Back in San Francisco
My father was scheduled to have his 2nd risky stem cell/bone marrow transplant in a weakened state so I decided to head back to San Francisco to see him, family and friends. I was planning a trip to Peru and Macchu Picchu during the first couple weeks of February to take advantage of being in the western hemisphere. Unfortunately, due to the landslides and flooding near Macchu Picchu in which thousands of tourists had to be evacuated by helicopter I had to put my plans on hold.
Once my father was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital because of a lung infection I decided to cancel my original return to Bangkok and stick around San Francisco until he got out. To make a long story short, after over a month of being imprisoned in the San Francisco suburbs I was beginning to go stir crazy. I had to get out of there and fast.
Coincidentally, a week earlier I watched a Travel Channel feature on the top 10 tourist attractions and saw the Grand Canyon was number one as well as a place I had not been. I thought about flying to Phoenix and driving there but Las Vegas sounded much more appealing as far as taking photos goes at least. Around noon on a Wednesday I decided to head to Vegas and drive to the Grand Canyon and that was it!
Getting to Las Vegas
Getting a flight from San Francisco to Vegas is one of the easiest flights to find. I stupidly chose to fly United just to get the measly few hundred frequent flier miles. I booked the ticket online and booked a room for that night at Stratosphere which turned out to be a second mistake. I also called to inquire about a very cheap, Ford Focus “or equivalent” rental car with Enterprise.
After the smooth 75 minute flight touched down in Las Vegas I took the free 5-minute shuttle to the rent-a-car center and waited in line. The thought of driving a cheap Ford Focus or other crap car 4 hours across the desert was giving me a sick feeling in my stomach. Even though I could get one for $30 USD per day, I got out of line and walked across the room to the Hertz booth.
I once rented a Nissan 350Z from the “Hertz Prestige Collection” when I was driving from Seattle to Canada so I decided to see what they had available. They had a bunch of luxury sedans which were pointless while traveling alone but when they said they had a 2010 model Corvette, I couldn’t resist.
The car was fully loaded with GPS and enough horsepower to make the Kentucky Derby jealous. It cost around $200 per day when insurance was included and I planned to be using it for 3 days which was quite expensive, but I’ll let the cat out of the bag early and tell you it was worth every penny. I had a fun time driving down the Vegas strip from the airport rent-a-car center all the way from one side to the other where my hotel the Stratosphere was.
Driving the Corvette Rental down the Strip Hanging the 4 pound D700 & 14-24mm lens out Window
Places to Stay in Vegas: Stratosphere
Like I mentioned before, I got a room at Stratosphere which was one of the first hotels I looked at online for around $40 per night. It is the last major hotel/casino located on the very far north end of the strip. It was on the polar opposite side of the hotels I hadn’t been to before Mandalay Bay, Luxor and MGM.
This was my 3rd time in Las Vegas which isn’t my most favorite place but I was only staying there the night so I could drive to the Grand Canyon in the morning. I’d hate to be hard on Stratosphere but it was pretty much a dump. The room reminded me of a rundown Motel 6 with a glossy coating of its space needle-like attraction.
The first time I went to Vegas some years ago I stayed at Circus Circus which was pretty bad and the last time I went I stayed at New York New York which was pretty nice but I would think there are at least a dozen better options for hotels in Vegas than Stratosphere although the price was right.
It was around 10pm and I decided to get out of the hotel room immediately and take some photos of the strip. It was already around 10pm so I grabbed my camera and took off. I found renting a car saved money on cabs as well as tipping. Most of the casinos had giant easy access and free parking garages. I drove a ways and saw the entrance to the Bally’s/Paris parking lot which is where I parked.
Photographing the Strip
Anyone who has ever seen a single image from Las Vegas knows it is probably a fun place to photograph and it was. I forgot my tripod so I thought I was going to have to use a high ISO setting for most shots which I don’t like doing, but the reason I bought the Nikon D700, a $2000+ camera is to be able to use the high ISO settings so I looked forward to the challenge of shooting handheld night shots.
I started shooting photos at the fountain outside of Paris where I was able to take advantage of my Ultra Wide Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 lens (see pic below). I continued walking down and around the strip until 3:30am taking photos. After finally seeing the Luxor pyramid (which seemed smaller than I had imagined) taking a couple shots of Mandalay Bay and a pit stop to Fat Burger for a burger and shake, I caught cab back to the hotel to burn some money on slot machines before I crashed for the rest of the morning.
Fountain in fron of Paris Hotel & Casino
View More Photos from the Las Vegas Strip on tourismPICS.com
Leaving Las Vegas
I woke early enough after 5 hours of sleep that I had time for a quick workout at Stratosphere’s small fitness center which was located right next to a McDonalds. After checking out of Stratosphere I had one task before I could get on the road for the Grand Canyon. I had to get a temporary tripod as I really wanted to get some night shots of the Grand Canyon and long exposures would be necessary which require a tripod.
I used the handy GPS to help me find the Best Buy where I bought a tripod, had a quick Panda Express lunch across the street then headed out of Las Vegas around 1:30 or 2pm.
Somewhere in between the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas
Hoover Dam
I knew Hoover Dam was somewhere close to Las Vegas but I didn’t realize it was directly on the way to the Grand Canyon only 35 miles south of Las Vegas. This turned out to be a blessing and a curse as a huge construction project slowed traffic to a crawl for what seemed like dozens of miles.
I didn’t know much about Hoover Dam so I read a little about it. According to Vegas.com Hoover Dam, “A National Historic Landmark, Hoover Dam is the highest concrete dam in the Western Hemisphere, standing at more than 725 feet above the Colorado River. With 17 generators producing 4 billion kilowatts of electricity a year, it also is one of the country’s largest hydroelectric power facilities. Operation and maintenance of the facility are solely supported by revenue from power sales.”
About a mile away from Hoover Dam, helicopter tours were offered for $29 which I really wish I did since I have never flown aboard a chopper before. I settled with touring Hoover Dam by foot. There were numerous free places to park but I chose to pay $7 so I wouldn’t have to search for a spot. I didn’t purchase any guided tours or enter any gift shops but I noticed numerous chances. Something I found out as you can see in the Hoover Dam Photos is it lies almost directly in the center of the Nevada-Arizona border.
I probably spent no more than 45 minutes walking around both sides of Hoover Dam snapping photos as I really wanted to get to the Grand Canyon before nightfall. I regret not taking the $29 helicopter tour but that or the other guided tours of Hoover Dam are not something I would be severely kicking myself for not going
Looking Down Hoover Dam
View More Photos of Hoover Dam on tourismPICS.com
Continue… 3 Day Excursion from San Francisco Part II: Grand Canyon
Last 5 posts by Mike Behnken
- Developing the Right Camera Kit for You: Part I: - July 31st, 2010
- Bangkok's Best Kept Secret? Places to Eat in Bangkok: Sanjorn Cookshop - July 1st, 2010
- Places to Visit from Bangkok: Ancient Siam - July 1st, 2010
- The Great Wall of China - June 11th, 2010
- Beijing, China - June 10th, 2010
