Day 11: Grand Canyon (Attempt)

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Today I would be going to one of the key spots of my tour, THE GRAND CANYON. My ride was scheduled to be there at 5:30AM and I almost missed as I somehow slept through my alarm at 5AM and woke up at 5:25AM. After some frantic dressing I met my ride which was a small mini bus. It went around to various casinos and pickup other passengers. We were than taken to a parking lot where the actual bus was waiting. The bus was half full and consisted mostly of Asian tourists and a scattering of other people.

We stopped first at the Hoover dam and took pictures there. The Hoover dam is an impressive display of human engineering. We had about 15 minutes at the dam before we got on the bus and headed down route 66. The bus had a video system which showed a video about the famous route 66. It is the first paved highway connecting Chicago to the west coast. It fell into disuse when the interstate highway system was created and the towns along the route started to die slowly. Until Route 66 received historical status and it became a major tourist spot. Now tour buses and tourist from around the world visit the towns along the highway.

It started to rain and snow as we approached the Grand Canyon. I was sleeping when I felt the bus slow down and pull underneath an overpass. Without saying anything the bus driver left the bus and we were wondering what was going on. The weather was snowing but it didn't seem that bad so I was not sure what was going on. After about 15 minutes of waiting the bus driver came back and said the windshield wipers were not working properly and the weather was getting bad going up towards the Grand canyon. The bus driver advised us that we were going to a parking lot to try and repair the windshield wipers.

We got to the parking lot and waited a bit longer until finally the bus driver gave us a choice. Either we go on and try to make it or we head back to Vegas and get our money back. She asked for a vote of the bus. I was the only one who voted to go on. I was prepared to give a speech about how sometimes travelling requires some hardship. Unfortunately it was mostly Asian tourists who were not likely to understand me. So we headed back to Vegas. I was very disappointed and I spent the return trip to Vegas working up an alternative plan. I was supposed to head to Denver in the morning but there was no way I could make it to the Grand Canyon and Denver so I rerouted my trip and tomorrow I would drive to the Grand Canyon and than drive to Albuquerque afterwards. This would mean I would not see Utah or Denver but I decided the Grand Canyon was just more important.

When I got back to Vegas it was only 5PM instead of the 9PM that I was supposed to arrive. This meant I had enough time to see a Vegas show. I was a bit disappointed that the hostel did not help with purchasing Las Vegas shows. I did some searching on the internet before settling on Cirque du Soleil at Treasure Island. The ticket was $80 and I could pickup at the ticket booth at Treasure Island. Before heading to Treasure Island I had a surreal moment when I ran into Mier Tian who I had met earlier at the Camelbackpackers in Phoenix. We had taken opposite routes to get to Vegas and she had just driven down from the Grand Canyon to Vegas. She did confirm the weather was bad at the Grand Canyon.

I drove to Treasure Island and mistakenly parked across the street at the Fashion Mall. This turned out to be fortunate because I found one of the Tix4Tonight booths and managed to buy a discounted buffet dinner at Treasure Island ($17.99). I had to move my car because the Fashion Mall closes at 10PM and I wouldn't get back from the show until at least 10:30PM. I moved my car to the Treasure parking lot.

I got my ticket from the booth and went into the casino to get to the buffet area. There was a very long line for buffet and I wondered if I would have enough time because it was 7PM and the show started at 9PM. I didn't have to worry because the line moved quickly and I got my table at 7:30PM. I was advised by my waiter that there was several stations to get food which included BBQ, Pasta, Asian etc. The food was good and the best part was the lobster ravioli which was cooked right in front of you. I didn't take that long to eat and I was out the door by 8:15PM. When I got back to the theatre the lineup had already started and it stretched all the way back into the casino. We were all seated on time before 9PM and we waited for the show.

Cirque Du Soleil has several shows in Vegas and the one I would see was featured in the movie Knocked Up. The big star of the show is the big baby who wanders around plays with his daddy who was chosen from the crowd. He was a funny character and lightened the mood. Cirque du Soleil features a lot of gymnastic acts and they were impressive and looked quite dangerous. There were a lot of performers and it was sometimes hard to keep an eye out of everything. Beyond the gymnasts there was a show of strength by 2 very strong looking young men. They worked together on various lifts and shows of strength. Some of those moves they made to look easy but I could see it would take an enormous of strength to pull off.

It was a great show and more than worth the price of admission. The show ended at 10:30PM and I headed back to the hostel. Tomorrow would be another early day and I would be taking a risk to get to the Grand Canyon

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