Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2009

Christa1 wrote: »

Funkyfin: We are going the other way. LV to Yosemite and had planned just to hit the main route for around an 8 hr journey, the road via DV looked really like a local road and we thought would take much longer, can you let me know what yopu think from your journey?

The road is fine through DV. The big decision you have to make is which side of the mountains you wish to go up. On the east side, through DV and then up past Bishop you can stop off at Mammoth before hitting yosemite, or if you go the longer route via Bakersfield and up the west side you get a chance to stop off at Sequoia or Kings NP.

bounty99, I have never read a T/R where anyone sounded as totally thrilled as you were. Now you've done it, all of your worldly goods will have to be sold so that you can go back again and again and again. You will see on here lots and lots of people that go to Vgas more than once a year, we go at least 4, and wouldn't think of going anywhere else.

ferf,

thanks very much for the map

also,what is a usual tip for the valet?

bounty99 wrote: »

and if i have to sell my worldly possessions then thats exactly what i'l do!

That's what I like to hear, the good old British spirit:D

day 2



woke up at 5am, showered and got dressed, had no time left to get breakfast as van was coming at 06.15 to pick us up, we made our way outside and the weather was beautiful and warm, we took some photos whilst waiting and saw a van pull up with Grand-Adventures written on side of it, this was us.




We walked upto the van and was greeted by Darryl who was our driver and tour guide for today, stepped in the van and there were five other people already in there, we said our hellos, me by losing my balance whilst getting on board and about to fall in someones lap! how shameful! We were on our way after Darryl picked up the last couple who were staying at bellagio. I took random photos of hotels we passed and soon got bored and decided to close my eyes and sleep the rest of the journey, as me and bal only slept for 4 hours and were awake for at least over 24 hours before that.




An hour into the journey the van was coming to a standstill, it was breakfast time at McDonalds! Whoo hoo! looking at the board i couldnt choose what i wanted to eat so settled on a safe bet of egg mcmuffin roll, hash brown and strawberry milkshake with apple pie for dessert, bal opted for the same.

This breakfast was delicious, the milkshake was bursting with strawberry flavours, the apple pie was soft and warm and the egg mcmuffin was so tasty i ate it in 3 bites full, first time ever iv been impressed with mcdonalds!




After breakfast we were on the road again and as usual i took more photos, especially when we stopped off at hoover dam, so lovely and peaceful. We could see construction workers on the new bridge that is being made and it is huge! After 15 mins of soaking up hoover dam atmosphere and picture perfect opportunities we made our way back on the road again. We came to another pit stop after a couple of hours in an Arizona petrol station and took this time to stretch our legs and to get some water. I noticed they also sold souvenirs so bal bought me a sand globe and a hat to keep the sun away from my face, if it was burning hot here, how hot would it be at the canyon?! After the 10 minute stop we were once again back on the road, i noticed i was falling asleep and dammit bal did it again, he deliberately startled me into waking up! i hate it when he does that! iv yet to return the favour...




After another couple of hours on the road Darryl told us we were stopping on Route 66 for 20 minutes so we could have a look around. I got off the van looking for the Route 66 sign to take photos of, whilst looking for the sign i couldnt help but notice mannequins all dressed up on a shop roof, and other mannequins seated on a bench where people would sit next to them and have their photos taken, it kinda freaked me out and reminded me of the movie, the hills have eyes. We found the sign and took photos of it, we next went into the shops and saw a few snow globes, found a good one of Route 66 and bal bought it for me. Twenty minutes were up and we made our way back to the van on our last leg of the journey.



We got to Grand Canyon an hour or so later on the South Rim side, Darryl let us off at the visitors centre while he parked the van, we went looking for a grand canyon snowglobe but they didnt sell any so made our way out of there and walked towards the canyon - one word - AWESOME! This is Mother Nature at her best, it literally looked like the canyon was a huge canvas painting, words cannot describe how beautiful it truly is.




Out came the cameras, Bal had one and i had one and we were happily snapping away as was everyone else, Darryl was explaining the facts of grand canyon but it was hard to listen when trying to comprehend that you're at grand canyon and just staring open-mouthed in awe of it.



Bal was doing his best to stay away from the edge as hes not that into heights but i managed to get him to come with me where Darryl took a picture of us with the canyon in background, i was impressed that he made it this far, nice one bounty.




We stopped for a while to have a picnic, Darryl had bought Arby's sandwiches for us which we all had to choose the filling when we made our booking, Bal had the turkey and i had the veg, and yes once again, it was delicious, i will be keeping an eye out for Arby sandwiches when i am in the States again.


After our picnic we began walking the trail and every so often stopped to take photos and when i took photos too close to the edge bal would hold onto my bag strap (as i am rather clumsy) ready to save me if i slipped over the edge, but what a great way to go! After a while of getting too close to the edge and already stumbling a few times on stones and rocks bal would just outright not let me get any closer! not fair! It got to the point where whenever i saw him talking to other people i would go closer and closer to the edge to take mind-blowing pictures and oops he'd see me, but it was worth it!




we spent at least over 3 hours at the canyon, took crazy, beautiful photos, i fought with the big massive fat flies as did bal and went many times close to the edge, we loved every single moment of grand canyon and will definitely be returning to see what it looks like in autumn and winter.


i felt really dehydrated after we completed our walk on the trail so me and bal went in search for water and walked for quite a bit till we found some. we got to the tap and we downed all the water we could, bliss.



After, we met up with the group, everyone was accounted for and it was time to make our way back home, darryl stopped at a petrol stop so we could buy water and such, i also saw a grand canyon snowglobe which i bought and a trilby hat for bal. Made our way back to the van and had an uneventful drive back, we got to know the couple sitting behind us and were chatting to them for a bit till we decided to go to sleep as we were feeling really tired....bal went to sleep before me, nah forget it, im not gonna wake him up, some other time maybe...he was really tired cos he was snoring really loudly for the whole van to hear so i pretended to be asleep too, but couldnt cos of how loud he was!




we got back to our hotel at around 20.30 and decided to sleep for a couple of hours before heading downstairs for dinner and 3 card poker...at least thats what we thought!




Day 3 to follow...