Las Vegas!!

Rotty · 27 Feb 2006 at 18:53

Tourmai said:
lucky ****, im lookin forward to goin back over there at some point, you'll be glad your 21 when your over there. You goin with some mates or the parents? its a pretty seedy place esp the off the strip hotel we stayed in

grand canyon is a must, got some good memories from there.. you wanna hike down to the colorado river if you can

It's a 2 day trip from the south rim to the bottom and back again on foot :eek:

kitten_caboodle · 27 Feb 2006 at 19:11

we'll be there in late August/early September, we're up for a meet

That would be coool diddly ooool

Rotty · 27 Feb 2006 at 19:16

we are sept 24 to oct 04 unfortunately

McDaniel · 27 Feb 2006 at 19:36

Tourmai said:
lucky ****, im lookin forward to goin back over there at some point, you'll be glad your 21 when your over there. You goin with some mates or the parents? its a pretty seedy place esp the off the strip hotel we stayed in

grand canyon is a must, got some good memories from there.. you wanna hike down to the colorado river if you can

Going with 2 mates

..seedy eh? i like it!

quackers · 27 Feb 2006 at 22:43

Im also thinking of going around the same time as rotty, has anyone stayed at the luxor? It looks amazing from the pictures? Also, is it expensive to eat and drink in vegas?

Rotty · 27 Feb 2006 at 23:10

quackers said:
Im also thinking of going around the same time as rotty, has anyone stayed at the luxor? It looks amazing from the pictures? Also, is it expensive to eat and drink in vegas?

Luxor is noting special , it tends to be the one a lot of tour companies use as they get the rooms cheap , it is a little out of the way and is starting to feel a bit old and tired , TI , Alladin , Mirage , Monte Carlo and maybe Ballys are all similar money and a much better bet

food and drink prices vary enormously , a beer goes from $1 to $6 ( $3.50 about average ) and meal prices depend on what you want but exaples would be ( for 2 )

fast food $10
American Diner $40
mid range restaurant $100
quality dining $200
high end $500

Balders · 28 Feb 2006 at 10:30

kitten_caboodle said:
we'll be there in late August/early September, we're up for a meet That would be coool diddly ooool

Me and the missus arrive on 4th September for 9 days. Staying at TheHotel this time. I've previously stayed at the Luxor and Excalibur.

In my personal opinion, even the cheaper strip hotels far exceed the sort of stuff you get over here. Generally, the quality is exceptionally high.

Wouldn't be going back there on honeymoon if we didn't like the place!!

NicktheNorse · 28 Feb 2006 at 10:58

Papillon Grand Canyon helicopters is what you want

(owned and run by my mum's second cousin, support the Norwegians!)

http://www.papillon.com/

Rotty · 28 Feb 2006 at 11:05

I did the strip flight with Papillon

Vanilla · 28 Feb 2006 at 11:07

I did the Canyon trip with Papillon (west tip of the Canyon)

Rotty · 28 Feb 2006 at 11:13

Vanilla said:
I did the Canyon trip with Papillon (west tip of the Canyon)

No 38 , snap :eek:

NicktheNorse · 28 Feb 2006 at 11:24

good stuff

You may have noticed a bronze plaque/statue as you walked into the heliport at the grand canyon - the guy it's dedicated to is Elling Halvorsen, my grandpa's first cousin (Halvorsen is my moms maiden name). He layed the initial water lines into the GC area played a large part in road construction. As a result he was given the rights to purchase lots of land there back in the day. Because of this he now owns the Imax cinema, the Best Western hotel, the tourism center etc. He also started Papillon helicopters which at one time also had an outfit in Hawaii. The helicopter company is now run by his daughter Brenda, and they are one of the biggest civilian customers of Bell and Eurocopter in the world.

I'll most likely be working for Papillon at the GC over the summer refueling and cleaning the helicopters

Safe to say whenever the family has been in the Grand Canyon it has always been a cheap affair (read: free!). It has been a while since i've been there though.

Rotty · 28 Feb 2006 at 11:28

NicktheNorse said:
I'll most likely be working for Papillon at the GC over the summer refueling and cleaning the helicopters Safe to say whenever the family has been in the Grand Canyon it has always been a cheap affair (read: free!). It has been a while since i've been there though.

Do papillon still fly to the south rim from Vegas ( the west rim is pushing it to be caled the grand canyon ) , they used to be the only ones that did it by helicopter but someone told me that they no longer do it

Vanilla · 28 Feb 2006 at 11:52

Rotty said:
No 38 , snap

Scary!

Who was your pilot? We has a Japanese lady.

Rotty · 28 Feb 2006 at 11:55

Vanilla said:
We has a Japanese lady.

absolutely no idea, didn't take much notice

Balders · 28 Feb 2006 at 12:00

We had a pilot called Nate (or Nathan) when we went in October.

GreenGrass · 28 Feb 2006 at 12:03

Originally Posted by Rotty
It's a 2 day trip from the south rim to the bottom and back again on foot

me and a couple of mates did it in seven hours

on the notice board said some lad had died doin the same thing 2 weeks earlier... only read it when i got back to the top though :eek:

was pretty extreme, the tshirt and pants i was wearing is stained red with the grand canyon rock and sweat

Rotty · 28 Feb 2006 at 12:04

Tourmai said:
me and a couple of mates did it in seven hours on the notice board said some lad had died doin the same thing 2 weeks earlier... only read it when i got back to the top though was pretty extreme, the tshirt and pants i was wearing is stained red with the grand canyon rock and sweat

there's always the 11 second route

GreenGrass · 28 Feb 2006 at 12:06

hehe, would have been less painful

MATTeL · 28 Feb 2006 at 12:16

Rotty you big wuss!

Rim - river - rim with stops, girls, stops, a sit down and eat at the Chinese Gardens and a rest at Phantom ranch can be done in May in 10 hours (start of in freezing temps and carry on walking through the 110 degree heat).

Amazing walk, the variation the Canyon can truely be seen and walking means you get to give people on donkeys a look of "ah do your feet not work properly?"!