Winter Just Turned Nasty!

For days, all the weather reports on the news have been about a cold air mass on its way from the Arctic. Spot on lunchtime today the snow started coming down & the wind came with it. The temperature has dropped 8deg in no time & is predicted to go under -25 deg by tomorrow morning. (That's up for grabs as the Weather Bureau here is nothing better than a random numbers generation department. Bingo callers we like to call them.) There are even predictions of the -30 mark on Wednesday. I'll find out whether I can actually withstand true Canadian winter conditions this week. Kerri's going to hate it!

On the up side, this cold snap should have arrived some weeks ago. Word has it that this has been a very mild winter this year.

Ski Louise.

Today Dale and I went up to the ski fields for the first time since the disastrous attempt on New Year's Eve. Our resort of choice was Lake Louise. There hasn't been a great deal of snow since Xmas so the conditions were mediocre at best. I had a few high speed slides once the ice started to appear under the grooming. No major injuries, but was a bit bruised by days end.
Above is the view from about half way up the mountain. To the right of shot,  Lake Louise at the foot of the V-shaped Valley. Moraine Lake and the Valley of Ten peaks is over to the left. Not a bad view considering it's just a ski hill.

At the top of the ridge, the view just gets better. Above & below is the Lake Louise Valley where you can just make out the Fairmount. On the other side of the mountains is British Columbia.

Leaving Las Vegas

By the end (well middle really) of our 2nd two night stint in Las Vegas, we'd had enough of the place. The wacky buildings has lost their charm, the long weekend in the US had bought a mountain of loud mouthed ignorant Americans to the city & the multiple variations of "Greasy Burger & Fries" were just starting to make us cringe. We couldn't wait to get home Calgary.

We headed to the airport mid morning thinking we'd be home just on dark. Nice thought at the time. The airport was insanely busy & it took us ages to get though security. We hopped on the plane & had to wait for ages at the terminal for a slot to taxi. 45 minutes later we were finally at the end of the runway when the captain come on to the intercom & says "we are unable to start the right engine & will return to the terminal...."
 We thought we were out of the place!
Because of the busy long weekend there was talk of not being able to get us out until Tuesday if the plane wouldn't start (& it was a real possibility). Being a weekend, we couldn't even hire a car to get out! They managed to start the plane some hours lately & eventually took off 4 hrs late. Fortunately the connection in Salt Lake City had a back up that left pretty soon after we landed & eventually touched down in Calgary a bit after 10pm. We were so glad to be home.
What an ordeal?! Thanks Delta Airlines!!

The Grand Canyon - South Rim

 

We woke up the next morning in our little cabin to -15C! Ouch! The 2100m above sea level in the middle of winter tends to make for some low temperatures.
After breakfast we had a bit of a look at a couple of view points near the village & took a few photos.
I soon learned to use the camera with gloves on.

Yavapai Point

Yaki Point

Helicopter Flight

We had booked a helicopter flight for 11am & headed off for the airport. It was the first time I'd (we'd) been in a helicopter so it was all very exciting. Notice the large "Vista" windows in the aircraft. It turned out to be a great advantage when looking down into the canyon. The 50min flight cost about $180CAD all up & as well worth it (I would almost call it a steal).

The first part of the flight traveled across the forest to the Canyon Rim. The Grand Canyon National Park forests are different to any that I've ever seen before. The trees are all so much shorter than the tall forests of Alberta. The trees all seem stunted & are quite well spread apart. It means that the light comes through to the ground easily & reflects off the snow. It's hard to take a photo of, but believe me, its worth seeing, particularly from the ground.

This is about the best view of the Colorado river we had & I can't tell you how awesome it was to see it from the air. This photo was taken from the North East section of the main part of the Grand Canyon.

One thing you notice from the helicopter more than by driving, is the variety of geological formations in the Grand Canyon.
This ridge caught my attention & kind of reminded me of a dinosaur.

This is one of a number of similar sharp peaks in the canyon. This is Mt Hayden & can be seen from the North Rim by road. The North rim is actually closed to cars in winter as the roads are snowed over.

Here's Mt Hayden from a different aspect. Again, I can't stress how awesome the view is from the helicopter.
The snow made for a nice touch & looked like someone had sprinkled the Canyon with icing sugar. It showed up the layers & ridges nicely.

This peculiar formation is called Brady Peak, also known as The Battleship.

Desert View

After our thrilling helicopter ride, we headed along the Eastern Rim road out to a place they call Desert View. Some years ago the Americans (in their infinite wisdom) built this replica Indian watch tower. A clever plan since it is really an excuse for a merchandising store / tourist trap.

In the end, it's built on my vote for the best view of the canyon on the South rim.

Lipan Point

Remember the watch tower? Well that's it just right of centre of picture, perched up on the ridge. It really puts the incredible size & depth of the Grand Canyon into context.

View Point 

Grandview Point

Thanks to the high altitude (2000m above sea level) & the lack of mountains near by, the trees get hammered by high winds & cold air. On top of that the lack of oxygen makes for a fairly hostile climate for plant life. Consequently the trees are typically short & twisted like this one, particularly where they're exposed to the winds from the canyon.

Grandview point is one of the more trafficked view points on the South Rim. Not bad, but I preferred Desert View.

This is just one of those Rim viewpoints, but I quite liked it. I managed to get my camera & tripod to play the game as well & the result speaks for itself. This photo has been stitched from two photos.

This rock formation was popular with the resident crow. I call it 'Bird's View Point'. From it's perch, the crow could overlook the Grand Canyon to the rear & keep an eye on humans bringing potential snacks to the front. There were many other similar stop points with wonderful views of the Grand Canyon.

Grand Canyon Railway

No trip to anywhere in North America is complete without the obligatory train shots.
There are a small number of passenger trains to the Grand Canyon that run from Williams (the hicksville town 90 miles to the south of the Grand Canyon) & Flagstaff. There's even a steam train that runs from Williams sometimes.

The Hoover Dam, Route 66 and The Grand Canyon

After 2 nights in Las Vegas we were kind of glad to take a break from the craziness & head for Arizona & the Grand Canyon.
Along the 500km (ish) journey there isn't that much of interest to see. The Hoover Dam is raved about so much by Americans & it was on the way, so we figured it couldn't hurt to take a peak. Unfortunately the weather on the out lap was overcast, windy & cold. We did manage to have a better look on the way back.
To be honest, it wasn't worthy of all the hype. Having said that, you can't actually see the dam wall front on. You be the judge.

More impressive than the dam is the bridge they're building just down stream.
The background is that the shortest path to Northern Arizona from Las Vegas is across the Hoover Dam. Heavy vehicles aren't allowed on the dam & instead have to take a 250km divert to the south to cross the Colorado River & get back onto Hwy 40. So the Yanks thought a bridge would be a good idea.
The problem is the bridge. Its being built way above the Colorado river & quite a way above the dam. Those in the engineering game would recognise that its quite an engineering feat.

Lake Mead

This is the whole point of the Dam. Lake Mead is the result of blocking the Colorado River. It even has a marina & I saw a paddle steamer heading off for a cruise. It's big, but I'm guessing it pales into insignificance against the "Great Lakes".
The locals are as concerned about the lack of water in their dams as much as most of the Australian Capital cities. Check out the tide mark.

Route 66 - Hackberry

Route 66 used to run from Chicago to Las Angeles & was the main connection between the East & West of the USA. Now much of it has been replaced by multi-lane freeways, but some sections are still preserved. We travelled along to section between Kingman & Seligman Arizona. Apparently its the longest section of the original road still in tact.
Again I couldn't see what all the hype was about, but there were a couple of weird little spots stuck in the 50s & 60s. This shot is of a roadside gas station at Hackberry.

Seligman

Here's the Eastern end of Route 66. Seligman is a very weird place. We were there in the off season & the whole place was shut! Not one diner or gas station was open???? Despite that, it was worth taking a few shots.

The Grand Canyon

After the long & fairly boring drive along Route 66 & then North to the Grand Canyon National Park, we finally made it. It was a little before dusk & caught an opportunity to have a bit of a look around before it got dark.
This photo is from Travel View Point just near the South Rim village where we were staying. We were caught a bit by surprise by how cold it was. The snow around the place gave us a bit of an idea, but we hadn't expected the wind to be so nasty. It was a bit of a shock after some quite pleasant weather in Las Vegas the day before and Calgary the week before we left.

Las Vegas - The Strip

Today we wandered The Strip. Each of the hotel/casino has its' own theme/gimmick and an amazing contrast between night & day.

The Stratosphere Tower.

The Stratosphere tower sits at the Northern end of the strip & towers way above everything around it. At the top there's a totally uninterrupted view of the city & the surrounding mountains.

The Stratosphere also has a couple of terrifying rides at the top. The one above is probably the nuttiest of them. It's basically a big see-saw with the green thing pictured sliding back & fourth along it. Seems simple, but the green thing kind of gets tipped of the edge & stops suddenly before it falls right off the tower.

There's another one (below) that spins you over the edge of the tower facing the ground. Again, completely not fun, just terrifying.

Needless to say, we just went up & enjoyed the view.

The Venetian

The most northern "interesting" hotel on the strip is the Venetian.
The designer of this hotel has gone to a lot of trouble to try to copy the main tourist circuit of Venice. I'd have to say they did a pretty good job too. The main difference is the Vegas version doesn't smell, the water is crystal clear & NO PIGEONS.
I think I prefer the Vegas version.

Inside the Venetian is almost as interesting as outside. They've gone to a lot of trouble to re-create the narrow streets & little walk bridges like the Venice, Italy. That includes canals running all through the building. There are heaps of shops & restaurants (like in Venice) and they've gone to great length to replicate St Mark's Square (below) minus the pigeons. This photo isn't a great one, but you get the gist. They've even painted the sky on the ceiling to make you think you're outside.

The Mirage

For the Mirage, the gimmick is the Volcano out front. It looks like a waterfall in this photo, but at night they have a gas fired eruption every 15 minutes. We didn't see it because we just didn't get the opportunity, but I've seen it on the net.
Oh, & apparently they have dolphins inside the hotel complex.

Caeser's Palace

Caesar's Palace is huge! It doesn't seem to have a gimmick other than the hotel itself. You can do Rome without leaving North America. The following pics will show you some of the classic Rome tourist attractions.

The Colosseum.

The Colosseum is just one part of Caesar's Palace & is where they host their shows. (Kind of appropriate I guess).

The Pantheon

Supposedly the Pantheon is the most impressive architectural monument left by the Roman Empire. Something about biggest self supporting dome in the ancient world.
The Las Vegas version is quite a bit smaller than the real McCoy. There is a piss weak version of the Spanish steps behind it as well.

The Trevey Fountain

The copy of the Trevey Fountain is a pretty good replica. You can only tell that it's not the real one because it's clean!

The Bellagio

The Bellagio is one of the more famous of the hotel/casinos on the strip. Its certainly the classiest & most expensive.
We actually went to see one of the Circ de Soleil shows, "O" in the Bellagio. Shows aren't really my thing, but this one was awesome! Those who have seen a Circ show before would know they're very acrobatic. This one was compounded with a pool for a stage adding diving to the spectacle.
They have some major hardware below the stage that brings a series of porous platforms up to the surface at times, making for a dry stage (or part there of at times). The system of cranes in the ceiling for the sets are equally as impressive.

The Bellagio also has a decent Japanese Garden, although I'm not sure why.

The Bellagio is probably best known for it's night time fountain shows. The photos don't do it justice of course, but they still came out nicely.

Paris Las Vegas

I don't think I have to explain the name.

Paris Las Vegas even has it's own Arc de Triomphe complete with roundabout. It doesn't have the multi-laned mad traffic accident magnet that the Parisian version has, but it's still a roundabout.

All the hotels in Vegas have some kind of array of lights that make them look more interesting at night. Paris Las Vegas is no exception.

New York-New York

This is the hotel we stayed in the first couple of nights we were in Vegas. It was very nice & reasonably priced. We had a view across to the MGM Grand & Excalibur. The roller coaster was annoying until about 11pm, but that wasn't an issue by the time we went to bed.
Oh, and the roller coaster was pretty exciting. It runs pretty much around the perimeter of the hotel.

MGM Grand

The MGM Grand is one of the newer Casinos. To be honest it wasn't that impressive during the day.
Their gimmick is the lion habitat. It's not very interesting really. They have a couple of lions in a big glass enclosure that lay around doing nothing (they're big cats after all). They have rotate different lions every day.

The MGM was much more interesting at night time. This is what we looked at straight across from our hotel window. (Slightly different angle, but you get the drift).

Excalibur.

Excalibur is one of the wackiest looking of the Casinos, but one of the better ones to find something decent to eat (that wasn't some variation of burger & fries) at a reasonable price.

The Luxor

They went all out when they designed the Luxor. That black pyramid is effectively hollow. The walls aren't just a skin either. The hotel rooms actually rise up the skin of the structure & the black glass you can see in this shot makes up the windows for the rooms. I couldn't get a decent shot of the inside to illustrate the concept but you can see what I mean from the picture on the Hotel's website. It's a very impressive engineering exercise.

This is my favourite shot from Las Vegas. It was very difficult to take as it was at night (so I had to use a tripod) and I was hard up against the exit doors for the Mono-rail. It was worth it.
You'll notice a couple of things in this shot. The two lines of light coming off the Sphinx's shoulders are actually the outline of the black pyramid in the previous shot. The beam of light that appears to be coming out of the Sphinx's head in fact comes from the apex of the pyramid & can be seen from pretty much anywhere in Vegas.