Las Vegas to Grand Caynon

Part of the Vegas strip at night

Trip Taken February 2004

Why do people keep going back to Las Vegas, otherwise know as Sin City? Even non-gamblers? Because it is the biggest, tackiest, brightest playground for one and all. I am a non-gambler; don’t know how to and never had the patience to learn it, but I realize that I saw only a very small percent of it even though I have been there three times!

The best way to start a trip to Las Vegas is to land there when its night time. Since Las Vegas is built in the middle of an arid desert floor in what seems to be the middle of no where, all one can see as you land is the brightest streams of colorful lights that sparkle beneath and get brighter and more colorful as the plane lands. The beauty of the airport is that as the cab takes one into the city, the same lights appear in front in the form of gigantic lit buildings and signs everywhere. It just got my adrenaline going each time, like I wanted to run around like a kid and see it all and touch it all.

Reception area of The Bellagio: art piece on the ceiling

Then there are these things called casinos. Modern casinos have so much money into researching how not to let people out of them… and each is so big. It is difficult to find your way out also because they don’t believe in exit signs, so walk around in circles mostly until you realize you were just there a while ago! That becomes a game in itself, I guess, or that is my clearest memory from my stay in MGM Grand.

You would be restricting yourself if all you are looking for is gambling or partying. Although these are central activities, the variety of shows, food, shopping, architecture and variety of people from the richest serious gamblers, or whales as they are called there, to the love bird couple playing their fantasies out for a few days.

Close up of the Bellagio ceiling piece

Let’s start with my favorite: the shows. You have to research all the shows and choose a variety to fit your time and pockets. My favorite was “Le Femme” at MGM, now called “The Crazy Horse Paris”, a thirteen woman nude show that would take a talented member to catch a second of full nudity because the show is a play on the eyes with lights in shapes and forms dancing off of the bodies of swaying, perfectly matched, unequivocal bodies of the ballet dancers. Only in Vegas… the best of art and erotic.

Cirque du Soleil is a popular circus show. They have at least a couple of different shows in different themes, and it isn’t cheap, so read the stories before deciding on which one to go to for the evening.

If you look at a map and think you are going to walk from one front gate of a casino to another in 10 minutes, think again. MGM Grand sits on 6.6 acres and that is a lot to walk across. So your legs will fall off by the time you walk through all these wonderful theme casinos – Venetian, Bellagio, Caesar’s Palace, MGM, New York New York, Alladin, Excalibur, Mandalay bay, Treasure Island – and the list goes on and on just on what is known as the Las Vegas Strip. The themes are so well done and detailed down to the carpets and employee outfits in each that I felt like I was moving through different periods of time through different places. It is kind of sensory overload!

I really have no comments on gambling. It is a vice and an addiction; can cost a little bit more than the other popular vices, but each adult to his/her own in this grown up town. I judge not, lest I be judged, but do pity on partners of those who don’t know boundaries and limits. Enough said, moving on. Basically, the casinos make a lot of money because people loose a lot of money there… one plus one?

In Sin City, things can get sinfully extravagant and expensive. The smart traveler ought to look for deals in advance because casinos are always giving great deals to get people to stay there in hope that if they give out great bargains for room and food, then we feel comfortable enough to stay right there and loose money.

The Hoover Dam

So from such a recently created man made city of indulgence, we took a road trip to the Grand Canyon, a natural wonder created over two billion years. The drive took us across the Hoover Dam, which created the largest man made lake and reservoir and lake in the US, Lake Mead. It’s quite huge and the need for it is obvious, around 38 miles from Vegas, built in the middle of a desert. Apart from driving, there are helicopter rides from Vegas to Grand Canyon too.

We stayed inside the Grand Canyon Park. There are five lodges within the park itself, and they have from rustic to suite style rooms. We choose the rustic one close to the rim of the canyon itself. It was a wonderful experience. Each has their own restaurant and shuttle back and forth for activities, so no worries about parking your car in different places or walking too far. Web site for park lodging: http://usparklodging.com/grandcanyon/index.php

A view into the cannon from the chopper

The thing to do, and this must be me stating the obvious, is to take a helicopter ride into the canyon. The size of it, the colors of the canyon over time, the snow on the top and the flowing Colorado River are so magnificent, I honestly stuck my nose to the glass and had to slow my breathing down to take in the gigantic beauty. I also wanted to enjoy the moment since we only had one night there, so I forgot to take pictures as I stared out at Mother Nature! The sunsets and sunrises are amazing because they bring out the red colors and gold silt in the canyon. This you must make time for if you go as far as Vegas.

From wonders of mankind to wonders of nature, I think we pretty much covered the two extremes in this trip. I think there is so much to see in this world that it isn’t worth repeating a place, but I need to reverse the time and spend more days at the Grand Canyon and just throw in a day of fun in Vegas.

Grand Canyon Park Lodge on the right, at sunset