Leaving Las Vegas

[Wednesday 20 September]

Wednesday was spent with coffee in the room and just relaxing. There is little here in Las Vegas that holds much interest for either of us. But we're here until our flight leaves Thursday. The good news is our nephew, Jonathan from Maine, is here attending a work conference so we'll meet up with him later this evening for dinner.

In the meantime, Susie went for a walk late morning while I tidied up the blog you're reading right now.

In the early afternoon we both put on our bathing suits and headed for the pool. We no sooner arrived and got settled into a couple of pool chairs than the clouds rolled in, the thunder began and the lifeguards informed us that no one could go into the water, at least for the time being. And then the rain began, at one point turning to hail, and with very gusty winds. I called it quits and returned to the room, Susie stuck it out but eventually she too had to throw in the towel literally and came back to the room.

After getting cleaned up and dressed we headed out in search of an afternoon coffee, and our objective in that regard was the Eataly located in the Park MGM Hotel. We had visited one of these in Munich last year and thought their approach to food was pretty incredible, lots of Italian food products for sale in addition to coffee of course and pastries. The one in Munich was also a grocery store, something this one lacked. But it was fun to stroll around the various stands: Italian Street Food, another one selling cheeses, another wine, and so forth. 

To get to the Park we had to traverse New York New York, which I must admit was fun, much of the interior actually laid out to resemble some of the iconic NYC streets (Bleecker, Fulton Fish Market, etc.) We had our coffee and later an aperitif before heading back. And since the rain returned with gusto it was nice to walk inside. (Most of the hotel/casinos are so HUGE that you could  actually get from one to another without going outside, except to cross a street to the next casino.)

Leaving the Park MGM we made our way back through NY NY back to the Tropicana. Seeing several of the the other hotel/casinos though made us realize how truly tired our hotel is. There are virtually no shops, certainly fewer restaurants, worn appearance, and the overall impression of the Tropicana is that of an aged queen who has fallen on hard times.

Later that evening we made our way to the Paris complex to meet up with Jonathan for dinner at Mon Ami Gabi, a restaurant made out to resemble a typical French bistro. We had looked into using the monorail for transport but found the nearest station difficult to get to and actually quite costly so we opted for an Uber. 

We arrived a little early which gave us time to stroll through the streets of Paris (literally and figuratively), which was similar to the idea of NY NY but much lighter and cleaner looking.

It appears to have all the same inscriptions as the actual Arc de Triomphe

hotel entrance

Jonathan met us just outside the entrance to the restaurant and before long we were seated outside on the patio overlooking the boulevard and directly across from the Bellagio, whose fountain occasionally treated us to some spectacular water dancing.

It was a lovely evening, traffic and street noise notwithstanding. We all caught up on the latest news: Jonathan talked a bit about why he was there for work and what he was doing and his family news; we brought him up-to-date on his Gram and the general Grand Rapids news. 

Eventually we had to say au revoir and while Jonathan headed off to his hotel we walked in the opposite direction back to ours. The sidewalks were packed with people but before long we were back in our room and settled in for the night.

Tomorrow it's back to Michigan! 

Leaving Grand Canyon

[Tuesday 19 September]

Another cool morning, crisp and cloudless. A perfect day for a helicopter ride over the canyon.

After coffee and finishing our packing we strolled along the rim one more time until time to check out. 

saying good-bye

We drove out of the village and headed for Rt 64 south toward Williams. After about 7 miles we pulled into the Grand Canyon Airport and made our way to the Maverick Helicopter building where we checked in, a process that included standing on a scale one at a time. (Significant weight limitations in place.)

A few minutes later we watched as four helicopters landed one after another and the passengers disembarked. They gathered around the pilot, took photos, and appeared to have had a grand time. At 10:00 am the pilots began calling out the names of their passengers and as luck would have it we ended up with John.

After introductions he took six of us out to the helo and we were given a brief introduction to the safety measures, things like how the seatbelts worked (NOT like on airplanes) and, oh don’t open the door while in flight, that sort of thing.

It was then time to climb aboard. We were given assigned seats — presumably based on weight distribution — and once buckled in put on our headsets (so we could all communicate and it reduced the noise SIG-NIF-I-CANT-LY). 

the Colorado

And off we went into a gorgeous blue sky above the Kaibab National forest. At one point we actually flew by Point Imperial on the north rim and over the road we had just traveled three days earlier.

 

It is beyond my limited vocabulary to describe the incredible thrill of the ride and the grandeur of seeing both rims of the Grand Canyon from the air. Crossing the National Forest -- the world's second largest Ponderosa pine forest we were told -- we then plunged out over the canyon which was the first introduction to the incredible adventure and left most if not all of us breathless. 

John was nothing short of superb in his handling of the helo and his insightful and helpful narrative was much appreciated.

Once back at the airport we gathered around John to have our pictures taken couple-by-couple. 

This once-in-a-lifetime trip had been a genuine blast and was worth both the time and money.

But soon we were back on the road south to Williams where we picked up I-40 heading west. We left the interstate at Kingman, got gas and turned north on Rt 93 in the direction of Hoover Dam.

Once we reached the dam we stopped at a scenic overlook of Lake Mead but opted not to get out in 94-degree heat to walk the bridge to see the dam.

It was a short hop back into Las Vegas and after some jockeying around a traffic snarl — thanks to Susie’s navigational skills — we made our way to our hotel, the Tropicana Hotel and Casino. I dropped Susie off with the bags and then headed off to the car rental return center near the airport. I then called an Uber to take me back to the hotel and we checked in.

the Tropicana

Tropicana Avenue

That evening we decided to  just chill out and had Chinese food at one of the restaurants in the hotel.

Another good day indeed.

Grand Canyon South Rim

[Monday 18 September]

Our first (and only) full day at the South Rim. I got up before the sun was up and walked over to the Lodge for coffee. We relaxed in the room before heading out.

We walked a short way down to the Red route shuttle stop passing the Bright Angel Trailhead. 

The Red shuttle travels along the western portion of the south rim to Hermit’s Rest, stopping along the way at nine viewpoints; we got off at five of them.

Maricopa Point:

From Maricopa we walked along the rim trail to Powell Point, named after John Wesley Powell, fascinating character in an era of incredible personalities:

It was a short walk along the trail to Hopi Point for another wonderful view of the Colorado River:

We got back on the shuttle and got off at The Abyss where we caught sight of a young Elk feeding right up to the rim edge.

Our next stop was at Pima Point and another glimpse of the Colorado.

Back on the shuttle we reached the end of the line at Hermit's Rest, a building of unique design to integrate into the environment the work of architect Mary Coulter. Like so many others connected with the creation of the Canyon park a fascinating character. Today it is a gift shop, cafe (of sorts) and restrooms.

Once back at the lodge we rested, refreshed ourselves and in the early afternoon took the Orange route shuttle from the visitor center out to Yaki Point and the eastern side of the South Rim.

typical of the desert scrub landscape here

waiting for the shuttle

From Yaki Point we returned to the visitor center and walked five minutes to nearby Mather Point. 

looking back 

Back at the center we took the Blue route shuttle into the village and got off at Yavapai Lodge where we sat outside with a brace of beers and chips and salsa.

Eventually we returned to our room and relaxed. A little before 6:00 pm we took our glasses of wine and walked over to the rim to appreciate the fading light on the canyon. We also caught sight of the bull elk wandering around cabins.

sitting outside the Lookout Studio looking back toward the Lodge

from atop Lookout Studio

looking toward the Lodge

the Lookout Studio

After a workmanlike meal at the Lodge cafe we walked outside into another glorious starry sky. Susan spotted both big and little dippers and we could easily make out the Milky Way. Walking along the rim in the dark — phone flashlights easing the way — we also noticed one or two dedicated hikers with headlamps on coming up the trail. Crazy we thought.