Grand Canyon to Las Vegas

Deciding to head for the less busy Grand Canyon north rim, our journey was accompanied by the rasping and screeching of 'bertha' the motor home as she valiantly climbs at a max of 45mph to the +8000ft elevation. (Poor thing will surely be retired after this trip??).Everyone knows what the Grand Canyon looks like, yet it still manages to stun you when you see it. We discovered through some good ol' fashioned eavesdropping that the South Rim probably affords an even wider vista that the North, but still, walking the little distance to Angel rim was stunning enough - and a little testing on the nerves. Owen was a little distressed how tightly we were holding his hand on a narrow path with no safety rail and a death drop, at one point on either side. We were happy to inflict a little Chinese burn in the name of safety! At one point on this little path H saw J turn white at the sight of a toddler lollopping along this path unattended and then lurch to a stone for support, the other side of which was - the Grand Canyon ?????.

Junior ranger badge no 4 was added here.

We had already decided not to add the south Rim to our trip - a little too much additional driving. So, next stop via yet another beautiful drive accompanied by the dulcet tones of Bertha and Owens 'are we nearly there yet', Las Vegas. A slight error in map reading took us through part of Zion NP, a mistake that we are thoroughly delighted about. A spectacular drive gave us a glimpse of what Zion had to offer.

This day was also Js birthday. He had RV style bucks fizz in the pine forests of the Grand canyon, lunch in amongst the towering cliffs of Zion NP and dinner in the Venetian hotel on the strip in Las Vegas. Not bad!

So, Las Vegas. Again, images of Las Vegas are everywhere so we felt we knew what to expect. Arriving after nearly 3 weeks of deserts and tiny towns was a little strange. Driving our RV down The Strip was a little amusing, and both of us had that 'lets get the hell out of here' feeling. It soon passed and in fact Las Vegas turned out to really surprise us. Firstly, it was not as tacky and gaudy as anticipated. This is not to say it is in any way elegant, but we both expected it to be more Blackpool like. We also expected it to be more 'lit up' than it was. The hotel/casinos are staggeringly huge so in fact images you recognize, like the pharaohs outside the Luxor are strangely in keeping. It is like nowhere else and we are thoroughly pleased to have visited.

Having missed the South Rim, Las Vegas was the next best place to take a scenic flight over the Grand Canyon. This was one of our 'must dos' of the whole trip. As we had Owen, H and O sat up front, much to the other chaps chagrin. To rub salt in, O after 10 minutes in the air fell asleep only to wake up at the same spot on the return, missing the whole of the GC! Seeing the Grand Canyon from the air was wonderful, although we would recommend to anyone else to do it from the South Rim as we spent much of the time actually getting there.

Las Vegas gave J and H our first 'night off' in 5 months as we opted to park Bertha for one night and stay at The Venetian. O had a babysitter and in fact he would probably say that he too 'had a night off' from us. Babysitter arrived with a bag full of goodies for Owen so he was incredibly happy. J and H hit the bars, ate like kings and had a little slot machine flutter. (Next day afforded delicate heads however which are not good when it's over 100 degrees during the day and 70 at night! It's amazing what a modicum of alcohol will do to one when one has hardly been drinking for 6months!!!).

Owen loved Las Vegas. Having pressed hard to go into Japans slot machine casinos (pachinkos) in Japan (yes, O is only 4 and no we did not take him!) he lobbied hard for an 'Owen day' at a childrens pachinko. Hotel Excalibur (resplendent with its fake turrets!) and Circus Circus hotel (yes, theme park housed in a circus tent style building) rose to the challenge and wallet was duly emptied on lots of fairground style games, arcade games, pirate ships etc etc. A pirate show outside Treasure island hotel (a little adult in parts, but fortunately O does not yet get scantily clad ladies!), the dancing fountains and the amazing indoor copper garden at The Belagio, the indoor gondolas in The Venetian with the near realistic sky all entertained O. Add to this an afternoon at the bikini infested waters of the swimming pool at The Ventian and he would say that Las Vegas was fab! Owens only gripe would be that he was not allowed to watch adults playing in the adult 'pachinkos'. Have we created a budding gambler??

Like night and day we left The Venetian to spend the next night en route to Yosemite NP in an empty RV park, in the middle of the desert, by the side of the road, opposite a military base. How the mighty fall!! Weirdly however we were treated at this location to an incredible firework display. When we questioned the manager (who J nicknamed prospector!) the next day as to the reason, he simply told us that as California bans the use of fireworks, they come over to Nevada to let off in designated sites. How utterly weird, particularly as we were 200 miles from California!