April 26, 2014 Las Vegas

Carroll Shelby Heritage Center - Las Vegas

We had to pack up and head to the airport, but we did have time to visit one last place – the Carroll Shelby Heritage Center, which was very close to the airport.  Tours are offered, but we were worried that it might make it tight on time to catch our flight so we just walked through the museum area. There were a lot of neat cars to check out and a huge gift shop area. 

We had lunch at the Burke in the Box in the airport – it was okay. We mostly picked that place since it was the only place with a TV playing the Red Wings game. J

The flight home was uneventful for the most part, except for the kid two rows ahead of us that threw up all over the place.  Luckily, it was after the plane landed so we did not have to deal with the smell for too long.

April 25, 2014 Las Vegas

Botanical Cactus Garden at Ethel M Chocolate

We visited the Ethel M Chocolate shop, which opened early and was right on the way to our planned destination.  It really was not much of a tour, just walk though and look at some signs and check out the factory behind large windows and then receive a sample of chocolate. The chocolate was okay. 

We then headed to the Lake Mead Alan Bible Visitor Center. The visitor center is quite new and had some really nice displays. We then drove towards the Hoover Dam, but decided that we did not want to pay $10 to park the car thus we headed back towards Las Vegas, visiting  a majority of the pull offs on the portion of Lakeshore Drive that we did not drive the prior day.  Lakeshore Drive between the Visitor Center and Las Vegas Bay is much nicer than the portion to the north.

Lake Mead 

The afternoon was spent visiting miscellaneous places around Las Vegas. Some places we visited included:

We drove by Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, as featured on Pawn Stars.  There was a huge line out front. Needless to say we did not visit the shop.

Counts Customs, also seen on TV, was neat place with a quite a few cars on display. We got to see some of the guys from the TV show since we were there around lunch time.

Counts Customs

So-Cal Speed Shop had a couple of cars in the shop. Mike got a tee-shirt and some stickers for the garage cabinets.

We also walked the strip. We had a list of “free” things to see at the hotels so we checked some out some of the things we did not see in the past including:

A live act at Circus Circus – kind of neat.

The wild life habitat at the Flamingo – lame.

What we think was the World’s Largest Chandelier at the Cosmopolitan – okay I suppose.

Las Vegas Strip

We had dinner at Holsteins, a burger place, inside of Cosmopolitan. It was tasty. We also stopped by The Cheesecake Factory for a slice of Carrot Cake Cheesecake!

Originally, hitting the downtown area was the plan, but we were just too tired to stay up and check out Freemont Street.

April 24, 2014 Glen Canyon Dam, Valley of Fire SP, Pipe Spring Monument

Glen Canyon NRA

After breakfast at the hotel, we were off to see the Glen Canyon Dam up close. The tour was $5 and lasted about 1.25 hours. It was very similar to the Hoover Dam, which we visited a few years back.

Pipe Spring National Monument was our next site to visit as we headed back towards Las Vegas.   Pipe Spring has a joint Tribal-Nation Park Service Visitor Center and Museum. There is a 25 minute video which discusses the history of the Kaibab Paiutes and the Mormon settlement.  Tours of Winsor Castle are available on the half hour.  There is a fee of $5/person to visit the site and take the tour.  An hour to an hour and a half is all the time needed at this site.

The site is located in the Arizona Strip, at the foot of the Vermilion Cliffs and has some of the purest water in the area. Puebloan people arrived to the area around 300BCE, soon after the Southern Paiute tribes arrived (and still live there). In the 1700’s missionaries and explored passed though. In the mid-1800’s conflicts over water and land began.  Mormon ranchers began to bring cattle and sheep to the area. Navajo Indians began raiding the Mormon livestock.   In 1870, Winsor Castle came about to serve as a remote stop for Mormons who were trying to expand their religion. Winsor Castle served as a hideout for polygamous wives due to its remoteness.  

Valley of Fire State Park - Petroglyphs

Continuing towards Las Vegas, we checked out Valley of Fire State Park. There was a $10 fee that was paid at a drop box when entering the park. The park was okay, but after seeing so many rocks already on this trip I did not find these rocks to be all that special. There were some petroglyphs at different locations throughout the park.

We decided to take the scenic route for the remainder of the trip – Northshore Road through the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.  It was okay – not much traffic but you could not really see Lake Mead from the road.

For the remainder of the trip we stayed at Desert Paradise Resort. It was very nice, but traffic in the area was a bit heavy.

April 23, 2014 Monument Valley, Lower Antelope Canyon, Glen Canyon

Moo from Monument Valley

We started the day early with breakfast at the hotel - since the hotel was totally booked so we wanted the best choices and a place to sit! We had quite a drive again, but unlike most of our travels there was actually a lot of traffic.  A guy Mike works with recommended visiting Monument Valley. Monument Valley lies entirely within the Navajo Indian Reservation on the Utah/Arizona border. The cost was $5/person to get in.  There is a 17-mile driving path to take - it was not comfortable - very rocky and extremely bumpy. Cars were driving down the road, but I would recommend a higher clearance since you could see places where cars scraped their bottoms on rocks. After seeing rocks for so many days there really was not anything too special about these ones, in my opinion. It takes about two to four hours to make it through the one way looped road. There is one hiking path along the driving loop, but we did not venture out.

Navajo NM - Betatakin Dwelling

The next stop was at a NPS site - Navajo National Monument. There was a short video, which was very informative. The site also has a short walk along the Sandal Trail that leads to an overview of the old cliff dwelling – the Betatakin dwelling. It is believed that about 120 people lived in the dwelling area. Apparently, they do offer walks down to the dwellings, but I did not notice when they are offered. That walk is limited to a certain number of people and it takes a few hours (per the video).

Lower Antelope Canyon

It was still early afternoon, we decided to check out the Lower Antelope Canyon - one word to describe - AWESOME! The canyon was discovered not all that long ago by an Indian woman that was watching her sheep flock. The canyon entrance and exit is a very short walk from the area that you pay.  The operation is called Ken’s Guided Tour of Lower Antelope Canyon.  It was $28 for the tour and Navajo Park Permit.  Based on my research, the best times to go to between 11am-1pm, we were there later than that but still thought it was great. There is currently a building being built – which would be nice since then they would probably have real bathrooms instead of port-a-potties. There are a lot of stairs and tight spaces throughout the tour. The guide we had helped everyone set up their cameras to get the best shots - I was amazed by the number of people that do not know how to change the settings! The tour is not really guided – you more less along at your own pace and snap away. I would HIGHLY recommend this tour. There were young kids on the tour and they all seemed to manage okay. It should be noted that there is also Upper Antelope Canyon tours –those tours cost a little more and per tripadvisor reviews is a lot more crowded. I also believe that the slot canyon is wider.

Lower Antelope Canyon

Lower Antelope Canyon from up top

We still had a little time left in the day, we went to the Glen Canyon area. We watched a video on how the dam was built at the Carl Hayden Visitor Center. There are also two other videos available, the schedule was posted outside of the auditorium. While at the visitor center, we also reserved a spot for the 8:30 tour the next morning. You pay $5/person when you check in for the tour.

Bridge in Page, AZ

We checked out a BBQ place for dinner – Big John’s BBQ - it was just okay. I had the pork sandwich, not greasy or fatty, but a bit dry. We went to the Bigger Dipper for ice cream - good and very large scoops!

Horseshoe Bend

We checked out Horseshoe Bend, but we got there a little early for the sunset. The hike to the edge was very sandy and there were a lot of bugs flying around. We also checked out the Dam overlook behind the Denny's restaurant.

April 22, 2014 Bryce Canyon NP

The plan for the day was to visit Bryce Canyon NP. It was really windy, dirt was really flying around and made the visit not as enjoyable. As you enter the park there is a toll booth. The cost is $25/car, but as usual free if you get the NP pass! There was not a line when we arrived, but when we were leaving the line was huge. We visited the visitor center to get the passport stamp and fill our water bottles. The visitor center has a very large gift shop and a small area of displays.

Sunrise Point - Bryce Canyon NP

Our first stop was to see the Sunset Point and Sunrise Point views. It is a short walk along the Rim Trail to visit each of the stops.  There is also a highly recommended trail that leads to the bottom of the canyon -The Queens/Navajo Combination Loop. Mike hiked the entire thing, I turned around because I did not like being sandblasted by the blowing dirt. It is easier to hike from the sunset side to the sunrise side of the canyon. There is a general store near Sunrise Point so we grabbed sandwiches from there for lunch. There is also a Lodge in that same area that has a sit down restaurant. 

Sunrise Point - Bryce Canyon NP

The adventure then continued up the road – stopping at every pull out to enjoy the awesome scenery. Some of the viewpoints were better than others, but all in all very nice! Bryce was different that Zion since there where hoodoos – lots and lots of hoodoos!  Bryce Canyon is said to have the most spectacular hoodoos. Hoodoos are rocks that protrude upwards from the bedrock and are created by erosion.

Sunset Point - Bryce Canyon NP

After leaving the park, we headed to Page, Arizona where we would be spending the next two days of the trip. We stopped for food at a little Mexican restaurant called Escobars in Kanab. The food was good and the prices were very reasonable. The salsa was extra yummy!

We stayed at the Comfort Suite, which just happens to be the newest hotel in Page. It was a good thing we had reservations because there were not any available rooms. The hotel was nice – as expected for a new hotel!

Inspiration Point - Bryce Canyon NP

Bryce Point - Bryce Canyon NP

Rainbow Bridge - Bryce Canyon NP

April 21, 2014 Great Basin NP

Great Basin NP

The site for the day was Great Basin NP in Nevada. It was about a three hour drive to get there so we headed out early.  Again the roads were quite desolate, with more cattle along the side of the road and on the road than cars. The park was very nice, we arrived early to get on the early 90-minute Lehman cave tour-very cool. The park is free to enter, but there is a fee for the cave tours.  The Grand Palace Tour (about 90 minutes long) that we took was $10/age 16+, $5/under -5 to 15 years old. The cave has lights throughout, which was okay, it defiantly made it easier to see the cave formations. Prior to the cave tour, we watched the video at the Lehman Caves Visitor Center (you get tour tickets at this visitor center). The NP has two visitor centers, one at the cave and the Great Basin Visitor Center which is closer to the town of Baker. We visited the Great Basin Visitor Center our way out of the park – this one is a lot newer and has really nice displays.

Hiking at Great Basin NP

Lehman Cave - Great Basin NP

Great Basin NP

The drove into Great Basin, until the road was closed (Mather Overlook) and then headed back down the road and hiked part of the “Lehman Creek” trail. The trail was really rocky and the views were not that great since the trees were so dense and close to the trail. We then had lunch at the café. The menu was mostly just sandwiches, but it was good and reasonably priced. We continued to another trail –“Pole Canyon” that was much nicer.

Dixie National Forest

We stopped to drive through the Dixie National Forest near Brian Head – it was very scenic and had most new pavement. There are a few trails available along the drive, but it was getting dark so we thought we had better skip them.

April 20, 2014 Kolob Canyon - Zion and Cedar Breaks

Kobol Canyon - Zion NP

The day started with a trip to the Kobol Canyon area of Zion NP, it was quite different than the part that we saw the day before. A lot less people too. After a quite stop at the visitor center, we drove the five mile scenic drive. We hiked the “Timber Creek” trail at the end of the road and it was quite nice.  We also hiked a portion of the “Taylor Creek” trail. That trail was rather rough and did not really provide any good views – I would not recommend it.

Kobol Canyon - Zion NP

Cedar Breaks NM

A view from the overlook at Cedar Breaks NM

Cedar Breaks NM

We stopped at Cedar City to get some groceries since there really was not much around where we are staying. After a quick lunch, we continued our journey to Cedar Breaks National Monument. There was a beautiful overlook prior to the park entrance. The park itself was still closed because of snow but we did hike in. In the winter months there is a temporary yurt set up for skiiers, snowshoers, and snowmobiliers to get warmed up. There were a few spots along the road that provided nice views - but not as good as the place along the side of the road before the park. The fresh air smelled awesome up there. We will need to return to the summer month to hike the trails.

April 19, 2014 Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Today, we headed into Utah. After an early lunch at Dairy Queen, we continued on towards Zion Nation Park. There is a shuttle bus that takes you around the park (April through October) and since the parking lot area is small there is also a shuttle bus that picks you up at different places in Springdale. We parked along the side of the road and did not have to wait long for a shuttle to pick us up. The shuttle then dropped us off at the pedestrian entrance to Zion NP. Our first stop was the visitor center to get my passport book stamped. We when loaded onto the shuttle bus and took it to the last stop of the park “Temple of Sinawava”. Along the way the bus gave descriptions of each stop – names of rock formations, trails, etc.

Riverside Walk - entrance to The Narrows Trail

We hiked the Riverside Walk at the Temple of Sinawava site. It was by far the busiest of all the hikes that we took. The Riverside Walk trail leads you to the start of The Narrows Trail. We did not hike The Narrows Trail – mostly because we did not have water shoes with us (the trail is in the river part of the way). The Narrows Trail is a highly recommended trail, per my research. Our next stop was the “Weeping Rock”. It was a short but steep hike up to the Weeping Rock. The rock itself was not that impressive, but it did offer a nice view of the park. Hopping back onto the bus, we headed to the “Zion Lodge” drop point.  From there we hiked the “Lower Emerald Pool” trail. The trail was not too difficult but in my opinion, I would not recommend the hike, there really was not a lot to see. Continuing back towards the visitor center, the buses were getting more and more crowded – the park probably had a few more visitors than normal since it was a “fee free weekend” at all NP sites. Normally the cost is $25/vehicle or $12/pedestrian.

Lower Emerald Pool

The next shuttle stop, we decided to visit was the “Court of the Patriarchs”. Again the trail was very short, but steep. From the end of the trail one was rewarded with a very nice view of the patriarchs – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We hopped on the bus one last time and since it was so packed we got off at the next stop “Canyon Junction” and hiked the “Pa’rus” trail to the Zion Human History Museum. The museum had a nice video. We then continued the on the trail back to the Zion Canyon Visitor Center. The trail was okay – there were nice views, but in general it was not very shaded. All in all I think we got to see pretty much everything that we had planned to see.

Pa'rus Trail

After leaving the park we headed to our next accommodation – Cedar Breaks Lodge in Brian Head, Utah. The Lodge was nice. We had dinner there since there was not really anywhere else to eat in the area. The prices were a little high, but the food was good. Brian Head is mostly a ski town, with a lot of different ski slopes. A local said that it never gets too busy – so if you are interested in skiing you might want to check it out.

April 18, 2014 Death Valley National Park

Since we had the time change to our advantage, we headed out early and drove to Death Valley National Park ($20/vehicle, valid for 7 days – or you could you the annual pass). We stopped at a grocery store along the way to pick up some food for lunch since research mentioned the lack of locations for food, as well as, gasoline. The roads in were quite desolate – with more cattle in the roadway than cars. There were very long stretches of roadway with absolutely nothing. Temperatures reached 100 degrees at some parts of the park, but there was still snow on the mountain tops.

Zabriskie Point

There are many different areas to visit at Death Valley NP. We visited quite a few, but there are some places we did not have time to see. The first stop was a drive (2.7 miles) through the “Twenty Mule Team Canyon”. The rocks were neat, but we probably should have skipped to visit a different area of the park. Near that stop was a pull-out that provided an overview of “Zabriskie Point”. The view was very nice and definitely with a stop. We made a stop at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center & Museum to get my passport book stamped and headed towards “Badwater Basin”. Badwater was neat, but not totally what I had expected. I had hoped to see vast areas of salt flats. Perhaps, if we had walked farther into the area we would have come across what I was looking for. Badwater is 282 feet below sea level – the lowest place in North America and one of the lowest places in the world.

Devil's Golf Course

Driving back towards the visitor center, we stopped at “Devil’s Golf Course”. It was an interesting location - lots of jagged and sharp formations of rock salt. It was a short drive in off the main road – worth the visit. We had planned to drive the 9-mile loop road “Artist Drive” but research said it was better to stop there in the afternoon, so we thought we would stop there on the way back to Las Vegas if time permitted (did not make it). There was also a highly recommended hike “Golden Canyon” that we did not have time for. Another point of interest that we didn’t get to check out was Dante’s View – which is on a mountain top and provides an expansive view of the park.

Scotty's Castle

We had reservations for “Scotty’s Castle” tour. I seriously doubted it was worth the drive, but once we finally arrived I was impressed. The castle was probably about an hour away from the visitor center. There was road construction and that made the drive longer than normal. There is not as much stuff to do near Scotty’s Castle. We did visit “Ubehebe Crater”, which was just okay. There are trails both around and down into the crater. Another cool stop in that area is “The Racetrack”. We did not have time to visit the site – apparently it takes about 2 hours to get to the area from Scotty’s Castle. “The Racetrack” is a science phenomenon –large rocks appear to move all by themselves leaving a trail behind them.

Back to the castle. The castle tour is $15/adult. There are also Underground Tours. Tickets can be reserved online, by phone or in person. I booked online a few days before our visit. We were able to change our tour to the earlier time since there were spaced left in that tour. There is not a lot to do at the castle beyond the tour – you can visit the garage, the solar building… The tour lasted about 50 minutes and was very interesting. You learn all about the history and hear some neat stories. The owner of the castle (not Scotty!) was rather interesting. The castle had all sorts of technology for its time – electricity, solar power. Scotty’s story was interesting also. My favorite part of the castle, besides the awesome architecture, was the sounds of the organ. I made a short video to share with you, but apparently it is to big to upload. 

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

The next stop we checked out was the “Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes” near the “Stove Pipe Wells” portion of the NP. It was really windy in that area, but we stopped and walked around a bit. After leaving the sand dunes we continued our journey back to Las Vegas. We did make one more stop in Death Valley – “Harmony Borax Works”. There was a Twenty Mule Wagon on display and the ruins of the borax sorting machinery. Another stop we made was at Salt Creek. There is a short boardwalk trail that runs along the creek. The creek is the only home to pupfish. The fish go dormant when the stream dries up.

April 17, 2014 Las Vegas, NV

And we are off on another adventure…  This trip is another busy one with lots of locations on the must see list. We used Las Vegas as our base point. The flight was smooth. The biggest complaint was the car rental – the line was so long. Mike waited almost an hour and a half to get the car. We rented from Dollar. It appeared that there was a shortage of cars for more than just Dollar. I happened to sit by the Enterprise Rental and they were out of cars. Dollar was borrowing cars from other companies. We ended up getting a Ford Escape – it was all-wheel drive with Eco-boost (figured we would get better gas mileage with the Eco-boost – we had up to 30 mph, but averaged probably around 27 mph for the entire trip). We stayed at Cancun Resort for the first two nights of the trip.