Getting to Vegas from Fargo was one of the easiest in 2008. There were quite a few low-cost deals to Vegas on the weekends - fly down on a Friday and head back on Sunday evening. Now, things have changed but you still do get pretty good deals once in a while. If I remember well I got an under-100 deal for a ticket. It was our grad school friend's meet and we planned 5 days at a rented Villa, located close to the Vegas downtown.
Day 1
The first day was much spent relaxing, hanging out in the villa, and catching up with everyone. The villa was well-equipped with a full pantry, a great bar, a pool room, and a backyard swimming pool. The rooms were pretty, cozy and comfortable.
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| Airbnb home we rented for our stay |
Day 2
On the second day, we headed out for Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon. We took a tour bus. It was January but I thought, Vegas being a desert wouldn't get too cold. I was wrong! While I packed light clothes, good for summer, it turned out a miscalculation. My jacket from Fargo was my savior. In fact, it was snowing at Grand Canyon. The snow-covered Canyon looked gorgeous, a lot different from the usual pics I had seen of it. Trekking was not allowed due to bad weather conditions. We visited the viewpoints only.
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| The Hoover Dam, named after the 31st President of the USA, Herbert Hoover is counted as one of the 7 industrial wonders of the world. It provides water and electricity to many Cities in three states - California, Nevada, and Arizona |
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| The Hoover Dam is considered a feat because of its scale, location, and the time it was built. It was a massive project for the time when the US was going through the great depression. Built on a rough terrain and the rough waters of the Colorado River which used to flood parts of Southern California and Arizona before the Dam was constructed |
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| The Grand Canyon, covered in mist! |
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| In winter, the snow-covered canyon has an entirely different aura |
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| This canyon is a part of the Colorado River basin and is famous for its geological formation as a result of billions of years of arid-land erosion. The canyon explosion layers of soil strata that data back to Proterozoic and Paleozoic Era |
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| Aerial View of Hoover Dam from Google Earth. It was the highest dam in the world when completed in 1935. Standing tall at 726 ft (221 m) almost 60 stories high above the Colorado River. It is still listed among the largest dams in the world though not the highest. |
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| Aerial View of Lake Mead, the largest man-made lake (640 sq. km) in the US. It is the reservoir formed by building the Hoover Dam |
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| Statistics of water and power distribution from Lake Mead and Hoover Dam. Southern California consumes a major chunk of the water and power allocated. In recent years, Lake Mead's water level has gone down drastically, probably due to temporary drought or more serious aridification. This alarming condition has led to reduced allocation of water to the three states |
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| The course of the Colorado River Via the Grand Canyon, Lake Mead, and down south toward Mexico |
Day 3
On the third day, we headed for Zion National Park. This time we rented cars. The drive to the park was beautiful.
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| Scenic drive on the way to Zion National Park |
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| Checkerboard Mesa, Navajo Sandstone summit at a height of 6520 ft and above, in Zion. Zion National Park is a colorful geological formation of exposed layers of sedimentary rock dating back to as old as the Mesozoic era |
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| Checkerboard Mesa viewpoint. It was an interesting climb on layers of eroded mountain. It was named by Preston P. Patrow, the 3rd Superintendent of Zion. The name was coined because of the summit's 'checkerboard appearance formed by horizontal cross-bedding of ancient sand dunes and vertical cracking due to the expansion and contraction of sandstone in winter' - Source: information board in Zion |
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| Fort Zion is a game and gift shop with a small petting zoo in the town of Virgin on the way to Zion |
On the fourth day, we hopped the casinos at the strip and downtown and some of my friends went for the Cirque-du-Soleil show at MGM Grand.
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| Map of the Las Vegas Strip along a stretch of South Las Vegas Boulevard which has some of the biggest casinos and hotels in Las Vegas. About 14 hotels are among the top 30 largest hotels in the world. |
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| Vegas Strip as seen from McCarran airport |
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| Entrance of Luxor Hotel and Casino. It is designed in the form of a huge Pyramid and the interiors are designed with an Egyptian theme |
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Leo the Lion is the mascot of MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer). In the past, MGM Grand was famous for its boxing matches and Lion habitat. When we visited Vegas in 2008, the Lions were still there. They were moved later to a ranch about 12 miles away. MGM Grand is the largest single-building hotel in the world and is the third largest hotel in the world with 6852 suites
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| With 7092 suites, The Venetian - Palazzo designated as the busiest hotel is the 2nd largest hotel in the world. It is designed like the City of Venice and much like the romantic city, exudes romanticism and luxuriance |
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Paris, Las Vegas is designed like Paris and has a half-scale replica of the Eiffel Tower
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| Roman-styled fountains in front of Caesar's Palace |
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| Hard Rockers KISS at Hard Rock Cafe |
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| The Colosseum at a restaurant in Ceasar's Palace which is designed after a Roman theme |
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Downtown Vegas' Fremont Experience along a stretch of Freemont Street which has the world's largest video screen
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| The 1375 ft long, 90 ft wide Viva Vision Canopy, is the world's largest LED canopy screen in Downtown Las Vegas with 16.4 million pixels. It is suspended 90 ft above Fremont Street. |
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| Golden Nugget Casino has on its displays, the Hands of Faith golden nugget which is the largest, metal detected golden nugget. |
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| Freemont Street Experience Entrance |
Day 5
On the fifth day, we lazed around at the Villa and packed up for the next day's early morning flight back.
