Arizona in winter

Thanks for the comments yesterday; in hindsight we shouldn’t have gone to any shows, it would have saved us 3 days. One getting the tickets and the next two evenings going to the shows, we would have been better of seeing the evening sights. Never mind we may get a chance on the way back as we have been thinking of staying in a cheap place in Downtown Vegas for a couple of days. Also I think that the water show at the Bellagio would have been in colour if I had caught it on the hour. It seemed too much trouble to get our car out when we had to wait for the valet service; maybe it will be easier in a downtown hotel. Also, everything is so much cheaper there which suits me. I didn’t really fancy the $10 Black Jack in our hotel, it would no longer be fun for me; I actually enjoyed playing the 25c machine and winging free beers; if I can get Claire playing our night will be free except for tips. We bought a pack of cards and have been practicing in our room. We have both worked hard for our money over the years and I don’t like the idea of just poking my notes straight down the drain.

The Satnav didn’t play up today and was almost straight into action and I couldn’t believe that it even knew its way around our hotel grounds which are a nightmare as they lead into Mirage and very hard to find your way back if you go wrong. No, it seemed to have been to Treasure Island before and knew all the little tricks and back allies. It also got us out of the spaghetti junction style highway system so you can actually go in the correct direction right from the start. It certainly seemed a lot happier in Vegas than in Sydney where it was worse than useless.

Once on the right road it was quite a boring journey but the landscape did change quite a bit with flat desert, rising mountains, snow capped mountains and even Boulder Mountains. We had to drive over the Hoover Dam which used to be called Boulder Dam and I can’t remember doing that crossing 30 years ago but I see that it was built in 1936 so who knows; maybe I can have a look back through my photo’s when I get home. It was a nightmare as they have over 20 miles of roadwork with speed limits of around 15mph; at one stop alone we waited for 30 minutes. I need to look at a map to see which way we went to Vegas from the Canyon last time.

The closer we got to the Canyon the more snow was around until we finally arrived and there were piles of snow everywhere; we should have got a bigger car with all wheel drive. The motel that Claire had picked out which was next to the Imax we couldn’t find. I know it sounds odd but we drove all around the Imax place without finding it. We found a sign advertising it and showing the way but it lied. We ended up in another one that was in the discount book next door called Red Feathers. Our room is the same size and identical layout to the one we had in Treasure Island but the furnishings and not quite the same quality and we have 2 Queen beds rather than one King bed. Also I noticed a sign on the inside of the toilet lid that says that the water is recycled so you shouldn’t drink it. Must remember that in the night when I’m really thirsty.
Claire was very pleased that she bought her new green pullover and coat otherwise she would have been freezing like I was in my short sleeved shirt, shorts and sandals. She was also very pleased that she hadn’t totally missed all the snow that we had in England. I did get some strange looks when I turned up in reception to check in though.

There is no laundry around this area we had to get our pass and drive into the national park to the campsite laundry but unfortunately, by the time we got there, it was too late as they closed in 15 minutes. That means we will have to take some time out of our sight seeing tour tomorrow doing domestic stuff. We have not decided yet on where to go tomorrow and will be talking about it with the maps we picked up over dinner tonight. Last time I did the helicopter ride and loved it but don’t want to spoil any more of my memories. We quite fancy a walk down the canyon and I was reading some of them but at this time of year they recommend the use of crampons for the journey back up. Does that mean that you slide down without them? Anyway, I’m not sure if crampons will fit properly to our sandals. They say that they have had 2 meters of snow in this area and we have another snow storm on its way. I’m sure that its colder here than it was in England; did anyone see icicles as long as those in England?