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Published: July 23rd 2010
Was an early start this morning. Up at 4.50am (a hell of a shock for me as anyone who knows me, I am not a morning person) and we were left by 5.20am (and I have to add that there were people still playing the pokies, blackjack, etc and drinking as we left - still funny to us). We got to see a beautiful sunrise while driving; our photos don't do justice as they were taken while driving.
We drove out past Lake Mead (which was stunning in itself and is the largest reservoir in the USA) and onto Hoover Dam, which was also our crossing into our 3rd USA State of Arizona. Wow. It was amazing to see the Hoover Dam. They are building a new bridge so traffic can be bypassed through as the Hoover Dam has become such a popular tourist attraction.
After our little stop there it was onto the main attraction. Before we turned off the Grand Canyon we called into a little town to fill up. I should also mention that we drove through a Joshua Tree Forrest and I have to say that these trees are intriguing and the more we look at
them the more we like them. At first sight they just looked bizarre.
The area that we visited was the Grand Canyon West. The land here is owned by the Hualapai Tribe (American Indians). This is where the fames skywalk is and is the reason we went to this area. The drive in was a bit rugged being on a dirt road. We were glad we were in a larger vehicle as it would have been terrible in a smaller car. The drive in was really beautiful with the scenery we saw.
Once there we were a bit a slightly taken aback at the cost to get in. The cost was $330 Aussie dollars which included going to the canyon rim (in 2 areas), lunch, shuttle bus from and to each area and Stu and the girls doing the skywalk (I was to wussy to do it). It was worth every cent; don't get me wrong - we just weren't expecting it.
We entered through this big bubble building, paid and then went out to catch the shuttle bus to our first stop which was Eagle Point. To say the views were amazing is an understatement. This
place was magical. There are no barriers on the edge so I was paranoid about the girls getting to close to the edge. The hugeness of it is unbelievable. Life really is about "experiences" and this is one thing that everyone should try to see. WOW WOW WOW. Our pictures don't do it justice but you can get an idea from them.
After getting a few pics, Stu, Danika and Zavanna went and did the Skywalk. Unfortunately I had the wrong lens on the camera so you can’t see them that well. They loved it and thought the views down below were awesome. They could see right down to the canyon floor.
After they came off we got to see the Native American Village where we did a walking tour of multiple types of dwellings of different tribes. It was very interesting how differently one was made to another.
Our next shuttle took us to Guano Point where we did the “Highpoint Hike” and got to see another view of the canyon as well as the Colorado River. The views once again were just stunning. An interesting part of this was getting to see a historic tram that was built
in the 1930’s that spread approx 2680 metres from one side of the canyon to the other. They built it believing that the other side was rich in bat poop but after spending a lot of money building it, it was realised that it was only on the surface and didn’t go as far as they believed.
The next shuttle took us out of the canyon viewing area and to the Hualapai Ranch where we had our lunch. There were all sorts of activities to do outside but it was over 46 degrees Celsius so we gave it a pass. The lunch was really nice. Yummy, Yummy ribs, Roast Chicken, corn cobs, corn bread, veges, baked potatoes. There was all sorts. In the Ranch Saloon there was entertainment as well. There was a country singer who sang and played guitar and there was a magician that Danika and Zavanna had a ball watching. They couldn’t believe his tricks.
After lunch it was back on the shuttle and back to the car, where we set off back to the “The Strip.”
This was my first time driving and it was so weird driving on the wrong side of the car and
the wrong side of the road. It took A LOT of concentration and felt like I was learning how to drive all over again.
The scenery back was amazing, it’s so hard to describe but just is.
After arriving back at the hotel at 5.00pm we decided to catch a cab down to the main part of The Strip and have a look around. We got dropped off at the M & M shop (which is 4 stories and has everything to do with M & M’s that you can think of). Jaz and Jase recommended this to us and it was very cool to see. We had a look in the MGM hotel and then crossed over to the other side of the Strip and started to head north. We a few of the hotels and my goodness they are huge. I mean, these hotels take up a whole block so it feels like you are walking for ages before getting to the next. We had a little stop at the Amore Patisserie where there were the most stunning cakes, desserts and gelato. The girls got a gelato while Stu and I got a Raspberry Marshmallow and Brownie
Slice. YUM YUM YUM. Nothing like having dessert before dinner - that’s what holidays are about!
Our next little stop was to see the “Water Show” at the Bellagio. It is great how they time the water in with the music. Great!
By now it was getting late so we decided to go to Planet Hollywood for dinner. We have never been to a Planet Hollywood restaurant and unfortunately we were disappointed as they made us wait from 9.00pm till 9.45pm for a table and when we went in there were at least 12 empty tables. We were not impressed at all. The food wasn't too bad but was ruined by the start. After finishing dinner we went back to the hotel and pretty much crashed out as it had been a massive day.
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Robbie n Narnie H
non-member comment
Thank you very much for the news, great looking country, looks like its very hot out . take care, Sky walk looked yippy k i o