Zion National Park ~ Day 3

Our morning hike was The Sand Beach Trail. 

 This hike was my favorite, it’s a soft sand trail that follows the Virgin River which turns emerald green in places. 

The trail ends at the magnificent Court of the Patriarchs. 

 We saw many mountain deer, a buck and more turkeys.

  We never saw another person throughout our hike, it was awesome.

In another spontaneous decision, we took a drive to Kolob Canyons.  We were excited that our gorgeous weather continued allowing road access to this beautiful area. Kudos to their awesome road crews! Most of the hiking trails were closed but it was so great to see the overlooks.

It was late when we finally finished so we decided to stop for an early dinner outside the park in Hurricane at Lonny Boy's BBQ.

Zion National Park ~ Day 2

Our second day began very early. We wanted to take some pictures at sunrise at  locations in the park. We saw very few people making this an excellent time to get some selfie photos.  

I highly recommend seeing the sunrise at Court of the Patriarchs.  

Sunrise was glorious.  

Our next photo stop was Temple of Sinawava where we were had complete privacy to take photos without any other visitors around. 

Following our photo time, we headed out for our first hike of the day.  We began at the Grotto following along the West Rim Trail to Scout lookout.

Honestly,  I didn't totally enjoy this hike. I don't want to discourage anyone from taking the hike because the views make it all worth it.

I just don't like hikes that are paved and it's mostly a paved hiking trail with several steep inclines. It is a good work out.

After our hike, we decided on a spontaneous drive to Bryce Canyon National Park.   You can read the review Here.

Our second night at the Red Rock Grill we were seated next to the huge windows with a view to die for.  I chose the Grilled Pork Chop and Hubby chose the same pasta dish he loved.  

Zion National Park ~ Day 1

First, a little background on us we are two retirees aged 60-70 and our experience may be different than yours if you're a younger group or family.

We spent three nights exploring this beautiful park. We are from the south and did not know what type of weather we should expect.  Friends told us to expect snow, that turned out not to be the case. We could not have asked for more beautiful weather for our three days in the park.

We stayed on the grounds in the Zion National Park Lodge. The views alone made it worth every penny we paid for the cabin. 

We normally travel on points and miles which we could have used in Springdale right outside the park. But we wanted the total experience of staying inside the park.  We stopped and bought breakfast items as well as some lunch items to bring with us. We budgeted for three meals inside the park lodge restaurant, The Red Rock Grill.

We totally enjoyed our cabin stay.  Go here for our review.  

Our first day we did two short hikes. The first hike was along the Sand Beach Trail which we walked from the lodge grounds. This hike follows along the side of the Virgin River, we just hiked two hours round-trip.

We saw several deer, some turkeys and totally enjoy the scenery.  

Next, we drove along the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway. The views on this highway were simply incredible!

We were totally excited to spot our first Longhorn sheep right outside the tunnel.  

I took several photographs while they ate and seemed to be enjoying this beautiful warm day in the sun.

Because it was off-season, there was very little traffic as we continued our way to the east entrance.

For our second hike we did the Riverside Walk at the Temple of Sinawava.  We continued a little bit longer past the handicap turn around, this hike was a little more challenging with a lot of steep inclines but pretty.

We ran out of energy just as the daylight was quickly fading.  We decided to head back to our cabin to get ready for Dinner.

After reading conflicting reviews regarding the Red Rock Grill at the lodge, I was pleasantly surprised at how tasty it was. I had the bison burger with sweet potato fries while Hubby decided on the Pa’rus Pasta with squash and other vegetables.  Both were very good.

Las Vegas - Day 4; Mt Charleston

We left the hotel when it was still dark, the drive up Mt. Charleston took close to an hour.  We arrived at  The Mary Jane Falls trailhead at dawn. 

 It is considered a beginner trail and it was easy to travel and well marked.  It took us almost half the hike before we became used to the altitude.  

We had to stop several times along the way to catch our breath since we are not used to high altitudes.

The  trail was mostly gravel with patches of ice & snow.  

The views from the trail were beautiful.  The mountains had gorgeous ponderosa pines 

and yellow aspen trees sprinkled with snow.  

It unbelievable to find this beautiful winter-like place just an hour from the desert!

Las Vegas 2015 - Day 2; Lake Mead Hiking

Today's morning hike was The Anniversary Narrows located in northern Lake Mead.   We left the hotel in the dark to reach the trailhead around 7am.

The Narrows are awe inspiring when consider Mother Nature with the force of water, cut 200 yards through a huge mountain.  

It was a little creepy to look up through the tiny openings and see blue sky so far away from where I stood.

We came across some pretty plants growing among the rocks and boulders.

I am glad it's winter here.  It was in the 40's when we began and 20 degrees warming on the return trip.  It can get really hot, really fast in the desert.

The 6.6 RT mile hike took 3 hours to complete.  I won't lie, we were exhausted afterward.  It was worth every step.

We have only been to the southern end Lake Mead and decided to stop at the Northern side on the way home. 

It is so sad to see how low the water is compared to our first visit, thanks to global warming.  I doubt our great-grandchildren will have the opportunity to see this man made lake.

I spent this evening on the strip.  First we had dinner at Paris Las Vegas.  This has always been our favorite buffet because of all the great french dishes.  But, it was not as good this time, so it will be our last.  Next visit we will try one of the smaller cafe restaurants.

After dinner we walked down the strip, stopping to make donations at various casinos as we made our way to the Mirage to see Beatles Love show.

The shows was fantastic.  One would not have to be Beatles fans to enjoy it.  It was a huge productions with very elaborate costumes.

After the show we stopped at The LINQ casino.  All I can say is WOW.  It is very spacious and everyone from the waitstaff to the dealers to the pit boss were are very friendly and welcoming.  I would love to spend more time here.

Las Vegas 2014 - Day 1; Red Rock Hiking

Sunrise as we began our hike

Beautiful moonlight as we drove through the canyon to our hike

We love hiking on our trips.  It's very inexpensive, requires little equipment expense and is a great way to really see the area.  Our first hike of this trip is along Red Rock Canyon.  When we choose our trail it was considered moderate.  We are amateur/recreational hikers.  Once we got to the trailhead, the trail was marked as difficult.  Still we decided to give it a shot.

Our Stairway to Heaven

The trail is mostly rock of course.

 The beginning was small pebbles but as we continued on, they became larger including several boulders.

The views were still breathtaking.  The trail is named ice box trail & it lived up to its name.  The temperature really drops as you walk between the mountains, it's like walking from the desert into an ice box! It was incredible.

If you have never visited Red Rock Canyon while visiting Vegas, you have missed one of their most beautiful areas around it.

In the afternoon, we used a complimentary buffet to the Hollywood Casino BSL's new sister casino, the M resort.  The resort was a short drive from the strip, it was a nice day to drive with windows down. 

 The buffet is beautifully setup & the foods we tried were good, the buffet included wine/beer, gelato and a gourmet coffee bar.  The casino was strangely quiet, unfriendly & nothing special.

Las Vegas 2014 plans

Planning our week.

We decided to return to Vegas last October when we received a special offer from Southwest for less than $300 round trip.  Hubby also receives free rooms from The Orleans.

We have bought discount show tickets from The Mirage to see Cirque du Soeil Beatles Love.  We might see another show if we find another discounted enough.

We have some mountain hikes planned around the area.  We get plenty use of the hotel gym while there too!

We have some favorite local restaurants we visit each time we go.  There's only one casino buffet I really like, Paris.  We like all the French foods.

August2014 Road Trip: Day 11-Stowe Vermont

We left after breakfast to our next destination of Stowe, Vermont.    It was a  beautiful scenic route through the Islands of Lake Champlain, starting with Isle La Motte, VT where we bought fresh picked apples and delicious apple cider from a local orchard.

 We continued south on highway 2 through North Hero, Grand isle and finally South Hero before crossing into Burlington VT.  It was a beautiful drive.

Stowe is a small ski town speckled with maple farms.  We visited a farm to buy fresh maple syrup and candy.

We also had dinner at a small restaurant called Gracie's.  Gracie is their dog and whole restaurant is decorated with photographs of well loved family dog's.  I had a delicious blue cheese burger & Hubby had their shepherds pie.  Both were great!

Our home tonight is a ski lodge called Stowehof.   It's a very old lodge but comfortable.  Our room is big and has a small balcony with a view of the mountains.