Smalley

Spent a wonderful 12 days in Southwest USA. Many thanks to all who helped with the planning. More than happy to answer queries.

Sunday 19 October 2003: Amsterdam-Chicago-Las Vegas
Arrive Sunday evening. Bell Trans shuttle at $5.50 each to The Orleans. $57 a night. It?s off the strip but they?ve got a free shuttle.

Monday: Las Vegas
The first shuttle to the strip goes 09.30 so we decide to walk. Fairly busy road into town but OK except for a difficult crossing of the Interstate 15, where the sidewalk more or less disappears. Escape without causing any accidents. Takes about 25 min. A free draw at the Tropicana slot machine only gives us the regular prize of a deck of cards and some vouchers. Go into the Luxor to look around, quite impressive. Have a good meal at the Klondike hotel (south of the strip, but we?re on our way to Fry?s, an electronics store): diced ham and cheese omelette and New York steak and 2 eggs with fries, toast and coffee. Give the complimentary Bloody Mary a miss. Good value at just over $15.
Walk through very big Bellagio property with botanical gardens inside and lake outside. Shuttle back to Orleans from sister hotel Barbary Coast. Have a meal at the Orleans: corned beef and cabbage, carrots - sweet and with cloves - boiled potatoes and a chicken pasta dish for $16.50. Shuttle back to the strip at 19.30. Just catch the ending of the fountains at the Bellagio dancing to Frank Sinatra, but this is repeated every 15 min. Caesars Palace is even more impressive, with roman roads and artificial skies. Lots of exclusive shops. "Shoppus 'til you droppus". Back to the Orleans and have a couple of free beers with the vouchers in our fun books.

Tuesday: Las Vegas-Hoover Dam-Kingman
Pick up rental car from Alamo. Pre-booked an economy model but got something larger ordered, a Pontiac Sunfire. Hoover Dam. Parking $5 and $18 for a guided tour. Informative but nothing special: the main attraction is the dam itself, which you can view from the road.
Stay at the Hilltop motel in Kingman, $43. Eat well at friendly Silver Spoon Family Restaurant: bean soup, salad, liver and onions, cheese and tomato omelette for $13.50.

Wednesday: Kingman-Grand Canyon-Monument Valley-Mexican Hat
From Kingman along Route 66 though Seligman and Williams. Route 66 nothing special; it's more the idea of having travelled down the road that used to connect Chicago with the West. Arrive Grand Canyon 11.30. Buy National Parks Pass for $50 (GC alone would be $20). Views are beyond belief and difficult to describe. Such depth. We walk along the rim of the Canyon. A ranger has a telescope (100x?) set up on one of the small bits of the Colorado River that are visible from this angle. I get a lucky picture through the eyepiece, with a boat floating along. Dad is bit on thumb by a 'friendly' squirrel. Leave after a couple of hours. Decide to try to reach Mexican Hat for the night. Drive out of Grand Canyon along Desert View Drive. Through Cameron, Tuba City, Kayenta. Reach Monument Valley at sunset. John Wayne country. Spectacular views but should have been there 30 min earlier for the best light. Reach Mexican Hat at 18.00, now quite dark.
Book into Mexican Hat Lodge for $68. We eat outdoors at the steak house at the Lodge, authentic but not cheap. Cooking over an open fire on a metal grill that swings back and forth. We split a 12 oz steak at $16 but lose the profit on 4 beers at $3 each. Dogs hanging around on the road, chasing the occasional truck. Exchange pleasantries with a Texan couple at the next table who have also come from Grand Canyon and were very pleased with their air tour. I had expected to see and hear lots of aircraft but only remember seeing one. Steak, salad and beans: real cowboy stuff, apart from the salad. Some guys really looked like cowboys but the waiter was taking a break from being a teacher from NY, NY. Very good meal; first real one today, having survived on old toast from last night, cheese sandwiches and energy bars. Grand Canyon was 7000 ft up but effect of altitude seemed limited, although others were puffing away. Signs on the road warn about ice, which seems strange as it's around 30c but it does cool down a lot at night. Lodge OK. Coffee maker, unlike the other places. Thin walls so bit noisy but neighbours settle down early.

Thursday: Mexican Hat-Moki Dugway-Natural Bridges-Capitol Reef-Torrey
On the road at 07.25, just after the Texan couple. Sun not yet up. Soon turn left and take Hwy 261. The road heads directly to a steep rock face, about 1000ft high, and Dad asks whether we're going to skirt around it. We're not. We're going to climb it along a narrow gravel road with a 10% grade and sharp switchbacks. We stop regularly to enjoy the view. With the sun coming up it's a fine sight back over monument valley. One of the highlights of the trip up till now.
Hwy 261 leads us to Hwy 95 where we turn left, west. Stop at Natural Bridges National Monument ($6 if you don't have a National Parks Pass) for at least an hour and a half, doing a few walks to the bridges, which are best viewed from below, which we're not doing today thank you. The one-way loop is about 8 miles. 11.00 sees us on Hwy 95 again, on the way to Capitol Reef National Park and Torrey, where we plan to stay. Hwy 95 is most enjoyable. Landscapes that could be the Moon or Mars. Also yellow trees - cottonwoods, as we're told later on - which brighten up the scene to great effect. Stop at the overlook over the Hite Marina; a wonderful view from high up looking down onto the Colorado. See some petroglyphs in Capitol Reef NP. Stop at the visitor center and get info on the scenic drive. Get fixed up with accommodation at Bolder View, across the road from the Capitol Reef Inn, which was recommended in our Lonely Planet guide because of their café, but was full. Bolder View is new and clean. Large rooms. No coffee maker but continental breakfast included in the rate of $52. Back to Capitol Reef National Park; the scenic drive ($4 if you don't have a National Parks Pass) is worthwhile and we walk for 30 min at the end of the 10 mile one way drive and for an hour at the Grand Wash Trail on the way back. High rocks on both sides called the Narrows. We return to the car at 18.00 and are the last in the area. Stop off at Panorama Point and Goosenecks Overlook just as the sun is setting. Only a few other people hanging around and taking photo's. Great changing colours and dark clouds threatening.
Back to the motel. Across the road to the Capitol Reef Inn to eat. New Age atmosphere. Table and chairs on a slant, must pack a small spirit level next time. Salad and stir fry vegetables very good but Dads chicken sandwich not much good. Flask full of weak coffee. A chat to a couple on the next table about what to do with our spare days gets us thinking of Salt Lake City or Sequoia NP and Lake Tahoe in California. Chaotic and indifferent service, which I report on when asked when paying our $30, and the indifference is confirmed by lack on interest.

Friday: Torrey-Scenic Byway 12-Bryce Canyon-Zion-Hurricane
Continental breakfast simple but good. Self service. Scenic Byway 12 lives up its reputation. Varied scenery. Cottonwood trees, lots seeming dead but probably just resting. Hunters with guns on the edge of the forest. Mountain ranges - Escalante. Five outlooks an hour. $20 entry if you don't have a National Parks Pass. Fascinating area of Hoodoo's - eroded rocks - with lovely warm colours. Walk down a little bit. Quite steep. Probably worth the walk all the way down but we leave it at that. After 1 1/2 hours and two viewpoints leave for Zion. Less interesting road now, as we're now used to such spectacular views. Zion $20 if you don't have a National Parks Pass, so we're now in the plus with our Pass. Info about park on the radio, just like at Bryce. Cross from east to west through 1 mile long tunnel and zig zag down to visitor center. Take the free shuttle to the end and back to get an idea of what to do tomorrow. Takes just over an hour. Driver points out cliffs being climbed by what seem to be tiny ants. Some climbers also sleep up there. Must get very cold up there. 20 miles south west of Zion we find lodgings in Hurricane, aptly named because there's quite a wind blowing. Stay at a Days Inn for $55, not bad for the vicinity of Zion. Back to town for a meal, a couple of $8 salads at Ted and Allen's Sports Grill and a $4.25 speciality beer - at 3.2% as strong as it gets in Utah. Make the mistake of asking for a non-smoking table: it's all non-smoking in Utah. Salads are good. Days Inn suits us fine. Big clean room but still no coffee machine. Bit of noise from busy Hwy 9.

Saturday: Hurricane-Zion-Beatty
Back in Zion at 08.30. Take the shuttle to the start of the Lower Emerald Pool trail, classified as "easy" hike. It's 4-layer cold. Start on walk at 09.00. Pass waterfall, not much water now but falling from a great height. Decide to walk along towards the Angels Landing trail and see how far we get. According to the guide it's strenuous: "Long drop-offs and narrow trail. Not for anyone fearful of heights. Ends at summit high above Zion Canyon. Last 0.5 mi (0.8 km) follows a steep, narrow ridge; chains have been added." We start at 10.00 and take it easy, stopping frequently. Two series of zig zags, the second ones, twenty of them, are called Walters Wiggles. Chat to a Californian couple of about 50. He's tried the trail before but is not keen on heights and didn't make it the first time so he wants a second go at it. He can't stand seeing anyone standing close to the edge, which Dad always seems to be doing whenever he's looking. We reach Scouts Outlook pretty easily, an elevation of about 1100 foot, in just more than an hour. From there on it's more difficult, having to hang on to chains while climbing the rocks. Not very steep but disconcerting when you consider the possibility of falling off. The final climb to the top is a very steep 1/2 mile and we're not doing that anyway but we do tackle the first third or so of the transverse, several yards wide but with steep drops of 1000 foot on either side. Confronted with a steep little climb we decide we've had enough and turn back. This is certainly another highlight of the trip. Plenty of people around, young and old, professionally kitted up and with ropes slung around their necks or just like us - well almost - without climbing gear. Lots of chipmunks. The walk down is hard on the knees and takes about an hour. Man with dark glasses and a light walking stick unknowingly does a plausible impression of a blind man finding his way down without falling over the edge. Take the shuttle back to the visitor center, leave the Zion behind us at 14.00. Several small places on Hwy 95 don't have any motels so it's Beatty that provides us with a Motel 6 at 19.45, $48 and just out of town. We eat at the neighbouring Stagecoach Hotel & Casino. Liver, bacon and onions plus the usual "soup or salad?". And a couple of beers. $17.30. Two $1.50 ice creams at a homemade ice cream emporium.

Sunday: Beatty-Death Valley-Mammoth Lakes
Leave 07.50. Save another $10 on entry to Death Valley with the NP Pass. Stop at the two main lookouts on this side of the Park: Zabriskie Point and Dante's View. On to Badwater, the lowest part in the western hemisphere, just below sea level. Low on gas so turn off a/c. Artists Scenic Loop takes us past impressive rock formations and the Artists Palette, rocks coloured with mineral pigments. Another $10 of fuel in Stovepipe Wells. From there on it's west through the park from sea level up to 5000 foot. Very good outlook at Father Crowley Vista if you walk from the car park to the end of the track, looking back over the flats that we've just covered. Through Lone Pine. Hwy 395 North. Sierra Nevada to our left and the sun setting behind it. Still climbing. 6000 foot. Unusual luminescent light blue sky to our rights. Fuel getting low. "Check gages" light comes on but we make it to Mammoth Lakes at 17.30 and they have a couple of gas stations. Motel 6 for $63 and off to restaurant The Stove. Friendly folk. 2 specials: prime rib, horseradish sauce, 1 beer $27. Busy little resort, summer and winter. They're planning to start making snow on Nov 6. Longest drive yet, 419 miles. Highlights are the outlooks over Death Valley but just as much the views from the car, especially in the mountains.

Monday: Mammoth Lakes-June Lake-Yosemite-Fresno
Return to Hwy 395, stop at outlook over Mono Lake with an old volcano in the middle of the lake. Read about an attractive-looking scenic route on a notice board so we double back and take the 158 to June Lake. Lovely area, lots of fishing going on. Very quiet and peaceful. Road sign "Dream Mountain Drive" just about sums it up. Return to the 395. We're on the Tioga Pass to Yosemite at 10.25 and climb up to the entrance and highest point at 9945 foot. Save another $20 with our NP Pass. Yosemite has lots of lookouts but less information than in the other parks. Stop at a few lookouts and make our way to Yosemite Valley and the visitor center. See a bit of a film about the park and decide to take a look at Bridalveil Fall. A little walk up from the car park. Couple of folk struggling along. Out of the park, stopping briefly at a viewpoint just before a tunnel at 15.50. Busloads of people stopping. We zig zag for 15 minutes to Wawona, the south exit. The roads are generally very good, we remark. Drive on to Fresno. Busy road with light industry and car dealers leading us into town. Bit seedy. "Cruising prohibited" signs on the road. Motel 6 costs us $49. Room at the back. Noisy a/c. Nothing attractive in the way of eateries so try a Wendy's. BLT Salad and a Double Classic Burger Combo for $11. Turn a/c off for the night but with the neighbours a/c on it sounds like we're sleeping in the hold of a ship.

Tuesday: Fresno-Kings Canyon-Sequoia-Barstow
Off early at 07.15 but quickly lose ground by getting lost in Fresno looking for Hwy 180 east. At least 15 miles extra, and not particularly attractive miles either. Finally find the way out, along Olive and then Kings Canyon. Get lost again and ask at a gas station - "check gages" showing again - where the lady tells us that they're always helping people who get lost there.
The route is straightforward after that. Enter Kings Canyon / Sequoia Park (another $10 saved). Visit the General Grant area. Off to General Sherman area and a long walk. Beyond belief that some trees are 2000 to 3000 years old. Plenty of memorable sights. Fallen trees, burnt trees. Members of a large Jehovah's Witness family shout to each other over great distances. They also have an exchange with another group, asking whether they're Jehovah's as well. "No, we're Baptists". Helicopter drowsing a (managed?) forest fire on the way out of the park. We note the highest part at 7335 foot. Finally down to 'normal' levels and like yesterday a long winding road with well banked bends here. Not many visitors today. Decide to drive a fair bit to Barstow. Stop in a mall in Tulare for eats: an Italian Ziti (kids size, $2.20) and a Chinese spicy beef, mandarin chicken and steam rice ($6.30) and 2 ice creams, the best yet at $1.80 each). Stay at a $36 Motel 6.

Wednesday: Barstow-Las Vegas
A good Motel 6, this one. Nice and quiet. Leave at 07.40. Notice that the road is part of the old Route 66. It's cloudy. No, the wind has changed and it's smoke from the forest fires a couple of hundred miles west. The sun's red. See lots of adverts alongside the road for the Mad Greek Café in Baker so we stop there. Quite busy. Two coffee and a large baklava. The "bakalava" as the waitress calls it is nothing special and the girl at he checkout seems to sense this and doesn't charge us for it, despite me questioning the check. We make a run for it before she changes her mind. 11.00 in Las Vegas. Spend a bit more than an hour in the campy Liberace museum, quite worth the $20. A little old Jewish woman with a nasal voice leads us around. Lovely glitzy waistcoats for $59 in the shop. Return car at 12.30. Fuel is into the red, which is satisfying, although "Check gages" would have been better. Averaged 35 mpg. Car is quickly registered and we're off to the terminal, getting a shuttle to the Venetian. Leave baggage with bell hop as we're early and walk slowly to the Stratosphere, hoping that we'll be able to see people on the spectacular ride in the tower but it's only for paying customers. Notice curfew signs on the road in this area, from 21.00 onwards. Eat at Westward Ho, fish and chips, lots of it but nothing special. $17. Two $1 Beers from the bar. Walk back to the Venetian, which we?ve got for $90 via Priceline. Checked in very courteously by Michelle who offers us a $35 upgrade for 2 queens and/or a $35 upgrade for a view of the strip, both of which we kindly decline. She does give us a highish floor, the 22nd. They have 36 in total. Fernando has the bags up just before we're up and shows us around the enormous room, pointing out the minibar with items that get billed when they're moved! We assure him we won't even think of it. After a while we walk around the hotel. Big place. Lots of beautiful people with money to spend. Just like Caesars Place with the artificial sky. Canals and Gondolas inside. Shops. Restaurants. Everything. Shop with gadgets. One of the staff tells about the conference rooms and that 5000 staff work at the hotel. Volcano at the Mirage. Couple of $1 beers at Casino Royale next door to the Venetian. Back to room at 21.30. Snack of banana and granola is all we need and anyway, it's all we've got.

Thursday: Las Vegas
New attraction on top of the Stratosphere on local TV. Doubtful whether it'll open tomorrow if the wind's this strong. Out for a look around. Smoke has gone, it's sunny. There?s a guy painting the sky in the Paris. 2 'small' coffees - we could have split one - for $3.90 in Paris. Out through adjoining Bally's. Cross to corner Bellagio and to Caesars Palace for a second look there. After a 15 min wait we eat at the Cheesecake Factory Café. Ham omelette and a Renee Special (bean soup, Caesars salad and half a turkey sandwich). The untouched turkey sandwich and a bagel we take out with us. Watch the hourly Atlantis show at 13.00. The Mirage - home of Siegfried and Roy - brings us tigers and tropical rainforest. Cross back to our side of the strip. 2 $1 beers at Casino Royale. Venetian: canals and gondoliers, waxworks, living statue. Gambled 2 found quarters away in a slot machine. Happy to wind down and just watch TV: Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Outdoor Nevada, Antiques Road show.

Friday: Las Vegas-Chicago-Amsterdam
Check out via TV and fax in room. Bagel, banana, last of bran for breakfast. Leave 08.00. Taxi driver from Ethiopia, a Christian, chats about the homeless in LV, Ethiopia - lots of rivers, no direction. $13 with tip. $60 left. 08.30 airport. Flight to Chicago and then on to Amsterdam, arriving around 09.00 Saturday morning.

ronkala

A great report. I can't wait to get out there next year.

utahtea

I'm beathless just reading about all you did in those 12 days! WOW did you get a lot in, in such a short time!

Utahtea

Smalley

Yes Utahtea, we did pack a lot in. Initially we weren't planning to do California but my 82 yo dad had a bit of leg trouble and we spent a bit more time in the car and less outside. Glad he managed to climb up onto Angels Trail in Zion though, that was really great.

ellen_griswold

Thanks for the nice report! Glad you had such a good time. We're huge fans of Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Death Valley, too; how hot was it when you were there? It was 121 at Badwater the day we stopped in July 2001!

Come back, soon!

Smalley

Ellen, I guess it was in the low 90's when we were there. It was certainly pretty warm with the a/c off but we survived. It's quite an place: we'd seen it from Zabriskie point but didn't realise the scale of it all until we got down there. You feel pretty insignificant when you're surrounded by so much raw nature.

vegaslocal

Smalley! I can't believe you ate at the Klondike! What a dump! That place is so awful, that if you drop a quarter on the floor of the casino, you just leave it there.

One side note about the Klondike - they filmed part of a movie there. Rent the movie "Vegas Vacation". Clark and cousin Eddie wind up at the Klondike trying to win back all of the money Clark lost at the Mirage. It's a pretty hilarious scene.

Thanks for the trip report and enjoy that new digital camera! (How about a link to view some of those photos!)

Smalley

Nice to hear from you Vegaslocal and thanks again for the Fry's tip. Sure, the Klondike is no Bellagio but we took it in as 'all part of the Vegas Experience'. Some of the 343 shots with the S400 are worth a second look; I'll see if I can find a way of getting them online for you!

Smalley

Have put some photo's on this site: http://www.savepic.com/freepictureho...=3450&mid=2792. I particulary like the round one of the Colorada river through a telescope on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. See the boat?!

vegaslocal

Thanks for sharing! They were great. Judging from your subjects, it looks as though you truly understand why we love living in this part of the United States. The west has its own spirit, much different than any other part of the country.

You are quite an explorer! Perhaps you should move here and become a tour guide! I'll bet you know more about these places than most vistors!

Smalley

Too kind: it was you guys who pointed me in the right direction; I just had to remember to shoot.

Jun20

Nice pictures! I'm going to send the website to my cousin near Groningen. I have invited him and his family to visit us and the SW, as we've never met them. I left my name on a Dutch board several years ago, and only recently his daughter came across my name. Quite exciting.

Just wanted to add that my liver and onions dinner in Zwolle many years ago was the best ever! Fond memories.

Smalley

Jun20, as the Dutch are notoriously reluctant to part with their money I'd recommend your cousin considers flying with United. They gave us a good deal. Also liked their closing line on board: "We hope you've enjoyed giving us your business as much as we've enjoyed taking you for a ride."

Smalley

The photo's are now on a better website: www.freewebs.com/smalley

utahtea

Great pictures. Thank you for sharing.

Utahtea