We made it to Colorado!

Today we crossed the border into Colorful Colorado! I've never driven into Colorado from the west before!

We started today by going to Colorado National Monument. It's a nice little park and despite it being Sunday today it was mostly empty. We drove along the Scenic Drive which took us through the length of the park and we stopped at a few viewpoints and did a few small hikes along the way- Window Rock Trail and Coke Ovens Trail.

Then we made it into Grand Junction and found a place with A/C and wifi for lunch so that we could relax and figure out our next step. We ended up at Kannah's Creek Brewing Company which was pretty good.

Then we went for a brief visit to Grand Mesa, which is the largest flat-topped mountain in the world! When we reached the top (elevation of 11,332') it was 30 degrees colder! I really wasn't dressed for that so we didn't do too much but we were able to drive around and enjoy all of the beautiful lakes and forest area.

Then we drove back to Grand Junction where we're staying at an airbnb tonight. I didn't sleep well last night in the heat (it never got below 72 last night and not a breath of wind so it felt really hot in the tent) and we needed a break from camping for a night. So we had a cheap dinner and then tried out the ice cream place that is literally next door to our airbnb. I got the flavor of the week (butter beer!) with pecans and chocolate sprinkles. It was delicious!

Tomorrow we are heading to the Breckenridge Area and we hope to find a nice camping spot for the next two nights.

Canyons and Arches

We're now on the eastern part of Utah and today we worked our way north a bit towards I-70. Tonight we're camping in Moab and therefore had the privilege of exploring both Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park.

We went to Canyonlands first which is a huge park that would require several days to see it all. Since we only had a few hours we stuck to the part known as Island in the Sky. While there we stopped at a few viewpoints overlooking the canyons and we also hiked to Mesa Arch which was a pretty cool arch right on the edge of the cliff so you could see the valley below by looking through. We also drove down to the Grand View Point Overlook which was pretty cool. And we drove up to the Upheaval Dome and planned to do the hike there but there were so many people and no parking that we ended up just leaving instead. 

We skipped Dead Horse Point Overlook mostly because it didn't accept our annual pass since it's a State park instead of National, but we also had so much to see today that it didn't make sense to squeeze it in.

After a quick lunch we went to Arches National Park which was pretty impressive. It contains the world's largest concentration of natural sandstone arches. We first went to drive down the Windows Section and admired those from the truck. Then we drove up to the Delicate Arch, where we initially accidentally started doing the longer hike to the arch instead of the normal one we intended. It was incredibly hot and we hadn't brought any water with us since we thought we were doing a short hike, so after a ways we turned back around. We did go by a rock art panel which was pretty cool. Then we drove up to the Delicate Arch viewpoint and did the shorter hike. The Delicate Arch was really cool (and famous for a reason) and one that I think it'd be worthwhile getting closer to, so I'd recommend that longer hike if the weather is right and you have time. 

Our last stop there was driving up to the Devils Garden Trailhead and hiking to Landscape Arch, which is North America's longest arch (and second longest in the world, I believe). It took us less than an hour of relatively easy hiking and the arch was incredible. Unfortunately the sun was at the wrong angle for good pictures (early morning would be good) but I tried my best. 

That's it for today!

Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, and Natural Bridges

Happy Weekend, everyone!

We have continued our journey west and have stopped at several more national parks. Thursday was spent at Bryce Canyon which is very beautiful and completely different from the Grand Canyon even though they are both part of the "Grand Staircase" with the Grand Canyon at the bottom and Bryce Canyon at the top. Bryce Canyon is full of what they call "hoodoos" which are unique rock formations that look like free-standing pillars. What amazed me were the colors of the formations; there was red, orange, pink, coral, and yellow. 

When we arrived at Bryce Canyon park we first went to the North Campground to grab one of the first-come-first-serve spots and ate our lunch. Then we drove south through the park all the way to Rainbow Point and stopped at most of the scenic overlooks on the way back north. Each one we stopped at was gorgeous. Before we could make it back to Sunrise Point where we planned to hike from it started to rain. So we hustled back to our campsite where we had left the tent open and got it closed up just as it was starting to really come down. Whew!

We waited out the rain then drove back to Sunrise Point for our hike. We did the 2.9mi Queen's Garden/Navajo Combination Loop which was a great hike. It took us down into the canyon where we could admire the unique rock formations from much closer. There was lots of great places to stop for pictures. Right as we were starting our ascent the sky started to darken and it seemed we were going to get hit with Round 2 of the thunderstorm so we started hustling up the canyon. This wasn't an easy feat since it was basically just a staircase straight up, but we made it to the top just as it started to sprinkle. Then it really started to come down so we huddled under a tree to wait out the worst of it. The whole hike took us just under 2 hours but that included lots of picture stops and hiding from the rain under a tree for 15 minutes. 

We made it back to camp and made a fire which we enjoyed for the evening and cooked some hot dogs and brats for dinner. Then I made myself a s'more for dessert made with Nutella instead of chocolate and that was delicious! 

Today (Friday) was mostly spent driving west through Utah which has been a fantastic drive taking us through canyons and by crazy red rock formations. It kinda seems like we're on Mars or something. During our driving we also made it to two national parks: Capitol Reef and Natural Bridges National Monument. 

Capitol Reef was pretty. We stopped at Chimney Rock and we also drove around the Scenic Drive, part of which was unpaved. It was raining off and on so we didn't venture off on any hikes. We also saw elk grazing as we were driving so we took some pictures of them before we stopped for lunch. 

A few hours further down the road we stopped at Natural Bridges National Monument (technically not a park). It's a nice little park and was practically empty when we were there so that was nice for a change. They also have a short Scenic Drive which takes you by the 3 main bridges so we did that and stopped at each one. One of them, the Sipapu Bridge, is one of the largest natural bridges in the world. There were also several small hikes and we choose one that took us to Horsecollar Ruin, a lookout where we could see an overhang where the ancestral Puebloans lived for a period of time. 

You have to look closely to see the bridges since they blend in!

Here is the overhang where the Puebloan homes are:

That catches us up to the present! We're camping tonight in Blanding, UT and tomorrow we head to Canyonlands National Park. 

Grand Canyon and Zion National Park

A big day today!

Our first stop was to drive down to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It's so humongous! We started at the Visitor Center and walked over to Bright Angel Point. Then we also drove over to Cape Royal and walked the trail there. It seemed like everywhere we went had a stunning view so it's hard to say one was better than another. We also found a picnic table in that area and ate our picnic lunch while looking out into the canyon. We were surprised how cool it was; we expected it to be really hot but it was only in the mid-60s while we were there!

Then we drove a couple of hours north to Zion National Park which was also very beautiful. The road takes you down through the canyon which was pretty cool since we had just seen the Grand Canyon from the top looking down. Zion is similar to Yosemite park in that it's really just one main route through a narrow canyon area (which is why Yosemite was unbearably congested). But we liked how Zion handled it; instead of trying to pump people through a narrow area they have most of the area closed off to through traffic and you have to park and take a shuttle through most of the park. The shuttles ran super frequently; we never waited more than 2 minutes. And that allowed us to get through the parks and see the sights quickly and without all the frustration of fighting traffic and finding parking everywhere we wanted to stop. So we rode the shuttle for the whole route in order to get a quick look at the park and then we got off at the Grotto and did the Kayenta Trail hike to the Lower Emerald Pool trail which was about 3miles total. It was a nice hike through the canyon and we got to see the lower Emerald Pool (which didn't look emerald to me), lizards, and lots of cacti. On the way out of the park we also saw a few Desert Bighorn Sheep walking around!

So that was our day! Last night and tonight we're staying at a campground in Kanab which is known as "Little Hollywood" because it's where a bunch of old western movies were filmed. 

Tomorrow we go to Bryce Canyon!

Las Vegas

Wohoo, we survived Vegas!!

It's been a busy few days that went by in a blur of gambling, drinking, and pool time. I'll try to break it down for you as best as I can remember (while keeping it family-friendly!).

We technically arrived on Friday night but we stayed at an airbnb way off the strip and all we did was grocery shop and made some breakfast burritos for the next few days. The fun really started the next day.

Saturday

The first thing we did was drive to the Hoover dam to check that out. It was pretty impressive but it was so incredibly hot that we didn't hang there outside too long. We also skipped the visitor's center since we didn't want to pay extra for that, but we managed to learn a little  just by reading the info around the dam. 

After enjoying some Mexican food for lunch we then drove back to Vegas. It was 115 degrees there when we arrived. We killed some time before we could check into our hotel by cruising up and down the strip; there is so much to see! They have the Egyptian pyramids and Sphinx, Hollywood, the Eiffel Tower of Paris- all right here! We could've saved (saved?) a lot of money and time just coming here instead of traveling around the world! (Just kidding, but they really have everything). 

We were able to check into our hotel at 4pm. We stayed at Planet Hollywood for the next 3 nights and really enjoyed it. It's huge. It has a mall, casino, several pools, restuarants, and it's also where Britney Spears performs when she's in Vegas. I was very disappointed to find out before we arrived that she wouldn't be there while we were there. I guess I'll just have to go back!

That evening we spend some time playing the penny slots and enjoyed the free drinks until we were really for dinner. Then we tried the Earl of Sandwich place which was recommended to us by Matt's parents. They had great sandwiches! Then we spent the evening at one of the well-known clubs.

Sunday & Monday

Sunday and Monday both followed the same general pattern: sleep in, pool time, gambling, shower, Taco Bell (at the flagship Taco Bell right by our hotel!), more gambling, and evening activity. The two differences of the days were the evening activities and the gambling results. Sunday was our worst gambling day and each went down a couple hundred dollars between Black Jack and roulette before we gave up for the day. But luckily we turned that around on Monday and won most of that back on the roulette table. In fact, both times we left the roulette table on Monday we were both up at least $50 each, so we were feeling pretty good about ourselves. We won quite a bit betting black on the roulette table; it seemed like it was hot all weekend. At one point the table across from us had 12 blacks in a row! (That is statistically impossible). That drew quite a bit of attention and it was quickly emptied and sweeped. We also saw the number 5 hit about 5 times in about 20 spins. So crazy! 

As far as the evening activities on Sunday we went to Drai's night club in the Cromwell hotel. It was a beautiful place and they had a lot going on: great DJ/music, light effects, dancers, etc. We had a good time but drinks were really expensive. So we got in some cardio exercise on the dance floor for awhile and then went back to our hotel where we could get free drinks in the casino.

Monday night we splurged on going to see one of the Cirque Du Soleil shows. It was great! We bought the tickets last-minute at a discount and ended up going to see Zumanity, which is more adult-themed. It was very entertaining and the performers were incredibly talented so we really enjoyed it. After the show we walked around the New York New York resort a bit before walking over to watch the Bellagio fountain display which was also pretty cool. It was nice to walk around at night when it was a bit cooler! Plus there was always so much to see and all the great people-watching. 

Tuesday

We woke up a little earlier on Tuesday so we could get packed up and do some last minute gambling. I had a rough time at first and lost most of my $100 that I had thrown down on the roulette table. But then I had some good spins and worked my way back up to $80 before I decided to lay it all on the line and put it all in on black. And I got it! So we walked away this morning up at least $60 each which really helped lower our previous deficit. 

We cashed in our chips and checked out. Then we drove towards the Grand Canyon. We didn't make it there today but we're camping not too far from it and we'll get to see that tomorrow. We did drive through some pretty canyon areas today though which made the drive a bit more interesting. 

This was the first time for both of us in Vegas. Overall we really enjoyed it and managed to do it relatively cheaply! We did breakfasts and lunches in our room and dinners we did pretty cheaply. We never paid a cover charge at any of the clubs since we always signed up for the guest list in advance (definitely the way to go!). And we essentially broke even in gambling so that was pretty great (although not winning millions like I planned).