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Published: August 8th 2007
Hey All!
I know... I've been AWOL now for over 4 weeks! (very sorry!). The reason I've been for this is because I went to Las Vegas for 4 days and then I picked up my Trek America Tour around the Colorado Plateau which lasted 9 days so it was almost impossible to find time to update this thing. The Trek America tour was literally go go go, in fact I found it hard to keep up! :o)
The good news I have for you is that the photo's for this blog entry are absolutely amazing so be sure to check em out. BTW i warn you that this blog is very log as I have so much to talk about!!
OK well where do I start?! Let me start with Vegas because that's what I did first. Let me just tell you that I loved this place and could've spent longer there. I don't know why but I was shocked to see how much this place doesn't sleep. I know it's a cliche about some American city's but this place really is everything you'd imagine a crazy American city to be. It's legal to drink on the streets here and
you can even buy your own booze and bring it into the Casino's with you (although you didn't really need to do that if you were gambling but more about that later!). Anything goes here and the casino's don't care as long as you're spending your money!
On the first night I arrived there was a BBQ at the Hostel and I met a few people. We then got the bus down the strip at 10:30pm to check out the Hotel/Casinos. We wandered around Ceasars Palace, New York-New York (which has the rollercoaster outside and a really big statue of liberty). We checked out The Excalibar Hotel and Casino which resembled something out of a Disney Film! These places are just amazing. They are so big in size, and inside they have hip bars and clubs, numerous restuarants... they really are just amazing.
It's also a true fact that yout completely lose track of time in these places. I turned into such a night owl whilst in Vegas. That first night I managed to get home at 'stupid o clock!'. You then spend the daytime sleeping and get ready for the next night ahead.
Day 2 we had dinner at
the Hostel and I was so pleased to find that the little shop next door sold non other than my 'favourite teenage drink'...Thunderbirds!! ha. So I obviously felt like I had to revisit my youth (see photo!). It was 14% so to be fair it blew my head off too. (Mom I don't know how I used to come home when I was younger and pretend to be sober!! ha ha :o)
Anyway, that night we went to the strip and watched the Pirates of TI show outside Treasure Island. I'm sure most of you have heard about this show.... the pirate ship battle where the ship sinks?! It was a bit cheesy, but there were lots of females parading around in next to nothing so my two friends Pete and Paul who I was with enjoyed it!
After almost getting suffercated to death by the crowd, I lived to tell the tale and the next stop was the famous fountain show at the Bellagio Hotel/Casino. Wow it was amazing. They play different songs and the fountains 'dance' to each different song differently. We got to see it whilst 'Hey Big Spender' was playing and I really enjoyed it.
After
that we took a long walk down the strip to The Luxor Hotel and Casino which is amazing. It's a pyramid shape with a large Spinx outside lit up and at the top of the pyramid there's a huge shaft of light which shoots up into the sky. People have told me that the light is so powerful you can see it from space (although I'm sure if this fact is true).
The following night I went to see Celine Dion at the Caesars Palace Colluseum! Now you may all laugh at this...but let me tell you that this show was spectacular! And this is coming from someone who has seen Madonna's Confessions tour in Paris... so I have some taste! ha ha.
Now Celine's show wasn't just a concert... it was a show and it was a combination of all the dancers, lighting, seating (I had 3rd row VIP seats!!), and the elegance of the place that totally made my night. There's none of this 'queue' business outside in the cold.... no!...... You go through the Casino into the Colluseum and there's plush red carpets, cocktail bars that sells food and nice drinks which you can bring with you
into the show. I felt like a celebrity in my 3rd row VIP seat too! Most of the show Celine was about 10ft away from me. I must say that her voice is so amazing, she sang better live than she does on the record.... you don't get many artists like that these days. It was a show I'll always remember put it that way!
The following night was party night. Me and a few others from the Hostel went to Tangerines nightclub inside Treasure Island Hotel. It was such a good night.... we arrived home at even more 'stupid o clock'.... daylight to be precise! It was a fun night though.
The next day I checked into my hotel as the following morning I was deperting for my 9 day trek America tour. In the evening I met up with a few people from the Hostel and went to Flamingo's buffet.... wow! If you're ever in Vegas.... defo check out the buffets as they are amazing. I ate so much they almost had to roll me back to the Hotel!!!
So then Monday 7th I met my Trek Group down in the Hotel Lobby and off we went. First
destination was to a town called Flagstaff. It's very close to the Grand Canyon National Park and we were going to stay there overnight and go the Grand Canyon the following morning. On route we stopped at a very small town called Oatman. It's actually on Route 66 and it used to be an old mining town and it was a really amazing little place. As you walk around the place it's like something out of a cowboy film!! Talk about taking a step back in time! When we pulled up to park our van our tour guide gave us carrots to feed the burros. Now in case you don't know what the term 'burro' means it's another word for a donkey. Just to give you the History on Oatman, because it used to be an old mining town many years ago... the people used to use burro's to get about the carry the loads, however when the mining was done the people left the town they also left behind the burro's. Now the Burro's live in the wild but wander into the town of Oatman on their own accord everyday to get fed carrots by the people of the
Town and also the tourists!! They wasn't there when we first arrived, but after about 20 minutes whilst I was in the old fashioned shops looking around, word had it that they had arrived so I rushed outside and there they were....so cute. I bought more carrots from the shop and fed them all. It was amazing to see how they roam in and out of this tiny town as and when they feel like it just to get fed! Was lovely to see how free they were and the people in the shops loved them and respected their freedom. After we fed the burro's the 'cowboys' had a live gunfight for all the tourists too! It was really fun to watch and I was so pleased we'd turned up in perfect time for both the burro's and also the live gunfight!
That night we arrived in Flagstaff and went for dinner in this nice pub and had an early night as it was needed.
The following day we all had get up at the crack of dawn (5am) to leave for the Grand Canyon. I must be honest and say that it was the most amazing thing I have
ever seen. The sheer size of it makes you gasp! I done a little of the Angel Trail down into the Canyon, and afterwards I took the shuttle bus to the various sightseeing spots and I ended up at Hermits Rest where I sat on a bench and had my packed lunch looking out over the Canyons with my little Squirrel friend for company! I've never seen such a squirrel with such front... they are so not afraid of humans and they wander around by your feet searching for food! It did make me laugh.
In the afternoon our tour guide drove us down to the Grand Canyon Airport for our booked Helicopter trip over the Canyon. At this point I didn't know what to expect because I'd never been in a Helicopter before.... but..... it was FANTASTIC and I so loved it! I sat next the Pilot too which was cool as I got the whole view out of the window....WOW. I'd highly recommend this flight to anyone going to see the Grand Canyon. Put it this way... I thought just seeing the Canyon from the various viewpoints was great.... but it was nothing compared to the Helicopter trip!
The Statue of Liberty outside New York-New York Hotel and Casino
The Hotel rooms from the outside look like the New York Skyline and it also has avery large rollercoaster which swirls around the building....very cool!You don't appreciate how big this thing is until you go up there and see it from above. We also flew over part of the North Rim, which is very different to the South Rim where we'd been viewing. The North Rim wasn't open to tourists until end of May due to melting snow.... so it was nice to get a look at it via the Helicopter. That evening we went to Sunset point and had our dinner whilst watching the sunset... what a fantastic day!
Day 2 of the tour we drove to Moab via Monument Valley. Monument Valley is the place that's featured in a lot of Cowboy films... especially Clint Eastwood movies and Indiana Jones films. Again we turned up at the right time as Redbull had sponsored an airshow in Monument Valley which started as we got there!! They take out World War 2 fighter planes and race them through massive cones set out between the Monuments! It was really fantastic to see. That night we all went for dinner at a local restuarant in Moab... nice ending to another nice day.
Day 3 we drove to Arches National Park. Now this is another very beautiful
I decided to relive my youth and drink Thunderbirds!
God it blew my head off! Donna Ding Dong do you remember us getting trashed on this stuff when we were in our teens?!! I couldn't do it now! place. You'll have to see the pictures to see why as my description wouldn't do it justice! Bascially some of the huge rock formations have holes in them and they appear to be standing up on their last legs but they've been there for thousands of years!
We hiked up the Delicate Arch Trail which was very much uphill and and what I really found difficult was the altitude. When you're so far up from sea level the air is just so thin. It was also baking hot which made it quite difficult too. Nonetheless.... we made it up to the Arch and we were amazed when we seen the sheer size of it! It's HUGE! We all walked (I nearly crawld being afraid of heights!) to the Arch and had our photos taken there. We sat at the top of the hill and ate are lunch whilst taking in the spectacular view! That night we had dinner and ended up in this bar that really was full of rednecks!! The guys really did all have beards and wore caps, smoked fags and played pool whilst lidtening to crazy music!! Was really interesting to see it. Next stop was Rio's
which was a karaoke bar!! (rock on!!). And yes I did get up to do a number... or 3! :o)
The next day (Day 4) was a chilled day and on the evening we drove from Moab to Canyonlands to enjoy a sunset dinner and we drank champagne and ate strawberrys and cream for dessert! What a night!
The next day we drove to Bryce National Park. Again what another beautiful spot. Again check out my photo's for this because my explanation will not do it justice! That night we were stopping just outside the park in the Bryce Ponderosa so we went to the restaurant and had a Cowboy Buffet all-you-can-eat!!
The following day we drove to Zion National Park and we were there for 2 nights. Now Zion, it has to be said.... was my favourite National Park (apart from the size/scale of the Grand Canyon!). It was just sooooo beautiful, with river streams running through it against a mountain backdrop...WOW!
I done a few trails there.... The Riverside Walk Trail / Emerald Pools Trail / and Weeping Rock Trail.
One the Riverside Walk trail I walked past wild Deer in the natural surroundings... not like seeing something
in a zoo. They also were not afraid of tourists and I've taken some excellent shots of them whilst they were standing around 6ft away from me! Another hightlight of this Trail was seeing a little Chipmunk!! I got some great shots of this little fellow!!
Emeral Pools trail had some lovely waterfalls to see and the Weeping Rock was very nice. Apparantly the water coming out of this rock fell over 1,200 years ago and is only exiting the rock that many years later!
Oh yeah I forgot to tell you that whilst we were in Zion we'd been booked into the Zion Ponderosa accomodations. Now this was a 'budget accomodations' tour, however when we arrived there we were flabberghasted at what we seen! Trek America had reserved two houses, one for the girls and one for the guys.... however the houses each slept 13 people and they were like huge posh mansions! The girls house had an outside hot tub!! It was like something J-Lo would stay in. Marble everywhere, each bedroom with beautiful en-suite bath. Large Mezzanine with floor to ceiling windows. I'd previously been inside a home owned by a multi-millionaire which was nice... but this
place was just as nice!
So then the next day we drove back to Vegas and checked out the Venetian Hotel which has the little river running through it and you can go on the Gondola's and be serenaded!! What a lovely place. On the night we went to the top of the Stratosphere which is apparently only 14 feet short of the Empire State building. It also has rollercoaster rides at the top! I didn't go on them so I waited for the people that did in the bar at the top whilst sipping an extremely strong Southern Comfort and looking out at Vegas in all it's beauty from what seemed like the top of the world!! We then headed to Caesars Palace with some people from the Trek America Tour and sat and played Roulette! I won $176 dollars after putting in $40 so I was pleased with that!!
And that, my friends, is it! (Thank god I hear you say!). I'm currently in San Fransico collecting more fabulous pictures so I'll update my blog again in a few days once I've seen some more of the sights.
So folks as usual...stay tuned!! xx
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anne d
non-member comment
so pleased you are having a blast
HI Marie, im still keeping up with your exploits (nice ones), keep going for it enjoy lol xx