Vegas and Grand Canyon

Nick here. I was invited out to Vegas by some old high school buddies from Toronto last month, so I took them up on the offer and we spent a few days in Sin City, plus took a day trip to the west rim of the Grand Canyon. Vegas was fun; I didn't lose too much money. The Grand Canyon trip, that was a whole other story. Getting to the G.C. from Vegas is like traveling through the land that time forgot. Just a deserted bizarro-land. Anyway, to get to the west rim, you have to take a 20-mile trip down a really rough dirt road at the end. The rental car we had got a flat just as we were pulling into the park. Much to our surprise and dismay, there car had no jack in it. Thanks Dollar-Rent-a-Car. Anyway, some really nice guys with the maintenance crew at the G.C. helped put the spare on -- which was old and cracked and worthless -- and then patch the flat -- which we found out had already been patched once before. Again, thanks Dollar-Rent-a-Car, for nothing. But, in the end, it was worth it because the views of the G.C. were great. Here are some photos:

The Rocky Mountains seen from the plane just after leaving Denver on my connecting flight:

The Vegas strip from the plane:

Some pics of the Grand Canyon West Rim:

And a shot of my buddy Ken and his girlfriend, Meg: