went back to our home stay and called it a night after that. 

The 19th was our last full day of our trip.  Our final two stops were the Iliad Bookshop and Hayat's Kitchen where we had some delicious Lebanese food.  

The Iliad Bookshop was great.  We got lots of books to add to our collection.  They had cats and one even hung out with me while I read and Faye continued to browse.

Then we drove through Beverly Hills and got gas before we returned the car to Enterprise and took the shuttle to our last hotel, the Sonesta LAX.

The following morning we boarded an early flight to San Francisco, and after a layover we flew back to HK.  We took the ferry back to Shenzhen.  

Before I close out this post I will share some photos from before and after our our trip.

The weekend before our trip, on January 31st, I went to my student's art show.

After our return from the US Faye and I had a few walks over the past couple of weeks and here are photos and videos from those walks.

One other major development in our lives is that Faye finally took the big step of quitting her shitty job. For Chinese people, the Chinese employers can be abusive and exploitative. Her employer, however, is the worst of the worst.  She quit her job at the end of February, and now her former employer is trying to illegally withhold her pay.  She is working within the system to ensure her rights are protected.  We are both pissed off, but we remain firm and her position puts her at a significant advantage since the law says that, no matter what, salaries must be paid on time and in full. She did nothing wrong, her former managers are just really shitty people.  We will be filing for labor arbitration in the coming days.