We had gone for a trip..

OK. We have not blogged anything for some time now… OK.. what did we do in last few weeks.. We saw Oscars (We were disappointed that Clooney did not win. So we will not write about Oscars). We were in Vegas (Yeah baby..) and we saw the Grand Canyon. Our lady started and daily commuting is almost the same time as it took us to travel to Vegas.  We have started to hate Interstate 77 for the number of accidents and the traffic congestion caused by it. We have driven in Bangalore during peak hours. We should not be complaining about traffic right? Wrong. That is Bangalore. That’s what is expected from the traffic in Bangalore. Coming to place like Charlotte and seeing traffic on any day other than Friday evenings (that too if there is a long weekend coming up) is not good. Its like going to movies to watch a good movie only to have the title cards show the name Imran Khan or Akshay Kumar.

OK. We will move on. Vegas. Yeah. That was awesome. That was probably the best trip we had in US. We went on a long weekend and took couple of days off. So all in all it was five days trip. Have you seen the direct flight charges to Vegas? Costly is an understatement. SO we went to Phoenix and drove to Vegas. We were supposed to catch a connecting flight to Houston and form there Phoenix. But Houston was too foggy apparently. That is a bit unnerving, isn’t it? When you think most of the control is done by RADAR and computers.. Its not like Pilot has to peak over the window and determine whether to take a left or right in the next junction. We (Actually our friend did) went and spoke to the flight people and got us a direct flight free of charge. We reached earlier than expected and drove to Vegas. The drive was pretty good. We covered Hoover Dam (walking on the bridge part to be specific). We reached just after the sunset.

After refreshing a bit, we went out to see Vegas. It was our second trip. So we knew little bit of Vegas. Apart from the fact that we should not gamble (we have told you how Geetha aunty hates us in some previous blog. We are too lazy to search and give the link), we knew that the musical fountain in front of the Bellagio is pretty cool. We went there first thing. They were playing that annoying song of Titanic. Yes. That same one. Eesh… but we were there to see the water move according the song. SO we saw that and that was good. We went to Bellagio and Caesar’s palace that night. We usually just walk around the casino and watch other people lose money and we did watch quite bit of people lose quite a bit of money. It was strangely satisfying. Now, don’t judge us. Everyone loves it when someone else loses money when you still hold your wallet tight.  

Next day started with Buffet lunch at MGM grand. Boy, it was good. We are eggetarians and had limited options but boy whatever we had was just plain awesome. Except for one salad which had cold pasta in it. Who eats cold pasta? After main course, there was desserts. We don’t have sweet tooth and don’t like sweets in general.  But the choices were so good. Our lady ate few and our friends ate few more. Its pretty good they said. Totally worth the 35 or so you pay. After a meal, we headed to Stratosphere. That’s the tallest of the buildings in Vegas and has three rides at 1000+ feet. We had tried it last time and we were sure as hell not missing it this time. It was adrenaline filled fun. Sadly we had to come out as we had to visit other casinos too. We went to a casino called Wynn, which quite frankly is the best we saw in Vegas. Nothing more can be said.

We went to Venetian next. For those who did not know, Venetian-Palazzo is the largest hotel complex in the world. The shopping options were quite good. Our lady had been telling from quite few months that she had to try the margarita’s in Vegas. So we got one. Huge bottle it was. 12 Oz but in a bottle 2 feet long. It was good. Oh and we also went for Gondola ride. Amidst the shops, they have a canal type of water body set up where they will take you on a boat. There is a gondolier (Driver for the boat. Duh) will sing some romantic songs (Mostly Italian but some English will be there as well). Overall, it was good. We were so tired after the day, we slept like a log. But next day was even better.

We went to Paris. We loved this place. We went for Le Village buffet this time. We thought MGM was good. This was plain extraordinary. The food was delightful. We felt like we need to kidnap the chef and carry him/her home. Limited options again but awesome food nonetheless. Just an advise. Don’t freaking miss the crepes. Best thing we ate in Vegas, that. We took nearly two hours to complete our food. After that we went to the top of Eiffel Tower. Yes. There is one in Vegas just like the one in Paris but everything is exactly half the size. The view from the top is even better than what stratosphere can provide. Sadly no rides. After this, we went to Fremont street. They have covered a part of the street with LED lights via which they have dazzling displays. It’s a must see when you are in Vegas. It’s the worlds biggest screen and the experience is unique. Also, there’s this team which does paintings by spraying paint on a sheet. Bloody awesome that is. Don’t miss watching them.

Sadly that was the end of Vegas for us as we had to travel to Grand Canyon. We visited West Rim via Hoover Dam. After clicking pictures in Hoover Dam, we started to the west rim. Ride was scenic and pretty good except for ten miles where they have just paved roads but without tar. Rough ride it was. The view at west is pretty good. Eagle point has something called Sky walk where they have a glass pavilion on which you can walk and see the canyon 4000 feet below you. And Guano point gives you one of the best places you can have food anywhere in the world. Pretty ordinary food but you wont mind that as you will be busy admiring the view. Sun had set by then and we had to drive four hours to reach our next destination. We started to South Rim of the Canyon. We drove through Route 66. It was dark but we don’t care. We are ticking that item off our things to do in US list. We drove through the mother of all roads.

When we reached the hotel, we saw that it had snowed there. Our lady had been pretty sad that she could not see snow anywhere. Obviously, she was delighted. We kept our luggage at home and had to come out so that she can play for a while. Went back, planned for next day and slept. Woke up early and then drove to South Rim. It had snowed quite well. Whole landscape had snow and it was very beautiful. We saw another detail which made us more happy. For only three winter months, they will allow you to drive to the top. We had come in the right time. We stopped near the visitor center and saw the snow cover. There was to be a snow ball fight and playing with snow. With so much snow around it was obligatory. And we had good company as well. We had fun. Then decided to walk a little bit around the rim before driving to the top. It was sunny but quite cold. It did not rain thankfully and sun was not too harsh as to melt the snow. The view of canyon half draped in snow was very beautiful.

We drove to the top. There were few spots to stop the car and get down and enjoy the view. Driving along the edge of the canyon is definitely something you cannot do every day (Unless you are working in the park). For us, it was once in a lifetime experience. The trails were covered with snow. Still there were people who went for hiking. It takes at least two days to complete the hike. One day to go down reach the river and one to come back or cross and go to north rim depending on your choice. Once you see the river from the top, you will amazed on how such a seeming small river can inflict so much of a damage on mother earth. Don’t be fooled. The river is very dangerous. We learnt it when we went to the museum/observatory there. We reached top, did a small hike of our own and lo, the day was ending. With heavy heart we started back. We did not want to come back and start working again. But its not like we have any choice.

If you can go to only one Rim, we would tell you to go to South Rim rather than West. West has Sky walk. But nothing there is worth 70 odd bucks you pay (Including South Rim). There are only two view points.  The views and facilities are much better in South. Plus its much cheaper. Its $25 and its valid for seven days. We really wish we had couple more days there.