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August 9 - 18, 2007

Nevada, Arizona & California

Bright Lights,Movie Stars & Worldly Wonders
Grand Circle Tour

Report & Photos By: S. Bestvater

We departed Winnipeg on a late afternoon Westjet flight, destined for Las Vegas where we would start our Grand Circle Tour. We arrived as scheduled - and Westjet provided some of the friendliest service that I have experienced with airlines.

Upon arrival in Las Vegas, we were bussed to the Car Rental Center where we picked up our car and headed off to the 4 Queens Hotel and Casino on Fremont Street where we spent the first night.

The 4 Queens was a great overnight stay, large room, in the heart of the Fremont Street Experience. For the $40.00 we paid, we received great value and a great night's sleep.


Expect to see all sorts of
things while in Vegas.

After a good night's rest, we headed off towards the Hoover Dam. This was about an hours drive away. Plan to arrive there early, as traffic gets very heavy later on in the day. There is a security check stop just prior to driving over the Dam, and all the traffic bottlenecks here.

If you drive over the Hoover Dam to the Arizona side, you will find free parking. It is a short walk back over the Dam to get to the visitor center.


The Hoover Dam
An Engineering Man-Made Wonder

We took the Discovery Tour and thought it was interesting and informative. You get a great view of the Hoover Dam from the observation deck after the tour. Allow 2-3 hours total time to experience the Hoover Dam.


During the Discovery Tour, you are taken
over 500 feet down, yes over 50 stories
into the Dam. There you will walk through
tunnels and see the huge generating stations.
They are currently constructing a new bridge that will span the Colorado River to reduce the traffic over the Dam. Large trucks are not permitted to travel over the Dam without a special permit and are routed quite far south to transport goods into Arizona.


The bridge is also an engineering & construction marvel.


This model shows the final rendition of the bridge.

We continued on towards Williams, Arizona where we would spend the next night. Williams is about 1 hour from the Grand Canyon National Park. After checking into the Motel 6 West (a great value and I would recommend this hotel) we headed off to the Grand Canyon to see the sunset.

There is a park fee of $25.00 per vehicle, and it is valid for 7 days.

Upon arriving at the Grand Canyon National Park, we found a parking spot near the entrance and started to experience the natural wonder of the world. Note that since we arrived late afternoon, there was a lot of people there already and we chose to park where we could. I would recommend parking closer to the visitor center/post office area where the shuttles are closer.

The immediate beauty and drastic canyon immediately take your breath away. All you can really do is stand in awe.

There are free shuttles that will take you on 3 different routes throughout the park. These are convenient and run continuously throughout the day from just before sunrise until just after sunset.


Even the desert produces some lush trees.


Both morning and late afternoon/evening
produce the best colors and shadows.


When you look closely, you will find
many interesting rock formations.


You can literally stand on the edge of
the canyon and experience the
complete openness and freedom.


See the visitors on the rock? The drops and drastic landscape are amazing and breathtaking.

You may come across all sorts of wildlife while in the Grand Canyon National Park. We saw deer, numerous birds including the 9 foot wing span Condor, ring tailed cats, a wolf, and many interesting insects.

There are many interesting plants and trees in the Grand Canyon National Park, both live and expired - creating an interesting vegetation mix.

If you stay late enough, the star gazing at the Grand Canyon is amazing. Although the complete darkness did contribute to losing our car for awhile (the stores and visitor center are closed by the time the sunset is done and there is little lighting), it did produce an amazing sky show for us.


The Milky Way


The Big Dipper

©2007 South East Travel Ltd.