Murphy's Law

     Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.  That seemed to be the guiding principal of our recent vacation.  We just returned from a trip out west.  Our original plan was to land in Las Vegas, rent a car, use the MGM Grand as our base for a couple of days while we took in the natural wonders around Sin City, then hit the road.  Damn the budget impasse and damn the ailments of old age. 

     All National Parks were closed.  Rangers parked at the gates and turned everyone away.  If a public highway ran through a park, the road remained open.  Rangers handed out the flyer shown above and told us to keep moving - no stopping allowed.  Civil disobedience ran high.  We all stopped.
     The ailments of old age were not so easy to get around.  I spent almost five hours on the plane wedged between Mike and a 6' 5" twenty-something.  By the time I got off the plane, my bad knee was killing me.  The next day, it was swollen.  Mike, happy as a lark in his window seat, suffered a repetitive stress injury I named airplane neck.  The views of the land below us were not worth a week of hurt and ibuprofen popping.
   

I called the doctor about my knee.  He said to apply ice and elevate my leg for three days.   This was my  version of compliance.    

    Oh, did I mention black slime backed up in the shower when I drained the spa?  The maintenance guy came right away, followed by a maid, who disinfected our bathroom.
     There we were, in the west, trying to take in those national natural wonders that belong to all of us.  We would have to recalculate.  Fortunately, the state governments of Nevada, Utah, and Arizona have a few wonders of their own.