The Beautiful Grand Canyon in Blue
On day four of our trip, it was time to make the 3.5 to 4 hour drive from Las Vegas to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon where you can view the canyon from the overlooks in the national park. We got up early in an effort to be sure we got there in enough time to catch the awesome views before sunset. Kara prepared and packed up snacks, we had bottled water , and some additional beverages just in case! ;)
Kevin was sweet enough to drive on the way out, so the rest of us were able to nap, take pictures and play on the computer. It was definitely a long ride, and I don't think it helped that we stopped a lot, but it's worth it to see the canyon in person!
As we arrived to the entrance of the park, snow started falling. The forecast had a 30% chance of precipitation, so we weren't surprised. We found our way to the new visitor center (another amenity that wasn't there the last time Kara had been), and were able to watch a video about the Canyon and how it came to be. It's really an amazing thing to watch and learn about. Following the video, we walked the path to the overlook, and with all the snow, it was ironically very difficult to see the canyon in it's entirety. We got a lot of pictures and although there wasn't full visibility, it was still and amazing sight!
We hadn't eaten for a while and the snow was still coming down, so we decided to check out one of the lodges in the park. Looking at the map and driving around, I was so surprised at how many people live and work there and what all they actually have accessible within the park! There is a grocery store, various restaurants and eateries, a bank and a post office. There is also a school and lots of housing for employees. It was kind of like visiting a small town in the middle of nowhere. Our friends Elaine and John talked to one of the staff members, and he said there isn't really anything within less than an hour and a half to two-hour of the park as far as activities and entertainment go. Seems crazy coming from suburbia and the city!
We went to Maswik Lodge where they had a food court with various food options. You could even buy beer there, nice huh?! The Lodge had a gift shop and there was also a front desk reservation area if you are a guest. Lunch was tasty... better than fast food, but no fine dining. They have some restaurants that are more fine dining, but we were keeping it simple.
The snow seemed to be coming down even harder after we ate! We were kind of hoping it would slow down, but as we were checking out the gift shop, we noticed it getting worse! Our initial instinct was to get in the car and hit the road, but it started to slow down and we had driven so far to get there, we decided to get out another overlook. We stopped by where they have canyon side cabins (they were so cool) with an awesome view of the canyon. Kara said she had looked into them just in case we wanted to stay in the park for a night, but they were all booked! But as we were walking along the path, we were able to catch some blue sky and were actually able to see the fog lift out of the canyon. Seeing all the way down and across the canyon was absolutely amazing and it seemed like it was fate cause we weren't going to stop, but we were absolutely glad we did!
Paul actually convinced us that we should stop back by the original overlook (by the visitor center) because as the fog started to lift, he was sure he could get some breathtaking shots of the canyon. It was getting dark, but he had his tripod and we walked back out through the trail to the original spot, he set up and you would not believe what he got! Check these beautiful photos out!
I couldn't be happier with the outcome because not only did I get to see the Grand Canyon, I got to see it in a way that many people don't! In BLUE.... When we had first gotten there, Kara and Kevin actually overheard another couple talking and one of them had said he had been to the canyon many times and it was the first time he had ever seen it in these colors. Now see them in HDR!
I know one day Paul and I will go back there... we may even go back with Kara and Kevin who were talking about doing a two-week camping/rafting adventure through the canyon, but I have a feeling that I will never again see it in that light! Absolutely amazing...
Valentine's was Quite a Ride!
Our Valentine's Day only began with the visit to the Neon Museum, and the rest of the day was super fun! I honestly can't believe how much we actually fit into the day.
When we left the sign museum we decided to head out toward Red Rock Canyon Resort where we had heard about an awesome Mexican restaurant that had some great happy hour specials. Unfortunately with it being Valentine's Day, Happy Hour wasn't what we had hoped and we changed plans and went to BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse. I was actually surprised by the extensive menu and had trouble deciding what I wanted, they had everything from sandwiches, to pasta and pizza. They had some very nice beer options, and even had gluten-free meal, beer, and desert options!
After leaving BJ's we thought it would be nice to check out Red Rock Canyon. Unfortunately the park area was closed, but Paul was able to get a pretty nice shot from the road! That's definitely another spot I'd like to check out in more depth if and when we got back again.
Now it was back to Vegas we go! This was probably the most fun evening of our entire trip! We headed to the MGM Grand first, and found ourselves a Fat Tuesday's on the way into the Casino! We wanted to see the MGM Lion Habitat, but were disappointed to find that they had closed it a couple weeks prior. The Lions have been retired to a ranch outside of Vegas. Oh well, now onto New York New York! We took Molly's recommendation and rode the roller coaster in New York New York! It was pretty awesome!
After we left New York New York, we headed over to Ex Calibur where we met John and Elaine. Apparently they were pretty successful on the New York New York slots, so they were feeling good! And decided to get a pic with Sponge Bob... I bet Matthew will love to see that one!
We then decided to stop over at the Tropicana, and I was amazed by how nice this hotel was! It was very bright and clean, and I liked that. Of course, it did seem to attract the "Senior" crowd so we didn't stay long, but did get some cool pics on their bamboo wall! Look at these beautiful ladies!
By this time, it felt like we were just getting started, and it became a night of rides cause we headed over to the Stratosphere to hop on some rides there! I was surprised how nice the Stratosphere is considering it is an older hotel!
We all went to the top observation and John, Kara and I were all going to just hang out while Elaine, Kevin and Paul rode some rides. We got some cool videos of the experience. After it was said and done, I gave in and decided to ride the Big Shot Ride, and it was AWESOME! I can only somewhat compare it to Archophobia at Six Flags, but even crazier cause you are on top of a very tall building to start and then go up even higher! And it's crazy cause once you start to go up higher, you no longer see the building around you but just the city skyline around you! Insane!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QgYNheLbus&w=750&h=411]
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4WJzyCd5Ww&w=750&h=411]
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHydIS8HOmw&w=750&h=411]
That was me playing with a BIG slot machine! Too funny...
The night was starting to wind down a little, but was still not over cause after all those Fat Tuesday drinks and the excitement of the rides, we were ready for some food!!! We headed back to the mini van, had an exciting ride through the parking garage, and then headed to Peppermill for some huge meals! Luckily it's a 24 hour diner cause I think we hit it up around 2am and got some big breakfast meals and hearty sandwiches... I think every one of us had a doggy bag, and were ready to head back to the room to sleep off all that food!
Valentine's Date at the Neon Museum, Las Vegas
I'm doing double duty posting as many as I can about our trip to Vegas! I've got another handful of posts, and want to get caught up soon!
So on Valentine's Day we had a date at the Neon Museum or "Bone Yard." It was a very cool experience to say the least! The museum is in development and has not been around for very long, but in an effort to preserve the true art of the Vegas signs, they have begun a collection, and built a park and are in the process of developing a visitor center.
Right now you have to make advance reservations on their website to get a tour. The tour is with a guide and they are very informative and take much care in making sure everyone is safe (around the broken glass and rusted metal) and following the rules of the museum. We learned a lot about the various designers, font types used over the years and what the different shapes and colors signify. They even offer private photo shoot reservations for special events like wedding shoots and they even had a music video by the Killers filmed on site!
It is quite a sight, check out some of our pictures (Paul did HDR's of most of these), and in all honestly while the pics are amazing, it's is so awesome to see in person! You should check it out next time you're in Vegas and support the preservation of all of this awesome work from the past! It's well worth the donation!
Hope you enjoyed and stay tuned as there is a lot more to come from our trip!!!
The Amazing Hoover Dam and Surrounding Landscape
On our second full day in Vegas we were pretty ambitious planning to take a trip to both Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon. Ironically our timing wasn't quite right and with the hour lost going into Arizona, we quickly realized this day would be a Hoover Dam day...
But in either case, it was a pretty awesome sight! The Mike O'Callaghan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge provides a great view of the dam. As you walk up the walkway on your way to the bridge, there is all kind of information about the dam and the bridge. It was pretty cool. We of course stopped and got a picture of the state line.
The bridge we were on spanned 1900 feet and was made of 30,000 cubic yards of concrete and 16,000,000 pounds of steel! Kara had been to the dam years ago and they were just starting to build it and it was just finished a couple of years ago. It was awesome to see it from this perspective. Standing on the bridge, we were 880 feet above the river.
Leaving the bridge we took the scenic route on our way to the Grand Canyon and got a better glympse of the workings of the dam as well as Lake Mead.
On our way to the Grand Canyon, we stopped at this gas station and were convinced by the locals that it wasn't the best idea to head that direction. So it wasn't long before we turned around to head back to Vegas. I was a little disappointed, but we were going to make it to the Grand Canyon this trip, so it was all good!
As we were headed back, we saw an overlook that is part of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, and had to stop to get a look at the amazing views.
After our little climbing adventure we hopped back in our SEXY Dodge Caravan and hit the road! Hoover Dam... "check!"
Fremont Experience Las Vegas: Supporting a Local Artist
We are back from Vegas now and have tons of pictures and videos to share, I guess that is the name of the game! You go on vacation and when you get back you are playing catch-up with everything from work to personal. So bear with me as I do plan to share everything we did!
I guess we were a bit ambitious thinking we could post stuff daily as we had something going on EVERY day of the trip, and when we got back to the room we crashed only to wake up bright and early to start our next little adventure.
While we were experiencing Fremont Street (in old Vegas), we encountered some awesome artists, from musicians to contortionists to impersonators, but we were most impressed with the work of Mike Fletcher with Visual Art Images.
Mike is a spray paint artist and after talking with him a bit, he let us know his specialty is landscapes. We were so impressed with work that we couldn't leave without capturing him at work as well as purchasing an awesome landscape view of Vegas including the Bellagio and fountain, Luxor, Stratosphere and more! It was amazing how he created this piece of art with spray paint, the occasional stencil, and a putty knife! Absolutely amazing! And as part of the job, all art has to be completed within ten minutes!
Check out these pics and videos! It was awesome!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVEb9SliK-A&w=750&h=411]
The above video we caught mid-painting, but as he started we had no idea what the final result would be and it was totally awesome!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5U_WAAfMzg&w=750&h=411]
He did a Bob Marley one for our friends... Caught that full show.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhTEhPFipNA&w=750&h=411]
And then an underwater scene which was also pretty incredible!
We of course purchased the Vegas Landscape as I was just so impressed with that one!
Related articles
- Our Fremont Street Experience! (perdueosity.com)
Our Fremont Street Experience!
After a lot of gambling we decided it was time to experience Old Vegas and the" Fremont Street Experience." It was definitely a different side of town, but still full of lights and fun! They say this is where more of the locals go for gambling, and it definitely had that local feel in the casinos.
It was pretty awesome walking through the street covered in lights with the HUGE LCD (the largest LCD screen in the US)! There was plenty to see from the unique casino signs to the street performers. We were most entertained or in awww of the spray painter that we even bought a picture.
Stay tuned for a later post about the street artist as he was AWESOME!
Vegas Miracle Mile and Bellagio Fun!
Our first full day on the town, we checked out the Miracle Mile shops and the Bellagio. We started with lunch at Cabo Wabo, where Kara and I got ourselves some nice 32 oz. cups full of Pina Colada and Margaritas! It was super tasty!
We toured around the shops, had a few drinks here and there. Found a great option for drink refills that was less than half the price of most places, and Kevin got himself a beer at Sin City Brewing Company.
The coolest thing at Miracle Mile was the Rain storm! It literally rains in the middle of the mall every 30 minutes or so, starting with some thunder crashing and then some lightening and then the rain comes! It was pretty cool to see... essentially a glorified sprinkler system, but none the less it was pretty awesome!
From there we headed over to the Bellagio to check out the Garden, and awesome lobby with the Chihuly ceiling.
The gardens were amazing with the colorful dragons, and beautiful floral designs throughout. It was an extraordinary sight! And of course the Chihuly ceiling, and iconic horse were a site to see, and true to form of what you always see in the movies! So gorgeous!
We moved on to gambling and clearly fell into the syndrome of the casino, as we were there for a good five hours straight and totally did not feel the time pass one bit!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvBFSlpRC9w&w=750&h=411]
We Made It! Hello Vegas!
We all flew out Saturday, Paul and myself being the first of our group. The flight was on time and smooth, and our pilot even said "Everyone just snuggle up, and we'll be in Vegas in no time!" This was the flight Paul and I were meant to be on! What an awesome pilot!
The flight was pretty easy for the length of time we were on the plane. I watched FX movies and when I wasn't doing that I was helping Paul work on the menus design for Havana South Buford! And it turned out great!
We arrived in Vegas on time and before we knew it we were in baggage claim picking up our bags and heading to pick up our SEXY Mini-van! Oh yeah!
Kara and Kevin arrived about an hour after us, and by the time we had gotten the rental car, it was about time to head back over to pick them up! Once we all got together, we stopped by the resort (Wyndham Grand Desert) to see if could check-in, but no luck of course! So we decided to hit up a local brewery and grab lunch.
We went to Big Dog Brewery for some beer and lunch and it turned out to be a great choice! The beer was pretty awesome, and the food and service we right on par! There was a nice local atmosphere and they of course had casinos too! I was admiring all the dog artwork! They had a full dog wall that was really cool, I think Paul and I may do something similar, except maybe it will be a Chunk wall!
Following our lunch we toured the strip a bit on our way have to the hotel.
We were pleasantly surprised by our amenities as we got an AWESOME deal for the week! We have connecting rooms, each with a master bedroom, full kitchen, and living space with pull-out sofas. We even have a jacuzzi tub, two washer and dryers, and the amenities are great! We will be hitting up the 24 hour heated pool and hot tub this week! I imagine it'll be awesome after long days at the Grand Canyon, Skiing and just partying and cruising the strip!
We got ourselves settled in and decided to head over to pick up some food and beverage for the room. Elaine and John's flight was arriving late, so we were killing some time until they got in. When they arrived Paul and Kevin hopped in the SEXY mini-van, picked them up and we all hung out for a bit. Of course the time difference started to hit me, Kara and Kevin, and we were a lame and called it a night. But the party was just beginning for Paul, Elaine and John!
They headed over to New York New York and had a blast! Elaine and Paul are the gamblers in the group, so they could not be in Vegas without of course getting their gambling on! They were out until 6AM (9AM est), up over 24 hours straight! They started off true to the Vegas spirit!
Vegas Baby, Vegas!!!
Paul and I are going to Vegas with two other couples in about two weeks. The six of us are split three having been to Vegas before and three that have never set foot in "Sin City." We are very excited about everything we will be able to do, as we're not just going for a long weekend, but we will be there for an entire week! And not only that, but we will be there over Valentine's Day!
One of my very favorite movies is Swinger, and I just can't resist quoting...
[From Movie - Swingers: on the way to Las Vegas]
Trent: They’re gonna give daddy the Rainman suite, you dig that?
Mike: Do you think we’ll get there by midnight?
Trent: Baby, we’re going to be up five hundy by midnight!
Mike: Yeeeeaaaaahhhhhh!
Trent: Vegas baby! Vegas!
Mike: Vegas!
When we booked this trip, we booked it with the intention of sharing with friends, so we are so excited about having friends with us. But when I was looking at dates, I specifically chose the Valentine's week because it just seems like an awesome time to be in Vegas - full of crazy love birds eloping! While we plan to make the most of our time there exploring not only the strip but surrounding attractions, I think it will also be an awesome time for people watching!
So, the six of us got together the other night to discuss our plans for this trip. Things we would like to do, see, eat and more! Since we have more people than what would fit in a normal car, we will be cruisin' the strip (among other things) in a Minivan! YEAH!
Anyway I wanted to get opinions from those that have been to Vegas beforehand, because we will have plenty of time to check out a lot, so please let me know things you recommend we do and check out! We've tentatively put together a list of things we would like to do... so these are high priority, but maybe there's some cool stuff we won't want to miss out on that isn't on our list!
- Lake Mead & Hoover Dam
- Sign Museum
- Grand Canyon West Rim
- Death Valley or Zion National Park
- Las Vegas Ski Resort - Skiing
- See a show (we're gonna check discount tickets)
- Check out rides at the Stratosphere
- See the Fountain at the Bellagio (of course)
- Ride a gondola at the Venetian
- Freemont Street Experience
- Maybe go to a wedding Chapel and renew vows! hehe (Elaine and John have been married the longest, so maybe they can do it! )
- Tour the strip and see as many Casino/Hotels as possible!
We can't wait for this trip to come, it's going to be a blast whatever we do! And with both Paul and Elaine being photographers, this trip will be thoroughly documented!! Stay tuned because it is my plan to post every day of our trip! It will be truly EPIC!
Blog Love!
Blog Love! One of the blogs I visit regularly, "People I Want to Punch in the Throat" recently posted a Blog Love post where people can share their blogs. It's amazing how many people have responded so far, and I have found a lot more blogs I will be checking out more regularly! Like this one, "I Like Beer and Babies", is hilarious! I love it! Can't wait to check out more... and maybe down the line I'll do my own "Blog Love" post...
