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| - Besides being completely exhausted from one of the longest days ever, we mostly had a great time. My wife found a LivingSocial deal for the South Rim tour at about $84 per person. Normal price is twice as much. The price includes the bus ride (duh), breakfast (granola bar, danish, banana, OJ, apple juice), lunch (turkey, roast beef, and veggie sandwiches, chips & a cookie from Honeybaked), and unlimited water. The main stops are the Hoover Dam and the South Rim visitor's area @ the Grand Canyon.
Anyway, at 6:20am we were picked up by a smaller shuttle bus (and ended up leaving 20-30 minutes late because of this one family who couldn't get their act together) and taken to a shopping center at the end of the Strip (in front of the Container Store). There were two large coaches and a number of the smaller shuttle buses waiting around. We saw one coach leave and we were directed to get on the other. As we boarded we were given our bags of breakfast.
We left soon after but had to make a stop just outside Boulder City, where our real driver and tour guide, Harold, was waiting. He was pretty entertaining and accommodating towards everyone the entire day, and gave us a lot of background and history on our way to the sites. First stop was Hoover Dam - pretty impressive. He drove us up to an observation point and let us off the bus for a good 20-30 minutes to take pictures, use the bathroom, etc. In terms of bathrooms, all they have up there is porta-potties. He also took us up to the bypass bridge and let us out there for another 20 minutes or so of exploring and picture-taking, so that was nice. The bridge is massive, and we were overwhelmed being on it and considering all the effort put into building it. Crazy.
On our way out to the Grand Canyon, we had to make a couple pit stops for bathroom breaks and gas. We also drove along part of Route 66 as well, and stopped by the famous barber shop/gift store of Angel Delgadillo: the man who saved Route 66. He was actually hanging around inside the store! He seemed to be a very friendly man (I'm sure he appreciated the business as well). Very interesting history there. As we got back on the bus, we were given our lunches to eat, and were back on the road soon enough.
Finally, we got to the Grand Canyon. Harold took us up to Mather Point, which allowed some of us (who wanted to) the option to hike down to the visitor's center and Bright Angel lodge. He hung around there for about an hour or so then drove everyone else down to the lodge (where there's a restaurant, bar, and gift shop). My wife and I needed some exercise after pigging out at Bacchanal the night before, so we opted to hike down. The pathway is paved, so it's not really much of a hike more than it is a long walk. We enjoyed it though, and stopped every 5-10 minutes to take pictures and just appreciate the view. It's definitely a great way to get away from the crowds, and as we made our way further along the path, we saw less and less people. We made our way down to Bright Angel lodge just in time. I forgot to mention that there was a good amount of SNOW too! It was probably in the 50s up there too, so it's a good thing we were dressed relatively warm.
Harold gave us a good 3-4 hours (which I thought was extremely generous) to hike, explore, take pictures, hang around, etc before starting up the engines again. Of course, there were about 10 or so people missing or late (go figure) as we were leaving. Since it was 10-15 minutes past the time he told us to be back, he started driving off. That's when we saw one guy frantically running (about 200 yards) and across train tracks to hop on the bus as we were exiting the parking lot. Ridiculous. Harold thought he would circle back to Mather Point to see if there might have been others there. Sure enough, that's where the remaining passengers were. Some of them didn't seem to speak and English, and the others claimed to have gotten lost (not sure how that could have happened!) - one dude was wearing shorts too... LOL, what's wrong with these people?!
After that, we made our way back to Vegas. It was a *long* ride back. Especially with the large woman behind me complaining every 5 minutes about how her legs hurt. Once we were at Aria, we actually had to get off the coach and get on another shuttle to take us back to our hotel (Desert Club). I think we ended up getting back to our room between 10:30pm-11pm.
One thing I want to say for anyone considering this tour (or any other tour for that matter): please be cognizant of the time, and realize that not being on time can result in major delays. I find it incredibly inconsiderate to other people when a handful of people cause hold-ups. It's no wonder we got back so late, with all the people that didn't listen and didn't keep track of the time. It's not that hard, people. You're on a bus and it's the only ride to and from. Don't you think you'd be a little more aware?!
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