Monthly Archives: April 2022

Grand Canyon- South Rim

We left Las Vegas for the Grand Canyon adventure. Around 7pm Valle was reached by us. The Grand Canyon Motel & Inn was booked in advance. I did not realize at the time that the room has 11 square meter.

After the Bellagio it was … well … small. Late dinner : burger and salad. Not bad. But the night was a kinda nightmare. Even Mandy did not sleep well. Mattress was very old and smaller than a normal queen size bed. So got up 6:15 am , got a „coffee“ at the market and drove direction Grand Canyon. Parking and shuttle bus were reached before 8am. We checked out already at the hotel. And we decided to do the Red Line hike to Hermits Rest. It has several view points and overlooks on its way. Have a look . We were always very close to the edge… respect to Mandy .

Nothing compares with this. We haven’t seen such natural wonder. The trail ended for us after 11 km. My lower back pain and the nerve pain till my toes forced me to stop. But the experience was great. Stunning view and fantastic impressions. Spent 6 hrs at the GC national park.

Kingman Arizona was chosen for a one night stop. Ramada Motel with nice painted walls and a clean room was picked.

park in front of your room

Mandy slept like a rock, I was not able to do so . Sunburned? May be. Haven’t had a red nose before 

Las Vegas – summary

What a city. So much glamour. And so many broken dreams on both sides of the road. Blinking light all over. More than 3900 rooms at the Bellagio and this one is not the largest….

Bellagio front
Trevi fountain 😊
signature breakfast- Egg Benedict
the guy and the lady 😍

It was great to see and good to be out after 48 hrs. Vegas baby!

Vegas baby!

Almost 4 hrs by car to get to Sin City. As a side note, we found everything so far immediately without running in circles. Nice. Now the shock. This city is so different from what we saw so far. Nothing compares with it. Everything is bigger, louder, more colorful, more anything. We picked the Bellagio as a impresario booking. Means you get more benefits than via direct or OTA booking. Here is what we got : 60$ breakfast credit for every morning plus 100$ credit for drinks plus free wi-fi (lower resort fee in our case) and early check in / late check out. Since we found an unclean shower and complained it we got 100$ more on our credit. Sounds good, does it? Breakfast for the two of us: 80$, 2 Miller beer 20$, 2 drinks 45$. Okee Vegas got you! Everything is more expensive here as well. Nevertheless it’s worth to see it. And yes we gambled of course! Mandy did so and I am … mojo baby 🥰 Well at the end we did not loose money.

the Zeus power
deluxe room
inside Bellagio
cocktail time baby!
the famous Bellagio fountain
view on the strip
artificial botanical garden inside Bellagio
signature breakfast with Egg Benedict

and you ma believe it or not they have a gym and yes I have been there and I was not alone.

Oahu – last day

With a relaxed start the last day has begun. Coffee , yoghurt with granola and piece of mind. Clothes and stuff was prepared for packing and we went to the closest beach, 100 mtr (or even less…) Aaaaaand … sea turtles!!! How cool is this. One last jump into the ocean at north shore and back. Shower and more coffee. Shake hands with Jeff, a short chat and ride the mustang towards Kahuku. Bought shirts for friends and , meanwhile close to lunch, went to superette where the poke should so good … and yesssss it is ! Spicy tuna was so yummy. Drove to coastal road to Honolulu, stopped at Kaluoa ranch for a pic and reached Honolulu around 1:30 pm. Luggage storing was booked in advance so we get the rental car back just in time. Time for Honolulu… some points on the list were open. Mainly locations from Hawaii Five O reboot series. First , Hilton Hawaiian Village. Fortunately we did NOT book one night. So massive overcrowded… not worth the money. Rooms expensive and approximately 100$ per day for beach accessories like sun chair and umbrella. Pool area … no way.

pool with too many people

Next , Alo Moana beach park. Man-made but nice especially for children, no big waves due to the wall a little outside.

much more better than Waikiki beach

It started raining so we skipped the plan to see the King Kamehameha statue in front of the Iolani palace. A pity but the Alo Moana shopping mall was very close and it’s food court sounded amazing. To be honest, never seen so tasty fresh asian food outside Asia. We had Laksa soup and fresh spring rolls. And … Thai Ice Tea  how great.

Uber is already ordered and payed so we need only the way to the storage place. Mahalo. See you in Los Angeles.