Las Vegas P.2

Oct 02nd - October 10th (Day 212 - Day 220)

We met my parents at the Hilton Grand Vacation Suites where we had a villa room booked. This was fantastic for us because we had a kitchen in the room and a washer and a dryer. For Tina and I it was like having the luxury of home for a week. Something we were starting to miss after 7 months away.

My parents had also rented a car for the week which was great because as much as we had enjoyed the week of hitting the casinos, restaurants and bars, were where itching to get out and see what else was around Nevada.

On our first full day together we all jumped in the car and drove to red rock canyon which is a rock formation and mountain range just outside Las Vegas. It only took about 30 minutes to get there and we were not sure what to expect. When we got there we were amazed, the scenery was really beautiful, with vivid red rock formations and vast mountains rising out of the desert.

The following day we had an early start as we had a long drive to the Grand Canyon ahead of us. We jumped in the car and headed to the International House of Pancakes to fuel up and then we were on our way! The drive should have taken around 5 hours but due to my expert navigational skills it took near 6 hours. Although I still insist my interesting detours added value to the trip.

We reached the Grand Canyon mid afternoon and headed straight some of the canyon view points. We were all very excited to get our first glimpses. We drove for a short while and then pulled up at the first view point called ´Grandview point´. We all got our to take in the view…..it was amazing, we all stood there in awe taking in all the detail of the Grand canyon and the Colorado river running through it. We might have stood there all day as the view was so good. However unfortunately the weather had changed substantially since we left Las Vegas wearing our shorts and t-shirts, we had gained altitude and it was now FREEZING! So we soon all ran back to the car to huddle around the heater.

We spent the rest of the afternoon taking in more view spots, whilst trying to keep as warm as possible. The views just got better and better, they were simply breathtaking. As it began to get dark we headed back to the village on the southside of the rim to find our lodge and to get some food.

We woke up early the following day to try and get to a good view spot by sunrise. When we opened to door to I was shocked to see snow falling in front of me. This was not in the plan, when we organized our year long trip one of the aims was to follow the sun and have a year long summer…….this was not meant to involve snow! We jumped into the car and drove to some of our favourite view spots from the previous day. As we drove we found ourselves driving through a winter wonderland…a thin layer of snow on the ground and ice and frost hanging of trees and rocks….it was unexpected but very pretty.

After taking in the Grand Canyon one last time we prised ourselves away and started the long drive back to Las Vegas.

On our way back we had decided to make a detour to route 66 as we were so close to the iconic road. It was also a great decision. We had a great time taking in the amazing views alongside the road and the associated iconic sights and sounds. From the biker bars and cafes we passed along the route to the Indian settlements and the seemingly endless freight trains passing by us as we drove. All of this under an amazing blue sky. We also stuck some Johnny Cash on the stereo just to complete the scene…perfect.

We spent the rest of the week with my parents taking in some more of the sites around Las Vegas such as the Hoover Dam and the Valley of Fire. We also ventured back to the strip to see the Bellagio fountains again and to show my parents the fun of slot machines in Circus Circus.

Finally it came to the time for my parents to leave, we had had a great time but we had a slight issue that we had no idea what we were going to do next, whether to stay in the states or move on to a new country. In the end, fairly randomly we decided to take on the 3 flight, 36 hour journey to Ecuador! South America here we come!

xxx