Las Vegas

Time: September 4th - 9th 2009

Place: Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Los Angeles

Company: Wife

Album: Click here

Videos (chosen amongst many!): Panaromic view of GC, The chill at GC, Freemont Experience and Juggling show at Circus Circus

Highlights:

Day 0:

Left Marlborough at 5 pm in car and went to Alewife where I parked my car. Took subway train to airport through red line and silver line and just made to boarding! Flight left at 8 pm EST and reached Las Vegas at 11 pm PST. Took rental car (Kia Spectra) and went to our room at Airport Inn, thinking it will be near to airport as well as to the Strip. I better not write about the room. Retired for the night.

Day 1:

Initial plan was to go to Death Valley and return same day and go to Grand Canyon the next day and return. But saw on the net that temperature was over 110 but nearing 100 the next day in Death Valley and hence plan changed to go to Grand Canyon same day and return. Left at about 8. Had breakfast in McD in front of Riviera, where we picked up Niraj and Kedar, who had come to LV before us the previous night from Boston. Reached Hoover Dam at about 10. Walked along the dam and took some snaps. Temperature was nearing 100s.

Had couple of pit stops. One of them was crazy. Saw a fuel stop on the other side of the road and since no one was present, crossed the median, crossed the oncoming traffic of the expressway and went into the fuel stop. Inside we saw a cop shopping! If he had just come out of the shop, I would have got a ticket!

Went to a restaurant (near GC) at about 2. Had lunch. It started raining and temp dipped very much. So much so that, if earlier we were heading to the car for AC, now we were heading for the car for the heater! Just as we left 40E and took 64N, we saw the board of 40W to Los Angeles [400 odd miles] and started thinking that perhaps its better if we head to LA instead of Death Valley the next day. LA, LV and GC are like a triangle and hence it makes sense to head to LA directly from GC instead of going to LV and then going to LA. So, decided to make this exciting road trip, thanks to Niraj and Kedar’s GPS, without which this was not possible. The idea was to go as near to LA as possible tonight and halt and then head to LA early tomorrow, see places and finally go back to LV.

Reached GC finally at 4 pm. The South Rim contains main view points. But we just went to Mather Point and Yavapai Point. Both has excellent views and sheer drops into the canyon which makes it all the more exciting. Also, it was damn cold because of the rain in the neighborhood. Took lots of pics and videos.

Left GC at 5 pm on our marathon journey to LV which was about 400 odd miles. On our way, we got to see beautiful sunset. Made one pit stop at about 7.30 pm for fuel and light dinner, for our Pizza lunch was real heavy.

I drove on and on and on as much as I could. It was the first time in my life I had driven over 650 miles on a single day. Since sunset happened at about 6, most of this journey was in the dark and driving in the dark kinda droops the eyelids because of the darkness everywhere around. Also, from about 8.30 pm onwards, the other 3 in the car had practically dozed off because of the monotony of the drive and the exhaustion of the day. Also, I-40 drive from GC to LA is on one of the most desolate areas of the country with nothing around for miles and miles together. I started getting tired at about 9.30 pm and started searching for a hotel or motel on I-40 and couldn’t find one for 100s of miles together. Nor were there any gas stations. One could almost see nothingness everywhere around. It was like driving in a desert. Thanks to the GPS, I was awake. I was making little games to be constantly awake, like matching the speed limit + 10, to ensure the destination arrival time never exceeded beyond 3 am (which it was currently showing), to play with other car drivers, truck drivers, etc.

Finally found a motel at 11 pm but it was full. Thought of sleeping over at a rest area. Instead washed my face and continued to Barstow where there were a number of hotels. The first one was full but the second one was not. Best Western! Finally, at 12 midnight, after 7 hours of drive!

Got a nice room! The room-keeper had made nice Ganeshas out of towels. About 5-6 Ganeshas in all. Slept like a log.

Day 2: Breakfast at the hotel. Called up Mithun to get a list of places to see in LA. Left at about 9. Reached LA at about 11ish. Went to Mulholland Drive and took snaps with “Hollywood” sign on the hill. Then drove on Sunset Blvd, Beverly Hills and finally took a cut to reach the Pacific Drive. Went to the beach and spent some time there. On the way to Hollywood Blvd, found an Indian restaurant and had nice food. Hollywood Blvd is the most happening place in LA, esp in front of Kodak Theatre where Oscar Ceremony takes place. It has pavements full of stars who made it big in Hollywood, literally. Spent about an hour.

Left LA at 4. Reached LV at 8. Went to LV downtown – Freemont Experience where there was a show going on with light show on the roof. It was pretty dazzling. Then, finally dropped Niraj and Kedar off at Riviera and returned the rental car. Forgot to take a pouch from the car and we lost it when lost and found did not return back our calls.

Day 3: Started with visiting casinos on the LV Strip. Unfortunately our camera stopped working in the very beginning. But we saw MGM Grand Lion show, Paris Las Vegas, Planet Hollywood, Casino Royale, Harrah’s, Bally’s, Palazzo. Went on the gondola ride in the Venetian, had lunch at Wynn in front of the waterfalls. Saw the Siren – Pirates show at Treasure Island at 6 pm, then saw Volcano show at Mirage at 7 pm and then fountain show at Bellagio at 8 pm.

Then went to New York-New York, Excalibur, Mandalay Bay and Luxor and finally retired to our room at midnight.

Day 4: Took a cab to Riviera where we borrowed camera from Kedar who was leaving back to Boston. Then walked to Circus-Circus where we saw 3 shows and played a lot of games. My Cleopatra won a doll! Then walked to Sahara, took snap in front of Stratosphere, walked back to Riviera, went to Encore – boy, Encore is grand! Then had mango ice cream in Wynn, and back to Venetian to take snaps. Then went to Caesar’s Mall and Caesar’s casino. Caesar’s is Huge! It takes about 2-3 hours to see the mall and the casino. Saw couple of shows in the mall and took snaps of all the immense structures esp Troy horse. Also saw Brahma idol in Caesar’s!
After that, ran to Miracle Mile fountain show and then to Eiffel Tower in Paris-Las Vegas. This was the last attraction which we saw. Then to Monte Carlo which was the last casino for us to see on the Strip and then headed back to the airport. Caught the flight at 10.30 pm back to Boston

Day 5: Reached Boston at 7 am and reached Marlborough at 10.30 am. Took a nap before heading to office!

Epilogue: Spent a little more than $600 per head. Learnt one thing: "Penny wise, pound foolish". Had an amazing time all 4 days. Without that small handy book which provided the show timings, this trip could not have been what it ended up being! Gratitude to the lady in the airport visitor center who gave us this Bible!