Las Vegas 21st B-day Finale: Tattoos, Nellis Dunes and Adulting Lessons
Welcome to CompassChaos13(CC13): A Real Travel Podcast where Compass Plans, Chaos Rules - Connections Happen Memories of Global Adventures
HEATHER (V.O.): I’m Heather, your adventure narrator and warm body for the hosts for this flying circus.
Today, we’re diving into Vegas Baby, with hubby and our now legal child!
COMPASS: It started with an ATV guided tour.
CHAOS: And quickly went to confidence on steroids.
HEATHER (V.O.): Before we depart on this adventure, a few safety checks. First: any brand we mention is one we actually use and trust. We get zero monetary gain for these—if that ever changes, we promise total transparency. Second: this flight is for adults only. Expect questionable language and emotional turbulence. Finally, there are no warnings when the unexpected happens, because there are no warnings in real life…
HEATHER (V.O.): Now, let’s Meet your dueling hosts: Compass, the one who plans—and Chaos, the one who burns them. Together, they find the magic in the mess.
COMPASS (V.O.): I’m Compass. My plan is to experience the top tourist things. But, as normal, my head-space companion Chaos has other plans.
CHAOS: Hey Hey Chaos here! I am the patron saint of "we’ll figure it out,". I bring the unexpected, and the reason you want to hear travel tales.. that are actually worth listening to!
COMPASS (V.O.): Together, we bring the connection.
HEATHER (V.O.): Sit back, relax, and push that subscribe button……
CHAOS: "So, buckle up buttercups, for this recent tale from the city of sin……, because honestly the best stories aren't planned."
Heather: This is a very personal and special episode for us today. Our daughter, Alyssa, turns 21! And like her mom she celebrates CompassChaos13 style, planned chaos!
COMPASS: [excited] Our baby girl turns 21!!
CHAOS: [just as excited] Our DEMON SPAWN IS LEGAL!! Honestly never thought we’d live to see the day.
COMPASS: She is not demon spawn… okay maybe a witch, thanks to you … but not demon like you.
CHAOS: This is a big deal for us in the states, not so much in other areas of the world, the 21 is a huge deal in the states.
COMPASS: Getting her to tell us what she wanted started a year before.
CHAOS: This girl is more stubborn and independent then we are. She decided to go right into the shitty adult world right after high school…. No stretching it out or wasting thousands of dollars
COMPASS: Higher Education is not a waste… Trades are not a waste.
CHAOS: So says the book worm has three degrees… For some people it is.. Are we using our degrees like we should be? Are we making the money we should be with our skills and background? … not in the slightest… I mean I could bullshit and give excuses to make it look like we do … honestly I’m too old and mean to give anyone illusions anymore.
COMPASS: Back to our daughter….. Seems we hit a Chaos nerve…. So after almost 10 months of asking about a present I switched tactics….. I asked her where she would like to go for her 21st birthday, anywhere in the world. It was hers to visit at 21.
CHAOS: That was an unfair question. She didn’t have her passport so we knew she couldn’t leave the States.
COMPASS: You know damn well we would have expedited her passport if she at the time had a desire to go abroad. Only I knew she wasn’t quite ready.
CHAOS: Our wonderful daughter is a creature of habit when it comes to travel. Only the places she has been… she doesn’t get it from this side of the donor line:
COMPASS: CHAOS careful….
CHAOS: it takes two donors…egg and sperm…. Just saying she didn’t get from the egg that’s all. Now you would think Alyssa would think that she would say Europe, Bali, Samoa, African Safari…. Nope…. Florida, South Carolina, or Vegas…
COMPASS: Alright, Vegas was a new place…. And so it was settled Vegas for the 21st.
CHAOS: [Singing] Ve Via Las Vegas……. Ve Via Las Vegas….
COMPASS: Dear Goddess’ not this again!! Still excited and this was last year!
CHAOS: It was a fantastic trip….. Hubby and Alyssa…. Family Vacation.. Just not the Lampoon’s.
COMPASS: No not the Lampoon’s… Thankfully…. I say that a lot with you Chaos…. Don't smile proudly, it’s not a good thing
CHAOS: Perception my dear Watson … It’s all about Perception
COMPASS: So Vegas was the destination now it was up to me to plan it. Just a long weekend 4 nights … Alyssa, Ryan and us… this had to be memorable… so limo for the pick up @ the airport…. The hotel was the Luxor, intentionally wanting to be at the lower end of the strip.
CHAOS: Are we telling the whole 5 day adventure on this or just 1 story from our mini b-day bash?
COMPASS: Just 1 story but I am giving background… This particular memory was on our last full day in Nevada.
CHAOS: Our wonderful minion wanted to try 4 wheeling/ATVing. We all did a UTV years ago but she wasn’t allowed at the wheel…. She likes driving or being in control… not sure which…
COMPASS: We are not control freaks….. We trust our skills and instincts over everyone elses’. That’s all…. Alyssa wanted full control of her own life..
CHAOS: Can you blame her? .. I still want control of my life
COMPASS: And you think I ENJOY this arrangement? But it’s Heather’s life … we will go through this again … in crayon…
CHAOS: [Sarcastic] I prefer emoji’s with a side of GIF’s please…. Easier on the brain power and storage. Our wonderful daughter needed to release her chaos…. Adrenalin rushes my forte… so I’m calling the shots on this outing…
COMPASS: You were committed… I will give you that. However, since it was our baby girl’s first time on an ATV nevertheless driving one, I stepped in …
CHAOS: Bitch you took over!
COMPASS: Damn right I did. I'm not letting you ever take full control when our daughter is involved… im not certified… yet
I gave Chaos another task; …. Or maybe we can try sandboarding also …. As she went down a rabbit hole. I found a few different places that did ATV Tours for beginners, perfect…
CHAOS: That’s why you had me go off on a 4 day discovery of where we can sandboard near Vegas?.
COMPASS: [giggles] I love our sugared up chipmunk… Yes Chaos that is exactly why
CHAOS: Karma’s a bitch named Chaos just remember that
COMPASS: With Chaos distracted I had plenty of time to thoroughly go through the ATV tour companies in the surrounding area. It took some time to find one that I was willing to try with our child.
CHAOS: Alyssa is 21… She is not a child anymore! Do you feel old yet? [giggles]
COMPASS: You’re so right she is not a child anymore but she will always be our child…. You make me feel old. I went with BEST ATV TOURS LAS VEGAS… So glad we did… We booked through their site directly since they had a special which you could only find on their site… I checked Viator and Get Your Guide before I checked the site directly.
PRO VET TIP: Always check places like Viator and Get Your Guide for ideas and reviews. Then compare on the actual vendor site…. Sometimes it’s a better deal.
So with the ATV tour booked and it came with shuttle pick up at a meeting point across from our hotel[, perfect!
CHAOS: Um I know my memory is shit but this is not the ATV story I wanted to be heard… talk about having ADD
COMPASS: Again background… So we spent a day on an ATV Tour so Alyssa could get her confidence.
CHAOS: Oh she found her confidence all right…. By the time the tour was coming to an end she was whipping around corners and screwing down trails… [proudly] Our little witch on wheels!! Before we got back into the van to be shuttled back to the hotel, she was talking about buying one…
COMPASS: [laughing] yes once she gained her confidence she was…. Hell on wheels
[seriously] until our next ATV outing a day later where she made our heart stop and life flash before our eyes.
CHAOS: That’s the story I;m talking about… I’ll take it from here thanks for the background check Compass…. Now since it was Alyssa’s B-day she got to call the most of the shots…. She wanted to ‘really go ATVing’ she wanted exploration, discovering death experiences… If she is not my child, may the goddess old and new subject me of never ending loop of “baby shark”
COMPASS: of course she is.. Partly… also mine and Heather's; she is the one with the scar.
CHAOS: [like achmed] SILENCE I’ll Palm You…. and unlike me you won’t lick for removal [giggles]. Back to Alyssa….. So our wonderful little witch found her figurative “tits”... Face it people tits are just stronger than balls….. When they get hicked or punched we don’t crumble like a house of cards….
COMPASS: Off track.. Completely derailed! You bring this back on track or
CHAOS: As Alyssa revealed in her newly gained ….[slow and condescending] Confidence.. Happy Compass…. I hijacked transport and her phone to find free style ATV rental….. It didn't take long….
COMPASS: [exasperated] No it didn’t because you didn’t do any research… just how far away it was, how much and for how long
CHAOS: That’s not all that matters? Besides not my fault you went and took a long hot shower that night….
I chose Las Vegas Outdoor Fun Rentals .. I mean how could I not have fun in the name, trails with big ass dunes are right across the road and the cost for the time was super cheap. So booked without a doubt… instincts I believe you call it, Compass.
COMPASS: Something like this.. more care in reputation should have been done on your part. Thankfully [whisper] I'm so tired of this word… [louder] the company and the staff were amazing…
CHAOS: [hurt and sarcastic] you know when you go on ‘instincts’ I don’t say “thankfully”... when it works out for you…. I’m just saying…
With the Free style ATV’s booked for the final full day… all we had to do was wait.
COMPASS: All of you, Heather, Ryan and Alyssa were chomping at the bit.. This adventure couldn't come fast enough.
CHAOS: The day finally did come and it was an adventure LET ME TELL YOU!! We woke up and off to breakfast we went. After, Alyssa went back up to her room while hubby and I went to pick up the car rental. (Giggles)
COMPASS: Of course everyone but me finds this part amusing… The car rental was booked through Enterprise, we used our points for a free daily rental, Hell even the taxes were paid.. Until
CHAOS: Hubby bought into the upsell…. For Just 15.95 total for the day (which was the taxes) you can upgrade to Chevy Camaro Convertible…. Honestly I'm a Ford girl… BUT if it goes fast, looks good and has no top…. That’s a lie… If it goes fast I’m in! The fun doesn’t stop there…
COMPASS: [laughing] then reason, logic and reality set in…. The car was going to be a bit too small for hubby or Alyssa to sit in the back bucket seats. So we were the backseat hosts…
CHAOS: That was some crazy human pretzel shit we did… We couldn’t sit normally behind either of them since they are both taller than us, not by much… and we couldn’t sit straight up without pushing up the soft top [giggles] I felt like I was in a classic cartoon.
COMPASS: [Laughing] I was visualizing the scene from Roger Rabbit, when his head pops out of Benny the cab… [laughing]
CHAOS: {laughing harder] didn’t even think about that one! So with hubby driving and our daughter happily in shotgun…. Transport
COMPASS: Heather
CHAOS: Transport…. Yeah not hearing a difference…. As transport contourted trying to fit us comfortably in the back seat… we ended up with our head almost against the back passenger side window, our right ass cheek was half in the middle of the seat and on the curve of the bucket while our right leg was arched in weird kneeling position and our left leg sprawled out over the middle floor bump and under the driver’s seat…. There we stayed till our first stop, Valley of Fire.
COMPASS: Ecstatic to be out of that position we did a short hike to Atlatl Rock where there are pictographics from the native peoples. It was really fascinating.. I could have stayed all day trying to research and learn as much as possible but..
CHAOS: There was me.. Alyssa and Hubby to contend with.. Transport was on your side…. [mockingly] Thankfully you and transport were out voted… I love having friends. Before getting back in the convertible hubby and Alyssa tried to take the top off…. [laughing] it was putting up a fight … and appeared to be winning…after a few choice words…. This round went to the car, her top was staying on, she was just not warmed up enough [giggles]... guys this is why you have to warm the engine!! So back in that weird deadman’s pose…
COMPASS: That was not the reason, but you’re not wrong either. Can’t say that I am sad that the car won. It was only about mid-60’s in the desert… that was standing temp. We drove around the Valley Fire making a few photo stops… as we were getting ready to depart our last stop Alyssa and Hubby gave the convertible top one last go.
CHAOS: What at first glance seemed to be a victory for none… WE GOT IT! A collective voice from Alyssa and Hubby rang through the desert valley. Mom! Mom! We got it.. Alyssa yells again excited… which ended up pulling Transport and Compass from natural beauty’s grasp.
COMPASS: Before I knew it … the words “We’re GOING TOPLESS” gets thrown out there
CHAOS: The dog did it
COMPASS: Cleopatra wasn’t even there… why are you lying
CHAOS: I’m telling the reality I want….[innocently] Isn’t that what we do now in America? [laughing]
COMPASS: NO! That is NOT what WE DO! Nor our Global Kin…. and you’re not funny
CHAOS: I think I am funny… must be your sense of humor or your funny bone is missing. We jumped in the convertible with our lower body contouring once again but at least we now had headroom… Alyssa and Hubby loving every minute in the front.
COMPASS: Before we hit the highway the top had to go up! Mid-60’s going 35-40 miles per hour is very different feel than the highway at 70 … especially in the face.
CHAOS: We now drove full speed to the next adventure we all had been waiting for ….. ATV’s. We pulled into an open dirt lot filled with storage containers and different kinds of adrenaline vehicles…. There were a few pop-up tents put together to form a sign in the area, a prep & waiting area.. Since we were the only ones there at the time, setup and out the gate within 15 minutes.
COMPASS: Hubby took the lead.. Alyssa in the middle and us taking up the back. We followed him into what seemed like an endless maze of dunes and trails. Honestly i was worried about losing everyone. We got there at 2pm and had a 2 hour rental time, since they closed at 5pm and sunset in the dunes would approach soon after.
CHAOS: As hubby led the way down into the dunes he made a poor choice in a trail head… It was steeper than our little witch was comfortable with…
COMPASS: She almost had a meltdown, our poor boo. I could see the fear and the doubt in her eyes.. It broke my heart to hear her say she couldn’t do this with a voice filled with anxiety.
CHAOS: As we watched the fear, doubt and anxiety build in Alyssa I had to be her voice of confidence if not I knew she would regret not doing this…. NOT ON MY WATCH!
I told her … YOU GOT THIS… … nice and slow…. It also helped letting her know to go against everything we taught her to do when driving a car… use the gas and the brake at the same time or just adjust the pressure on the brakes as she makes her way down. With a bit of cheering and a bit of a show she got down the hillside and was now within Nellis Dunes ready to ride free…
COMPASS: Hubby waited for us at the bottom… making sure everything was okay… we rode around with hubby for a bit getting a feel for the terrain, the bikes and keeping an eagle eye on our child. .. Don’t look at me like that Chaos Yes I know I am an over protective lioness…..
CHAOS: Im just as protective of our peanut… only difference is I know when protecting her is a bad thing… Let’s take the time when she was about 2 or 3 and she was on our hip helping us cook… she loved cooking and dancing to Frank Sinetra and Jimmy Buffet with us. I miss the days when we could throw her around the kitchen… In a good way a dancing way… under the legs, around the hips; her laughing like a crazed baby… but on this day she wants to keep reaching across me to try to touch the stove when it was on…. After the 20th time I told her go ahead watch what happens, knowing full well our child’s next move…. I turned the cold water on and let it run, which was about 18” between the stove and sink…so there was no real time for marks, but enough time to teach a tough love lesson… She did it, she touched the hot store with her little finger tips…
COMPASS: A blood curdling scream came from our innocent angel…. I wanted to annihilate Chaos for this…
CHAOS: But you couldn’t.. Alyssa’s tiny fingers were under the cold water as she started to scream….and kept them there until they were almost purple. I dried them off and we kissed them better, and wiping the tears, our baby was back to normal but the lesson remains with her till this day… All transport has to say is Go ahead, watch what happens.
COMPASS: Yes even in her 20’s she still has a small fear of you…
CHAOS: She doesn’t fear me….. She fears what I am capable of doing… she has her own internal chaos to deal with…. And a bit too much of her own compass…
COMPASS: Everyone needs a compass…. Even you Chaos..
CHAOS: Story .. [giggles]... see I can be you …. [we could see hubby was chomping at the bit to take off and just be free….. Who are we to deny our hubbys’ chaos! With our blessing, hubby takes off into the dunes….. Visible for a whole 4.6 seconds.
COMPASS: Alyssa was having a bit of trouble learning her ATV. The one she was riding on two days before was automatic, this one was an older manual foot shift.
CHAOS: But once we showed her how to switch gears … we were really eating her dust!
COMPASS: You probably should have shown her how to take corners and which grades she can ride up and which ones are a no-no….
CHAOS: She was proud of herself…. She gained her confidence… Sometimes the best teacher, Compass, is finding your own limits… until you push past them…
COMPASS: We followed our daughter
CHAOS: 21 year old adult daughter mind you… seriously still no takers for shrinks? This …. WE… can’t be normal…. Well, Alyssa pulled off into a large flat area, perfect for parking.
COMPASS: She told us she wants to go alone…. Do you know how vast this dune area is? HUGE…. Go alone… in a place she didn’t know, an hour before sunset in the desert with nothing but the clothes she has on her back!! OVER MY FUCKING DEAD BODY!!!
CHAOS: That’s what Compass was screaming internally….. I was insisting I could make that happen if she only just shut up and drink her tea! [giggles]
COMPASS: Which I did…. And I’m still here…
CHAOS: more Devil’s Trumpet next time…..
COMPASS: I thought I recognized the taste… I’m disappointed in you Chaos.. You know that has no effect.
CHAOS: I tried to sedate you another way but there was no smoking before or during the ATV riding….
COMPASS: Live and Learn Chaos….. Better luck next time….
CHAOS: Now, you’re just being mean….
COMPASS: [giggles] I can be mean too… So while I’m roaring like a lioness, trying to get into the figurative room Chaos fortified herself in…
CHAOS: I have tits… I’m not stupid…. Never attack a lioness protecting her cub headon… especially an over protective one.
COMPASS: I won’t ever apologize for being over protective
CHAOS: You won’t but I will….. Before Compass knew what was happening… Transport had already told her GO FOR IT, You're an adult… hearing Compass slide down the figurative door and onto the floor was …. Priceless…
COMPASS: Off she went….. Staying around and close at first…
CHAOS: Then vanished.. Within a few seconds… she popped out on top of a small dune… we watched as she took the curved corner at the top and came down like a pro. Her confidence growing by the seconds…. So proud was I and Transport!
COMPASS: Pure Anxiety! WE lost sight of our flesh & blood and reason for staying out of jail! Then to watch her fly up the next dune, slide around the top corner and punch the gas on the way down…. She only just learned for Goddess’ sake…
CHAOS: She was fine…. We watched for a bit before going off on our own little adventure.
COMPASS: ADVENTURE! … Nightmare…. Whipping around corners, up dunes and not slowing down at crossings….. While our baby girl was out doing the same thing practically killing herself! {BIG DEEP BREATH}
CHAOS: Again ADULT…. SAY AAAA…DDDDD..UUUULLLL….TTTTTTT… how am I the voice of reason here? And keep calling her baby girl…. When she hears this, she’s gonna give you much deserved shit! This is the time we have been waiting for… we change from MOM personality….. Into BESTIE …. Which we are protective of.
COMPASS: Say Adult as many times or as slowly as you want…. Not going to change anything….
CHAOS: and I’ll keep reminding you… so here we go… now that is situated… [giggles] we lost sight of Alyssa for a bit a few times …. 1st was when Transport almost flipped the ATV on us… now granted I could have been the one sliding around corners on hills. Once Compass stopped screaming we hit another dune…. Made it to the top and caught sight of Alyssa, and for a flittering second hubby way out on the horizon… I was wishing I had the car keys instead of him!! Live and Learn….. 2nd time we lost sight is when we really had to pee…. It hit us like a river hitting a dam… we were going to piss ourselves!
COMPASS: [pissy] That’s it… I’m talking to Heather about finishing school
CHAOS: [laughs hysterically] Good Luck with that….. She wants to be a lady no more than you want to be the devil’s mistress…
COMPASS: Don’t you hold that position..
CHAOS: That would be his last mistake …. He’s no fool…
COMPASS: Jesus Christ
CHAOS1: He’s got nothing to do with us….. Besides him and I have a deal… He stays in his lane and I stay in mine.
HEATHER: Chaos stop baiting Compas…. This is not the best way to get your podcast idea about politics, religion and sex while traveling…
COMPASS: [sound horrified] Heather you not seriously entertaining that idea?!
HEATHER: We have talked to a lot of people from all over the world about those three topics…. And we get asked the same questions.. Why are Americans so uptight about” …. And those are the top three…. But this is not the time or the place for this discussion… Our focus is on our baby girl, I mean Alyssa, she hates that nickname. So let’s get back to HER shall we… my attention hogs…. Sorry Kin, had to get them back on track… Let’s see we can get them through this without another side show.
CHAOS: You got it Transport…. Where were we….. Ah yes…. I had to piss…. Not pee… piss… Thrusting the ATV into gear I flew over dunes until I was far enough away to hide.
Seeing a high dune with a nice bushy hidden area I kicked the throttle into gear and raced up the dune.
COMPASS: Quarter way up we went….. Until we started sliding backwards at a 45 degree angle… nearly into the bushy area, that now up close was deeper than expected…. Pure panic
CHAOS: Not panic…. Adrenaline rush Is more like it…. We stabilized and stayed up right… but we still really had to piss… we were on the verge of wetting our pants…
COMPASS: CHAOS PLEASE!!
CHAOS: What it’s true! There was only 1 option…. Get off the trail as much as possible and drop trou… that’s exactly what we did.
COMPASS: Oh we did… much to my mortification
CHAOS: We’ve hiked all our life, shit we grew up pissing outside since we weren’t going into mom’s clean house just to use the bathroom. …. See our mom was training us for our Life Adventures where plumbing is a luxury. As our dad would say, if a bear can shit in the woods so can you!
PRO VET TIP: No matter where we go, we always carry the following necessities:
tissues/napkins
Lighter
Hand sanitizer
pen/notebook
Paper & binder clips
You never know what shenninagians may come our way!
COMPASS: That is the very least of what You carry…. Chaos…. Now that our focus returned and we were feeling much lighter…. See Chaos that is how you say that… I brought our attention back to our daughter who was still riding in the dune by herself! Stricken with great fear that we weren’t going to find her before sunset I now took full control of Heather’s body. Jumping on the ATV I turned whipped it around
CHAOS: YOU almost sent us over the edge, if we rolled we would have landed right in our piss. .. Now that would have been a first [laughing]
COMPASS: A first we don’t want to experience…. With the ATV facing straight downhill it was time to race back to where we last saw Alyssa which was close by our meeting spot.
CHAOS: OH NO….. You don’t get to diplomatically say you drove like an asshole! You were full throttle, jumping mounds, flying through crossings without so much as a listen for other bikes! Don’t get me wrong I was loving it
COMPASS: She is our only child damn it….. Sometimes Chaos.. To the moon with you… [deep breath] Anyway getting us back to the spot we last saw our child we scanned the horizon …
CHAOS: ALYSSA….. Say her name….. AAAA…LYS….SSSAAAA…. [as if talking to a child] come on … you can do it….
COMPASS: You’re not going to let up until I do right?
CHAOS: You got it Kid! Say her name…. We gave it to her so we wouldn’t eat her… now say it.
COMPASS: CHAOS!!
CHAOS: same reason why we name pets and not dinner…. [aggravated] SAY HER NAME DAMN IT, You’re pissing me off….
COMPASS: Alyssa … alright… her name is Alyssa…… Goddess I don’t see the point of this
CHAOS: The more you stop viewing or labeling her as a CHILD and recognizing she is her own woman… the better off we will all be…. Alyssa, Heather, Ryan, you and me…
COMPASS: maybe…. Still doesn’t counter she is our child
CHAOS: FOR THE LOVE OF THE GODDESS’ … you can deal with Alyssa why I sing; I told you so, I told you so….. In the background…
COMPASS: Whatever…. As we scanned the horizon I saw nothing! I heard several bikes riding in the dunes but could see none…. I waited for what felt like hours…
CHAOS: Reality it was ot more than 10 minutes….. Then out from behind a dune comes Alyssa with the confidence of an expert rider… I watched proudly as she slide around corners, did a few donuts and took off behind another dune only to pop out halfway up another….. I was such a proud momma!!
COMPASS: Glad one of us was enjoying it….. I really thought she was going to hurt herself.
CHAOS: At least she slowed down and listened at the intersections, which is more than i can say for you Compass… We drove our ATV around, Compass wanting to keep Alyssa within sight… The sun began to set and we met up with Alyssa to wait for hubby.
COMPASS: Chaos & Alyssa joked about him getting lost and having to leave him there until I reminded them he was the one with the keys to the rental.
CHAOS: Yeah… we really have to start being the holder of the keys…
COMPASS: He comes back….. He loves us..
CHAOS: Until the day he doesn’t [giggles]
COMPASS: Hubby did find us…. We sat for a moment taking one last glance over the dunes, with the sun setting quick it was time to make our way out of the dunes.
CHAOS: Da—DA—DA— follow me…. Famous last word….. Hubby took the lead… followed once again by Alyssa with us taking up the rear…. For about a whole two minutes everything was good… until Alyssa lost Ryan and chose her own path…. Just like her momma would
COMPASS: I can’t listen to this…
CHAOS: Our now fearless pro rider sees a trail in front of her that leads to the road…… Alyssa not knowing about grades, but would very shortly be taught a lesson…. Decides the trail in front of her is the one to take…
COMPASS: I knew better… I could tell that she was going up the dune…. I instantly took control of Heather’s mouth and screamed into the helmet…. ALYSSA NO….NOT THAT WAY… ALYSSA DON’T
CHAOS: which was completely in vain….. The helmet on, the bikes were revving and we were now about 50 feet behind since she took off up the ramp… and we had just come up to the bottom now truly realizing this was no bueno! What was hysterical was Compass trying to find the horn on an ATV [laughs]
COMPASS: We watched in horror as our only child, adult or not, I don’t care, raced up the misjudged dune as we watched in frozen and utter disbelief…. The front of her ATV went up in the air……
CHAOS: She popped a wheelie going up the ramp…. It was awesome and fucking scary all at the same time… I was impressed by the way she handled the wheelie and at the same time saw all 21 years flash before her eyes… I wasn’t going to be the one to tell the sperm donor…
COMPASS: Don’t provoke, we finally got what we wanted… silence. As Chaos watched our daughter, with jealousy and pride … I was in fear for her life…. Thankfully, Alyssa instinctively leaned forward putting her weight on the front wheels to get them back on solid ground.
CHAOS: By this time Alyssa had expertly jumped off the now sliding backwards bike, breaking the flag but not herself which is all that matters, while still holding the brake. When she jumped off she even jumped to the correct side, the left, away from the edge… With a deadlock grip still on the brake the ATV shifted sideways and slid back a bit more then steadied… Transport had already jumped off our 4 wheeler, stalling it out… and began running up the huge dune…. We flung the helmet as we ran…. As soon as the helmet was off Compass was screaming HOLD ON ALYSSA….. DONT LET GO OF THE BREAK… I swear I heard Alyssa say No shit mom Thanks….. [giggles]
COMPASS: She could have been crushed….. Finally reaching Alyssa we came around to her side, she was just way too close to the ledge. Alyssa slid her right hand up just enough from us to get a solid grip on the break and allowed Alyssa to move away before gripping the left handlebar.
CHAOS: While I wrestled with all that… Compass told Alyssa to get down to the bottom of the dune and stay off to the left side… Just in case this thing was rolling…. With Alyssa all clear and with no innocents or hubby to worry about…. I wrangled the staled ATV 3 quarters of the way down the steep dune to a flat area.
COMPASS: Not going to lie, I was pretty impressed how you handled that….. Getting us , the atv and the flag to the bottom all upright intact….. No less…
CHAOS: I was more impressed and proud of what Alyssa just did… Sometimes you do what you have to do, rely on no one but yourself…. There will be days, guaranteed that you will need help and no one will be there, you have to figure it out….
COMPASS: She did INCREDIABLE!! With everyone unharmed, we were told anyway, and still no hubby….. We really made sure Alyssa was ok… mentally… She was a bit shaken, but good. Now our attention turned to the stalled bikes.
CHAOS: As her vovo, our father, would say…. Did you learn anything?.... And she did… We set our sights on Alyssa’s bike first… No problem…. Now on to ours….. It won’t turn over…. Several attempts and many try’s of different gears … nothing….. Starting to smell gas I think I flooded the engine… So we sat…. Waited… and then we see hubby up on the road on the dune Alysssa tried to conquer.
COMPASS: I was now getting mad… Even as we watched hubby turn around to come back for us my blood boiled….
CHAOS: GGGIIIIRRRRLLLL….. You were STEAMING!! If you were a tea kettle we would have dumped you out a long time ago!! [laughing].... You would have thought that hubby left a pregnant wife with a toddler on her hip in the middle of the highway barefoot… the way you went off…. I swear to the Goddess’ kin, she was saying things I CAN’T repeat. I don't think Howard Stern could even repeat the things she was saying…
COMPASS: Let’s just say that when we travel with hubby we each get pulled into our own little detour adventures that separates us for a bit….
CHAOS: You make it sound intentional…. 99% of the time it is just one of us wandering off …. Lost in the moment…[proudly] listen to ME being the voice of diplomacy and logic!! YOU CAN TEACH AN OLD BITCH NEW TRICKS!
COMPASS: [testy] You got lucky as usual… now finish the story…
CHAOS: [teasing] Someone needs a snickers.. [giggles] … once the smell of gas passed I made several in vain attempts to get the 4 wheeler started… then Da-Da-Da… Here he comes to SAVE the day…. Hubby comes screwing around a corner…
COMPASS: Alyssa and Chaos recanted to hubby the shenanigans he missed… I was worried about the time, the bikes were already due back…. As hubby was now trying to get the bike started I called the rental company… or at least tried…. The call kept dropping….
CHAOS: Compass was so frustrated she had to go put herself in a timeout. As I enjoyed the peace, hubby to the ATV going. Jumping back on, Alyssa now making sure she stayed right on Ryan’s ass…. And Ryan now looking back every 10 feet we made it back to the rental place…. We dropped off the ATV’s and gave the guys there a good tip for waiting and for the flag. Not looking forward to becoming a human pretzel again I stalled … taking pics of the sun behind the dunes making a beautiful orange sky…. Trying to delay the inevitable as long as possible.
COMPASS: Manipulating our boy into the back seat of the car once again it was now time for dinner…. IHOP was the census.
CHAOS: With our stomach’s full and wallets a bit happier, Vegas is fucking expansive… How is breakfast for three, and 2 barely eat breakfast come to 100 dollars??? We drove the car back to Enterprise to drop it off.. We had 1 last adventure before ending the day.
COMPASS: Because we didn’t have enough of an adventure today.
CHAOS: Tattoos!! At that moment we settled on a place and ordered an Uber…. When we arrived and went in, though they were open all night, they already had two people in chairs for the next two hours.
COMPASS: That wasn’t going to fly with this group.. So at 9pm standing in the parking lot Alyssa looks for another place.
CHAOS: Finding one she calls… They are open and have room now…. Away we Uber…
COMPASS: To a dark shady part of vegas where we got tatt’d so that we could commemorate this adventure…..
CHAOS: Naturally the way to end the Family Vegas trip! We each got something different but was symbolic of Vegas… we with a poker chip with the year in the middle.. Always bet on black! Everyone all freshly inked it was past midnight and time to get back to the hotel for a smoke before having to leave tomorrow.
HEATHER: Hi again Global Kin, Heather here. Before the voices say there so longs it is reflection time.
Testing New things is always a good idea in your own back yard, if possible.
No one has ever gained confidence by giving into fear and anxiety
Everyone needs someone cheering for them
Sometimes when you need someone they may not be there, learn to rely on yourself before relying on others.
Asking someone to help or teach is a good thing… Don’t expect them to DO ANYTHING FOR YOU.
Honestly we are all adult Children… The biggest lie adults tell everyone is that we know what we are doing… cause we don’t
Most important… let people figure it out for themselves, especially adults… some lessons even as adults have to be learned the hard way… Let them be…
I know from personal experience that some of these lessons are hard to learn. Even with practice it doesn’t mean that it will ever be mastered… it’s the practicing that counts.
Here are the voices to say their; till next time.
COMPASS (calm, professional tone) On that note… we hope you enjoyed this episode of CompassChaos13. Join us every Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern, or 1300 hours for our fellow travelers in time zones unknown. Next stop: LIvorno, Italy — this time, we will be adventuring with Hubby, and you can bet we’ll be forging even more unforgettable connections.
CHAOS (excited, playful) Oh, it’s another great one! I’ll be the one causing total mayhem after beating the taxi seat hustle in a train station— and somehow, we still make it out alive. But hey, the chaos? Always memorable.
COMPASS (mock patience) Listeners, help me out here — please engage with us.
CHAOS (interrupting, smirking) Compass please just stop!! That pleading really hasn’t been working so let’s try something else… Keep your shit to yourself. We will go on talking about us because we have plenty of stories going back to 1995 and we have plans on the books for the next two years to make more!! So keep silent, we only need your ears and a finger. Sure you can use the middle one if you want to, go ahead. Then you can take that finger…
COMPASS: CHAOS!!
CHAOS: and put it right on the share as you post this and the finger to social media using the tag @compasschaos13
COMPASS (cutting in, mock sigh) Please Stop. The show’s over. Just get out!(sound tired) I’m Compass — bringing the planned direction.
CHAOS (proudly) And I’m Chaos — bringing the unexpected!
CHAOS (in sync) Together, we make global connections.
HEATHER (narrator / flight attendant tone) Welcome back to the present. On behalf of your dueling hosts, Compass and Chaos, thank you for adventuring with CompassChaos13.
Before you stand, please make sure your pants are dry, your eyes are clear, and your snots are wiped — we don’t do refunds for emotional turbulence.
Some of what you heard today may sound unbelievable, but rest assured — it’s all true, and no one on this adventure is innocent.
For photos, travel tips and to read our blogs wander over towww.CompassChaos13.com.
Thank you for connecting with us today. We hope YOUR layover in OUR world brought a little curiosity, a bit of laughter, and a lot of connection.
This is CompassChaos13 — signing off.