Trip report, Part 4 - Monument Valley, Arches, Bryce, Vegas, Jan 2015
Apr 16th, 2015, 11:59 PM
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Trip report, Part 4 - Monument Valley, Arches, Bryce, Vegas, Jan 2015
After our lovely DC visit, we had around a week to fill in, as our original plans (to go to Canada earlier in the trip) were cancelled due to the weather. After chatting to many awesome Fodorites and to friends, and debating several options, we decided to head to Vegas and go on a road trip to a couple of parks.
We arrived at the Vegas airport after a flight that involved a 70 min wait on the Tarmac while they fixed a dodgy door (comforting), a veryyyyyyy long wait on the plane to go to the toilet thanks to some turbulence which meant I couldn't leave my seat .... and ..... the flight was meant to leave at 8:25pm, and being a 5.5 hour flight we thought we'd eat tea on the plane, whether that be via a provided meal or by buying overpriced airline food. We got the plane and while we were waiting to leave, we realised the food options consisted of ... pretzels. No food options other than pretzels!! The one saving grace was wifi on board! Yah!! By the time we arrived in Vegas (3am Washington time), I felt hungry and ill from turbulence. The airport very busy for the middle of the night.... some of the 150,000 reps for a tech conference were arriving!
Oh it was so exciting to see the beautiful strip again. Arriving at the Hard Rock hotel we were starving and tired.... and then the check in guy told us the room we booked wasn't available. Tom complained and all of a sudden.... we had keys to a suite!!! Best bed I've ever slept in. Best pillows. 2 TVs. Vegas baby!!!! After room service deliciousness all was right with the world!
We spent Tuesday morning in Vegas....we picked up a car from the airport and had a delicious in n out burger, sitting in the beautiful desert sun
. Vegas was packed because 150,000 people were in town for a major technology conference. After our burger we went to the Bellagio, hoping their Christmas decorations were still up. Unfortunately they were changing their decorations. Visiting the Cirque store, we did some damage on tshirts and handbags Love that store!
Late afternoon we sadly left Vegas, and headed to Page to start our road trip to check out some parks. The drive was fun - though not heaps to see..... until we got closer to Page, when Tom claimed (it was already dark outside) he saw snow on the side of the road. I mocked, I laughed.... we are in the desert! There won't be snow!!! As we drove on though, we noticed some more significant white on the side of the road.... and , unbelievably, there was snow! As we got closer to Page we entered a cloud...it was eerie driving through a cloud of fog!! Entering the town of Page, there was snow everywhere! On the sidewalks, on roofs, on cars, in trees! It was so cool to see! We found a place for tea - turned out to be a really cool Mexican place with the best home made salsa and chips!! We checked into the Marriott - nice but not the suite- ready for a day of fun in Monument Valley.
The day dawned in Page and there was snow everywhere! Very exciting As we started our journey to Monument Valley, we were caught in a white out again - a fog that stretched for miles around Page. The landscape was snowy and beautiful and was fantastic to drive through. The plants were frozen over and the snow was everywhere. As we got out the car we realised it was lightly snowing too!! Magic .... the moments of trips you can't plan, the magic moments by the roadside! We took photos of frozen plants and tracks and signs ....the desert was not the place we thought we would see snow!
Then, about 15 miles from Page, we emerged from the fog into gorgeous sunshine. There was still heaps of snow. The drive continued to be lovely with snow and nice scenery.
Monument Valley was gorgeous... just like the Westerns, but including snow! We drove the 17 mile scenic loop by ourselves, deciding we wanted the place to ourselves, to take photos and enjoy the views and solitude. We imagine in tourist time that loop is dusty and crowded, but we had it pretty much to ourselves, beautiful views and loved it. We met 2 gorgeous dogs at the Artist lookout... the nicest natured gentle dogs who seemed to just live in this desolate place.
Our room overlooked the valley, so Tom spent most of the night taking star trail photos, and we were both up pre dawn to get the sunrise! It was seriously cold, even through thick gloves our hands were burning with cold.
We left the beautiful Monument Valley by 9 and went to 'the' road side spot for the iconic Monument Valley shot. We were lucky to get great colours and no traffic.
Driving through Utah and Arizona we were still surrounded by snow! We stopped for a toilet stop at Blanding, which turned into an impromptu snow fight - the snow outside the visitor centre was so soft, dry and fluffy. Sorry to those of you who snow is not a novelty, but it is to us and our first snow fight ever was so much fun.
So there we were pelting handfuls of snow at each other and cracking up laughing ..... then we went into the visitor centre and bought some books... Got talking to the lady who thought it was cool we were having fun - when we went back outside and the fight resumed and the lady came out and took photos of us definitely not on the holiday list 'have snow fight in desert' but a highlight for sure!
From there we went onto Arches National Park, where we had time to complete one walk (that day), so chose to walk to the iconic Delicate Arch- a 3 mile return walk. If we'd known what we were getting into, I probably wouldn't have left the car park.... but so so so happy we did it as it was just amazing .... in the end...!
The walk started out innocently enough... A well maintained dirt path. No prob. Started heading upwards fairly sharply, but still easy walking so no drama. After a while the path turned into a sheer rock face that we had to climb- very smooth and slick. Again, no real drama, just had to be careful. There was some snow and ice but it was easy to avoid. With only a few hundred metres to go .... the adventure really started. The trail turned into a thin shelf edge - and was covered in black ice, slush and snow!! There was a decent drop off the side as well. Very scary. People were falling and slipping as well - every ounce of my being was scared but I really wanted to see that arch or be defeated by a bit of ice! Rounding the last corner of the shelf we finally saw the delicate arch. Such a beautiful sight, we were so lucky to see it with only a handful of other people and with snow. Very privileged and felt like we had earned it!
Coming down was almost as bad - traversing the ice again was just as bad - worse almost, coming down! We were super careful of course and took ages to get back to solid ground. The walk down the slick rock was ok and we were both extremely happy to see the car! we were excited to have conquered a hike classed as strenuous, and have seen a beautiful American icon without the crowds.
We have found a hotel in Moab for the night, ready for a big sleep before a full day in Arches.
We spent the whole of the next day at the beautiful Arches. After our scary climb to Delicate Arch we were quite looking forward to some easy walks! To start we went to the end of the park to the walk that included the famous Landscape Arch, the third longest arch in the world. On the way there were 2 other arches that we detoured to. The walk was gorgeous. The trails were snow packed and the sun was shining too. After our first walk we then went around the park checking out other shorter walks to various arches. The Windows section was really cool, with several impressive arches we could get close to. Sand Dune arch was also very cool. Great park - we ended up staying pretty much all day as there were several nice walks to complete and the weather was behaving! After dropping in at the Visitors Centre, the ranger suggested a nice drive along the Colorado that we could do before sunset, and also said that our idea of staying at Torres for the night en route to Bryce was a good plan- great town- gave us an idea of a place to sleep and 2 options for dinner. We felt lucky to have met a local who had lived there before to help us! Or so we thought....
The river drive was nice, along the banks of the Colorado, with massive red rock cliffs each side of us. It was tempting to keep following the road but we had a long drive ahead of us. The drive to Torres was long - 4 hours - but knowing where we would stop to eat / sleep was good. We arrived in town at 8.... very dark.... and discovered the Inn our ranger friend had suggested was closed. No matter, we thought we'd just drive into town and find a Best Western or something. Drive into Torres and found.... everything closed. Hotels. Restaurants. Shops, everything closed for winter. Town was in darkness!! Argh!!! We found a pizza place .... looked closed, was closed, but only just - the owner was still there. We basically begged and she made us a pizza to go and said the only place that was open was the Days Inn - luckily we found she was correct and got a bed for the night! Phew!!
The next day was an amazing day! After checking out, we took the scenic road towards Bryce. When will I remember 'scenic' means 'lots of mountains, windy roads and cliff edges'..... The road was definitely spectacular.... heaps of snow, mountains, red rock and forests. Through talking to a local, we took a detour off the tourist map to a slot canyon hidden deep in the red rock cliffs. It was spectacular being in a red rock canyon in the snow!
From there we continued the scenic road shiv at one point followed a ridge line at the top of the mountain. Found out later many people get to that spot, turn around and get to Bryce via a 300 mile detour to avoid said ridge. Can't say I blame them really!
By 2pm we finally arrived at Bryce.... loved it so much last time and it was so good to be back. One man at the Visitor Centre said weather was fine and sneakers for walking were fine ... other man strongly suggested crampon things which we bought, luckily as it turned out!
We went for a drive to some of the look outs ... was so nice to be back. Then, as we were driving along.... it started to snow!! So magical! We were driving along as very light snow started falling. We got to sunset point and attempted to walk into the canyon, but although it wasn't slippery with the crampons, it was very icy, very muddy and the weather wasn't good! We decided that for safety sake we would just walk along the top of the canyon and what a magical walk it was! The snow kept falling, gradually getting heavier.... the trees and ground started building up a layer of snow... just gorgeous. We were taking photos in all directions!! Bryce Canyon has always been special to us and having snow fall on us there was perfect. The crampons were excellent. We pretty much had the place to ourselves- a situation that doesn't happen in summer!! Tom even made a snow angel!! It was the best few hours, the best memory
We left Bryce at about 5 and started the long haul to Vegas! The first hour or so was snowy but the driving was fine. There was some very weird fog flying over the car at times!
From 85k away we could see the magical glow of the Vegas lights. We self parked the car (easier said than done!) and wandered through Caesars before booking in for a few nights.
What to say... we love Vegas . Love the lights, the neon signs, the party atmosphere, the shows! We had a look around the outlet stores, and bought shoes galore.
A highlight was dinner at Olives, the beautiful restaurant that overlooks the Bellagio fountains. The food was yummy but that view of the fountains and the Vegas strip is magic. We think they were filming something with a drone and they kept repeating the same song in the fountain display!
Vegas was amazing! Love it so much.... love the poker, the opulence, the shows, the restaurants, the characters, the excitement.... such a great city and so hard to leave! After Caesars we moved to the Venetian.... A hotel we've wanted to stay in for ages.
The Venetian is the most beautiful, opulent, gorgeous hotel that I've ever seen. It's just like being in Venice - the gorgeous ceilings, the columns, the shops, the canals, even the gondolas and gondoliers, We saw 2 Cirque shows - Zarkana and One - Michael Jackson. Zarkana was fantastic - no story line - just a celebration of performance and acrobatics - amazing. There was one act where the woman did sand art creations that were projected onto the screen - unbelievable. So creative and clever. These were not simple creations - see the photo! The acrobatics were at the usual Cirque standard of being amazing, leaving us wondering how on earth they could perform those feats!
The Michael Jackson show was a celebration of his brilliant music, with amazing dancing and acrobatics. Thriller was unreal, strobe lighting and incredible trampoline artists. There was one song with a Michael Jackson hologram dancing with the cast - done so brilliantly, set in a dream garden and with such respect as well - just magical. At the beginning we were seated behind a woman who was clearly excited - which was nice - but she was driving us bonkers with all of her jumping around. There were 2 spare seats nearby so we moved - very good decision!! We had previously been to Vegas and seen O and Ka, and for first time Vegas visitors, Id recommend those shows over Zarkana and Michael Jackson.
After a few magical days in Vegas, it was time to head home to Australia. We are looking forward to being able to visit the USA again very soon! Hope you enjoyed this 4 part trip report
We arrived at the Vegas airport after a flight that involved a 70 min wait on the Tarmac while they fixed a dodgy door (comforting), a veryyyyyyy long wait on the plane to go to the toilet thanks to some turbulence which meant I couldn't leave my seat .... and ..... the flight was meant to leave at 8:25pm, and being a 5.5 hour flight we thought we'd eat tea on the plane, whether that be via a provided meal or by buying overpriced airline food. We got the plane and while we were waiting to leave, we realised the food options consisted of ... pretzels. No food options other than pretzels!! The one saving grace was wifi on board! Yah!! By the time we arrived in Vegas (3am Washington time), I felt hungry and ill from turbulence. The airport very busy for the middle of the night.... some of the 150,000 reps for a tech conference were arriving!
Oh it was so exciting to see the beautiful strip again. Arriving at the Hard Rock hotel we were starving and tired.... and then the check in guy told us the room we booked wasn't available. Tom complained and all of a sudden.... we had keys to a suite!!! Best bed I've ever slept in. Best pillows. 2 TVs. Vegas baby!!!! After room service deliciousness all was right with the world!
We spent Tuesday morning in Vegas....we picked up a car from the airport and had a delicious in n out burger, sitting in the beautiful desert sun
. Vegas was packed because 150,000 people were in town for a major technology conference. After our burger we went to the Bellagio, hoping their Christmas decorations were still up. Unfortunately they were changing their decorations. Visiting the Cirque store, we did some damage on tshirts and handbags Love that store!Late afternoon we sadly left Vegas, and headed to Page to start our road trip to check out some parks. The drive was fun - though not heaps to see..... until we got closer to Page, when Tom claimed (it was already dark outside) he saw snow on the side of the road. I mocked, I laughed.... we are in the desert! There won't be snow!!! As we drove on though, we noticed some more significant white on the side of the road.... and , unbelievably, there was snow! As we got closer to Page we entered a cloud...it was eerie driving through a cloud of fog!! Entering the town of Page, there was snow everywhere! On the sidewalks, on roofs, on cars, in trees! It was so cool to see! We found a place for tea - turned out to be a really cool Mexican place with the best home made salsa and chips!! We checked into the Marriott - nice but not the suite- ready for a day of fun in Monument Valley.
The day dawned in Page and there was snow everywhere! Very exciting
As we started our journey to Monument Valley, we were caught in a white out again - a fog that stretched for miles around Page. The landscape was snowy and beautiful and was fantastic to drive through. The plants were frozen over and the snow was everywhere. As we got out the car we realised it was lightly snowing too!! Magic .... the moments of trips you can't plan, the magic moments by the roadside! We took photos of frozen plants and tracks and signs ....the desert was not the place we thought we would see snow!Then, about 15 miles from Page, we emerged from the fog into gorgeous sunshine. There was still heaps of snow. The drive continued to be lovely with snow and nice scenery.
Monument Valley was gorgeous... just like the Westerns, but including snow! We drove the 17 mile scenic loop by ourselves, deciding we wanted the place to ourselves, to take photos and enjoy the views and solitude. We imagine in tourist time that loop is dusty and crowded, but we had it pretty much to ourselves, beautiful views and loved it. We met 2 gorgeous dogs at the Artist lookout... the nicest natured gentle dogs who seemed to just live in this desolate place.
Our room overlooked the valley, so Tom spent most of the night taking star trail photos, and we were both up pre dawn to get the sunrise! It was seriously cold, even through thick gloves our hands were burning with cold.
We left the beautiful Monument Valley by 9 and went to 'the' road side spot for the iconic Monument Valley shot. We were lucky to get great colours and no traffic.
Driving through Utah and Arizona we were still surrounded by snow! We stopped for a toilet stop at Blanding, which turned into an impromptu snow fight - the snow outside the visitor centre was so soft, dry and fluffy. Sorry to those of you who snow is not a novelty, but it is to us and our first snow fight ever was so much fun.
So there we were pelting handfuls of snow at each other and cracking up laughing ..... then we went into the visitor centre and bought some books... Got talking to the lady who thought it was cool we were having fun - when we went back outside and the fight resumed and the lady came out and took photos of us
definitely not on the holiday list 'have snow fight in desert' but a highlight for sure!From there we went onto Arches National Park, where we had time to complete one walk (that day), so chose to walk to the iconic Delicate Arch- a 3 mile return walk. If we'd known what we were getting into, I probably wouldn't have left the car park.... but so so so happy we did it as it was just amazing .... in the end...!
The walk started out innocently enough... A well maintained dirt path. No prob. Started heading upwards fairly sharply, but still easy walking so no drama. After a while the path turned into a sheer rock face that we had to climb- very smooth and slick. Again, no real drama, just had to be careful. There was some snow and ice but it was easy to avoid. With only a few hundred metres to go .... the adventure really started. The trail turned into a thin shelf edge - and was covered in black ice, slush and snow!! There was a decent drop off the side as well. Very scary. People were falling and slipping as well - every ounce of my being was scared but I really wanted to see that arch or be defeated by a bit of ice! Rounding the last corner of the shelf we finally saw the delicate arch. Such a beautiful sight, we were so lucky to see it with only a handful of other people and with snow. Very privileged and felt like we had earned it!
Coming down was almost as bad - traversing the ice again was just as bad - worse almost, coming down! We were super careful of course and took ages to get back to solid ground. The walk down the slick rock was ok and we were both extremely happy to see the car! we were excited to have conquered a hike classed as strenuous, and have seen a beautiful American icon without the crowds.
We have found a hotel in Moab for the night, ready for a big sleep before a full day in Arches.
We spent the whole of the next day at the beautiful Arches. After our scary climb to Delicate Arch we were quite looking forward to some easy walks! To start we went to the end of the park to the walk that included the famous Landscape Arch, the third longest arch in the world. On the way there were 2 other arches that we detoured to. The walk was gorgeous. The trails were snow packed and the sun was shining too
. After our first walk we then went around the park checking out other shorter walks to various arches. The Windows section was really cool, with several impressive arches we could get close to. Sand Dune arch was also very cool. Great park - we ended up staying pretty much all day as there were several nice walks to complete and the weather was behaving! After dropping in at the Visitors Centre, the ranger suggested a nice drive along the Colorado that we could do before sunset, and also said that our idea of staying at Torres for the night en route to Bryce was a good plan- great town- gave us an idea of a place to sleep and 2 options for dinner. We felt lucky to have met a local who had lived there before to help us! Or so we thought....The river drive was nice, along the banks of the Colorado, with massive red rock cliffs each side of us. It was tempting to keep following the road but we had a long drive ahead of us. The drive to Torres was long - 4 hours - but knowing where we would stop to eat / sleep was good. We arrived in town at 8.... very dark.... and discovered the Inn our ranger friend had suggested was closed. No matter, we thought we'd just drive into town and find a Best Western or something. Drive into Torres and found.... everything closed. Hotels. Restaurants. Shops, everything closed for winter. Town was in darkness!! Argh!!! We found a pizza place .... looked closed, was closed, but only just - the owner was still there. We basically begged and she made us a pizza to go and said the only place that was open was the Days Inn - luckily we found she was correct and got a bed for the night! Phew!!
The next day was an amazing day! After checking out, we took the scenic road towards Bryce. When will I remember 'scenic' means 'lots of mountains, windy roads and cliff edges'..... The road was definitely spectacular.... heaps of snow, mountains, red rock and forests. Through talking to a local, we took a detour off the tourist map to a slot canyon hidden deep in the red rock cliffs. It was spectacular being in a red rock canyon in the snow!
From there we continued the scenic road shiv at one point followed a ridge line at the top of the mountain. Found out later many people get to that spot, turn around and get to Bryce via a 300 mile detour to avoid said ridge. Can't say I blame them really!
By 2pm we finally arrived at Bryce.... loved it so much last time and it was so good to be back. One man at the Visitor Centre said weather was fine and sneakers for walking were fine ... other man strongly suggested crampon things which we bought, luckily as it turned out!
We went for a drive to some of the look outs ... was so nice to be back. Then, as we were driving along.... it started to snow!! So magical! We were driving along as very light snow started falling. We got to sunset point and attempted to walk into the canyon, but although it wasn't slippery with the crampons, it was very icy, very muddy and the weather wasn't good! We decided that for safety sake we would just walk along the top of the canyon and what a magical walk it was! The snow kept falling, gradually getting heavier.... the trees and ground started building up a layer of snow... just gorgeous. We were taking photos in all directions!! Bryce Canyon has always been special to us and having snow fall on us there was perfect. The crampons were excellent. We pretty much had the place to ourselves- a situation that doesn't happen in summer!! Tom even made a snow angel!! It was the best few hours, the best memory
We left Bryce at about 5 and started the long haul to Vegas! The first hour or so was snowy but the driving was fine. There was some very weird fog flying over the car at times!
From 85k away we could see the magical glow of the Vegas lights. We self parked the car (easier said than done!) and wandered through Caesars before booking in for a few nights.
What to say... we love Vegas . Love the lights, the neon signs, the party atmosphere, the shows! We had a look around the outlet stores, and bought shoes galore.
A highlight was dinner at Olives, the beautiful restaurant that overlooks the Bellagio fountains. The food was yummy but that view of the fountains and the Vegas strip is magic. We think they were filming something with a drone and they kept repeating the same song in the fountain display!
Vegas was amazing! Love it so much.... love the poker, the opulence, the shows, the restaurants, the characters, the excitement.... such a great city and so hard to leave! After Caesars we moved to the Venetian.... A hotel we've wanted to stay in for ages.
The Venetian is the most beautiful, opulent, gorgeous hotel that I've ever seen. It's just like being in Venice - the gorgeous ceilings, the columns, the shops, the canals, even the gondolas and gondoliers, We saw 2 Cirque shows - Zarkana and One - Michael Jackson. Zarkana was fantastic - no story line - just a celebration of performance and acrobatics - amazing. There was one act where the woman did sand art creations that were projected onto the screen - unbelievable. So creative and clever. These were not simple creations - see the photo! The acrobatics were at the usual Cirque standard of being amazing, leaving us wondering how on earth they could perform those feats!
The Michael Jackson show was a celebration of his brilliant music, with amazing dancing and acrobatics. Thriller was unreal, strobe lighting and incredible trampoline artists. There was one song with a Michael Jackson hologram dancing with the cast - done so brilliantly, set in a dream garden and with such respect as well - just magical. At the beginning we were seated behind a woman who was clearly excited - which was nice - but she was driving us bonkers with all of her jumping around. There were 2 spare seats nearby so we moved - very good decision!! We had previously been to Vegas and seen O and Ka, and for first time Vegas visitors, Id recommend those shows over Zarkana and Michael Jackson.
After a few magical days in Vegas, it was time to head home to Australia. We are looking forward to being able to visit the USA again very soon! Hope you enjoyed this 4 part trip report
Apr 17th, 2015, 02:08 AM
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LakesideChick, it sounds like a fantastic finish to your wonderful trip. I find it such fun to remember trips to the places you visited and see them again from a different point of view.
Have you posted the photos yet?
Thanks for the report.
Have you posted the photos yet?
Thanks for the report.
Apr 17th, 2015, 02:44 AM
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I post on a site like flickr and then include the link. You can post 200 for free and many more for a small charge. You can then organize them into albums for individual trips. If you want to see what it looks like, my page is
www.flickr.com/photos/emalloy2009
www.flickr.com/photos/emalloy2009
May 1st, 2015, 01:26 AM
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Here's a link to my first flickr album! https://flic.kr/s/aHska34i9v - Monument Valley
May 1st, 2015, 02:27 AM
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Thanks LakesideChick.
I tried to view your pictures but you must have your privacy settings so that I was not allowed to view your pictures. The link did get me to your page, just wouldn't let me see the pictures.
I tried to view your pictures but you must have your privacy settings so that I was not allowed to view your pictures. The link did get me to your page, just wouldn't let me see the pictures.
May 1st, 2015, 02:41 AM
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Hi emalloy, can you try again? Think Ive fixed it. https://www.flickr.com/photos/131153...7651831244617/
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