An old western bus tour

In case the title made you think about old western movies, let me quickly say that this post has nothing to do with the wild west. It is about a bus tour of the beautiful American West coast.

Rewinding a dozen years, my mind drifts back to the time when we were living in Bay Area, California. My in-laws were visiting and so were the parents of one of our friends. This friend suggested a bus tour for the seniors that covers quite a few places - Yosemite National Park, Las Vegas, Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon National Park. At that time, I had only visited the first place whereas my husband had already visited all places in the list. Including travel and accommodation, this four day bus tour cost less than $100 per head. Sounds like a cool deal? I jumped in to be included with the seniors.

The trip was set. Rather, I should say almost set. With folks who have diet restrictions, based on health and personal preferences, food becomes the major issue in such trips. Being a bus tour, the stops would be at places where it may be hard to find vegetarian or other food suiting the Indian palate. We had to stock adequately and planning was in full swing. Well, it turned out to be a brilliant plan, executed so well that food became a delightful experience in this trip. One could not have expected anything less when traveling with the future author of cooking blogs like Prabha's Kitchen - An introduction to Konkani Cuisine and Prabha's Food Court.

The tour started with Yosemite National Park. As it was the tail end of summer, there was not much flow in the waterfalls in the park. However, the majestic granite cliffs and the uniquely shaped half dome were enough to make it an interesting stop before heading to fabulous Las Vegas the next day. The bus tour included sight-seeing tours of Vegas. We opted out of it and decided to roam around  by ourselves as Vegas had free public bus transportation and monorails between numerous casinos. This had also kept me engaged, reading up and planning the mini sight-seeing sojourn, while the seniors were working on the food planning.

At Yosemite National Park

On the first day in Vegas, we took a taxi from the hotel, located in downtown area, and headed to Las Vegas Boulevard, better known as the strip. Many casinos and luxury hotels lined the strip with their dazzling array of lights. Though centered around gambling, which is legal in Nevada, the casinos were built with a theme that usually ties in with a world famous city. That day, we covered the casinos on the southern side. From the Egyptian decor of Luxor, the medieval castles of Excalibur, the skyline of New York and the lion exhibit in MGM Grand, we were amazed by the city that is rightly referred to as the entertainment capital of the world.

Around Las Vegas

Next morning, we had an early start for the four hour drive to Grand Canyon National park. With a brief stop at Hoover Dam and then at Grand Canyon IMAX theater to watch a splendid documentary on this natural wonder, it was late afternoon when we reached.

Hoover Dam

Though we spent only a few hours, the sheer depth of the canyon and the reddish color that was brightened by the evening sun was indeed an amazing sight.

Grand Canyon National Park

The bus headed back, without any stops, through the vast empty land. As it approached Vegas in the darkness, the bright lights shining in the distance made me think that the entire electricity generated at Hoover Dam could be consumed by this city that never sleeps!

Las Vegas Strip

We got off the bus at the strip and headed to visit the newer casinos in the center. Many of these had sky-high blue ceilings with white clouds that mimicked daylight. We climbed to the top of the Eiffel tower at Paris Paris, watched the beautiful fountain shows of Bellagio right across the strip, walked along the canals inside Venetian, and got a glimpse of Roman architecture inside Caesar's palace. Without major issues, we wound through these casinos and also tried a hand at the slot machines, to see if lady luck favored us with a jackpot.


All along the trip, we were laughing and eating! I cannot remember what made us laugh so much but we were having a lot of fun, relishing the food, and enjoying the numerous curries and chutneys that were prepared, considering non-refrigerated shelf life. To tide over the last couple of days, we had also taken a rice cooker. We used it to boil water to make instant upma using the home-made mix from my mother-in-law. This easy upma recipe, which can be catered to personal taste, has now become a staple on our trips.

The tour bus

The bus tour, operated by Chinese folks, was mainly intended for people visiting from China. Luckily, for us, the guide was a local college student who spoke good English. He had learned Chinese and spoke that language beautifully as well. A few years later, when my parents took the same tour, they had a guide who did not speak good English and was mostly speaking in Chinese. It seems he would speak ten to fifteen sentences in Chinese and the translation would be a single sentence in English!

I guess we were luckier to have a great tour guide. Along with great food and good company, it gave way for great moments, making this old western bus tour with seniors memorable and fun.