Vegas

So here’s the story that goes with the pictures, sorry it took me a while. After leaving Monument Valley, we drove to the Grand Canyon. On the way there we visited Horse Shoe bend, a bend in the Colorado river which offers an amazing view of the canyon and the river. We set up camp close to the Grand Canyon national park and went out for pizza. Jackson and Erica told us about the game they play in which you have to try and get the best ‘Elkie’ or selfie with an Elk (some sort of big deer). Literally five minutes after they explained it, an elk crossed the parking lot of the pizza place. We all ran outside and took a group selfie. The elk was just crossing the road, completely at ease and expecting all the cars to stop for it. It’s an amazing animal, so big and imposing with its antlers. 

After dinner we headed to the Canyon. Erica and Jackson made us wear paper bags over our heads which we were only allowed to take off once we got to the viewpoint. When I took off the bag the view was amazing, it is so impressive, it’s even bigger than I imagined. We watched the sunset from that viewpoint. The next day we drove back to the Grand Canyon and had some free time. We went on a hike, about a mile down into the canyon and than back up again. Going down was fine, even though some parts were really steep, but going up was terrible. It was really hot, steep and exhausting. I climbed back up with Kirsty, we just went at our own pace and took lots of breaks. It wasn’t just us, everyone we passed on the way up was complaining, especially all the kids. There were a lot of other Dutch tourists out there as well. It was weird to hear Dutch after three weeks of speaking English. After the hike we walked around the rim of the canyon for a bit. I actually liked that better since there were so many different viewpoints and the view on the hike didn’t really change. 

So fun fact, apparantly I am allergic to chilli peppers. I was on the cook team that night and when I was cutting up peppers my face starting tingling and swelling. Erica had some medicine though and thankfully the swelling went down. I guess I can eat them, just not cut them. 

After the Grand Canyon we went of to Vegas! Everyone was really excited ‘cause they wanted to go out and party. I was more excited for the hotel and the aircon to be honest. We drove around the Strip so the guides could show us where to go. The hotel was close to the strip so after getting settled in I went to walk around the Strip and some of the hotels with a friend from the Netherlands who is travelling in the USA as well. It was nice to see the hotels but Vegas is not really my city. The next day I checked out the hotels some more. I loved the Venetian, it was painted in a way that made it look like you were outside, walking in an Italian city. There was even a canal and a gondola in the hotel (and outside as well!). All the hotels were just really over the top, kind of cool but a bit too much for my liking. It was also really hot that day. I walked to the Vegas sign, which was further than I thought and I was exhausted. I took lots of stops to rest and drink. When I finally got back to the hotel I was exhausted so I just chilled in the hotel for the evening, watched some tv and went to bed early. 

The Venetian                                                                                            Grand canyon!