Oct. 18/2010 Zion Canyon

We left Navajo country and headed for Zion National Park.  We backtracked through Kayenta, Page and Kanab and then on to the park.  We drove right through the park on the eastern side including the 1.1 mile long tunnel....pretty impressive.  We drove through to Springdale where we checked into the Zion Park Inn.  We went out for dinner at the Spotted Dog and recalled our trip to Italy as we dined on pesto penne.  Great meal, thanks to Cathy Eades for the recommendation.  The next morning we caught the shuttle to the trail for the Emerald Pools where we hiked to all 3 pools.  The upper pool hike was a little adventurous but worth the effort, except for the jerk that stood right in front of my tripod set up for about 10 minutes....breathe deep, enjoy the sights.  We came back and checked out the Zion Lodge before going our separate ways, Mary to the Weeping Rock and Parus River Trail and I went to the Hidden Canyon and then half ways up the Observation Point Trail.   I discovered that I have a fair fear of heights on the last trail, hence only half the trail.   Zion is a beautiful park with views in all directions.

The next morning we headed out for Bryce Canyon.
M and K

Upper Emerald Pool

Lower Emerald Pool

Slot Canyon on way to Observation Point

Near western entrance to Zion

Monument Valley Oct. 17/18

Did a couple of hikes through Monument Valley (part of my old childhood western fantasies) and a jeep tour with a resident Navajo.  Also woke up for a Monument Valley sunrise.  Pretty nice. 

On to Zion and Bryce Canyons next.

M and K

Oct. 15/10 Chinle and Canyon de Chelly

After Page and Antelope Canyon we had a long day in the car as we moved on to Navajo Country, with our final desination being Chinle.  We got to see more of the country than initially planned when we missed a turn off that would have shortened our trip.  So, after a long day in the car we pulled into Chinle.  Loosely quoting Cher here:  "When you come to Chinle, you don't come for Chinle, you come for the canyon".  After we drove through Chinle and all its attractions, Burger King, A & W, and Church's Chicken, we pulled into the Holiday Inn, avoided all the stray, homeless dogs (where is Best Friends when you need them?) and settled in to an early night because of our early jeep tour in the morning.

Our tour guide, Ben Teller, met us at the lobby door, we crawled into his borrowed jeep and off we went to Canyon de Chelly, famous for being the starting point for the long walk of the Navajo.  The tour consisted of an interesting drive through the sandy bottomed canyon.  Our guide Ben, was in his mid-seventies and had lived his whole life in the canyon, so he was able to share a lot of interesting history in information about the canyon.  We saw a lot of early ruins and ended up 10 miles down the canyon at Canyon del Morte(sic), at Antelope House and Ben's house.

Later that day we did a 2 hour hike down to the canyon floor to see the White House ruins.  It was a beautiful hike and not too strenuous.  We had an early night again, avoided the hotel restaurant (we learned our lesson from the night before) and got ready for our trip to Monument Valley.



Canyon de Chelly

M & K

Antelope House









At the start of the White House trail



Mary and Ben (Ben's house in background)

 

Kanab/Page/Antelope Canyon Oct. 13 and 14

Okay, I've got this really slow connection, so having problems with the pics.  On the morning of the 13th we headed out to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary.  A world famous sanctuary loaded with abandoned, abused, injured domestic animals.  An amazing place with some 1800 -2000 animals, including dogs, cats, horses, pigs, rabbits and parrots.  We visited one building in Cat World and one in Dog Town.  Of course Mary got emotionally involved with a 9 year old dachsund called Tiger.  To make it worse an attendant told her that Tiger's brother, Pencil, had just been adopted a week ago.  We were just able to escape the place animal-less.

From there we drove on to Page, home of the Glen Canyon Dam, the dam that formed Lake Powell.  A very impressive sight.  That night we did Mexican with a LARGE marquerita (there seems to be a theme).

Early the next morning we took a tour to Antelope Canyon, a slot canyon, near page.  The canyon was beautiful, the light very subtle, bring out the striking colours of the canyon.

I'll try to include pictures of the 3 places we visited.

K and M

Parry Lodge in Kanab

Frank Sinatra Room

Tiger's on the left.

Glen Canyon Dam

Trip to Antelope Canyon

Inside the canyon

Leaving Vegas 10/12/10

Our last day in Vegas was more quiet.  Everyone needed a little bit of recoup time. Spent most of the day with Wendy, Glen and Tyler.  We caught the Deuce to Fremont, the older part of downtown Vegas.  Got to play a little bit of $2 blackjack which was fun.....won $30.  That night we went to Jimmy Buffet's restaurant in the Flamingo and watched the girl in the small bikini slide into the large marquerita....twice.

Set out from Vegas the next day, Tuesday, after a snafu with our rental car.  Made our first stop in the Valley of Fire (I'll include some pics) and then drove on to Kanab, where we stayed at the world famous Parry Lodge.  Parry Lodge was the home for many movie stars who filmed westerns in this area....Utah's Little Hollywood. 

K & M

Valley of Fire

Vegas 10/10/10

Early start today as it was our golfing day.  Caught a taxi at 7:30 am in order to get to the Wildhorse Golf Club in Henderson.  Four of us had an adventurous and circuitous ride out to the golf course...."No, we're not lost....here, I'll stop the meter...no, we're not lost."  This was our taxi driver, who finally called for some directions but couldn't be understood so I actually got to use the radio.   We finally got out and had a good round of golf on a beautiful course.  I actually scored a 51 on the front nine which might not sound good to you, John, but it's pretty good for me.  Mary went off for a brunch at the MGM Grand Buffet but it wasn't really a pre-wedding brunch as they were not able to sit with the main group of people.

The wedding went off well and we had a great Mexican meal and marqueritas at Diego's.  After that we went off on a tour of Las Vegas in the PARTY BUS!!!!!  A great time.  Mary and I each took our turn on the pole dancing.  A lot of fun....maybe too much fun.  But I am happy to say that Mary did not have a reprise of the tequila act she performed at Brooks and Tina's wedding.

Last day in Vegas tomorrow.

M & K

 

It's All About the Money

"Retirement is like a long vacation in Las Vegas. The goal is to enjoy it to the fullest, but not so fully that you run out of money."
~Jonathan Clements

We're enjoying Vegas in a kind of masochistic manner. We strolled down one of the main strips today, winding our way through the crowds of people and those hawking show tickets and promoting strip clubs. We met up with Brad and Connie today, my nephew and his wife. Connie and Mary went off shopping/gambling and Brad and I went off to watch football and drink beer. (Mary and Connie also found some free drinks along the way.) Mary was successful on her slots today and walked away with a nice little profit and Connie and Brad broke even. I did a little bit of machine poker in order to get free beer...my losses resulted in my free beer costing $4.50 each.

The Lion

Sitting in our hotel room re-energizing for tonight when the four of us will meet up with my sister,Wendy,and Glen, her husband. Still haven't met up with Ty and Angela since arriving. Will see him and others at golf tomorrow.

Take care.
K & M


Mary at the MGM Grand



First night in Vegas

Arrived late Friday night as our flight out of Van was delayed. Did a stroll around the neighbourhood and took in a few interesting sights. Mary hit the slots and lost, while I sat back and watched the blackjack tables. I've been studying the strategies but not confident enough to sit at a table. Maybe tomorrow. Pool time tomorrow and then off to see some sights. Hopefully have some pictures.

K & M

Day 1 of the Vegas Journey

Had a beautiful but slow drive to Prince George today.  Lots of colours.  What a stunning part of the world we live in....no, not stunned.  Lots of snow on the mountains around smithers.


The blog will become much more exciting, I promise.