Onward to Vegas

Tuesday morning, we started our normal routine. Restock the coolers with water and fill with hotel ice, pack up the car, eat breakfast, check out and head down the road to the next destination. Since, we had been been without internet at this hotel, the reservations I made at Caesar's Palace the night before were pretty exciting to me. We have never stayed there because of the vast size of the hotel but I thought for one night with Alex, it might not be too bad. Plus they have seven pools and with Alex that would be a bonus.

So, after we left the Howard Johnson's in Williams, we made the four hour drive to Vegas. We had decided Alex needed to see the Hoover Dam and walk across it so she could be in two states at one time. We made one stop prior to the Dam for gas. Alex had been begging for beef jerky since we were on the plane last Friday. So, when she spotted a reasonably priced stick of it, I finally let her buy it. Who knew beef jerky was her catnip!?!?!?!? I now know what I can in cent her with during the school year.

Hoover Dam was, well how do I put this..... Hot!! The temp was at least 20 degrees higher than our day in GCNP and it was still before noon. But we persevered with our constant companion, water. We didn't opt to go on the tour this time, since Bob and I had just been on it last August and I am NOT a fan. We did walk to the center and took some pictures of the bridge progress and then returned to the car. On our remainder of our drive towards Vegas, we had another vehicle flag us down for an issue with one of the car's tires. Bob had noticed the day before the spacer in the front, passenger side tire, was sticking out slightly. The other driver was concerned and even though Bob was not, we pulled over to check it out. It was completely hanging out at this point so, Bob removed it. He, of course, was less concerned with this than I was. But, we made it just fine. We arrived at Caesar's after a slightly scenic route trying to find the service drive entrance behind the building. The exit we needed to take was way before the Caesar's complex so we ended up going all the way down by the Stratosphere and making our way back.

We couldn't believe how packed the parking ramp was. We parked, made sandwiches from our remaining, emptied our garbage in a nearby receptacle, and decided to try to check into the room. Check in time was 4 and it was only 1 so, I was sure we would have to wait. Surprise! We were able to check in. What a bonus!! And, the lady who checked us in really hit it off with Alex and gave us a fabulous room close to the pool entrance!! The room was incredible!! The best one Bob and I have ever had in Vegas!! We had a view of the pool and some strip. The room had two beds, a desk, make-up area, entry way with table and tv console/mini-bar. Across from the amazing bathroom (more on that shortly) were four closets with motion detecting lighting. Inside were robes, a safe, shelves and room to hang items. On to the bathroom...... The commode area had it's own door and phone. The shower had a glass door and multiple shower heads. The tub was huge and jetted. There were two sinks and a ton of sample sized items including a sewing kit, shoe shine kit, and all the regular amenities. Alex and I quickly decided we needed a spa night in this tub. I was quite content to stay on the cozy bed but, Bob reminded me we had things we wanted to do. So, we grabbed our luggage and then headed over to Belagio to show Alex the conservatory and a fountain show. She really enjoyed the flowers and displays and was completely enthralled by the fountains. We decided next to go to PH and eat at the buffet. It was very good. On our plan for the evening was to take Alex to the wax museum and then some pool time. While talking, we decided to reverse that as the pool was only open until 8pm. Alex and I spent about an hour at the pool while Bob went to play. Next we headed down to the Venetien for the Wax museum. She was very excited to see the Michael Jackson wax figure and we had a blast. It took her a little bit to get warmed up to interacting with the figures but when she did, she was hilarious! After we were done there, we waited to meet up with Bobber and just happened to see part of the volcano show at the Mirage. We were all pretty tired by this time but Alex and I still had to have our spa time so, Bob went down to play and we relaxed in the room. More tomorrow........

Grand Canyon

As has been our pattern for this trip, Monday, we packed up the car and headed out early. I liked the Super 8 more so than the Travelodge. And for breakfast, they had waffles in addition to all the other items. Mmmm.....
Anyway, so we headed out making our way to the Grand Canyon. I typed two blogs on this trip and I think Bob was a little unhappy with that but, it's when I had time and a half-way decent signal. Plus, that way, I'm not waaaaaaaaay behind. Like I am now, again!! LOL There's never enough time when you get back into the swing of things.
So again, we're on our way to the GC. I was pretty surprised by the surrounding areas on the way there. Cameron, was one of the only established towns on the way. We stopped there to shop for souvenirs and fortunately they had a post office so I bought more stamps and mailed off what I had so far. While we were shopping, Alex got separated from us and became very upset. She normally wanders around without any issues but for some reason she thought we were going to leave her somewhere on our trip. Like that could ever happen. The car would be quiet and we would know something was wrong instantly. At the store, Alex bought a Dream Catcher. She had been talking about one for some time and I thought a handmade one from our trip would be more memorable than one bought up here. So, she found a medium sized one and the rim is purple.
It took us about 3 hours to get to the main entrance of the Canyon. Mikki's tip for the Canyon was to wait until you stop at a point to look at the scenery. As hard as it may be. It was very worth it as the first full view of the Canyon is breathtaking. We took some pictures (if you can believe that) and Bob hiked down a nearby trail for a short distance. He really wanted to do a lengthy hike but I knew Alex and I would never make it back up. When he returned he was huffing and puffing, but he was still willing to try if we wanted to. He's crazy. We then drove to the Visitor's Center. We were hoping to find a picnic area along the way. The only area with picnic tables was completely unshaded. Whew! It was too hot for that. When we entered the parking area for the visitor's center we found a picnic area between two parking sections. And, it wasn't even that busy. Alex ate her left over pizza and Bob and I made sandwiches to go with our chips and cookies. Yummy. After lunch, we went to the center and looked at the displays about the sediment levels in the Canyon walls. Next, we went to catch a shuttle to another shuttle transfer so we could go all the way to the end of the Canyon. We encountered the most interesting group on the shuttle. Yes, that was sarcasm. They were so unprepared for a hike all the way to the bottom of the canyon, it was almost funny. One bottle of water and no food for the 7 people will not work well for long. Morons.
The shuttles in the GC were very different from the shuttles in Zion. Here they just wanted to shove as many people as possible onto the bus. The drivers still tried to talk about the stop points but you really couldn't hear much because of all the noise. We got off the bus at the Hermit's Rest point. It is at the farthest end of the canyon. It was pretty but by this time I was done with the GC. WAY DONE!! It's nice but it doesn't change from one angle to another. So, we made our way back to the transfer point and then waited and waited and waited for another bus to come and let people on. I was so annoyed by the people walking up who disregarded the line and just hopped on the bus. Rude. So, we waited some more and as we were at the front of the line now, I was ok with telling people walking up that there was a line. At this point the only thing helping me make it through the annoyance of the shuttle was the fact I was going to get to shop at the VC. Except we went to the main VC and that's not where we needed to be so, we hopped in the car this time and headed over to the store. We bought some shirts and magnets and shot glasses but nothing really grabbed up like Yellowstone. Probably because we loved our trip to Yellowstone so much and this wasn't the same. A great place to visit nonetheless but really only a half day is needed unless you're going to hike. So, the night before I had been checking out options in Vegas if we decided to cut our stay here short. The hotel in Williams, AZ was about an hour from the GC and I had it reserved for 2 nights. We would have been able to stay at any of the Harrah's properties for free so, I started eyeing Caesar's only because I didn't want to stay there for a long stay but, if they were going to comp it...... we should stay there once. Plus, they have 7 pools and it would be cool to see Alex's reaction since she thought the Orleans was the fanciest place in the world.
We headed towards Williams about 6pm. Williams is located on historic Route 66 and was a pretty interesting little town. They had some events down the main drag the night we were there and everything looked very busy. We checked into the hotel and told them we only needed to stay one night. They were nice enough to not make me pay for both nights. That was a nice surprise. I then set on the mission to find internet in the hotel. Nada. Next I tried to log in with my phone. No luck. So, I called Caesar's and told her the offer I had seen the night before, gave her our players card numbers and asked what she was able to do. She said no problem and found a room for us, comped. Sweet!! We were starving at this point and Bob finally decided on a Steakhouse. Wow, it was amazing. Bob and I had steaks while Alex had chicken nuggets that were made with real chicken and not chicken parts. They were super also. Bob said it was the best steak and Au jus he had ever had. By time we were done with dinner, it was late and we were tired. Back to the hotel for the night.