This is the second stop on my first big scary trip around the world after I retiring. It includes having to much to drink for my birthday and exploring the strip as well as handling a helicopter trip hung over the next day.
This post continues on on the journey I took with my son in 2010 around the world. If you would like to see the story so far you can start it all here.
LINK: My First World Trip : Where It All Started
Las Vegas
We arrived in the afternoon and stepping out of the air conditioned Greyhound bus was quite a shock. It was SO HOT! We had been advised to not book a hotel on the Las Vegas strip and to book one on the street behind. You walked through your hotel and then were in the partner shopping centre that was on the strip. This was my first time there so I relied on advice from friends and family and ended up staying at the Imperial Palace (since we visited this has been bought out and is not the LINQ Hotel).
Once we found our hotel we checked in and then had a few drinks to cool down. We had a look around the hotel and casino and the attached shops waiting for it to cool down. Venturing out onto the street as the sun was going down we were confronted with the endless stream of cars and people and the noise that went along with it. We started our walk down the strip walking into each casino along the way.
Streets were crowded with people dressed in some weird outfits, others playing music and singing and everything was open and preparing for a big night. People walking down the street drinking alcohol which was a bit strange to us as you are not allowed to do this in Australia.
There was every type of food you could ever want as well as bars selling every type of alcohol. Every bar or club had its own signature cocktail and a different container to put it in.
As it was my birthday we decided to have dinner and a few drinks in one of the nearby casinos. My son bought me a pina-colada in the shape of the Eiffel Tower that would have been at least 2 Litres or over 2 Pints. Don’t know how many standard drinks it held but there are photos of me draped over a life sized flamingo after I drank half of it below.
Las Vegas is definitely another city that never sleeps. You get inside one of those casinos in daylight and when you come out it’s dark. We walked our legs off and saw everything we could. Caesars Palace with all the fake relics and people dressed up in togas. Flamingo even had a pool with live flamingos in it that I went back and got a photo of the next day when it was open.
Paris had the ceiling painted like the sky with clouds and looked like a little village, it was so real. Circus Circus speaks for itself. The Mirage with its amazing aquarium in the reception area. Hard Rock Cafe with the same food you get all over the world. The Mirage and Bellagio fountains were set to music and so beautiful.
As you can see from the photo above my camera skills had gone down hill in direct relation to the amount of Pina colada I had at that time.
We stopped at some of the gambling tables to watch people throwing their money away, they are so serious. I can definitely find something more exciting to do with my money than that.
Don’t remember what time we got to bed but the morning came too soon. We had to head over to the airport to take a helicopter ride down into the Grand Canyon.
It was however the beginning of the tradition my son had of making sure I definitely had a sore head the next day and try flying in a helicopter with a hangover. I was not sure I would make it.
The Grand Canyon
When we started to think about seeing the Grand Canyon we found that there were only two ways to get there. By bus or by helicopter. So we did some research and found that the bus trip was cheaper but left at 7:30am and was a 14 hour round trip and under $100 usd each. The helicopter was more expensive at $400 usd.
My son hunted around for a coupon or deal and got it for $300 usd each and since neither of us had been in a helicopter and the round trip time was only 4 hours we decided to give it a go.
The helicopter took 4 passengers and we thought we’ll get to sit in the front, but the other two passengers started walking faster and dived into the front seats before us. We were a bit disappointed as the back seats were a bit of a tight squeeze and didn’t give you much space to take photos. Oh well, that’s how the cookie crumbles.
Taking off from the airport in the morning was amazing anyway, so many suburbs on the outskirts of Las Vegas. The land is very flat but the housing development seems to go on forever. As we flew towards the Grand Canyon we could see the Hoover Dam in the distance, what an amazing sight. Reminded me of old movies that were filmed there in the black and white movie days. Usually shoot em ups or gangster movies.
There were also lots of houseboats moored at jetties on Lake Mead. Must be very busy in the summer. We also saw the remains of the accommodation for the workers who were employed to build the original dam wall. Everything had been removed but the area looked like a checker-board.
The colours of the mountains and the rocky outcrops were amazing. So many different shades of blues, greys, oranges, ochers, and pinks. As I paint with watercolour, I took dozens of photos for my records. This way I would be able to paint authentically and not from memory.
When the Grand Canyon loomed up with all its colour and beauty, it was definitely a sight to behold. Has to be seen from the air to really appreciate it and one of the wonders of the world for sure. Another couple of dozen photos later and we were heading down to land.
We landed on an outcrop half way down into the Canyon and the sights were out of this world. We could see the Glass Bottomed Grand Canyon Lookout up on the other side of the Canyon, and the river running below us.
Tents had been erected to give us some shade and we sat and enjoyed our chicken and champagne lunch, complete with dessert. Took some amazing photos of the place, right down to little flowering cactus.
They provided a champagne lunch and between the excitement of being on a helicopter, flying into the mouth of the grand canyon and the alcohol it took the edge off our hangovers and made us feel better.
All too soon it was time to fly back. We headed to the helicopter again, and the pilot said “It’s your turn to sit in the front” which was great. Karma was on our side and we can not say we didn’t get a little happy about the pouty looking shover inners that now had to sit in the back.
Now I could take some good photos and before we landed we flew right over Las Vegas just as the sun was setting. It sure looked different from above glittering gold in the sunlight.
Another Box Ticked. Kerching.
That night we decided to see a show and picked the magician David Copperfield. He was really great. Don’t know how he does it. He made an enormous car disappear off the stage, plus so much more. Well worth the money.
As this was our last night in Las Vegas, we had a great meal, a couple of wines and wandered back to our hotel. Stopping once again to watch the Night Water Fountain Show.
The next day we flew back to San Francisco for the next leg of the journey to spend 3 days sightseeing. We had a round the world ticket so if we traveled backwards you had to pay extra flight cost. The many things you learn while travelling.
NOTE:
Keep in mind with this whole trip it was 2010 and the camera I had purchased had a digital zoom but no optical zoom and not like the mobile phones of today. The resolution of the camera was not that great and the constant swapping out memory cards and batteries was a nightmare.
My son downloaded the images each night onto a little laptop he had purchased for the trip as tablets were not really popular yet. And there was no such thing as the cloud. How things have changed for the better.