How I Spent My Summer Vacation Part 3: Grand Canyon and Las Vegas

What could be more stereotypically American than spending Labor Day weekend at the Grand Canyon, complete with camping and bonfire? I celebrated the unofficial end of summer doing just that, thanks to Zach’s comprehensive knowledge of National Parks. I’d never been to the Grand Canyon before and I can honestly say that no photos can do its majesty justice. We headed out on Saturday morning and made it to the North Rim by early afternoon. After finding a campsite, setting up our tent, and purchasing a few amenities, we took a short hike down into the basin. We planned pretty well, and made it back up right around nightfall. The next morning we stopped at a couple other overlooks before hitting the road.


Entrance sign (to prove I’m not lying)


Quite possibly the best warning sign ever


Shot of the Canyon


Not exactly separating church and state, but I still kind of liked seeing this


Zach and I assemble the tent


Et voila!






This is about as close to the edge as I dared get...


...unlike these crazy people...


...and Zach



It turned out that Maggie was going to be in Las Vegas having a reunion with college friends the same weekend, so we planned to meet up. Zach and I drove up on Sunday and also had the opportunity to drive by/over the Hoover Dam. We didn’t actually stop because it was over 100 degrees and, after all, it’s just a dam. We did get to take in a lot of its grandeur, however.







So we arrived in Vegas early Sunday afternoon without any real plan. After seeing an ad for a pretty cheap deal at a Howard Johnson near the strip, we decided to try there first. Fortunately, they had rooms available, it wasn’t bad and fit our budget. We called around and successfully secured tickets to the Cirque du Soliel Beatles show Love, which despite being “limited view” were really pretty good. After grabbing some Chipotle, we went to the show, which was great.





I’ve been to a few other Cirque du Soliel performances before and this was the least circus-y, being more of an art/music/dance showcase, but even so, it was innovative and beautiful. The music, which was remastered specifically for the production, sounded phenomenal and the art direction was very well-considered. We were both very grateful to have had the chance to attend.


The Beatles/Cirque also have an “ultralounge” called Revolution, the entrance to which is this cool typographic light wall


The strip as seen from the Stratosphere

Following that, we met up with Maggie and three of her friends and proceeded to the Statosphere. We decided to go up to the observation platform and each ride one of the three rides they have on the top of the casino. I rode a swingy thing called Insanity which was a bit nerve-wracking at first, and then tired by the end. It’s pretty freaky to be suspended that far above the ground in a metal contraption that doesn’t seem much safer than something at your local county fair.


A look at Insanity



By this time, it was pushing 1 or 1:30am, so we did the logical thing: ihop (or International House of Pancakes for the uninitiated). After a fun later dinner/early breakfast, we parted ways until the next day.
On Labor Day itself we all met for lunch at a Wolfgang Puck Euro-Asian restaurant inside Caesar’s Palace. The food and company were great, but before we knew it, it was time for Maggie and the girls to head to a Russian cat circus and for Zach and I to get back on the road.
As we drove home, we listened to NPR reports about the nation’s Labor Day parades and saw some majestic landscapes and an amazing rainbow out the window. A great finale to a great weekend.

Before I knew it, my time out west was at an end, and I said hasta luego to Zach to fly down to Orlando to visit friends there...