A Grand Adventure Days 9 & 10 (Las Vegas and Blue Men)

The thing I will most remember about the drive from the Zion area to Las Vegas is the gradual change from one of the most desolate places I have ever traveled to one of the most busy.  I mentioned before that it was common to travel 30 or 40 miles without seeing a sign of any kind.  Something I didn't mention is that there are almost no billboards of any kind in the loop around the Grand Canyon.  The only thing to distract you is the natural beauty.

 

Obviously, this begins to change little by little as you approach Las Vegas until you reach the city - one that overwhelms you with stimulus.  Everywhere signs and lights scream, "Look at me!"

  

We again saw large military vehicles, this time on a train.

  We turned right at the obelisk, and voila, we had made it back to the Luxor.

It looks like they still haven't finished cleaning those windows since we left.

Here are some interesting facts that an employee shared about the Luxor.  It is the 2nd largest hotel in Vegas (behind the MGM) and the 5th largest  hotel in the world.  It has 4,408 rooms!  This person also told me that the windows were supposed to be gold, but the supplier got behind on the production of them so they just decided to go with black instead.

Mandalay Bay and Delano got the windows right.

The plan was to drop off everyone at the hotel and then Greg and I would drop off the camper van.  From there we could take an Uber back to the hotel.  Our GPS had been rock solid with directions on the trip up until this point.  However, some new roads totally had us driving in circles for about 20 minutes on a 5 minute drive.  Greg and I became separated at one point and I ended up making it to the Escape office about 7 or 8 minutes ahead of Greg.  After 1,200 miles of driving, the last 5 were definitely the most stressful.

Everything went fine with checking in the Escape vans (great people over there). We noticed a cool van design that we would have liked:

I laughed as I watched my Uber driver on my phone miss the same turn as us and almost miss his arrival window.   From there, we all just chillaxed back at the hotel.  The temperatures had not let up, and their weather there was claiming they had a small chance to reach an all time high temperature in Las Vegas while we were there (117º).

Notice "HOT" until the temperature drops to just 108º to which it becomes "breezy."

We were excited to meet up with Jeff and Carolyn who were already in the hotel as they were finishing up their own Grand Canyon experience.  We met up with them at a bar in the hotel and had some drinks as we shared a few stories of our trips.  

Later that night, the adults met in the casino to do some gambling.  Jeff, Carolyn, Jen, and Greg all played Black Jack at the same table.  Greg came away the biggest winner, but amazingly I think everyone came out ahead.  One of our dealers had been working tables in Vegas for 42 years and had even dealt cards to Sinatra.  He gave lots of tips on how to play which is always appreciated.

The Halls would be leaving early the next morning, but we had decided to stay an extra day to see a show in Vegas.  We decided to go see Blue Man Group, one of my favorite shows of all time.

During the day, we decided to tour some of the shops and casinos that we hadn't seen yet. We stopped in the M&M store and the Coca-cola store.

We shopped in some of the souvenir shops as Mikah looked for a gift or two for her friends and boyfriend.  Rogan found a cool LED fidget spinner.  

Of course, you always see some interesting things on the strip.  We were on the escalator behind a guy dressed like Zach Galifianakis from the Hangover.

To be honest, Rogan wasn't thrilled that we had stayed an extra day in Vegas.  I think he was getting a little homesick, and he didn't really take to the throngs of people and party atmosphere that much.  He did think the sky painted ceilings pretty cool.

I was hoping that he would really enjoy the Blue Man show since I had really picked it with him in mind.  He was kind of negative about seeing a show, and asked me cynically what it was about.  If you've ever seen the Blue man show you understand why I told him that it was difficult to describe.  I did tell him that there would be a lot of good drumming.  If you've never seen the show, here's a little sampling:

Carolyn and Jeff were able to join us for the show before they flew out on a redeye flight that night.  Here they are sporting some awesome headbands before the show starts.

Here we are before the shows starts in the seats right in front of them.

We had such a good time at the show, Rogan (and the rest of us) were disappointed when it was done.  After the show you could get pictures with the band and the blue men.  Rogan, who had fought us about being in any pictures all trip, actually asked me to take his picture with one of the blue men.

Rogan bought some Blue Man drumsticks while Mikah got a t-shirt.  

Rogan's review of the show: 

"That was dope!"





It was cool to end the trip on a high note for everyone.  We had a great time, but like with all trips, we were excited to come back home.

A Grand Adventure - Day 8 (Bryce Canyon, Hoodoos, and Groping Foreigners)

The plan for the day was to get up early again (5 AM), eat breakfast and then head to Bryce Canyon.  Bryce was a little further away than Zion from us, but we expected it to be less busy so we were hoping we would not have to fight for a parking spot.  We arrived at the visitor's center around 7:30 and were almost the only vehicles there.  We soon discovered that the visitor's center and shuttles did not open/start until 8. Oh well. The early bird gets the worm, I guess.

When the visitor's center opened at 8 we used the restrooms and then came up with a plan for our hikes for the day.  A big section of the park called Rainbow Point was inaccessible because they were doing road work.  Fortunately, there was still plenty of the park to see, so we decided to start with Bryce Point and then hike Inspiration Point.

One thing I noted about Bryce was that the hikers seemed much less serious than those I saw at Zion.  At Zion, I noticed many of the hikers with expensive hiking gear - hiking sticks, backpacks, boots, etc...  At Bryce, the hikers seemed to be much more casual.

Our shuttle took us to Bryce Point which provided a gorgeous overview of the canyon.

This was a nice spot for pictures.  There were some foreigners who were taking some glamour shoot style pictures here that were really cracking us up with their dramatics (lots of flamboyant turns, poses, and hair flipping).  When a spot opened up, Greg offered to take a family photo of us and almost got a great picture of a guy's butt crack as he bent over to organize his camera gear apparently oblivious to us standing right next to him.

Captain Buttcrack's camera gear seen by Rogan's feet.

The cool geologic feature of Bryce is a structure called a hoodoo.  This is rock which is often bigger at the top than at the bottom.

Hoodoos!  Cool!
Hey, what are those puffy white things floating in the sky? 
We haven't seen those in weeks!

Here's a little Bill Nye the Science Guy to explain how hoodoos are formed.

It was much cooler at Bryce this day.  They claim it is generally 10-15 degrees cooler there than at Zion because of the altitude, but it was still in the 90's.  Fortunately, there were also some clouds so we got some shade from them from time to time.

Another dramatic shot of Rogan on a cliff's edge.  We always tried to do these out of sight of Beth to avoid her having heart palpitations.

Like the Grand Canyon and Zion there are very few safety barriers at Bryce.  The ground here was also more sandy and crumbly than the other parks so you did not feel quite as secure walking out to any ledges.  There are lots of places which you could take a long tumble. 

 

Even the dead things here have their own beauty.

Luke captured this nice flower pic

It's amazing that pretty flowers like this can grow
in this environment which is so dry and rocky

Bryce looked cool from the rim, but it became truly amazing once we could walk inside the canyon.  We decided to hike a trail called "Queen's Garden" which was less than a mile but a 300 foot descent.  It gave us some really amazing views of the canyon.

There were several places where small doorways had been cut through the canyon.

Many of the structures reminded me of chess pieces.

The hike was a lot of fun, but more challenging that it looked at first.  The view at the bottom was worth the effort for sure.

Pro-tip.  Ask someone with a nice camera to take a picture of your group.  Luke asked a nice German gentleman with an SLR camera to take this one for us.  A nice lady at the Grand Canyon with less photographic skills took a group picture with all of us that had all but our heads cut out of it.

What can happen when you ask a random stranger to take your picture.

The hike back up the the rim was fun but with a couple challenging parts.  It is always a sense of accomplishment when you finish a difficult hike.  We took a group pic at the top to celebrate.

 


Here's a video overview of the entire day:

America First

After this hike, we walked up toward the parking lot and restroom area.  There was a lot of activity going on as it appeared that a couple busloads of foreign tourists had just arrived and many were sitting all around eating packaged meals.  The smell of Chinese food and the sight of people eating sandwiches made us all a little hungry.  There was also an ambulance and a rescue squad in a section of the lot, and they appeared to be pulling out a stretcher and ropes and other gear to possibly help a stranded or injured hiker.  

Apparently, Greg was gawking a bit too much at this scene because he walked into a retaining wall where a foreign lady was sitting and eating a giant sandwich.  Beth tried to warn him by shouting, "Greg!" but it was too late.  Greg reached around the stranger's back and "hugged" her a little to regain his balance and immediately began apologizing profusely.  The lady seemed confused about what had just happened and did not react well to Greg's apologies.  Her facial expression was one of shock, disgust, and anger.  I joked with Greg later that he should have gone all the way and taken a bite out of her sandwich while whispering "America first" in her ear.

Tomorrow we travel back to Las Vegas to put the finishing touches on this amazing experience.
 

A Grand Adventure - Day 7 (Zion, Heat Exhaustion, and Ho-made pies)

Today we drove into Utah for the first time to explore Bryce and Zion.  We chose to stay at a campground called Zion Ponderosa Ranch because it gave us  access to both parks  (though it was much closer to Zion).  The campground itself was very different than the others we had stayed at so far which were pretty simple in their accommodations.  Zion Ponderosa had a resort, cabin rentals, an RV park, and tent campground.  It even had a glamping area (short for glamorous camping) and overnight Conestoga wagon rentals.

Just like the cowboys slept in the old west, right?

Along with a crazy number of activities for the guests.   It had 2 restaurants, 2 pools, 2 hot tubs, 4 tennis courts, a basketball court, a beach volleyball court, a rock climbing wall, a zipline, ATV rentals, horseback riding, jeep tours, wagon rides, miniature golf, paintball, bungee trampoline and a rec building with pool, foosball and ping pong tables, and TV.  The Zion Ponderosa is really still in its infancy but their plans for the site are obviously very ambitious.

The pool area.  The tennis courts hadn't even been built when this picture was taken.

The tent camping area where we stayed was still under construction when we arrived.  The roads into the area were just dirt, therefore it was really dusty.  The bathroom facility had just been built about a month earlier.  As a result, the sites were mostly dirt though they did have a little shade at certain times of the day.

A quick video peak at our campsite

Zion National Park

We were watching the weather closely as we were in the peak of the heat wave that had overtaken the area.  Nearby Phoenix, Arizona for example was expected to reach 122º around that time. 

We had also heard that a popular hiking section of Bryce was not accessible on Monday, so we decided to hike Zion first and then Bryce on Tuesday when we hoped the roads would be open again.  

We woke up super early the next day to try to get in our Zion hike before the peak heat of the day.  We woke up around 5 AM, ate, packed everything up and were on the road before 6 AM.  We were not only trying to beat the heat but also the rush of other visitors which can make parking difficult to find.  We pulled into the park around 7 AM and found a free spot for the vans right by the parking area by the entrance (which costs $20/ day).  

Like the Grand Canyon, Zion has a convenient shuttle system to move about the park.  Getting there as early as we did we were surprised to see how long the line was to get on the first stop.




We had to wait for about three shuttles before we could get on the first time.  Many people had hiking sticks and wore special boots to walk "The Narrows" which is a narrow canyon where you can walk right in the river.  This was popular due to the extreme heat expected this day.

 

We chose to hike the Upper Emerald Pool Trail.  It was supposed to be a moderately challenging hike with spectacular views of the canyon.  Here we crossed the Virgin River which has, over time, eroded this canyon.

The sun was just beginning to enter the canyon when we started hiking.

Selfie time!

 

I'm the king of the canyon!

We reached the lower falls which reminded us a lot of something we would see at Hocking Hills.  It was a nice hike with a couple sections that would get your legs and lungs pumping a little bit, but nothing too extreme.

the lower falls

At one point on the way back, we ran into some naturalists who were 3D scanning the trail so they could remake it in the future if needed.

 

the pool at the end of the hike by the upper falls

The rocks above the Upper Falls

Here's a video overview of the hike to Upper Emerald Falls.

When we finished this hike, we decided to take the shuttle to some of the other stops.  We saw people hiking the famous Angels Landing.  Some of our adventurous members of our crew really wanted to do this hike, but with the near record heat and the time of day, we didn't think it wise.  Here's a video showing what it looks like if you feel like trying something extreme:

We all had still had some energy so we decided to do one more hike.  Luke had said that he wanted to hike the Watchman trail.  We stopped at a couple more shuttle stops before getting off for this hike.  By this time, it was the middle of the day and the sun was no longer shaded by the walls of the canyon.  It was now directly overhead.



As we set out on the trail I felt like I was hiking through what I always pictured when I imagined a desert.  The temperature said it was 108º.  I found myself thinking about all the different survival shows that I like - Dual Survival, Naked and Afraid, Survivorman, etc...  As I hiked I thought about conserving energy and water and how on those survival shows they would never hike in heat like this at this time of the day.

As hikers passed us going the opposite direction I asked jokingly how much further it was to the DQ.  Luke commented that a DQ blizzard sounded great right now.  Lilly replied,

"I don't want a DQ blizzard.  I want an actual blizzard!"

 

We stopped from time to time in the shade to cool off, but there was very little of it.

 

 I even overheard this lizard say, "Damn this is hot today!"

 
Rogan found this comfy rock chair in the partial shade to rest.



Eventually we made it to the top and were rewarded with a really nice view of the canyon and the trail we had just hiked.

On the way back both Jen and Beth started to get overheated, possibly dangerously so.  Jen mentioned later that she had gotten goosebumps, a sign of dehydration.  Beth was very red faced and "glistening."

Has anyone seen the Dairy Queen ahead?

There was a small mountain stream that crossed over the hiking path at one point.  Desperate to cool off, we dunked our hiking hats into it and put them on our heads.  It did help a lot.

Eventually we made it down to the river level and Mikah couldn't resist taking a dip. 

Here's a short video clip of the hike:

Of course we made it back safely and cooled off with some fresh water.  We decided to drive back to the campground and look for somewhere good to eat. 

On the way out, Jen snapped this nice picture out the van window.

The kids were obviously pooped, too as they were conked out in no time. 

We settled on the closest restaurant to our campground, The Thunderbird Restaurant, home of the what?!?

Now, before go you starting a letter writing campaign about this sexist sign, there's a story and a reasonable explanation behind it.  

Apparently, the founder, Jack Morrison, spelled home made pie as "ho-made" so the letters would fit on the original small sign when they opened the restaurant in 1931.  It was not until later that the word "ho" got it's current meaning.  After Jack passed away in 1961, his wife Fern used her considerable grit and gumption not only continue the business but to also expand by building a hotel and golf course with the hope that one day the Zion area would grow around the tourism from the park. When the meaning of "ho" changed it was actually Fern who decided to embrace this for its kitschy appeal and to add the busty 1950's pin-up woman to the sign.

Here's Fern

Look at her.  You can't really be mad at Fern, can you?  Even if you are still mad, she's dead now so you'll just have to let it go.

And let me tell you, after that hike today, I drank about 8 glasses of ice water and enjoyed a mighty tasty meal.  Strangely, we heard "On the Road Again" by Canned Heat for the second time.  And, to top it off, Fern's pie was amazing! 




So how should we finish this day?  With a swim, of course.