Las Vegas

After visiting the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, we weren’t too keen to drive to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon as it would mean going in the opposite direction of where we are heading towards and also some back tracking.

We saw a rainbow on our way to Las Vegas

We cancelled our reservations at the Grand Canyon and headed west towards Las Vegas. I figured that we can see the solar eclipse in Vegas… more on that later!

On our way to Vegas, I had to Google for a place to stay – fortunately for us we came across this place call Oasis RV.. well, it is an oasis for sure. It’s on the South end of the strip and it is very clean and well maintained. There is even a swimming pool with a sandy beach! The price was right at $21 per night for full hook up. They have a promotion, otherwise it would have been $50+ per night. This place is quite fancy, they even have mobile services to have your RV and vehicle washed right where you’re parked. And of course someone had to get his new truck washed (which cut into my shopping time).

After getting everything set up, we made our way to the Strip. The kids have never been to Vegas – well, Caroline has but she was too young to remember. We went to the restaurant that Jeff and I frequent each time we’re in Vegas – Strip Burger. Ah, a juicy burger and a really good milkshake. What’s there not to like? After lunch we checked out the nice hotels and interesting sights along the strip. It was really hot that day, so hot that we had to pop into a store to buy sunscreen and water, and relief from the heat. It was 43C, the highest temperature for this road trip thus far..

Strip photo

The next day was solar eclipse day… well, that turned out to be a bust. Of all the places in North America, who would expect rain, lightning and cloudy skies in Las Vegas? So much for those glasses we bought.. I guess they can save them for Oct 2023. Since there is nothing to see outdoors, we decided that it was time for some shopping and we drove to the factory outlet shops.

On our last day here, we ventured out to Red Rock Canyon which is a popular sight-seeing spot close to Las Vegas. It was a 30+ minute drive and once we got there, there is a 13 mile scenic loop drive. The rocks were interesting, especially when you see the different layers and colours.

Driving towards Red Rock Canyon

Panaroma of Red Rock Canyon

Red Rocks.

As we began the scenic drive, we saw a sign that we did not expect to see – Tortoise crossing. Hmm, tortoise? Here in the Mojave Desert? Yeah, we would really like to see a tortoise.. And on our way out of the park we did! In fact we made a U-turn just to see it, pretty sure it will still be there when we get there..

Tortoise Crossing. Really?

A tortoise is crossing the highway!

I guess we can consider Las Vegas the training grounds for the next location – Death Valley. I checked the website today and there is an extreme summer heat warning, temperatures ranging from 43-49C and no hiking after 10am. Fun. Why did we sign up for this?