We started today with a trip to the gift shop near our lodges, since they had some jewelry there Dena liked. I toyed with getting some little cacti to grow, but figured I could pick that up just as easily in Richmond later. We then tried to figure out the bus system and saw that it works in a loop that wasn't that great for where we wanted to go. One of the only places we hadn't checked out was a route called Hermit's Rest. It's a bus-only route on the western side of Grand Canyon Village, and we had left it for this morning. We finally just parked as close as we could to the entrance, and caught a bus to the transfer point, which ended up being a hilarious 30 second bus ride (that map is NOT to scale). We didn't fit on the first bus, but they come pretty frequently, so we were soon off.

Knowing we couldn't stay too long, we stayed on till one of the last points, planning on hitting it and the final stop, and then maybe one stop coming back east. The views were pretty amazing, and also different from any I'd seen before, since I'd never come this far west aside from in the helicopter the previous day. We agreed early on that a second trip to the canyon is a definite someday, and we shall have to devote more time to this side of the canyon.

Near the end we had a funny encounter with a squirrel, who was extremely tame, and totally unafraid of people. We noticed him getting close to some people and moved closer ourselves. He was right next to me at points, and I got what I thought were some cool pictures except for forgetting I was really zoomed in on my camera (or maybe I hit it with my finger) so all my pictures were for nothing! Oh well, Dena got some. We then waited for the return bus... And waited some more. Naturally right when we need to get on the road, GC grinds to a halt. Not sure what happened, but there were about 20 of us all looking around for the bus going east, as 3 buses going west went by. Finally after about an extra 30-40 min, two came in quick succession, and we were out of there! Sad to see it go, but time to get the trip rolling again.

We quickly made it down to Flagstaff after going by a cop when I was certain I was speeding (I ended up being only 5 over, speed limits are high in Arizona!). Turning out west on I-40 again, we then cringed as we paid $3.49/gallon for some gas, after wrongly assuming outside of Flagstaff would be better. (We accidentally went to Williams, the other portal to driving north to GC). Gas was much cheaper later ($2.85). We turned north on 93, a very, very straight road. Not much out here but our road and dirt roads! Felt like being in the movie Tremors.

The last bit of the road to Hoover Dam is awesome, so many mountains. It was getting toward sundown so it looked pretty amazing. We finally made the last trek over the dam, which is HUGE, of course. Makes my engineering side geek out. We stopped in a few spots to get photos, and then it was time for the last haul into Vegas!

The timing worked out great for us, the sun had just set when we arrived on the Strip. Our hotel, The Excalibur, was right at the beginning of the strip, but we went ahead and drove down almost all of it (till right before Circus Circus), and then turned around and began an epic attempt to find the parking entrance for our hotel. Crazy city!

After checking in and catching our breath, we managed to catch a trolley shuttle to the Venetian for Blue Man Group, despite the lady at check-in giving us completely WRONG info on a shuttle bus that didn't exist (thanks, nice lady). We got there with time to spare and saw an amazing show. We were tired when we got there, but soon were in with the energy of the show. They use lots of (recycled) paper streamers, handing it out and telling us to decorate as we see fit. I went with a ninja headband, Dena was a little more grown up with a shawl. The show was just too cool, and by the end the whole theater is one big blacklighted papery mess. Crazy!

We avoided some drunk people and caught a bus back to the hotel, and then we crashed! What a busy day.

Today was an ok day. Woke up at a semi-decent hour and proceeded to check out of our lodging. After this, we decided to take a shuttle ride up to a place called Hermits Rest. It is called this because apparently there used to be a man who lived in the canyons and he was called a Hermit. Who woulda thunk. This area was not allowed by car, so shuttle we must ride! At these locations, specifically the Abyss, the view was absolutely thrilling. The edge or rim of this point was directly vertical. A sheer drop. Scary almost. The canyons were, as always, breathtaking.

After that, we got some Wendy's and headed off on our merry little way toward Vegas!

Vegas… the city of sin, the city of lights, the city of… pretty much everything. But first, before getting there we hit the Hoover dam. Which is such an amazing thing to see. Very big. Really deep. An amazing construction for sure.

Finally we make it to Las Vegas and decide to drive the whole strip before actually making it to our rooms. The Excalibur was pretty nice. I admit though that I got in a tizzy or became "focused" as my dad calls it during the check in. There were too many people for me. I like people, but holy crap! If you don't like crowds or you feel remotely claustrophobic, yea - don't go to Vegas.

Making it to our room, I was wow'd by it. What a view! I had called a day or so before and upgraded our room to a view room. The view was looking at the whole Las Vegas strip! So many lights! The bathroom was to die for. The counter was marble and spacious, and the shower was huge! We also had a nice flat screen TV in our room.

After a short rest we left to go see Blue Man Group at the Venetian. The Venetian was a fairly long walk from the Excalibur so we tried to find a bus but instead found a random trolley that for 10 bucks gave us a private drive to the Venetian just in time!

The Blue Man Group was very, very sweet. I would recommend their show to anyone. At the end of the show they "toilet papered" the whole audience. Pretty cool actually. It was also pretty cool that they'd randomly come out into the audience during the actual show. Neato!

p.s. too many gamblers, drunks, and also too much pornographic crap on the side walk.