USA Road Trip - Day 31

I think the Grand Canyon deserves a post of its own.  Disappointingly, our only day in the Grand Canyon was rainy and stormy.  Our first sight of the Grand Canyon, while amazing was slightly diminished by the huge downpour making it difficult to see a few steps in front of us let alone deep into the canyon.  We made a quick dash back to the visitor centre to regroup.

First wet and foggy sight of the Grand Canyon

We had booked a helicopter tour over the canyon for the afternoon and we hoped the weather would clear up.  We headed to the airport and waited for our group to be called.  Luckily by the time we were due to depart the weather, while still gloomy, as at least dry.

Waiting for our turn, already feeling nervous, then they hand me the flimsiest looking life jacket.

Leigh's first time in a helicopter!

The tour over the Canyon was stunning.  Flying out over the rim, with the land dropping away to reveal the scope and vast expanse of the Canyon was an amazing experience.  Even flying over the Canyon, I don’t think you can ever fully grasp how large and immense the place is.  We hope to return in the future to hike down into the Canyon.

Heading towards the rim

Over the edge and into the Canyon

That evening we planned to watch the sunset over the Canyon.  Unfortunately it was still overcast so the sunset wasn’t as dramatic as we had hoped but it was still a beautiful experience.

USA Road Trip - Days 27 to 30

After our relaxing stay in southern California we decided we needed to take things up a notch and see the bright lights of Las Vegas.  We headed off around lunch time after a long and tearful farewell with Oscar and Felix.

As we entered Nevada we were greeted by mini Vegas.  We were pretty excited that the Nevada Welcome Centre was packed with casinos and over the top tacky goodness.

Once we entered the Las Vegas area we started at the very beginning of the Strip and slowly made our way up in to the action, absorbing all the excess and slight hint of sleaze.  We did a lap of the strip then headed back to New York New York where we had decided to stay.

By the time we checked in and got ourselves settled it was evening and we were ready to see the Vegas lights by night.  We watched the Bellagio fountain display to the soothing sounds of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” and gambled a little (although for an Asian, I’m not much of a gambler, more of an eater).  That night we made the executive decision to take on more nocturnal like sleep patterns as it was too hot to be out in the Vegas sun, and it was more fun to be out at night.

After thoroughly embracing our new sleeping patterns we awoke around 1pm and thought about what we wanted to do that day.  We had been hearing good things about some men, painted blue, who had formed a group.  Apparently they had a show and it was worth seeing.  Marc organised some tickets for us and we had part of our night planned.  Unfortunately we were not able to take photos in the theatre but let me assure you that the Blue Man Group was amazing.  After the show we wandered around the Venetian Casino, enjoying the faux canals and delightful shops.  We gambled some more (I should say Marc gambled and I watched on trying to figure out why I was the only Asian among a sea of Asians who had no desire to throw money away) and Marc did quite well at the poker table.

The next day while Marc slept, I headed out for a little pampering.  We then met for lunch and I made Marc buy me gifts with his winnings from the previous night.  We had a look around the opulent Bellagio, a little overwhelmed by the excess and the crowds.  As we were leaving the next day we had a quiet night of buffet goodness before retiring to our room to lay on our California king size bed, slowly falling into a deep food coma.

Inside the Bellagio

Our last day in Las Vegas saw us head to Fremont Street, the older, less glitzy but still gaudy, part of Vegas.  It wasn’t as over the top during the day but it was still fun to see.

Leaving Las Vegas we headed towards the Grand Canyon.  Just a few miles out of town we realised that we were quickly approaching the Hoover Dam.  This was a lovely surprise as I remembered the scene in the delightful Matthew Perry movie, Fools Rush In, where Salma Hayek gives birth.  Marc was excited for the role the Dam played in Transformers.  You can tell we really appreciated the significance of this engineering feat.

It was amazing to see the magnitude of the structure and how forward thinking the people were at the time the Dam was constructed.  But really, what really caught out attention was how low the water levels were.  You could clearly see the water mark and how much it had dropped.  A lot of the US, especially the west is currently suffering a drought and it was incredibly evident here.