Day 13 Vegas!

Vegas is still a mad city!

Our aim today was to get out before it got too hot.  Hmm difficult as it didn't really get very cold overnight and was already mid 70s when we set off just after 9!  We had breakfast in our room, brought some cereal last night!

We wanted to check out a few hotels on The Strip so we headed north popping in and out of casinos and hotels, such as the Flamingo as we went to keep cool.  The Venetian and Palazzo were our first stops this morning.  Theming in both of these  stunning, with columns, ceilings and fittings that make you go WOW!  We loved watching the gondolas both inside and out.  There are so many shops inside, mostly designer.  We noticed nothing had prices and Keith also said the the racks of clothes generally only contained half a dozen individual items and nothing else!  We couldn't even afford to window shop! 😁😂

The Venetian

We walked through The Wynne on our way to our next stop, Circus Circus.  This looks a bit dull and tatty from the outside but is fine inside.  We wandered through the casino and were passing the circus area just as a show was starting so we found a vantage point and watched a clown followed by an acrobatic troop who were very good.

We carried on through to the adventure dome where they have a couple of coasters and some some spin rides.  Keith purchased a ride wristband and rode the 2 coaster a few times and also watched a couple of 4d shows. We stopped at the McDonald's inside

It was gone 2 by the time we left Circus Circus and it was really hot again.  We walked back down the strip trying to stay in the shade then walked back through the Palazzo and Venetian, mainly because they are stunning but also air conditioned!

We are still getting lost in the hotels, they are just so huge  and it's so easy to lose your sense of direction.

We arrived back at the Vdara just after 4pm, a bit hot and shattered.  We had a couple if hours rest before heading out for dinner.

We went south on The Strip towards the New York New York hotel.  Despite looking at a couple of options for dinner we ended up at Dennys.  It seemed a little fraught in here, there were a quite a few tables that hadn't been cleared, and staff seemed rushed.  Then an argument started between 2 table just behind us, that ended with one group leaving and security being called! No idea what it was about.  Next, a man, probably the worse for drink, started demanding "just a burger" and chatting up a table of girls. Staff were keeping an eye on him.  Then an older man started having a coughing fit and asking for help.  It obviously all kicks off in Dennys!

We headed next to the New York hotel, it was very busy along the front if the hotel with loud music playing  and lots of people enjoying a hot Saturday evening in Vegas.

We also had a wander round the Excalibur hotel before we admitted defeat and headed vack to our hotel, this time getting lost in the Aria Hotel which we had left through earlier.  I swear they make it difficult to find ways out of hotels and casinos!  It really messes with my head.

Hopefully an early start tomorrow, as we are hoping to visit the Hoover dam.

Day 12 Zion to Vegas

I had heard some people last night talking about a must do walk that we had somehow managed to miss yesterday.  So after breakfast, again at the hotel, we packed our cases and headed out.

We were heading to the East rim overlook which meant Keith's favourite zig zag road and through the tunnel again.  There is a very small car park immediately after the tunnel, probably only has a dozen spaces.  Amazingly there was spaces this morning.  We parked up then crossed the road and headed up some stone steps.  It is rated a moderate walk of about 1 mile.  It was very hilly and rocky, certainly not an easy walk but well worth the view at the top.

We could have sat there for hours drinking in the view and watching the cars below.  It was beautiful in the morning sunshine.

 

 

 

 

the overlook is at the top of that cliff!!

 

The car journey to Vegas took us about 2 and a half hours.  Then we decided as we were a bit early for checking in that we would drive down the strip rather than the back roads to the hotel.  We got a bit lost first,  but eventually got there and drove from the stratosphere tower down to the Welcome to the Las Vegas sign.  The temperature had also dramatically  as we got to Vegas.

Then we got lost trying to find the right exit to our hotel, only to find there was no self parking only valet parking.  We asked a hotel worker who pointed us to the neighhouring Aria Hotel where we could park.

Getting from there to the Vdara is like a maze, up and down escalators, along corridors, in and out of hotels and on a monorail!  Yes seriously, all of that, took at least 15 mins!  We began wishing we'd paid for valet parking 🤣.

Our room was a huge suite on the 37th floor with a view of the Bellagio Fountains.  The views are amazing. The room has lots of modern touches including electric blackouts and blinds, room service and more all operated from a bedside iPad.  Very swish!

 

It also has a nice kitchen and dining area, but the cupboards were empty of crockery and cutlery.   You have to phone housekeeping to bring you some.  They brought plates and forks but no cups, but he said he would get some and was quickly back with them.

We decided to go for a wander round town and find something eat.  Our hotel is connected to the Bellagio so we started there.   The Bellagio conservatory has a harvest display unlike any I've seen before and huge.

From there we walked out of the front entrance and down to the street, as it was nearly 'on the hour' we waited for our first fountains display.

Next door to the Bellagio is Ceasar's Palace.  We walked round here for ages in and out of casinos and shopping areas - mainly because we couldn't find a way out! 😂  We did though find a Cheesecake Factory.  A quick check with the desk and there was only a 10-15 minute wait.  Perfect.  Dinner was fab as always at a Cheesecake Factory.  With no room for desert we had cheesecakes to go!

We retraced our steps through the hotel and made it back out to the street.  We crossed over to the other side of the strip and after a quick stop at CVS to get some supplies for breakfast we wandered on and thought we'd have a quick look in the Paris Hotel.  As we wandered though looking at all the  shops etc we got totally disorientated and ended up coming out through Ballys with no idea where we were.  We eventually made it back to the strip and decided to call it a night after a trip back to the car to pick up the camera!

 

 

 

There are a lot of characters wandering round Vegas and lots of girls in very little clothing.  Its a real party town!  We do feel a bit out of place, by 10pm we were ready for a cup of tea and bed!  It's been an eye opener, let's see what tomorrow brings.

Day 11 Zion

We had yet another early start with a 6.30am alarm.  We got up and dressed and headed to the breakfast area in the hotel.  There was a great selection of hot and cold breakfast available.  Back in our room we packed a bag with stuff for a day of walking, then headed out to catch the Springdale bus to the Zion visitor centre.  It was colder than we expected this morning as we doubted the shorts and t-shirts while everyone else had long trousers and jumpers.  Onto the free zion bus and our first stop inside the park was bus stop 5 where we took the mile long walk to Lower Emerald pool.  We had hoped to walk on from there but the trail was closed due to rock fall.

Back to the bus stop and we took the next bus up to the end of the trails and took the riverside walk to The Narrows.  This walk is a mile and a half each way.   We found a rock to sit on and watched all the serious (mad) hikers get ready for their Narrows hike.  This needs shoes suitable for hiking through water.  The first stage is to cross the river when I believe the later parts are walking up through the water (probably quite cold as the cliffs are high, the gap narrow and not much sun reaches the bottom).

We had some of the trail mix snack we had brought with us before heading back along the river. 

The next bus dropped us off at stop 7 and we took the short uphill walk to weeping rock.  We had hoped to walk back to the  higher emerald pool from the other direction but unfortunately they had closed the whole trail.  We took the short Grotto Trail to the next bus stop and then headed back to the hotel.  We had been walking for about 5 hours so after a short rest (and a video chat with Mum and Dad) we decided to drive out of the East entrance of the park on the scenic road.  More WOW's.

Beautiful road to drive, zig zagging up out of the canyon, through a mile long tunnel then through rocks out the other side.  We left the park  did a u turn and returned the same way.  We did have to stop to let a herd of mountain goats cross the road!

Dinner tonight was a Thai restaurant we had spotted near the visitor centre at bus stop 2.  The buses are great for getting up and down the canyon.

Back at the hotel Keith settled down to watch thursday night nfl and i sat out by the fire pit listening to a loud American (possible drunk) young woman whilst writing up today's blog.  Life could definitely be tougher! 😉

Zion is another beautiful park, again with its own unique beauty being mainly up  through a long canyon.

Day 10 Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park

The clouds have gone today and the forecast is much warmer today with temperatures in the high 80s by the time we reached Zion.

We returned to Rustlers Restaurant for breakfast today.  We were served huge portions!  I had 2 pancakes with fresh strawberries and sauces and Keith had a peach and pecan waffle.  Neither of us finished them. 

We finished packing up again and headed back to Bryce Canyon.  We stopped a little way up the road from where we stayed as we had seen a layby yesterday that seemed to lead into the bottom of Bryce.  It was actually one of the listed walks called mossy cave.  It wasn't too long and it ran alongside a creek and actually led to a small waterfall surrounded by some hoodoos.  It really was a lovely little find.

We next headed back to the main park. This time we took the car in and drove the 18 miles along the ridge to Rainbow Point.  Part of this area was cordoned off as there were fires still smouldering on the hillside.  They were some information boards around showing how the fires had been ablaze for the last couple if weeks and explaining how they let nature take its course and why.

After taking some photos of the view we headed back along the road stopping at a couple of other overlook points including natural bridge.

We have really come to appreciate the beauty of Bryce, it is quite amazing.

We stopped to fill up with gas at the park exit and Keith also decide to put the car through a car wash as it us soo dusty from the various parks we have been to.

The sat nav was set for our next hotel in Springdale, Zion.  We should have checked the sat nav route as I thought we would be arrived at Zions East entrance and driving through to the hotel.  The sat nav thought otherwise and took us on a much longer loop that avoided Zion itself.  Although it took more time it did take us on a scenic highway which was absolutely gorgeous, through the mountains of Dixie Forest where the autumn colours were just starting to show. We stopped a number of times for photo ops before stopping in Cedar City where we found a Subway for a quick lunch.

We carried on, now on 80mph freeways until approaching Zion from the south.  Our hotel for the next 2 nights is a Holiday Inn Express in Springdale.  We signed in and relaxed for half an hr while studying a map of the park and deciding what to do.

Putting on some sunscreen and grabbing the camera we headed out to springdale bus stop 6.  The free shuttle bus turned up a couple of minutes later and we were on our way to the park entrance.  We got off the bus here, walked through the park entrance showing our National Park season ticket and took the free Zion Shuttle Bus to stop 3.

We followed one of the "easy" walks back to the park entrance along the river.  A nice leisurely 30-40 minute walk as the sun was getting lower so it wasn't too hot. 

We caught the bus back to our hotel and showered and changed for dinner.  There were 2 restaurants next to the hotel. Unfortunately one is closed on Wednesday's and the other too expensive!  We walked the half mile up the main street to Porters Steakhouse.  We had to wait about 15 minutes before being seated but the food was very good, I had a burger and Keith had beef brisket.  We were seated near a rear door in the restaurant and at one point the waitress told us there were a couple of deer grazing on the lawn just outside if we wanted to look.  Too good to miss, unfortunately it was quite dark by then so we didn't get a clear view.

We walked slowly back to our hotel, calling in at the local supermarket to get some snacks for tomorrow.

Back in the hotel, we made a cup if tea and I rinsed through some clothes that will hopefully dry while we are out tomorrow!

Another lovely day with lots of gorgeous Utah scenery.

Day 9 Bryce Canyon

We wanted an early start today as we had 190 miles to get to Bryce Canyon.  We had the included breakfast at the hotel before loading the car again.  We had 'gassed up' last night so we were ready to go.  Again the drive was varied with wide barren plains, mountain passes and cut throughs.  It was much greener and there was more farming as we headed Bryce which we haven't really seen anywhere else yet.

We arrived at Bryce about half 11 and popped to the Ruby Inn general store to buy some sandwiches, wraps and coffee for lunch.  We parked up just opposite in the park and ride and used the shuttle buses to get into the park.  The shuttle buses serve an area up to Bryce Point so we decided to start there and work our way back. 

The weather was much cooler today, mid 70s, with some cloud cover which helped with the walking.  You can use the buses to each view point or walk the rim trail.  We decided on the walk.  I am running out of words to describe the fabulous sights we are seeing.  As you walk the rim trail the view of hoodoo' s (the sticking up rocks!) changes with angle and light.  Stunning.  We could also see a small town in the distant beyond the park which we reckoned might be Tropic where we were staying tonight.

We walked to Inspiration Point and then decided to continue to sunset and sunrise points.
 

 

 

Keith ventured down one of the zigzag paths beneath the rim while I stayed at the top. When he returned we sat for a while for him to catch his breath from the steep walk up and were joined by a chipmunk who was after the crumbs from someone's lunch. I did venture a little way under the rim at sunrise point just to say I'd done it!

 

 

 

 

We caught the shuttle bus back to the car, stopped again at the general store to buy a souvenir magnet (making a little collection as I go!).

We followed the sat nav for the 7 miles to Tropic, it was indeed the place we had seen earlier.  We have a lovely little log cabin, Bryce Country Cabins, with views of Bryce to the front and across the fields, plains and distant mountains to the back, which can be enjoyed from rocking chairs on the porch.

We went to a restaurant just a few yards away from our cabin, Rustlers Restaurant.  We ordered a sampler appetizer of mozzarella sticks, chicken wings and breaded fried green beans.  It was huge!  Also served with fresh hot bread.   For mains Keith had Fkatiron steak and I had trout.  Again both were huge and neither of us got even close to eating it all, including appetizer!  Was all lovely though.

Back at our cabin the moon was just rising so we stood and watched for a few minutes and marvelled at the number of stars visible.  Love having no light pollution even though the moon is too bright for good star gazing.