Trip in US West Coast - Day 10

Fri, Aug 31, 2007

At around 5 AM, I came again to the receptionist, and this time they could help me finding out Ken's room number, so I could call him. A really important lesson for me here: always have the number of your tour leader, it makes life easier when you are separated from the group. Ken told me that he did not have my key, so I searched again and the key was actually in my wallet. I still had the same room - 41731. Stupid me... Why should I sit the whole night outside, while I could have been sleeping in a cozy bed! Anyway, I could only take a shower and went to the bus, as we should leave early.

After picking up the other half of the group, who was staying at another hotel in Vegas downtown called Plaza Hotel, we went to the factory outlet near Vegas. We had one hour there, and as I need a new sport shoes, I did a little shopping at Nike store, I got Nike running shoes and a sporty top, I also bought my sister a cute pink swimming suit, all for less than $60!

For lunch we had chinese buffet for $10, which was not bad at all. I guess this tour was really good at picking up chinese restaurants :D

I arrived in LA - Chinatown in the afternoon and decided to go directly to Hollywood Hostel with my 18 kgs backpack and sport bag using public transportation. Thank God, there was enough subway in LA and I still had energy after a long journey.

Trip in US West Coast - Day 9

Thu, Aug 30, 2007

That night I slept only 3 hours, since we had to wake up at 4.45 AM to go to Grand Canyon. First, there was somebody broke into my room at 2 AM, said nothing like 'sorry' after I yelled 'what?!?!', nor showed his/her face (I could not see it, because there was a short corridor between the door and the room). For me that was really awkward, luckily I was not aslept yet, since I had a bad feeling about that room. I called the receptionist desk and the woman who picked up the phone just said 'the ones who have the key are the room service and the mechanics', such an answer - I don't like Stratosphere Hotel :(

Second of all, I thought I had to move to another hotel in LV, so I packed my belonging before went to the bus, but it turned out that the tour guide (Ken) forgot to tell me in English, that we were suppose to stay in the same hotel. Ken was a caring tour guide - he arranged the time, hotel and food well - but I did not like the way he put so little information in English in compare to Mandarin or Cantonese. The day before, he spent an hour speaking those languages, and said nothing in English, since I was the only 'english speaking person' in the tour after the other english speaking people left the tour hiks... :( I complained, because it was supposed to be an english and mandarin tour, and that day he explained more in English. Most of the tour participants spoke chinese / cantonese. Only me and an elderly couple who could not understand those languages (3 out of 60).

In the morning we visited Hoover Dam, and on the way to the Dam I saw the Lake Mead from a far. Since Hoover Dam is critical for the electricity of Nevada, Arizona and California states, before entering the area, the cars would be thoroughly checked.

Hoover Dam, also known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete gravity-arch dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Arizona and Nevada. The dam, located 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Las Vegas, is named after Herbert Hoover, who played an instrumental role in its construction, first as Secretary of Commerce and then later as President of the United States. Construction began in 1931 and was completed in 1935, more than two years ahead of schedule. The dam and the power plant are operated by the Bureau of Reclamation of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981, Hoover Dam was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985. [Wikipedia]

Lake Mead is the reservoir created behind the dam, named after Elwood Mead, who oversaw the construction of the dam. It is the largest man-made lake and reservoir in the United States. Formed by water impounded by Hoover Dam, it extends 110 mi (180 km) behind the dam, holding approximately 28.5 million acre feet (35 km³) of water. The water held in Lake Mead is released via aqueducts to communities in southern California and Nevada. The lake was named after Elwood Mead, who was commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation from 1924 to 1936 during the planning and construction of the Boulder Canyon Project that created the dam and lake. The accumulated water from Hoover Dam forced the evacuation of several communities, most notably St. Thomas, Nevada, whose last resident left the town in 1938. The ruins of St. Thomas are sometimes visible when the water level in Lake Mead drops below normal. [www.phoenix-getaway.com]

We then continued to the south rim of Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is a colorful steep-sided gorge carved by the Colorado River in the U.S. state of Arizona. The canyon, created by the Colorado River over 6 million years, is 277 miles (446 km) long, ranges in width from 4 to 18 miles (6.4 to 24 kilometers), and attains a depth of more than a mile (1.6 km). Nearly two billion years of the Earth's history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted.

During prehistory, the area was inhabited by Native Americans who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. In 1869, Major John Wesley Powell, a one-armed Civil War veteran with a thirst for science and adventure, made the first recorded journey through the canyon on the Colorado River. [Wikipedia]

There were two locations which I visited, first the Eagle Rock View Point, where the Skywalk is built. I walked on it, and looked down to 2,000 feet of air between the glass floor and the bottom of the Grand Canyon. There was a funny feeling at the first time, but after a while, I did not think that it was extraordinary, especially because visitors could not bring their camera inside.

Located at Grand Canyon West on the Hualapai Indian Reservation, the new Grand Canyon Skywalk opened to the public on March 28th, 2007. The structure, consisting of a U-shaped cantilevered glass bridge jutting 70 feet past the rim of the Grand Canyon, was dreamt up by Las Vegas businessman David Jin while taking part in a Grand Canyon tour in 1996. With the help of Las Vegas design firm Lochsa Engineering, Jin’s outlandish creation will be sturdy enough to hold the weight of a dozen fully loaded 747’s, and strong enough to withstand winds up to 100mph. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin lead the first walkers on the Grand Canyon Glass Skywalk in a private ceremony on March 20th, 2007. It is hoped that Grand Canyon West’s Skywalk Project will give an economic boost to the Hualapai Indian Tribe, who have battled widespread unemployment and poverty for decades. [www.grandcanyon.com]

Actually there was an offer to ride a helicopter to the bottom of the canyon. I felt stupid that day, because I did not order the helicopter ride, which cost 'only' $152, and instead only taking the skywalk $27. Because Grand Canyon was my main reason of coming to the west coast. It was partly because of my bad mood, due to not enough English info during the trip the day before, where we had to make decision to order the helicopter ride. After seeing how small a helicopter was, while it flew between the canyon, I tought, people could only 'feel' the massiveness of Grand Canyon by going to the bottom. As I could not really 'feel' that from the top of the rim.

The second place was Home of Huapalai, where I could get an Indian lunch. It was sweet beef, chicken, corn and salad. I was very hungry, so it tasted good. We ate in an open space, under a huge roof. Afterward I did a short hiking under the sun, that was burning my skin with temperature of 40 C / 100 F. But it was beautiful! As a single traveller, I took some pictures with the tripod, and since the area was stony it was difficult to do. Sometimes I 'cut' my arm :) But it was better than having nobody to take my picture. Thank God, I really enjoyed the four hours free time by hiking and taking pictures. Maybe I could come again to Grand Canyon and take the helicopter ride in the future.

Then we came back to Vegas, to see "Jubilee!" at Bally's. It was an awesome show choreographed by Don Arden. It had good music, talented dancers and impressing costumes with ostrich feathers and rhinestones. They had several scenes: "Hundreds of Girls" Cabaret, Samson and Delilah - complete with the fall of the Philistine's temple's central pillar, and Titanic scene where the ship sank on the stage. The sets constantly change and the performers move around with high precision. While the setting was changed, they showed talented chinese acrobats and gauchos from Argentina. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any picture inside.

The show finihed at 9 PM and I went to Bellagio again to watch the beautiful fountain show for an hour, it was so good that I always wanted to watch it. I also went to Rio casino, since I thought I could enter the Voodoo Club for free, but the free entrance ticket that I got was only valid before 10.30 PM and it was 11 PM.

I came back to Stratosphere hotel at 12.10 PM, but I could not meet Ken (tour leader). I thought I gave him my door-key-card in the morning, since I could not find it in my wallet and in the morning, I told him I would like to move to another room. I searched for his name at the receptionist, but they could not find it in the database. My room was even registered under a man's name. Apparently Ken did not sign us as official guests there. So I spent the whole night sitting in a sofa, felt cold and very sleepy, since the security would not allow anybody to sleep there. I heard the slot machine ringing the whole night...

Trip in US West Coast - Day 8

Wed, Aug 29, 2007

In compare to the other tour days, today is the worst, and the story started already in the morning...

In the morning, we prepared to go at 6.15 AM, but there was a problem again with the starter. Yesterday we used another bus because the AC was not functioning properly. Luckily we could at least had a breakfast (scramble egg and sliced ham) at the hotel while waiting. At 8.15 finally we went from Pocatello to Salt Lake City. But only after 45 minutes driving, it had another problem with one of the back tire, so we had to stop again for an hour in a gas station shop. Crazy, they should have had a better maintained bus for this kind of long-trip-tour.

Pocatello was inhabited by indians, the Shoshoni and Bannock peoples for several centuries before the arrival of Europeans into the area in the early 19th century. The name comes from Chief Pocatello, a chief of the Shoshoni who granted the right-of-way for the railroad across the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. The discovery of gold in Idaho in 1860 brought the first large wave of U.S. settlers to the region. With 83.000 inhabitants, nowadays it is Idaho's second largest city. [Wikipedia]

Our first stop was Mormon's Temple Square, the center of Mormon organization. We basically just saw a kind of cathedral from outside, and some "sisters" showed us around the visitor center and told us the story about the first priest that translated the book of Mormon. It was not interesting for me, since the explanation was more for a mission purpose and I believe that the Book of Mormon was a fake.

Afterward we went to Bingham Canyon Mine, world's largest open-pit mine. It was so big, that an astrounout could see it from the moon. It is located in southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, in the Oquirrh Mountains. It is owned by Rio Tinto plc through Kennecott Utah Copper Corporation which operates the mine, a concentrator and a smelter. The mine has been in production since 1906, and has resulted in the creation of a pit over 0.75 miles (1.2 km) deep, 2.5 miles (4 km) wide, and covering 1,900 acres (7.7 km²).

Over its life, Bingham Canyon has proven to be one of the world's most productive mines. As of 2004, ore from the mine has yielded more than 17 million tons (15.4 Mt) of copper, 23 million ounces (652 t) of gold, 190 million ounces (5386 t) of silver, and 850 million pounds (386 kt) of molybdenum. The value of these resources is greater than the Comstock Lode, Klondike, and California gold rush mining regions combined. Cumulatively, Bingham Canyon has produced more copper than any other mine in the world, although mines in Chile, Arizona, and New Mexico now exceed Bingham Canyon's annual production rate.

The infrastructure required for an operation this size is impressive. 450,000 tons (408 kt) of material are removed from the mine daily. Electric shovels can carry up to 56 cubic yards (43 m³) or 98 tons (89 t) of ore in a single scoop. Ore is loaded into a fleet of 64 very large dump trucks which each carry 255 tons (231 t) of ore at a time, at a cost of approximately US$3 million per truck. There is a five mile (8 km) series of conveyors that take ore to the Copperton concentrator and flotation plant. The longest conveyor is 2.5 miles (4 km) long and passes through an existing railroad tunnel inside the mine.[Wikipedia]

Kennecott had a video on the making of copper plates and it was very interesting.

We then continued our bus trip to Las Vegas without AC and it was a quite hot day. Since the temperature outside was approx. 37 degree. Then we stopped at McD somewhere otw. to have dinner and to wait for the replacing bus. At this place I met a big-truck driver (and owner) who let me took a picture inside the truck. He told me, that he and his wife lived most of the time in his truck, which had a cozy bed behind the driving compartment. His wife was also driving the truck. I enjoyed the short conversation with him, and time passed by as we finally got the new bus at 8 PM, horrahhh...

That night I stayed at Stratosphere hotel, which had the highest tower in Vegas. I went up to the 350 m tower, where I could see the view of Vegas at 1 AM. However, in my own opinion, Paris Tower's view was better.

Trip in US West Coast - Day 7

Tue, Aug 28, 2007

Situated atop a huge volcanic basin, Yellowstone is home to thousands of active thermal features, including the world renowned Old Faithful Geyser. Yellowstone is also known for the spectacular Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, which is 1200 feet deep and highlighted by the powerful Lower Falls. Yellowstone is also pristine mountain-range wilderness and an open refuge for wildlife, including grizzly bear, elk, American bison, moose and wolf. [www.yellowstone.net]

The first "sight seeing" that morning was the bison, this buffalo weighed approximately 2000 pounds. It was interesting to see it calmly grassing not far from the street. Later on that day, I saw another five buffaloes, so they had much population in this NP. Later on that day I also saw a grey wolf, a grizzly bear and some elks, but not a moose (at least not the living one, I saw a conserved one, it was as tall as a horse and big).

We visited first the Yellowstone Canyon and the Lower Yellowstone waterfall (308 ft / 94 m high). Then continued with the upper part (109 ft / 33 m high). They both are pretty.

One girl, named Yuan, got her foot slightly injured because she slipped in this place. But we continued to Mammoth Hot Springs, as she went to the hospital (she was ok after a while). We had two hours free to see the site and for lunch, so Julia and me decided to spend 1 hr 45 mins. to see the site. It had some beautiful terraces, with different characteristics.

The step-like terraces form as heated water moves along the Morris-Mammoth Fault. The hot water carries dissolved calcium and bicarbonate to the surface of the terraces where pressure lessens. Carbon dioxide then escapes as gas and the carbonate combines with calcium to precipitate as travertine.

The Mammoth Terraces are constantly changing shape and color. Springs which were active one to five years ago may be dry and lifeless now, yet activity may later resume. Along with changes of thermal activity come changes in color. Fresh travertine is bright white in color and as it weathers it changes to gray. Bright colored cyanobacteria and algae mats which were dependent upon a stable temperature and a flow of water also change as the microorganisms die creating a stark, bleak landscape. [www.yellowstonenationalpark.com]

Then we hurried to the meeting point and took 10 mins to eat the burger (prepared by some students who do the summer job in Yellowstone NP). It was a good one. I also bought a scenery picture book, which was really nice, as a token for myself. I was content afterwards!

We continued to Grand Prismatic Spring which was rich in color: blue, yellow, orange and brown due to the heat-loving microbacterias which lives in the hot water. It was very3x beautiful.

This spring was the largest and one of the most brilliant of Yellowstone's many colorful hot springs. It was approx. 200 ft / 61 m wide, and the water temperature was 160 F / 70 C, which makes it often cloaked in steam. The magma deep beneath it (from an active volcano), heated the waters that rises through the fissures in the rocks. The result was a hot spring that pours almost 500 gallons of hot water each minute into the Firehole River. [info board]

At this place me and the other three chinese girls were late to come back to the bus. So we had to sing a song as a punishment. We sang "Do Re Mi" from Sound of Music, which was easy. And since our voice was so good and everybody liked it, some of the tour members told us to be late again hihihi. It was a good tour, because all of the members are on time, the late was just about 5 minutes, definitely bearable.

But this time, our late was pretty critical - although not too long, because afterward we visited the "Old Faithful" Geyser. It may not be the highest geyser, but it was famous since it erupted every 60 - 90 minutes, and people could get the eruption prediction schedule at the Yellowstone info points. As we arrived, it was only 3 minutes before it really erupted. If we were late, we should wait for probably an hour for the next one. The duration of the eruption was about 2 minutes, and it was definitely more than 20 meters high. Cool!!!

Old Faithful was named in 1870 during the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition and was the first geyser in the park to receive a name. An eruption can shoot 3,700–8,400 gallons (14,000–32,000 l) of boiling water to a height of 106–184 feet (30–55 m) lasting from 1.5–5 minutes. The average height of an eruption is 145 feet (44 m). [Wikipedia]

My last visit in Yellowstone was The Fountain Paint Pot area, in which one can see fumaroles (holes in a volcanic area which releases hot gases), mud pot (which looked like a pond containting boiling mud), Silex hot spring and a small geyser that erupted every minute (it actually did not stop at all in my visit).

At the end of the day we stayed at Ramada hotel in Pocatello. It was a very very beautiful day.

Trip in US West Coast - Day 6

Mon, Aug 27, 2007

We started the tour from Salt Lake City, Utah, to go to Jackson Hole, a valley located in Wyoming. On the way, we passed Idaho, the Potato State of US. Idaho is world famous for it's A-class potato, which can be as big as a small watermelon, weigh about 5 pounds. FYI. the ones which we can found at the supermarket are usually C- or at most B-class. Those giant potatoes are delivered to McDonald's or to chips companies. Idaho was also good for keeping black cattles (just saw them there for the first time) and horses.

Jackson Hole is the most cowboy city in Wyoming, the state with most cowboys (I thought it was Texas). After having a steak for lunch at Teton Steak, we explored the downtown a bit. It was small but nice, with western style of stores; a real touristic town. In winter time, they say this place is crowded for skiing, and for the other seasons with tourists who can do lots of activities, like hiking, horse-riding, kayaking or fishing in the Snake River. Sometimes one can also see the Air Force Two plane at the airport, which means the Vice President is in town ;)

There are three must-see things in the town:
1. The four elk-antler arches. The arches are made of hundreds/thousands of real elk antlers. They are from elks which spent winter in the National Elk Refuge. The bulls shed their antlers during spring, the scout collected them and then sold them in public auctions. The arches are built by Jackson Hole Rotary Club in 1960.
2. Silver dollar bar, known for its 2,032 inlaid silver - and -
3. A metal plate dotted with tens of bullet-holes which forms an indian's head. I think it's really cool, because it was made with a series of gun shots in 1961.
Both the bar and the bullet-holes painting are located in the Wort Hotel.

We also passed Grand Tetons. It was the mountains that inspired the symbol of Paramount Picture, and the scene for an imaginary place called Brokeback Mountain (movie-2005). Btw. Grand Tetons means Big Boops in French (named by French trappers in 1929), pardon if I am wrong. It's also a National Park (NP), but I did not get a chance to visit it. From a far they look beautiful.

Just on the opposite direction, one can see the Rocky Mountains (Rockies), which is a broad mountain range in western North America. They stretch more than 4,800 kms (3,000 miles) from northernmost British Columbia, in Canada, to New Mexico, in US. [Wikipedia]

We stopped shortly at Jackson Lake Lodge, just to take pictures at Jackson Lake. It was a beautiful combination of mountains, lake and a tiny island.

Then we continued to a NP which is very famous for the beauty of its scene, the geysers, the hot springs and a huge collections of america's wild life. The Yellowstone. My favorite from all of the other places I visited during this trip.

Yellowstone National Park is America's first and foremost National Park, drawing over three million visitors yearly. Established in 1872 by the United States Congress "for the preservation of" its many wonders and "for the enjoyment of the people," and now encompassing 2.2 million acres. The Park has five entrances and some 370 miles of paved roadway. Situated in the northwest corner of the Wyoming frontier, Yellowstone is a treasure that inspires awe in travelers from around the world, boasting more geysers (about 250 active geysers from amidst 10,000 total thermal features) than anywhere else on the globe. [www.yellowstone.net]

We started the tour in Yellowstone with West Thumb Geyser Basin. It had many thermal pools which were deep blue or greenish. The basin We only had a chance to see one spot that evening, because we should avoid to drive after the sunset, since there are no lightings in the NP, and there is a big danger to hit any of the wild animals crossing the streets at night. So we went to Yellowstone Park Inn & Suites, where we spent the night. On the way back I saw a group of young elks grassing by the river, not far from the street. I also had a chance to watch the nice colored sky during the sunset and had a walk in the "downtown" there. And thank God it did not storm at all that day, as predicted, if it did, we were not going to have a good day.

Trip in US West Coast - Day 5

Sun, Aug 26, 2007

We passed Colorado Plateau in the morning on our way to Lake Powell. Lake Powell is a man-made reservoir on the Colorado River, straddling the border between Utah and Arizona. It is the second largest man-made reservoir in the United States behind Lake Mead, storing 30 km³ of water when full. Lake Powell was created by the flooding of Glen Canyon by the controversial Glen Canyon Dam, which also led to the creation of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The reservoir is named for explorer John Wesley Powell, a one-armed American Civil War veteran who explored the river via three wooden boats in 1869. [Wikipedia]

We took a cruise on "Canyon Princess" and had our breakfast on board ($35/person). The view was really beautiful, the lake was greenish blue and the canyon rocks showed strong contour in the morning sunlight. It was picturesque.

Then we went on to Bryce Canyon National Park, located in southwestern Utah. Despite its name, this is not actually a canyon, but rather a giant natural amphitheater created by erosion along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Bryce is distinctive due to its unique geological structures, called hoodoos, formed from wind, water, and ice erosion of the river and lakebed sedimentary rocks. The red, orange and white colors of the rocks provide spectacular views. Bryce is at a much higher elevation than nearby Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon. The rim at Bryce varies from 8,000 to 9,000 feet (2400 to 2700 m), whereas the south rim of the Grand Canyon sits at 7,000 feet (2100 m) above sea level.[Wikipedia]

It was too exciting to see, I took tens of picture from this amazing amphitheater. Could not stop adoring the beauty of God's creation. Way too big and too amazing!

Actually we only had around 1,5 hours inside the national park and there were three points that we visited, two of them (Bryce Point and Sunset Point) had a pathway from the street to the canyon view point. And 20 minutes was not enough to walk the path, take pictures and to gaze that preety canyon. Therefore I was overjoyed as our tour bus could not start the engine. We got one additional hour free time to walk around the Sunset Point, took picture again and just sat there, enjoying the view. Thank you Lord :)

Besides that, we had one hour to look around Ruby's Inn, the largest lodge in the area. The shops across Ruby's were built in western style, just like in cowboys' time, so I took some pictures there. After the bus fixed, we went to Salt Lake City to stay overnight. I was so happy that day.

Trip in US West Coast - Day 4

Sat, Aug 25, 2007

The day started even later today, since I had a walk along Freemont Street Experience until early morning. Woke up at 11 a.m. and checked out at 12 a.m. Then with about 14 kg backpack plus 4 kg sport bag I had to commute with the bus to Tropicana casino in Vegas, because it is the meeting point of my next tour. This is powered by a brunch at Fashion Show Mall - finally I saw the mall a bit. But before leaving Vegas, I still got a chance to take some pictures in front of Luxor and to visit MGM Grand casino, the city of entertainment, where I saw two young lions from near because the cage is made of glass.

Today the tour took me to Utah and we passed the beautiful Colorado Plateau, which often mistakenly pointed as a mountain. Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to take a good picture of it, since the bus didn't stop.

From the tour guide, Ken Wan, I just knew that US has six time zones: Eastern TZ, Central TZ, Mountain TZ, Pacific TZ, Alaska TZ and Hawaii TZ. Since Vegas is in Pacific TZ and Utah is in Mountain TZ, I had to change the time to one hour earlier. For dinner we stopped at St.George city.

This is the tour itinerary (Seagull Tour):

Day 1 Los Angeles - Las Vegas - St George:
We start the tour from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. After lunch, we will see the Las Vegas Boulevard along the beautifully decorated hotels and casinos. You may join this tour from Las Vegas at 3:00pm at the Tropicana Hotel Bus Stop.
Overnight in St George, UT

Day 2 Lake Powell - Bryce Canyon - Salk Lake City:
In the morning we enter Lake Powell from Glen Dam. You will enjoy the many mini canyons on a lake. We then drive along the Red Canyon into an 8000 feet masterpiece, Bryce Canyon National Park, where you will find yourself embraced by several million years of history and standing. After a long day’s adventure, we will rest in Salt Lake City.
Overnight in Salt Lake City, UT (Microtel Inn or similar)

Day 3 Jackson Hole - Grand Teton - Yellowstone:
Wake up and smell the salt and sail by the lake containing seven times as much salt as any other source. On the way towards Yellowstone, you browse through the landscape you can see horses and sheep play on the grass - you are on your way to Wyoming. By noon you will stumble on the soil of the typical western town, Jackson, compose of four 4000 people and a wide spectrum of stores and shops. If you roam through downtown, remember not to miss out on street shows of traditional western cowboys. Followed by the passing of the Snake River, we enter the Grand Teton National Park. This evening, we will reside in Yellowstone National Park.
Overnight in Yellowstone (Yellowstone Park Inn or similar)

Day 4 Yellowstone National Park:
Spend a full day in the park and you will confront great many canyons, waterfalls, hot spring geysers and bracing volcanoes. As a sanctuary, the park also features various wild animals and birds. We will depart from the park and head for Pocatello.
Overnight in Pocatello, ID (Ramada Inn or similar)

Day 5 Salt Lake City - Bingham Copper Mine - Mesquite:
As we ensure for our destination Salt Lake City, we will examine the building of this extraordinary culture - how an arid desert surrounded by saline streams can breed such modernized and industrialized society. We will also pay our respect to the Mormon Temple and the State Capital. Later we will arrive at Bingham Copper Mine for a video presentation of the mine operation. We settle overnight at Mesquite.
Overnight in Mesquite, NV (Virgin River Hotel or similar)

Day 6 Mandatory Grand Canyon West Rim Tour w/ BBQ lunch ($52/person, Pay Upon Arrival): Las Vegas - Hoover Dam - Grand Canyon West Rim - Las Vegas
Optional: Skywalk, Helicopter tour and Cruise Combo tour
Morning visit Hoover Dam, which is one of the seven wonders of the Industrial World. Afterwards, proceed to one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Grand Canyon. It is the World's Seventh Natural Wonder. As you gaze out from the rim, you're viewing 2 billion years of geologic history. Millions of people each year stand in awe at the canyon and leave with a sense of fulfillment and realization that they have witnessed nature at her finest. You may take an optional visit to the "Skywalk", which is the new g gigantic construction built on the very edge of the Grand Canyon West Rim. The Skywalk is suspended 4, 000 feet above the Colorado River. This $60 million dollars bridge can withstand the weight of 71 filly loaded Boeing 74 airplanes (more than 71 million pounds). It is the tallest man-made structure in the world. From the bridge, you can step out onto the glass floor for a 720 degree view of the Canyon. You may also take an optional helicopter or boat tour to see the true beauty of the Grand Canyon.
Overnight in Las Vegas, NV (Stratosphere Hotel or similar)

Day 7 Las Vegas - Factory Outlets - Los Angeles:
We will depart from Las Vegas before noon. On our way we will stopover at Lenwood and will reach Los Angeles in the evening. This is the end to your journey but the beginning for your picture album. Hope to see you again.

Trip in US West Coast - Day 3

Fri, Aug 24, 2007

Today we woke up late and started the day with slow pace. Joanne and me decided to take a brunch at Le Village, a buffet restaurant which is so good, that we have to line up in a queue for 30 minutes to get a table. The price for breakfast was only $17, yet it had a large options for breakfast, from any kind of egg, pastries, ham, soup and salad bar, etc. But since we were at 10.45 a.m. and at 11 a.m. they changed the menu to lunch I could also taste some chicken, beef, fish, big prawns and some desserts in french culinary. I was totally full and satisfied :D

Today was Joanne's last day in Vegas, so I decided to accompany her in LV. We first headed to Hilton LV, because Joanne wanted to watch Star Trek Experience, but we went to the wrong Hilton (Hilton Grand Vacation Club). So it was cancelled. Then Joanne went up to Stratosphere Tower to see the view of Vegas at day time, while I was waiting because I wanted to see it at night. Then we went to Mirage, to make a photo session in the indoor tropical garden hihihi... There are lots of high limits in Mirage, e.g. the High Limit Lounge and High Limit Slots. I saw a minimum limit of $100 in card game gambling and it was not in a high limit lounge, so I wonder how high was the high? It was a real luxurious casino! We continued the journey to see the interior of Bellagio, another luxus casino. The interior was definitely beautiful. Then we watched the fountain again before Joanne left, back to Miami, where she stayed during her internship in US. I was a bit sad as she left because it was so nice having a trip partner.

Alone, I went up to Paris Eiffel Tower with a free ticket I got today along with a member card of Paris LV casino (which I didn't use at all). The night view from the top was so captivating. One can see thousands of shimmering lights of LV's casinos and watch Bellagio fountain show from above which is even more beautiful in night lights. This 1/2 scale, 540 foot (164.6 m) tall replica of the Eiffel Tower really served as the best spot to see LV's landscape at night. In my personal opinion it was far better than Stratosphere Tower which was higher (I visited it some time later). I would stay up there more if I had not had to leave for the last show of Star Trek at Hilton LV. But the second attempt to see the show was also fail, I was late for 15 min eventhough I already took monorail to avoid traffic at the Strip :(

I went back to my hotel feeling disappointed, took a short nap for two hours before wake up again at 3 a.m. to walk along Freemont Street, where the casinos installed thousands of neon bulbs and took lots of photos because it was not as crowed as it was at midnight time. Taking pics with tripod is really difficult when there are too many people walking by. There were Binion's, Golden Nugget, The Plaza, Golden Goose, Jillian's big genie lamp, a big high heel shoes full with bulbs. There was also once a neon museum on this street, but it moved to another street, so I only saw some pieces of their left collections in a now movie theater. But that made my night and I went back to the hotel at 4.30 a.m.
PS. LV's main streets are safe thanks to lots of police patrolling days and nights.

Trip in US West Coast - Day 2

Thu, Aug 23, 2007

Today I visited Ceaser's Palace Casino. The building has a roman style, with white pilars and whole-body-statues, plus a touch of egypt as an influence from Cleopatra. I liked it.

Just by crossing the street, it took me to another casino, Flamingo, which has a birds-garden, one of the birds is of course flamingo. It was totally hot outside, I think it was about 40 degree celcius, but the garden was so green and the man-made waterfalls (there were about 10 of them) created a nice atmosfere.

Continued to Madame Tussaud Interactive Wax Museum, it was so exciting. I took a lot of pictures with my pirate, Johnny Depp, Whoopi Goldberg, Elton John, Britney and made J-Lo blushed by touching her famous asset hihihi... There I met a korean girl, Joanne, who happend to be a good photo-partner and friend in Vegas. I am so glad to meet her, because without her help, it would be much slower to take pictures with tripod. For me it was really a blessing, not a coincidence that we met. According to Lonely Planet (the travel guide I borrowed from Oliver), I should have visited Imperial Palace Auto Collection from some famous people, but in the IP casino I met an Indonesian lady who worked there and she suggested me to visit Madame Tussaud instead of the Auto Collection.

In the afternoon, we took some pictures in front of The Venetian's gondola ride. Would like to try it but no boys around :P We then watch a 30-minutes Pirates Show that is held by Treasure Island (for free). This show was really good, it depicted a fight between two pirate groups, females and males. There was dances, bombing actions (complete with real fires) and sinking boat. It was soo good, I cannot believe that they do that every day twice!

Then we went to New York New York, another casino, to take a roller coaster ride, because Joanne lend me her Vegas-pass ticket today. NYNY has a Statue of Liberty, and just across the street one can see MGM Grand's big lion statue and Excalibur's towers which looked just like Disneyland. After a long-long walk, we arrived at Luxor, another casino, which light beamer could be seen from the moon. It has an egypt style with pyramids, obelisk, sphinx and mummy compartments. After taking some pictures, we went to see the Bellagio's fountain show. Bellagio is a 6-stars hotel which has a fountain show every 15 minutes, every time with different song. The sprinklers could rotate and with different water pressure, the water looked like dancing. It was soo beautiful, I could not get enough of seeing it.

Then we went back to Paris Las Vegas, where Joanne stayed. It is a beautiful casino, complete with Arch de Triumph and Eiffel Tower. That night I stayed at her suite, Nice, 3328p, on the 33rd floor of Paris LV (which costed $4000 a night). That was my first time to stay in such an expensive suite. What an exciting experience!

US, here I come!

Wed, Aug 22, 2007

I flew from Hamburg Airport on 7 a.m. Shen, Liauw, Indra and Yuli accompanied me to the airport. Departing from NIT building on 4.30 a.m, we ran a bit to the bus stop, since we played card until 4.10 and I had to take a shower before leaving. This is an indication for a rush trip during the next ten days. Btw.I said good bye to Shen, my chinese sister, right in front of the boarding gate, since she was also leaving to Austria.

After 12 hours of flight with Scandinavian Airlines and a stop at Stockholm, I arrived safely at Newark, New Jersey. Then I had to wait for another 3 hours at Newark to catch the flight to Las Vegas with Continental Airlines, of course I used the time to look at the duty free stores.

I am so relieved after arriving at Vegas and got a shuttle service to my hotel in downtown, Las Vegas Club. This is not the downtown I had expected, because in Vegas, there is two centers, one is called "downtown" which was the center of large casinos and hotels in 1930-60ies and after that, they moved the center to "the strip", where they have all grand casinos like Bellagio, Mirage, MGM Grand, Paris LV, New York New York, etc.

With Deuce Bus ($5 for 24hrs) one can go up and down the strip. So from this point of time, that bus is my main transportation beside my feet and the monorail. On this very first night, I visited Circus Circus, which is a family oriented casino and hotel because it also has a large area of amusement park inside its adventure dome. After this I will just refer casino and hotel as casino because practically every hotel has a casino in it.

Then I visited Treasure Island, another casino which has a very good show called "Mystere" (by Cirque du Soleil) that I really wanted to see, but unfortunately they didn't perform a show during my stay in Vegas. I went on to another luxurious casino, Mirage. It has a beautiful interior with an indoor tropical garden. In this casino there is a cool club called Revolution, for which I got a free entrance ticket, so I spent two hours enjoying the music and dancing there.