A Grand Canyon view and hitting the big 40

We kicked off the second half of our trip to Las Vegas with a day trip to see the magnificent Grand Canyon.

Last time we visited we never got to see it, but having seen so many of the big sights in the city already we felt we could spare a day of our holiday for a visit.

Usually, whilst on holiday, we hire a car for a few days, especially as we like to get out and find a few caches. But as we were only in Vegas for a week, and seeing how manic traffic was on the strip, we decided to have a more relaxing day trip by coach. 

It turned out to be the longest coach trip we’ve ever been on - over 15 hours! But it was also the best day trip we’ve ever done. 

Setting off from the hotel at the rather ungodly 6am we were soon heading out of the city to the Hoover Dam. 

Now being an ex-geography student I have a bit of a strange fascination with the world’s greatest dams. A few years back I was beyond excited at visiting the Aswan High Dam and this trip was no exception. I had always wanted to see the famous Hoover Dam and standing looking at it was just amazing. It was huge! What an incredible feat of engineering.

Soon we were heading across the state boarder into Arizona and up part of the famous Route 66! As I kept an eye out for aliens the other half tucked into his breakfast and snapped photos of some interesting cars at an old garage, which allegedly the characters in the Pixar movie ‘Cars’ had been based on...or  so our tour guide claimed. 

Just before we arrived at our destination, the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, we had one final stop, this time for some lunch at a Pizza Hut - well this is the USA. 

As we had an hour to kill I was delighted to spot the ‘Grand Canyon Bug Catcher’ cache in the shrubbery to the rear of the building and it proved to be my only caching opportunity of the day. 

Carefully, we made our way through the undergrowth, keeping an eye out for any poisonous reptiles or insects as we went. 

At GZ we spotted a massive pile of stones, always the tell tale sign of a sizeable cache. And it certainly was that.

Moving the rubble out the way we unveiled a large box and inside lots of travel bugs. I’d brought 5 across from the UK so put them all in and picked up some to take back home. Always nice to add a few thousand miles to a TBs journey on these long haul trips. 

An hour or so later we were disembarking the coach to get our first glimpse of the Grand Canyon - and boy was it utterly breathtaking. 

Such a fantastic sight! I had no idea how impressive and how colourful it was as we learnt over the railing to take it all in. It was just incredible and I recommend the trip to anyone debating whether it’s a bit too far to go out of Vegas. It’s an absolute must see! 

I must have snapped over 200 pictures of it, as we moved along the walkways taking in other views of its deep chasm and impressive rock layers, from pink to grey to golden brown.  

The following day was the other half’s birthday! Yes he’d finally hit the big 40 and he kicked off the day with a rather amusing video call to this mum and stepdad. 

I believe it’s the first time they’ve attempted such a call. As ears and foreheads swung in and out of shot, I sat laughing at them, whilst looking at the geocache map to decide where I might be able to pick up a few caches during the day’s sightseeing.

First stop was the famous Las Vegas sign, which has become as popular as most other Las Vegas landmarks. People were actually queuing up to an hour just to have their photo taken in front of it! 

We opted for a much quicker side view snap which was perfect to claim the virtual here. 

Before leaving the throng of tourists behind, we grabbed the nearby traditional cache, also appropriately named ‘Welcome to Las Vegas’. It was an easy find, and we weren’t spotted as all the muggles were facing towards the sign, eagerly awaiting their snap happy moment! 

A few hours later after a gentle meander up the strip visiting various casinos, including the beautiful Mandolin Bay, The Pyramid with its Egyptian delights and the rock and roll of New York New York, we hopped onto the monorail and made our way to Downtown Las Vegas.

This was another lively hub, as tourists clamoured to experience the casinos of yesteryear including the Golden Nugget. But what makes this place now a truly must-see is its stunning ceiling of lights. And I’m not talking about a string of fairy lights like you might find lining the promenade at Blackpool. 

This was an LED screen extravaganza, the full width and length of the street, domed shaped, and over 60ft above our heads. The stunning vivid and colourful displays lit up the street and all ran in time to chart topping hit songs. 

After spending quite a while staring at it, I managed to tear myself away long enough to take a selfie in front  of another ‘Welcome to Vegas’ sign for the virtual cache ‘Ne-On the Strip’.

We also had a really nice wander about doing the series of 5 lab caches, which took us to a few interesting landmarks that we wouldn’t have seen otherwise. 

The birthday boy’s evening was rounded off with a show at the MGM by magician David Copperfield. Fortunately, he didn’t make my phone disappear during his act, so I was able to grab a selfie in front of the huge Golden Lion outside for another virtual cache, ‘In the belly of the beast’. 

We also stopped off at the M&M store and took a quick selfie with a giant M&M to earned us yet another virtual cache...there are a lot of them here!

And after food at Planet Hollywood, we picked up another tiny traditional cache, ‘Taz’s Tree on the Aladdin’. Although, I had forgotten to bring a pen out with me, but the very nice ice cream vendor nearby, kindly leant me one so I could sign the log.

We finished the evening with a visit to the Venetian, possibly the most beautiful hotel on the street with its Italian architecture. Another must see, even if you just take a wander through it. 

The final cache of our trip was picked up on our last day, at the airport. And was yet another ‘Welcome to Las Vegas’ cache - they certainly make you feel welcome here! Again it was a virtual requiring some answers from some photos on a wall and a selfie with a giant lizard. Always nice to have something to do whilst you’re waiting to depart. 

We’d had a great time and grabbed a nice number of caches inbetween doing all the tourist bits of Vegas. But it was definitely the right time to leave. Antibac stations and Covid-19 warning signs had started to appear in all the casinos on our last day. And hundreds of cleaners had been brought in to scrub down the city’s pavements, escalators and handrails with a fairly potent smelling disinfectant. 

But all that was nothing compared to what was to come, shortly after we arrived home...

More on our Covid-19 and severe lack of caching experiences back in the UK, next time. 

Disclaimer: This caching trip took place before the Covid-19 lockdown in the UK.