I have two more days left in my vegas trip with my parents and my girlfriend, we're planning on heading to the grand canyon Wednesday. It is a 12 hour trip to the south rim and back, is it even worth it?

Also my dad has cancer and I've been trying to find him some bananas to ease the pain, to no avail does anyone have advice on either subject?

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I mean it's a big hole in the ground. Kinda cool and worth it if you've never been, I guess. The trip might be a nice break from the craziness of Vegas for you and your family, really depends on if everyone is tired of the town.

GC is pure awesomeness... more so if you actually spend more than a day or two there.

there are a lot of facets to it and seeing them in a day or three isn't possible, let alone taking time to go INTO the hole.

I don't have access to... BANANAS... but I am sure someone else does here. why don't you get him some... BANANAS... when you get back home? that or stop by CO.

All I know is... as soon as I am diagnosed with any terminal illness, I am going to begin partying my arse off, and I don't mean the cheap stuff either

I hope your pop feels better at some point.

Haha that's basically what my pops does was just hoping someone could help him out.

As for the grand canyon is it worth traveling to the west rim? It's only 2.5 hours opposed to a 6 hour drive to the south rim. Or is there something in between like maybe 4 hours away?

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I've never been to the north rim, but everyone seems to say it looks better from there. A lot less tourist facilities though, but maybe that's a good thing.

In Vegas, a hotel bellboy can get you just about anything.

Driving straight through to Grand Canyon is South Rim is about 4 and one half hours depending on the speed you want to drive. Parts of the highway are pretty barren and you can move pretty fast. Not autobahn fast but fast nonetheless. West Rim actually is not that much closer in terms of time as the roads are not that great. The South Rim drive is a bit longer but much easier and the South Rim is a much better experience than the West Rim.

This is what I would do. I would do at least one night there. Take a relaxing drive down. Stop at Kingman for lunch at a little diner right near the train tracks ( I can give you more info on this later today). Then head towards South Rim. There is a "quaint" tourist town forty-five minutes form the South Rim called Williams. It has some nice shops, restaurants, and hotels. I think you could enjoy a nice afternoon and evening there. Or you can stay right at the South Rim itself in hotels at the Grand Canyon Village.

I would highly recommend a heli ride from South Rim Airport at about $250 per person. Do that in the morning and then checkout some of the viewpoints. That will give you a great taste of the GC. Head back to Vegas after lunch and you should be back in time for supper.

cliffs

Do an overnight in Williams or Grand Canyon Village with Williams as my first choice. Williams is a 4 hour drive and it
is about 45 minutes from there to the Grand Canyon airport and South Rim.

Trying to do South Rim is one day is doable but it will not
be nearly as enjoyable as my suggestion.

Edit: mapquest has driving time at 4 hrs 30 mins and that would include doing the posted speed limit.

Are you around tonight. I could post more info and pics later if you like.

I can't stay overnight as I leave Thursday morning but I think I'll take your advice and head to the west rim. I Google map it and it says 6 hours, surely you can cut 1.5 hours off regardless of how fast you drive right? And any extra info is greatly appreciated

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I said South Rim not West. I think you can get there realistically in about 4 and a half hours and maybe a bit less driving straight through. I am not sure where you got 6 hours from (google earth is wrong if that is where you got it form). You can really boogie on many parts of the highway.

Mapquest has it at 4.5 doing the speed limit. Try mapquest.

I will give you more info and maybe a bit of a one day itinerary when I get home later.

does your dad have a medical bananas card?

that's the f*cking funniest thing I have heard today!

No medical bananas not available in new york but he has stage 4 non Hopkins lymphoma so I'm sure he would get it.

And yeah sorry I meant south grand canyon not west.

Be really careful about speeding in Arizona. The cops can be militant about speeding, especially in the northern part of the state. They have every state of the art device for clocking you known to man - radar, laser, VASCAR(undetectable), you name it. If you have an out of state DL they will almost certainly arrest you and make you pay the ticket at the courthouse, not just cite you and let you go.

Call a dispensary and get a recco for a doctor, then call the doc, explain the situation, and see if they'll do anything for you today.

Sorry to hear that. my light response was based on the assumption that "my dad has cancer" was part of the bananas joke.

If youre looking to get some just for the trip, someone around here can probably help you out. If you had posted like a week ago my roommate could have probably have helped you out, but he just left for cali i think.

If youre looking to stock up while youre in a legal state just bring his medical records and call any one of the doctors listed for vegas on weed maps. Its trivially easy to get a card even if theres nothing wrong with you, let alone if you have cancer. I would even say give them a ring before you get here and see if you can set it up over the phone, though theyre probably going to want to see you in person at some point.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. Not looking to stock up was just hoping to get something for a day or two but doesn't look like it's happening. All good though because we're enjoying some strawberry daiquiris in the monte carlo sportsbook.

On a side note I played Omaha 8 at the venetian and it was like a morgue at the table, no Idea how anyone can play limit o8 for longer than than a couple hours.

The shark reef at mandalay bay is pretty cool, a little short but still cool.

Downtown is the same as I remember it, incredible experience.

Last note: I think at least one casino needs to make their floor non smoking, there has to be some demand for it. The cigarette smoke is a killer in the casinos, I know ironic...

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Once you get off the main highway (40) you will take a road to the Grand Canyon. It is about a 45 minute drive. Before you get to the National Park there is an area of restaurants, fast food etc. You should probably eat there.
Just before you exit North off the highway there is a South exit to town called Williams which is one minute off the highway. It's a full on tourist town with one main street (that lays claim to Route 66) full of souvenir shops, galleries, restaurants etc..
I would suggest you stop and have lunch there if possible. It is worth the top. After lunch you cross the highway and head to the GC.

Travel a few miles and you will get to the Grand Canyon National Park where you will go through a booth for payment. You will then head toward the Rim for a short time. You can then either go to the Grand Canyon Village or turn right and head along a road parallel to the Grand Canyon to all the view points. There are about 5 or 6 viewpoints and from these you will get some spectacular views. Stop at the different viewpoints but make sure you go all the way to Desert View ( the best viewpoint - about a 25 minute drive) and then you can turn around. If you have time head back to the Village where they have more views, a small museum, Grand Canyon fact displays etc.... If you do not have time then just start heading back to Vegas. The viewpoints are the key on a short trip so don't miss those.

When you turn right in Grand Canyon park and you see this sign you will know you are on your way to the viewpoints.

Actually going to Grand Canyon for the 1st time on Sunday, but driving down Saturday evening to break up the driving (8 month old baby).

Any good hotel recommendations? Doesn't have to be right in the park or anything, but preferably pretty close.

Williams is just off the highway and 45 minutes from the South Rim Grand Canyon. As mentioned earlier there are lots of hotels, restaurants etc and if I was staying overnight anywhere that would probably be the place. It has a nice touristy atmosphere. I have stayed at the Best Western which is about two minutes form the town center and it is decent. However you may want to stay at one of the many hotels right on the main drive and then wander around all the shops etc. Williams is a worthy tourist visit on your way to GC.

There are also hotels right inside the park as well but not much to do in the evening there. Williams would be much more fun.

We just did this trip in December. We stayed at the Best Western Premier Grand Canyon Squire which is just 5 miles from park entrance. Had dinner in Williams then drove 40 minutes to Tusayan. We were able to price line this hotel for under $60. They had a great free breakfast and the hotel was really nice. It was a great experience that I highly recommend.

So about halfway between Las Vegas and Williams is a
train town called Kingman.







It has a bunch of fast food place etc...
It's not much of a town but it does have this cool diner which makes for a
good lunch break.

So I went to the hoover dam before heading to the grand canyon, thinking it was on the way. I found out its on the way to the west rim and not the south rim...by the time I got there it was a 6ish hour trip back to the south rim and only about an hour to the west rim. It was about 1 pm so I wouldn't have made it to the south rim in time, and decided to head to the west rim despite all the terrible things I've heard.

And.. they were all justified, what a joke of a tourist trap that place is, the bare minimum you can pay to see the canyon is $45 per person, I will credit the native Americans they have a clever system set up where you can't view the canyon unless you take their bus for a one mile trip.

Next trip to Vegas I will surely be planning ahead for at least a days worth at the south rim. I'll try and post a trip report in a couple days. Still some amazing scenery, I think I was more impressed by the dam and pat Tillman bridge than the west rim canyon. What amazing modern marvel

The Hoover Dam is a worthy trip. You can get to the South Rim next time.

I might post up some pics of Williams and South Rim in this thread and maybe it can become the official LVL Grand Canyon thread. Some info on the North Rim would be good also.

And yeah avoid the West Rim if possible.