We returned 2 days ago from our glorious trip to Arizona, Utah, and Nevada. What an awesome time! I am still jet-lagged and going on 2.5 hours of sleep after a full day‘s work, but I can’t stop thinking about what I want to write about our trip. I think the best way to capture this is in 2 parts: the first to chronicle what we did, and the other to note on interesting experiences and what I learned.
So here’s the lowdown:
Friday: Allegiant Air flight to Las Vegas, arriving at 9:30 pm Pacific Time. Spent the night at the super El Rancho Boulder Motel in Boulder City, NV.
Saturday: Awake at 5:30 and ready for a full day! Breakfast down the street at the Coffee Cup Café, the local greasy spoon breakfast hangout… good food and fun atmosphere. Sitting in the CVS parking lot before 7 am to buy a cooler and case of bottled water, a bottle of Febreze for our rental car, and loads of sore throat and allergy medication to deal with my allergy to our rental (which reeked of cigarette smoke). Febrezed the car. Drove 10 minutes to Hoover Dam and spent 3 hours wandering around and taking the Discovery Tour. Got our first experience with the desert while driving to Peach Springs. Made a stopover in Kingman specifically so I could experience the legendary In-N-Out burger chain. It definitely lived up to the hype, especially their chocolate milkshake! Proceeded to the nasty Grand Canyon Caverns Inn. Had dinner in their funky restaurant, the only game in town. Had our ears assaulted by Rafael, the synthesizer-playing lounge singer from hell. Prepared our packs for our backpacking trip to Supai EARLY the next morning. Bumped into other hikers who informed us that the trail and bridges were washed out due to flash flooding. Sadly canceled our plans and decided to go with plan B for the next day…
Sunday: On the road and headed for Sedona, Arizona! What a lovely town, ranked first in USA Weekend’s most beautiful cities of America poll. Hiked a 4-miler to Chicken Point for nice views and a good warm-up workout. Visited the Chapel of the Holy Cross. Nabbed a room at Sedona’s Matterhorn Inn, ranked #2 on TripAdvisor (oh, how I love that website!). Room was gorgeous!! Enjoyed the best meal of our trip at the Cowboy Club, pricey, but still worth it. We don’t get cactus salsa at home! Strolled the streets for a bit doing a lil’ shopping.
Monday: Up early again for an 8-miler to Turkey Creek. (Had to get off the trails by 1 due to monsoon activity and flash flooding.) Fabulous hike, very secluded trail, killer mountain climb at the end, but the reward (view for miles across red rock mountains) was more than worth the climbing in the heat. This one was a terrific workout for my body but even better for filling my spirit. Left Sedona in a storm and experienced our first monsoon, a lite one but still heavy rain. Drove through Flagstaff and across northern Arizona through some of the most beautiful alpine country. Entered the Grand Canyon South Rim and headed for the Bright Angel Lodge. Our cozy lodge had just been renovated and was Don’s favorite room from our whole trip. I loved it too… such a nice change from standard motel rooms! Got my first glimpse of the canyon after dinner… wow!
Tuesday: up early (again!) to hike the rim trail. This was the best time to hike; even as late as 8 am, we still had the park to ourselves. Spent all morning on the rim trail, the afternoon hopping on and off the shuttle at different stations and shops. Saw a flier for an exhibit opening soiree that evening at a cabin/exhibition hall near our lodge. Made it there before the party started for the “I am the Grand Canyon” exhibit about the Havasupai tribe, the folks whose reservation I was supposed to backpack to. Several tribe members were present and spoke, a group of young Havasupai girls performed native dances, then their old ladies did their thing, then some Indians cried and blessed the exhibit. Tuxedo-clad servers mingled throughout the crowd passing out fancy sweet treats, and a meaningful time was had by all.
Wednesday: Up before dawn to watch the magical sunrise with my sweetie. Reluctantly checked out of our room and explored the east side of the park on our way out. Stopped at the Cameron Trading Post on the Navajo reservation where we’d planned to have lunch and do some serious souvenir shopping. We both enjoyed Navajo specialties… the stew, taco, and lots of fry bread! Yum! Bought lots of goodies for family and friends, and snagged a cute pair of Navajo-made earrings for myself. Continued north and encountered our first truly serious monsoon. Drove through it with lightning touching down all around us and white-knuckled the entire way through. Thought we were done with the rain, but encountered another (less-scary) storm as we approached Utah. Entered Zion National Park through the east entrance and ooohed and ahhhed over the crazy rock mountains and formations. Checked into the charming Red Rock Inn B&B in Springdale, Utah for 3 nights. We had a beautiful cottage and a full breakfast delivered to us each morning. Perfect!
Thursday: Zion - Flash flooding imminent signs and monsoon weather warnings, so our big hike to Observation Point was pushed back until Friday. Elected to tour the canyon and do several shorter hikes instead… Emerald Pools, Riverside Walk, Weeping Rock. Dinner at the Zion Pizza and Noodle Company was beyond fabulous!
Friday: The morning of our big hike, but I couldn’t sleep the nite before, and the Donald had a headache. Scrapped all plans for Ob. Pt. and headed back to Kanab to visit the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary which we’d driven past earlier. This is the country’s largest no-kill sanctuary for animals, critter nirvana if you will. What a great experience for animal lovers! Our guide practically had to drag us out of the special needs cat house. On our return through the Park, we hiked the short but sweet Canyon Overlook Trail. This one provided much bang for the buck as far as views, climbing, and sights along the way. Dined upscale Mexican at the Bit-N-Spur before hitting the local ice cream parlor later that night.
Saturday: Our last fabulous breakfast from the Red Rock Inn. L Checked out and decided we had to have one last hike in Zion, selected the Hidden Canyon Trail. Begins by climbing several hundred feet up the side of a mountain, at one point you are hanging onto chains on the side of a cliff for several minutes as you carefully continue going up! Got to the end of the trail where it leads into a canyon you can scramble over boulders and sneak into to explore. We were way up in the sky but truly felt hidden from the world! Amazing and my favorite hike of our trip! After this, we headed south to Las Vegas. Checked into the Flamingo on the strip, and both of us decided pretty quickly that we hated the Flamingo and hated Las Vegas even more. Began considering escape options as we walked around. Saw the fountains at the Bellagio, went inside Paris and Aladdin/Planet Hollywood, saw the Lions at MGM Grand, took pics at NYNY. Did a little shopping at the Miracle Mile to get my POG juice and coconut syrup from Hilo Hattie.
Sunday: Still planning our escape route. Tried to go to church but couldn’t find one after 30 minutes of driving around. Brunch at the terrific Spice Market Buffet, ranked #1 in Vegas. Checked out of our room a night early even though we already paid for it. Walked around the Venetian, Caesar’s Palace, and Bellagio. Saw Cirque de Soleil’s “Mystere” at Treasure Island. Lost some cash in the slots at Treasure Island, or paid $40 for a beer and a daiquiri, however you want to look at it. Hightailed it out of town and back to Boulder City to the cute motel we stayed at on the very first night of our trip.
Monday: A new day full of possibilities! Our original plan was to hang out in Vegas, but obviously that wasn’t working out. Enjoyed a perfect morning swim in our pool. Went on a Lake Mead cruise to Hoover Dam that afternoon. Found a tempting beach on Lake Mead, changed back into our swimsuits in the backseat of our Avenger (haha), and refreshed ourselves in the clear cool water. Explored the shoreline a bit before heading to the only movie theater near Boulder City, a little two-screener in a casino near the dam. Saw “The Bourne Ultimatum”, a truly excellent flick. Headed to the airport to return our car and wait for our ride home. Our plane got swapped out, some clueless dude somehow got to the gate without a boarding pass and he and his wife pitched a hissy fit since they weren’t allowed on the plane, a drunk chick got booted out of our plane, the flight attendants could not remember where we were going, and we took off late (of course!).
Tuesday: We landed safely (thank goodness) and arrived home to our sweet kitty at about 7:30 am.
