First TR: SQ SIN-LAX via NRT RT (J) with California / Nevada / Arizona Road Trip

[Mlee888]

Day 6 – San Francisco Part 2

The 6th day of our trip, 2nd full day in San Francisco was again a 9am start. We thought it would be a good idea to get our pick of car park spaces so we decide to use the same car park as the day before arriving roughly the same time. We park our car in the exact same spot and begin our walk to Pier 33.

We purchased tickets online 3 months in advance for the Alcatraz tour, one of the worlds most famous prisons. As we walk down the Embarcadero, we pick up some snacks along the way and see some iconic names such as Pier 39. We also see a sign for Bubba Gump, a possible eating option for later in the day. I've eaten at the Bubba Gump chain in Bali, Hong Kong and Manila, I figured it would be nice to add a US city to this list too.

I also remembered to bring my Go Pro with me. Forgot to bring it out with me the other days. So off we go, boarding begins for our departure and the winds begin to hit us full flow in the face.

This is what we are leaving behind.



And this is where we are heading.



After 15 minutes, we approach the island.



Coming close to docking point, I get a moment of excitedness where I am actually about to step foot onto this iconic location. It's also the place where Nicholas Cage and Sean Connery filmed the movie The Rock. This in my opinion no doubt made Alcatraz even more iconic, especially to international visitors.



We disembark and I take a quick snapshot of the boat.



Welcome to Alcatraz Island!



I notice there's some kind of graffiti on the side of the first building we see. Indians Welcome.



We spot some more graffiti linked to the first one.



Amazing. With the prison closing in 1963, none of our group had any idea that Alcatraz Island was part of an occupational protest by native Indians in 1969 lasting for 19 months. Luckily the tour guides are all great and full of information explaining to us the past. I won't go into it too much but for those interested information can be found here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_Alcatraz

[Mlee888]

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[Mlee888]

A quick look at the map before we head indoors. We definitely don't want to get lost here.



Will let the pictures do the talking.







We enter the cell areas listening to the audio tour as we go along.





The escape from Alcatraz. These inmates were never seen again.

[Mlee888]

This is where one of the chemical missiles were hidden in the Rock movie.



It was a stunning view of San Fran from the island.



View of the Golden Gate Bridge.



As we complete the tour, we are told that this was the menu of the last meal to be served in the prison.



We hop onto the next available boat back to shore and grab a quick 10 minute nap. We spent about 3 hours in total on the island. It was very educational and truly a great experience. If you are a tourist and only get a day to spend in San Fran, do try visit the prison!

Back on shore and a walk from Pier 33 to Pier 39. It's time for lunch so we head to Bubba Gump.

Here was a surprise.

The view from inside the restaurant was lovely. No wind too which was a bonus!!!



Anyone for a smoothie or a fancy drink?



Shrimp and salad!





After lunch, Pier 39 wouldn't be the same without a visit to the local residents.



It was really windy so I didn't stay there long. After this we decide to head back to the car and do some driving around San Francisco. Bonus, our parking for some reason cost $10 only, the day before it was $45. As we initially decided to drive and and park due to the BART cost, this incident added extra value to our decision.

After driving around for 30 mins admiring the views, we reach Lombard Street. Driving up and down these hills is truly a great encounter!



Our last day in San Francisco comes to a close. We have ticked off everywhere we wanted to see and as it's now 4 hours since our Bubba Gump meal, we unanimously agree to eat at In and Out Burger again. This place certainly lived up to the hype. So back to Daly City we go and then back to the hotel where we prepare to pack for the next day drive to Las Vegas.

[yflyer]

Looks better than some hotel breakfasts...

Back on shore and a walk from Pier 33 to Pier 39. It's time for lunch so we head to Bubba Gump.

Here was a surprise.

The view from inside the restaurant was lovely. No wind too which was a bonus!!!



Anyone for a smoothie or a fancy drink?

I am amazed at how successful the Forrest Gump restaurant chain continues to be, given that the movie first premiered so long ago. I enjoy eating there too, although I haven't been for a while.

[banoffi]

Thoroughly enjoying this TR..brings back wonderful memories of the last time I was in SFO (2011.. but seems like too long ago)!

[Mlee888]

Looks better than some hotel breakfasts...

I am amazed at how successful the Forrest Gump restaurant chain continues to be, given that the movie first premiered so long ago. I enjoy eating there too, although I haven't been for a while.

Agreed! Some of the hotels I've visited (Europe especially) would struggle to provide better menus than this.

I revisited Forrest Gump in Manila last week. Extremely busy, I ordered a Chocolate Snickers mud cake which was as big as my pint glass in the end! Tasted great. Wish they could open a branch in Singapore.

Thoroughly enjoying this TR..brings back wonderful memories of the last time I was in SFO (2011.. but seems like too long ago)!

Thanks Banoffi, unfortunately last few weeks I have been travelling a lot so unable to post my updates since the last trip. Hope to get this up by next weekend.

[Mlee888]

Day 7 - Arriving in Las Vegas

After a fantastic 3 nights in San Diego and now a further 3 more in San Francisco, it was once again time to pack our belongings and embark on the next step of our journey. This time however the drive would be longer. The distance according to our GPS from San Francisco to Las Vegas would be approximately 600 miles with a drive time of around 9 hours, 150 miles and 2 hours further than the drive from San Diego to San Francisco.

With this in mind, we leave the hotel at 7am and make our way towards Gilroy before cutting across on Highway 152 to get back onto the i5. After a short 10 minute pit stop on Highway 152, we proceed to reach the Interstate in good time.

Our journey took us through Bakersfield. Many years ago I would see this place on maps only, notably on flight routes on aircraft entertainment screens. Once through Bakersfield, the road takes us onto Highway 58 past Mojave where we see lots of wind turbines. No photos sadly as my group were all sleeping, not a bad thing as it meant no pit stops.

Eventually the group awakens and after 5 hours of non-stop driving we take a break in Barstow for what turned out to be a quick 20 minute visit to the outlet only. This outlet didn't seem to excite us so we left and grabbed a bite to eat at Carls Jr and then head towards Vegas.

5pm, we arrive! Las Vegas, I have sure missed you. I used to visit Las Vegas at least 2-3 times a year for conferences and holidays but my last visit prior to this was during Thanksgiving in 2013. Our first choice of hotel wasn't available for the first night so we decide to take one night at a different one before heading to our mainstay hotel the following day.

We check in at The Palazzo Las Vegas and are given a suite on a floor on the late 30's (unfortunately I have forgotten what floor this was exactly). This actually worked out really well for us as this enabled us to explore this end of the strip before concentrating on the other side later in the trip.

The suite given to us could easily fit 6-7 adults. Due to status, we were given an upgrade with a view of the strip. I think our original booking was for a strip view also but the suite may have been slightly smaller.

A room with a view......



My past stays in Vegas have all been at either the Bellagio or Mirage. This suite was certainly a lot bigger and much nicer than those rooms. I can't decide if I prefer this view or the view of the Bellagio fountains though. Each to their own really.

Some shots of the room. The room came with 2 queen beds and a further queen size sofa bed.





The sofa bed and sitting area.





Very spacious and definitely more than big enough for our group of 4. Especially as it was for one night only.

The Palazzo Las Vegas is part of the same chain and complex as The Venetian. This means easy access to the Grand Canal Shoppes that were just downstairs.



You do see the Gondolas inside but like a schoolkid, instead of taking photos and enjoying the moment I rushed outside to get my first glimpse of the strip on foot.



My last stay at Mirage was back in 2011, I wonder how much it has changed since then. Does anyone know if the internet connection there is still poor? I don't mind paying resort fees for extras but only if they work!!!

This is a shot of the Mirage in the background and the side of the volcano. We waited on cue for the volcano show to begin but it never happened. Not entirely sure why and there were no announcements either.



I missed taking a shot of the interior in Grand Canal Shoppes but not inside Caesars Forum. Both I have to admit are similar.



Fountains outside Caesars Palace.



A last quick shot of the day from the Bellagio fountain with Paris hotel in the background.



As the drive took up most of the day, by this stage I was extremely tired.With the time now being past midnight, we head back to the Venetian food court for a quick bite to eat at Panda Express and then rest up for the remainder of the night.

Next day would be a move to the Grand Chateau Marriott followed by more exploring of Las Vegas.

[Mlee888]

Day 8 - Las Vegas Part 2

Before I begin to describe our second day in Las Vegas, I want to retract part of the statement in my last blog where no photos of the landscape were taken during the drive between San Francisco to Las Vegas. It turns out that one of my friends did actually manage to take some shots of the landscape so I thought I'd share a couple of them.

Here's one of the many wind turbines near Mojave. I may be wrong though as I wasn't 100% sure exactly where we were at the time.



The long stretch on the road towards Vegas.



Althought I don't have any photos of this, I do love driving into Las Vegas where you can see the city from so far out with the bright lights in the background. I can imagine that some people might find this irritating as it makes Vegas appear closer than what it actually is.

Anyway.......

Onto our second day in Sin City, although granted an extra late check-out at the Palazzo, we decide to leave around 12:30pm and hoped for an early check-in at our next hotel which would be the Marriot Grand Chateau. The reason why we chose this hotel is because of the option for a 2 bedroom villa with easy access to the strip and no casino downstairs. This would be our first experience in a Las Vegas hotel without a smokey atmosphere downstairs. This was also the hotel not available for our first night in Vegas.

Marriot Grand Chateau (MGC) is situated next to Planet Hollywood. It's close to the strip yet very quiet. The drive from Palazzo down South Las Vegas Boulevard took us past The Mirage, Caesars Palace, Bellagio, Paris, and Planet Hollywood before turning left onto East Harmon Avenue. The check-in time is normally 4pm. With it being 1pm only, I was hoping some super duper leeway would be given due to my status with Marriot Rewards.

The check-in staff member was great. He wasn't able to give us a room immediately which wasn't surprising considering the time, but he was more than happy to request a high floor corner villa to be cleaned for our party. He said we would be contacted by either email or phone call as soon as it was ready.

MGC doesn't have self parking like the other mainstream hotels on the strip. It's all valet parking only. I suppose for the hotel this is a good thing as it allows them to be in control of who goes in and out of the car park and where each car is parked. At the same time, if something happens to your car then what would happen in terms of liability? The longest we had to wait for the car was 10 minutes. Not bad considering this is normally the time it takes for you to walk to your car from the lobby in a Vegas hotel. Unless you are lost of course.

With this we leave our luggage at the hotel and wait for our car to be handed back to us. With our stomachs crying our for food we get into the car and take a quick 2 minute drive to Aria hotel as we had read good reviews for the buffet there.

The Buffet at Aria lunchtime brunch on a weekend costs $31.99 excluding taxes. I have tried hotel buffets at The Mirage, Harrahs and MGM and sadly two out of three of these were quite poor. On the other hand, I have to admit The Buffet at Aria was a very good choice. Arriving at 1:30pm on a Saturday lunchtime also turned out to be great timing in the end too. At first it was quite worrying as there was no queue to enter the restaurant and nor were there many people inside. The lunchtime rush had been and gone it seemed.

There were many serving stations. Fish Market was smack bang right in the middle with a salad station opposite and then the various international cuisines located around the side.



My only disappointment was the dedicated Asian cuisine station. I was really looking forward to eating some Siu Mai dumplings but the closest they had were Har Gau dumplings. I took one look at these and thought "these don't look great, i'm hoping the rest of the food here doesn't look as bad", needless to say I was wrong, very wrong! Other choices here included classic chinese choices such as char siu buns and special fried rice. Thai and Vietnamese dishes were also available. The pho cooking station was quite popular.



Living in Singapore means it's not often I get to eat traditional UK breakfasts anymore. I took one look here and thought both sausages and bacon are definitely going to be tasted! Nice location for the lasagna....



Maybe this is where the lasagna was supposed to be?



The chicken parmesan lasagna tasted great!

Without pasta there would be no pizza....



The carvery meat counters were great. I haven't had a traditional roast dinner since back in the UK in December 2015. This made up for it.



The beef was super soft and melted as soon as I tried it. Perfect texture. The confusion I had was the gravy tasted more like BBQ sauce.



To go with the roasted meats....

[Mlee888]

Excellent choice of seafood that included snow crab legs and crawfish!





Needless to say I took advantage of trying as much of this as possible. In small amounts of course.

There was a small selection of sushi and sashimi on offer. I only took this photo so not the full spread. I didn't try any but it did look good.



The cheese and meats selection which is ever so popular in certain European countries that include France, Belgium and Holland.



If you are a dessert lover, then this is definitely the place for you! I will let the photos do the talking but the choices on offer were excellent.











I went for the Oreo cake with 2 scoops of Gelato ice cream on offer.



Overall, this is definitely one of the best buffet meals I have had in Vegas and will definitely come here again in the future.

After dessert I check my phone and notice I had an email sent to me by the hotel around 30 mins after we left. Our room was ready.

[Mlee888]

We head back to the hotel and are given a room on the floor in the 20's with the last number 25 (that's all I remember). A corner suite with a view of the airport in one room, and the strip in the other.

The seating area in the living room was quite big and very comfortable for our group.



The dining table next to the seating area.



After 8 days on the road, our group decided it was time to take advantage of the facilities in the kitchen that included a washing dryer!



The master bedroom had one queen bed with an ensuite bathroom that contained a hot tub.





The second bedroom had 2 double beds.



The second bedroom had a really good view of LAS airport.



Back to the master bedroom....view of MGM Grand with Luxor and Mandalay Bay in the background. We could also see Excelsior too but couldn't get it in the same shot. Managed to get the plane in the photo though.



After unpacking we make our way to Las Vegas North Premium Outlet where we would stay until the end of the day to do some bargain hunting.



We head back to the hotel around 9pm and grab a quick bite to eat in the mall at Planet Hollywood. An early night is much needed as the next day we would be heading to Grand Canyon South Rim.

[Mlee888]

Day 9 - Grand Canyon South Rim

On all my previous visits to Las Vegas, I always visited the Grand Canyon West Rim. This is because it's only 2 hours away compared to the long 5 hour drive to the South Rim. Another reason is because I have never woken early enough to make it worthwhile to drive there for the day as our decisions to go to GC in the past were always last minute. This time I would be better prepared.

The South Rim is part of Grand Canyon National Park while the West Rim is privately owned by the Hualapai Tribe. The price difference to enter both is huge. For the West Rim park entrance and skywalk ticket (a small bridge that takes you over the edge so you stand over the huge drop) cost per individual was around $70 which I purchased each time. The South Rim cost was $20 per vehicle for a 7 day pass and permits all passengers to enter.

My alarm goes off at 6am and I feel my almost 6 hours sleep will be enough to get me through the days drive. We collect our vehicle around 7am and enter Flagstaff into the GPS navigation system. This would be about 250 miles with a driving time of roughly 4 hours. We top up the fuel tank and make our way towards the I-40 and pitstop destination Flagstaff.

With this being a Sunday morning, the roads were extra quiet so we wasn't expecting to hit any traffic. We drive past Lake Mead (which we would visit another day) and drive over the Hoover Dam bridge. The US-93 as expected was traffic free. We see signs for viewing points and decide to take a quick gander at one of them.

I have no idea what part of the road this was on but what a wonderful view for a Sunday morning....



Back to driving and within minutes, the others one by one each fall asleep. Fantastic! Let's try and reach Flagstaff without having to stop. Doh! 60 minutes later we are required to make a pit stop so I pull over at the next available place which appears to be a small family restaurant. As I also head round the back to use the restroom, what I see next startled me. I am surprised to see a Rodeo Ranch. Sadly no photos as I had left my camera and phone in the car but nevertheless the place turned out to be a lot bigger than just a small family restaurant.

The drive continues with the road taking us past Kingsman along the way, we are now on the 140 mile plus stretch on I-40. We reach around 11am and decide to refuel now as well as on the way back if needed. As part of our party have never tried Taco Bell or KFC (US version) before, we vote to eat lunch here as both were part of the same restaurant. Other choices around us would be Pizza Hut or McDonalds. No photos warranted as the food from Taco Bell didn't look great and KFC well is.....KFC. With the food over it's back on the road we go. As we get back into the car I see the gas stations opposite filling up with what can only be tourists also visiting the South Rim. Not far to go now, only another 80 odd miles or so.

This last part of the drive took much quicker than expected. By 12:45pm, we had arrived at our destination and were looking forward to seeing some fantastic views. With the car parks close to the visitor centre quite full, we had to park a bit further out but with regular shuttle buses taking you around the park, this didn't matter.

We make our way to what is recommended for a 4 hour visit to the park, the red route. I only have one word to describe this. Wow!



Walkways with safety railings.



Highly recommend anyone who is undecided to take the long drive here or to the West Rim to make the most out of it and choose South Rim!





We spot what I believe to be a Gazelle.



This was definitely worth the early wake up, the 5 hour drive here and what will inevitably be a 5 hour drive back.











We spent a little over 4 hours at the park. Definitely not enough! Maybe next time we will consider staying overnight at a nearby hotel or on the park itself.

The journey back to Vegas was uneventful. We stopped off in Kingsman for food and fuel reload and got back to Sin City around 10:30pm. Exhausted!

[Mlee888]

Day 10 - Las Vegas Part 3

After an exhausting trip to Grand Canyon South Rim, it was time for a more relaxing day that began around midday. After a quick stop at the Fashion Mall for a bite to eat, we make our way to Fremont Street. With this being the older part of Vegas, it has never appealed to me to stay at any of the hotels here, however saying that I do enjoy coming for a a walk and spending an hour or two there.

I remember from my last visit there is now a zipline here. Seeing this brings back memories of mine from 2012 where I spent a whole day doing ziplines at Red Rock Canyon near Boulder City, about 15 miles outside of Vegas towards Hoover Dam.



It looked fun but nowhere near as good as Red Rock Canyon.

A shot of Fremont Street with 2 of what would have been at one point the most popular hotels in Vegas.



After an hour, we head back to Las Vegas Premium North Outlet for some more shopping. The great thing about outlets in US is that outlet shopping outside of the US is extremely expensive. For a quick comparison I once purchased a Tommy Hilfiger shirt for around $50 USD and the same shirt in Asia would cost $120 USD.

2 friends of mine from the UK arrived in Vegas this day so we met up with them at the outlet for a catch up. As it was approaching 9pm, we decided to eat at the outlet. My friends and I used to meet up in Vegas quite regularly (even going on vacations there together) and each visit always included a meal at The Cheesecake Factory. Luckily there was one at the outlet so off we went for some Steak Diane. We continued this mini tradition.

And each time I always ordered a chocolate milkshake.....



After dinner we head back to the strip together for some group shots at the Bellagio Fountain. I won't embarrass the group so here's a few shots of the Bellagio. I will never get bored of visiting this place.



Billie Jean by MJ starts to play and the fountain begins its magic.



The Cosmopolitan looked wonderful in the background.



Time for a midnight stroll along the strip heading past New York New York along the way.



The mini Statue of Liberty...



The Excalibur always looks better at night.



Inside Luxor they have a Titanic Exhibition and a small version of the Sphinx.



Outside Luxor is a bigger version of the Sphinx and a Pyramid which is actually the hotel itself. Apparently the light you can see from space.



We also saw the light from some distance when we drove back from Grand Canyon the previous night.

Before we head back to our hotel, here's a shot of New York New York with the rollercoaster and Statue of Liberty.



The walk started about 11pm and ended about 1:30am. I recommend if you ever go to Vegas do spend some time walking up and down both parts of the strip. A wonderful experience.

A chilled out day, but again extremely exhausting. Time for a good nights sleep.

[Mlee888]

Day 11 - Las Vegas Part 4 (Plus Hoover Dam)

Time does fly when you're having fun. We begin day 11 with a drive to Hoover Dam leaving our hotel around midday arriving at Hoover Dam just before 1pm. For all first time drivers to Hoover Dam don't be fooled by the car parks that cost so and so to park your car. If you carry on driving across to the other side of the dam, there is parking further up that's free to park. Yes it's a tad further to walk but it will save you $15.

I have been to Hoover Dam quite a few times now and it never ceases to amaze me how wonderful this piece of engineering truly is.



A photo of how the water levels here have dropped over the years.



Fine engineering.



As Hoover Dam lies on the state line, one side shows Arizona time...



Whenever I used to visit during November, due to daylight saving time one side of the Dam would be an hour ahead of the other. At time of this trip both timezones were the same.

>

The bridge designed to stop traffic jams that used to hit Hoover Dam. Gone are the days of drive through traffic.



Wonder how long it will take for the water to all disappear....



If you ever come here, do stop off at the viewing point for Lake Mead.



Those water levels that used to be....



No rest for the wicked....it's time to head back to Vegas to grab some late lunch. We head to Boiling Crab for a lunchtime feast.



Catfish and Fries basket.



The Boiling Crab half naked crawfish with corn, potatoes, sausage, and mushroom. Bargain at less than $20++.



Wife had some Snow Crab Legs but it was all in this big bag with some crazy combination sauce. It tasted great but the pictures of the bag didn't come out well so no photos sadly.

[Mlee888]

After lunch we head back to the hotel and freshen ourselves up for a night of entertainment at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace with........

Celine Dion!



The security took away my camera (along with everyone else) to prevent photos from being taken inside the concert hall.

Out came the mobile phones to take sneaky pictures of the auditorium.



Celine belted out some fantastic tunes. I have to admit she really does have a great voice and sings with so much passion.





Full house....



Coming towards the end of her show...some folks got stopped taking photos but being sat where we were sat, we could clearly see many folks on the ground level taking photos freely without being asked to put their cameras away. Perks of having expensive seats.



The encore being My Heart Will Go On from Titanic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qvRws4np4M

I was really surprised how much I enjoyed this concert. I can see why she's such a huge role model to many of those out there.

After the concert had finished, we grabbed something to eat at the food court inside Caesars Palace and then headed back to Marriott Grand Chateau to pack our suitcases. Next morning we would be leaving for Los Angeles.