Performance Champion

Our last full day in Vegas began with us eating a buffet breakfast (courtesy of G&K again) almost all by ourselves. We guessed too many of our fellow G&K vacationers had stayed up too late or had drunk too much or had gambled into the wee hours of the morning and were all sleeping in.

We didn't mind. We enjoyed our breakfast despite the lack of people.

Since we had a full free day ahead of us, we decided to take advantage of our rental car and go on a driving excursion--to the Grand Canyon--2 1/2 hours away.

Neither one of us had been to the Grand Canyon and we thought it was high time we saw what it was all about.

We reached a point where all cars had to park and everyone had to board a bus that took us to the west rim of the Canyon.

First stop was Eagle Point.

If you look at the place where the rock line dips down, that is the body of the eagle and then the wings of the eagle going up from there.

Glen is standing at the tip of the right wing of the Eagle. He was giving me a heart attack, panic attack and great anxiety as he was stepping closer and closer to the rim of the Canyon.

I tell you what--one wrong step and you're a goner. It was totally freaking me out!!!!

We made our way over to the building to get on the Grand Canyon Skywalk.

It is a U-shaped glass bridge that protrudes 70 feet out from the rim of the Canyon from which you can look 4,000 feet straight down to the Canyon floor.

This was the best picture we could get because they banned cell phones and cameras on the walkway and the only bragging rights we had were the "You Did It!" poster and our wristband.

Of course we could have gotten our picture taken on the bridge using their photographer, but we did not want to shell out the $30 fee to have that done.

We walked through an area that displayed different Indian dwellings from various Indian tribes.

This man invited me into his hogan and explained that the first one is a male hogan--where the men would gather together in councils and discuss what was happening in the tribe.

The round one is a female hogan where all the women would gather to cook and care for the children.

He reminded me so much of my nephew, Zane, who absolutely loves everything having to do with the Indian culture. The necklace he was wearing looks like the beadwork necklaces Zane works on all the time and this guy even talked exactly like Zane.

The bus took us to a different part of the rim where we ate lunch under the tarp and had a great view of the Canyon while eating.

This was our view to the left, and

this was our view to the right.

Straight ahead there was a huge, round, red rock formation that came to a peak and there were many people who walked out there to hike to the top of the peak. Looked way too scary for my taste. We just looked at it from a distance.

Yet again, I kept thinking--
one ... wrong ... step ... and ...

there SHE GOES!!!!

It was fascinating to experience the grandeur, beauty and majesty of the Grand Canyon; yet, I found myself breathing a sigh of relief as we were leaving when I realized my husband would not have to balance himself atop a red rock platform, teetering on the edge of the rim of the Canyon, just for the sake of getting a great photo, ever again!

The culmination of our fabulous trip came that evening when we got all dressed up and headed down to the ballroom for the G&K Spirit of Excellence Banquet and Awards Ceremony.

As I was admiring the fancy table setting, Glen was checking his phone trying to get updates on the BYU/Utah football game; and that's just what he did throughout the whole evening.

What a fancy and delicious filet mignon meal topped off with trilogy of chocolate for dessert--which was an absolute piece of art the way it was displayed.

Let the awards ceremony begin--with all the company winners from the Gulf Plains Region up first. This award was recognizing Glen for being one of the five top performers of all the G&K general managers throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Glen is the third one from the right.

The second award Glen received was for top general manager of the Gulf Plains Region.

It was so nice having Glen be recognized for all the hard work he has done this past fiscal year. He certainly gives his whole heart and soul to the company every single year, that's for sure. And it's extra wonderful when he gets the high numbers and qualifies for the Spirit of Excellence trips.

An added bonus for me was getting to finally meet his boss, Harland, who really gushed over what a great job Glen does in Salt Lake City. The other leaders of the company were also very quick to praise him and his efforts and show their appreciation about knowing how they can rely on him to do extra things on the corporate level when they need his help on various projects. I know Glen works hard and it's nice to know others recognize his hard work as well.

Glen doesn't like to toot his own horn, so I'll toot it for him.

Congratulations, Mr. G&K Performance Champion!!! Well done!!!