Northward bound
Trip Start
Feb 13, 2007
1
68
79
Trip End
Jul 24, 2007
Seattle,
Washington,
United States
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
I believe I left you in San Diego, so since then:
The long drive to Tusayan, to visit the Grand Canyon was quite grueling, perhaps the worst part being the inability to escape fast food en route - it makes the UK's overpriced service stations with salad bars and balanced food seem a lot more appealing.
We arrived in Tusayan at about 18:00 and checked into the very nice Red Feather Lodge. Debate then ensued whether or not to get up at 4 a.m. the next morning to see sunrise over the Canyon. We decided yes, and it was worth it. The vast expanse of the Canyon is hard to express in words, and seeing the sunrise and the colour changes over the orange-red rocks was fantastic. Of course, we then retired to bed for a few more hours before seeing more of the national park.
On our return we did some walking, a lot of picture-taking and the free shuttle bus to the far end of the Park - Hermit's Rest. We were able to see rapids on the Colorado River and some excellent East-West views. Because of time, we weren't able to trek into the Canyon - an excuse to return, I think.
We left at about 1:30 p.m. for another sizable drive to Las Vegas, although we stopped en route at the Hoover Dam. It was impressive, and quite artistically built across a wide valley; however, it was nothing compared to Itaipu, but worth seeing nonetheless.
And so to Las Vegas. Wow. It is an odd place, but a must see. Everything is so big, so grand, so over-sized, so over-the-top, but there is something of fun atmosphere about the place. We spent time strolling up and the down The Strip (deceptively long!) visiting the crazy casinos from the pyramid at Luxor, to New York, New York and of course Venice at the Venetian. Not to mention the dancing fountains of the Bellagio or the Volcano at The Mirage.
It was a lot of fun. One highlight had to be the all you can eat buffet in the Bellagio at lunch time, for the excellent price of $20 - I would recommend it - the choice and quality of the food was amazing. We also went out one night and ending up seeing a performance by the Las Vegas contingent of the Pussycat Dolls, preceded by our walk along The Strip with a yard of Margarita!
Anyway, time flies - will carry on later.
J
