Well it wasn't exactly London Burning but it was certainly a very eventful night at the Grand Canyon. Well first of all there was a fire alarm at 2.20am No one really knew what to do. Some people ignored it some people got dressed and went out to their cars. Donna got dressed, I went to put on a hoody before Donna said "wake up and get dressed" Donna then rang the desk who said they were sending someone from maintenance to sort out the problem so there was no need to worry. Still the alarm continued and continued and people kept coming and going from their rooms, or continued to sit in there cars. Then there was silence except for some chatting and doors closing. After about 10-15 minutes of quiet I give Donna a nudge and
John Grant
32 chapters
16 Apr 2020
September 16, 2016
|
Las Vegas
Well it wasn't exactly London Burning but it was certainly a very eventful night at the Grand Canyon. Well first of all there was a fire alarm at 2.20am No one really knew what to do. Some people ignored it some people got dressed and went out to their cars. Donna got dressed, I went to put on a hoody before Donna said "wake up and get dressed" Donna then rang the desk who said they were sending someone from maintenance to sort out the problem so there was no need to worry. Still the alarm continued and continued and people kept coming and going from their rooms, or continued to sit in there cars. Then there was silence except for some chatting and doors closing. After about 10-15 minutes of quiet I give Donna a nudge and
asked if she could hear anything we both agreed we can here water so I think I may have left the tap on but no...Donna checks the corridor to see water pouring through the ceiling near the end, another guest had his door open and told us that maintenance were on the way again. About 15 minutes later we could here a man with a ladder knocking about in the corridor and the water stopped, a couple of minutes later there was the noise of an industrial hoover/carpet cleaner and the shrill cry of "Hey turn that off" to which there was The calm reply "Sorry ma'am I just have to get this water up sorry" This exchange with everything else that had happened had me and Donna in bits. Donna didn't nod back off till after 4.30 so she wasn't best pleased at 5am when our alarm went off. It's cold as well, the car even has the frost symbol lit up on the dash it's 34F! Well we did sunset so now we have to do sunrise, after all we are only here once. Then it's breakfast at McDonald's and back to our room. I get the car exchange sorted whilst Donna sorts out our stuff and then we are ready to get on the road. It's nearly 300 miles today and evenmore than that on Sunday. By the time we set off the temperature is up to 68F.
The drive was nice and smooth and we kept stops to a minimum. The road was straightforward laid back driving on the whole. Then the Oatman Highway, for the first few miles it continues as before then it becomes one of the most dramatic drives I have ever done. Great scenery and a challenging twisting turning winding mountain route. Donna was genuinely scared even with the average speed being below 30mph. The advice given for the road was to imagine there was another vehicle the other side of every bend and to watch out for wild burrows. It was around here we saw our first roadside cactus. After about half an hour of total brake action, out of nowhere we are transformed into a Cowboy Town of yesteryear complete with Burrows walking free down the street. The wonderful town of Oatman Az,
Google it, this place has to be seen to be believed. We had a wander around, this is a must do after all, In a small way this experience makes up for the hell Donna had been through for the previous half an hour. Glad to get back in the car to the air-con it's 96F out there.We get back on the road and it shortly settles down and flattens out. It was here that we saw a Roadrunner the State Bird of Arizona, you can see where the cartoon comes from the running action and the speed it ran across the road (so fast even I couldn't hit it lol). For some reason I was expecting quite a large bird but I suppose it was about 9"-12" but the colour was quite blue...no sign of Wile Coyote though. After this its a straight run through to Vegas. On the way we saw something that I thought only happened when I tell a joke.....a real life tumble weed rolled across the highway in front of us lol. The interstate obviously sees a few truck v large animal competitions judging by the number of large red splat stains at intermittent distances. The strip rises from the sand and stands proudly above all around it. We go straight to the Airport to swap the car after 2586 miles of faithful service it's like saying goodbye to an old friend. Alamo is very busy and I had to leave Donna in the car while I went to sort out the replacement before we can transfer all of our gear. The guy accepting the car back gave me a slip on which he hand wrote exchange. I took this to Customer Service who sent me straight through to the greeters to get a car. No mid sizes in so I get a full size. It's a black Nissan not sure of model. On exit the guy was annoyed that no one had done their jobs properly so he had to redo all of my paperwork but he was very quick and courteous and we were soon on the way. Despite an extra trip around the block we were soon at the Signature MGM. Not sure as I like this experience it's only valet parking.....you can't borrow a luggage trolley! If you need one they have to deliver your luggage to your room!! Then they initially charge you $100 a night for incidentals obviously refunding what is left after Resort Tax and Valet Parking!
Well we are on the 32nd floor of Tower 3 and Vegas is very vibrant even in the light and it gets brighter as it gets darker, if that makes sense. It's still 90F on the balcony at 9pm but it is due to drop to 70F overnight. We are both looking forward to a good look around tomorrow before our 2nd Helicopter flight in 3 days. Can't wait to see Las Vegas at night from the air..... not just the 32nd floor. Night Night.
1.
Preparation Nearly Done
2.
Almost Done
3.
A Few dollars
4.
A Few Dollars More
5.
The Paperwork
6.
T - 1 What a day!!
7.
Down To Heathrow
8.
We are on our way
9.
Windy City?
10.
Day 1 Driving The Mother Road
11.
Springfield to St Louis
12.
24 Hours From Tulsa
13.
Springfield to Tulsa
14.
Is this the way to Amarillo
15.
Into the Indian Hills
16.
Lazy Sunday
17.
Hot dog jumping frog Albuquerque
18.
Grants to Grants then Gallup
19.
Dear oh deer.....
20.
Words are not enough...
21.
Fire Fire Pour on Water
22.
Viva Las Vegas
23.
Missed turnings leave us not quite there
24.
Until the sun comes up over Santa Monica Boulevard
25.
Hooray for Hollywood
26.
Back in time...
27.
Looking For Sam...Found Bob
28.
Final destination
29.
No Escape... It's Alcatraz Today
30.
One more sleep
31.
Homeward Bound
32.
Where The Heart Is
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