Trip Report:

Saturday: Arrived Vegas, drove to Springdale. Before entering Zion, had a couple of beers at Zion Brewing Company. Went to Zion and walked a few miles in the Virgin River narrows. Had dinner at Zion Noodle Company. Good pizza and lot's of Utah beer on tap. Only complaint is they only take cash.

Sunday: went back into Zion and did some of the overlooks and hiked to the Lower Emerald Pool (waste of time). We found Zion to be a major let-down. After doing the Lower Emerald we decided to move on. Headed to Bryce. Got to Bryce...not much in that town! Drove the entire scenic drive and stopped at some of the overlooks. It started to storm so we got some dinner and went back to the hotel to wait it out. The storm cleared and we headed back to Bryce. We did a 3.5 mile hike into the ampitheater, that was awesome. Bryce was very cool, nothing I have ever seen looked like it. After we finished Bryce, went back to the Ruby's area and looked around. Didn't like this area too much, very touristy.

Monday: Left Bryce for Torrey. Stopped a few places along the way to take pictures. Hiked the Calf Creek Falls trail, well worth the three miles it took to get to it. I was hoping to take a dip but since there had been so much rain on and off the past few days, the water was very murky. Well, as we headed back, the sky opened up with a thunderstorm. We walked, jogged and ran back three miles to our car in 45 minutes. Pretty scary with lightening flying around. Made it to Torrey and the weather there was perfect. We tried to get lunch but most places did not open until 5pm. I wanted to try the rattlesnake cakes at Cafe Diablo, instead my wife almost stepped on a snake. since they were not open, we went to Brink's Burgers. Kinda pricey but food was good. headed to Capital Reef and did a scenic drive and then hiked about 2 miles or so in Grand Wash into the narrows. Guess what??....the sky looked like it was going to open again. It didn't thankfully. Got back to the car and did some more scenic driving and stops. We really liked Cap Reef.

Tuesday: We had done everything we wated to do in Cap Reef, so we left for Moab. We stopped in Hanksville to see the gas station in a rock, we went to Goblin Valley (awesome) and continued to Moab. Got to Moab and went into Arches. Did a few trails and overlooks. very, very major let-down with Arches. neither of us were impressed with this park. After you've seen one arch/bridge, you've seen them all. After a few hours in the park, headed into town. Went to Moab Brewing for happy hour ($2.50 beer and 15 cent wings). Went back into the park for sunset at the delicate arch but were turned away by multiple park rangers with lights flashing. They said there was flooding but we think someone got hurt. There hadn't been rain in a day or two, plus, earlier people were talking about how they had hiked that area. So we did sunset in another part of the park.

Wednesday: Went on a canyoneering trip from 8am-2pm. We went into the Lasal Mountains and rappelled waterfalls. After the trip, got lunch at Zax Pizza. Good food and good people. Spent the rest of the afternoon in Canyonlands. Had a few beers before bed at Eddie McStiff's. Sad to find out that they no longer brew onsite.

Thursday: Left Moab. Stoped at the Copper Ridge dinosaur tracks then headed to Cedar City. Got to Cedar City and had lunch at The Pizza Factory. The pizza was great. Not much to do in Cedar City. Of course, it started to rain again. We went to Cedar Breaks and took what pictures we could through the rain and fog. Crashed at the hotel because we were exhausted from the driving.

Friday: Left Cedar City. Stopped by the Old Irontown Ruins and headed towards the E.T. Highway. Well, as some of you know, I never found the E.T. sign. Onward to Vegas. Got to Vegas and since we could not check in until 3pm, we went to Ellis Island Casino & Brewery which was on the same block and had $1 beers. Had lunch at the hotel mexican place and then checked and and crashed for a bit. That night, went to a show called "Dirty". It sucked....don't see it. Then, to hit one more brewery, we went to Main Street Casino & Brewery at 2am for a beer and also a cheese steak. Again, the food was good. Also, before the show we went to find Hart & Huntington tattoo parlor...smaller than it seems on TV.

Saturday: Before we left town, we wanted to try and add one more brewery to our list, the Monte Carlo. Got to the hotel and a bartender told me that they are no longer in business and have yet to remove signs. Crap!

Went to the airport to head home.

We had a good time and did everything we wanted to do. We didn't feel rushed and were actually ahead of schedule. I am glad that we didn't go with the original plan to head down towards Natural Bridges/Blanding area. That would have been cutting it tight.

Everyone we met in Utah was nice. We saw wild turkey, tons of deer, jackrabbits and elk.

I think we've had enough of rock, sandstone and arches for a while.

Off to ireland!

I am going to post reviews of the hotels on Tripadvisor if anyone is interested. Almost all of the hotels we stayed in were outstanding.

Thanks for the report! I'm leaving Saturday - landing in Vegas and going straight to Moab for a few days. Then going to Goblin, Capitol Reef and a night in Escalante. Is Eddie McStiff's worth a stop even though they're not brewing there? How long did you spend in Goblin Valley? Do you think the time of day matters? What did you like best about Cap Reef? We're staying at Austin's. In Vegas - where is Main Street brewery? Worth checking out? We're staying at MGM Grand.

Dohlice....

Is Eddie McStiff's worth a stop even though they're not brewing there?

A: yes, they still brew, but in Salt Lake City. They ahd a Rasberry Wheat, Blueberry Wheat and a couple of others on tap.

How long did you spend in Goblin Valley?

A: An hour or two, don't need much more than that unless you plan on doing a little hiking. We went to an overlook and then went down and walked among the goblins.

Do you think the time of day matters?

A: I'm assuming your asking time of day for goblin....we got there around late morning and it was getting very hot out, no shade at all.

What did you like best about Cap Reef?

A: My wife and I just liked the looks of it, colors and shapes. The pictures we had seen online did not do justice.

We're staying at Austin's. In Vegas - where is Main Street brewery?

A: Main street is in Fremont. You can see the place from the highway. Check their website for address. They have a Midnight-7am graveyard hour on beer ($1.50). Beer was good....

I'm going to put some pictures on webshots if you'd like to see some of them. I can also e-mail some of the different places if interested. Let me know!

http://www.tripadvisor.com/members/jedivader

My Trip profile.

http://goodtimes.webshots.com/album/560552126AoIOIh

webshots link to my Utah pics, only have a few so far.