Day 10: Sunday, October 3, 2010: Vega$, Baby, Vega$

Day 10: Sunday, October 3, 2010

Vega$, Baby, Vega$

So, our final full day was upon us. No agenda today other than to pack up, find something to do for the 4 hours between check out time and check in time at the Excalibur. While showering, where I tend to do my best thinking, I realized Winger still hadn’t seen the Hoover Dam, and really wanted to. I suggested we pack up the jeep and head to the damn Dam. Winger was excited and seemed to have a bit of a spring back in her step.

We checked out, grabbed a bite to eat, and headed out to the Hoover Dam. The weather was MUCH different than when I visited 9 days earlier. It was nearly 100 degrees and not a cloud in the sky that Friday but today it was cloudy and very breezy. We parked on the Arizona side of the dam, and walked across to the visitor’s center and back taking some pictures along the way. Our timing, as would be a theme today, was perfect as it started to rain just as we were getting back to the car.

Along the way and on the way back, we tried to contact the company we rented our camping gear from to see if we could return it a day earlier. I was supposed to return it Monday morning as my flight wasn’t until 1AM Monday night/Tuesday AM. I was going to try to get home earlier if I could get the gear back Sunday… Unfortunately, we hadn’t heard anything back. The company was a few miles from the Damn, but was open by appointment only.

We stopped in Boulder City on the way back where the temporary Visitors’ Center for the Lake Meade National Recreation Area was located and after finding a parking spot (there was an art festival going on, and traffic was pretty tough), we visited some very eager rangers… it seemed as if they hadn’t had many visitors that day! I got my National Parks passport stamped, chatted a little with the people there, and then we hit the road.

The one remaining thing left to see in the area was Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area which was just to the west of Vegas. The National Parks Pass worked for this area too. Best investment of the trip, methinks! The drive to Red Rock was pretty incredible scenery-wise, mostly because of the clouds, and the way the sunlight was hitting some of the rocks/mountains. There’s a beautiful 12 mile scenic loop drive through the park and we stopped at most of the viewpoints to take pictures and relax along the way. If the weather wasn’t so ominous, we would have hiked a little bit, as Winger had her energy back, but that’ll have to wait until next time…

On our way out, Winger saw that the woman from Western Wanderer (the camping company) contacted her via email and said she’d be in until 5PM (it was just 3 at the time) so we drove back to Boulder City, and dropped off the camping gear. We shared some stories with the woman at Western Wanderer, and headed back to the city with a much lighter load.
We headed back to the Strip to check into the Excalibur. The Excalibur has on site parking, but as we found out, it’s a bit of a walk from there to the registration. We basically cleared out the car and brought everything we had left (or threw it in the garbage) into the hotel. The walk to registration was fun with all of my stuff draped on my shoulders and back. I needed a serious repacking. The hotel was enormous! We ended up in the first tower on floor 4 with an amazing view…. Of the wall of an adjoining section of the hotel/casino. That’s what $35/night will get you, I guess! I had to take everything out of my bags and duffel bag so I could re-pack everything. Upon doing this, I realized that I had lost the book that inspired this trip, and worked as a guide for us: Photographing the Southwest, Volume 1: Southern Utah. I looked everywhere for it, and even called the hotel we left that morning, and was pretty bummed about it. I actually realized it might be missing when we were at Red Rock, but really realized it when I went through everything. Bummer! The only other thing(s) I couldn’t find were a lens end camp and my camera body cap which I can replace hopefully inexpensively…

Winger left to wander up the strip as she had to get to bed at a reasonable hour (up at 4AM to take a cab to the airport and fly at 6:40, yuk!) I had to finish packing or I’d have gone insane. Eventually I got everything organized, and it was time to play!
I wanted to walk up to the Bellagio to catch the fountain show which they set off every 15 minutes. Made it up there early for the 8PM show. Its pretty cool, kinda hokey, but worth checking out. Took a few okay pictures (though a tripod would have been optimal, I didn’t feel like walking around with it)…

I walked back down the other side of Las Vegas Blvd and took a few pictures along the way. It was my first time on the strip, and it was fun to see the people wandering around (though I imagine in a few hours, after midnight, it might have been more entertaining), and of course the lights!

I got back to the Excalibur after a quick snack at a FoodCourt across the street, at about 9:15 to clean up and check out the Casino…. I won’t get into details about that, but I had a certain amount of money I was willing to lose… and I did. That’s all you need to know about that! I was out until about 12:15, I played a combo of Poker, Roulette and Slots, including putting my last $5 on 17 Black for Kristina and Lily… It was fun to check out the madness, and it’d be fun to go back with more time to relax/explore the city…..

Day 9: Saturday, October 2, 2010

Day 9: Saturday, October 2, 2010
Brrrrrrrrr!

Woke up to mid 30’s temperatures, easily the coldest night of the trip. I wanted to get up to Sunset point in Bryce to catch the sunrise, and we were up plenty early for it. It was the first and only time I was glad I brought a winter hat and gloves along for the trip! We grabbed the tripods and headed up to Bryce and were, I believe, the 2nd car there. The sunrise was absolutely beautiful with the clouds still looming from the day before, and the hoodoos of the Bryce Amphitheater started to glow when the rays of the sun hit them. It was a great sight and though I got some ok pictures, I’m not sure they did it justice!

Following the sunrise, we decided to drive the length of the park down to Rainbow Point and stop at all of the points along the way. The park reached 9500 feet, I believe, by the end of the drive, and it was still chilly but was starting to warm up. The overlooks/viewpoints down the 15 mile road to Rainbow Point were much different than the Amphitheater as the hoodoos and groups of them were much more spread out. More of a grand view, but still awesome, and impressive… The clouds made me really wish they had been there throughout the trip, as my photos would have been more impressive!

We got back to the tent and packed up for what would be the last time and headed on our way to Zion National Park, the final destination on our adventure.

Along the way, about a 2 hour drive, we talked about our options as it was clear Winger was still recovering from Thursday, and the temperature was quickly rising. She said instead of camping at the park (I had reserved a site at Watchmen Campground in Zion) that she would spring for a hotel and I could drop her off and explore the park.

We reached the park and drove in through the East Entrance, and it was a stunning view. The road is under construction and traffic picked up as we reached the big tunnel. The drive through the tunnel and into the canyon was spectacular. We stopped at the visitors center which was mobbed, and parking was at a premium. The park runs a shuttle service, mandatory to visit the scenic road into the canyon during peak months.

After checking out the book store/visitor’s center (the temperatures had reached mid 90’s), we left the park into Springdale, the town just south of the park, to see if we could find a reasonable priced place to stay for the night. Unfortunately, we learned there was a Marathon in St. George, and a big Red Bull event, along with a ton of families visiting the park, so rooms were at a premium. There was nothing within a reasonable price range.

I decided that I’d suck it up and we’d drive back to Vegas that afternoon. It wasn’t an easy choice because Zion was one of the places I really wanted to see, but Winger was hurting, and I didn’t want to leave her behind. I appreciated her offer to spring for a hotel and let me go up there by myself, but I didn’t feel right about it, and honestly, the place was so packed, and hot, I came to terms with it, and made the decision to head back a day early. Softening the blow was the news that the day before, according to our email, we got permits to hike the Wave in Arizona in January. If we can put a short trip together to do that and then visit Zion (in the winter!) that would make up for it 10 fold!

Other than the temperatures reaching triple digits (according to the car thermometer), the drive back to Vegas was uneventful until we got within 15-20 miles of the city and saw a crazy storm sweeping across the desert. The wind picked up and was extremely strong. Winger, already ill, was getting nervous, and we hit rain for the first time on the trip. Didn’t expect to see that in/near Vegas, but it was quite a site seeing blackness heading right towards us!

We made it to Vegas and checked into an Extended Stay suite thing east of the strip, and not in the best neighborhood, but it was a really nice room (actually rooms, separate kitchen/living room, etc) and cheap. Unwound and had some pizza for dinner and that was that….

Day 8: Friday, October 1, 2010 - Back on the Road

Day 8: Friday, October 1, 2010
Back on the Road
So, Thursday was pretty much a wash. Crashed in the Days Inn from about noon until 9 Friday morning. I was feeling much better by the time bed time rolled around, and when I woke up, I felt much better, and ready to head down to Bryce Canyon. Winger was feeling better, but still not near where she wanted to be.
The most striking thing about waking up was that there were honest to goodness clouds in the sky!

We packed up and left Torrey around 9 and headed down Scenic Route 12 towards Bryce. Its not the most direct route, but it’s a can’t miss drive. The drive took us into the Dixie National Forest. The foliage was a lot different than we have in New England, not as many different colors, but it was still beautiful. Not to mention, there were open range cows EVERYWHERE. After passing through the forest, we found ourselves in the Grand Staircase Escalante. The change in landscape was pretty amazing, and we ended up driving on a narrow ridge with huge drop offs on each side. It honestly was hard to not stop every 5 minutes and take some photos. And there were plenty of pull offs to do that, but Bryce was calling.
We made it to Bryce around noon and found a campsite at Ruby’s RV and Campground just outside the park which would prove to be convenient.

After checking in at the visitor’s center and driving a bit, Winger determined that she wouldn’t be able to do too much walking around, as she was still wiped out from the sickness so after driving to a couple of overlooks accessible from the car (a theme we developed for a future Lazy Photography Travel Blog idea ;) ) I dropped her back off at the camp site, and returned to the park to do some hiking.

One thing to take into consideration with Bryce is the elevation. A lot of the parks are pretty high up but Bryce is mostly between 8-10,000 feet. I did a short hike into the Canyon called the Queens Garden Trail which was a total of 1.6 miles round trip. The trip in was all downhill which, of course ,meant the trip up was uphill. It was pretty impressive being amongst the hoodoos. I think that Bryce is my favorite, so far, of the parks, though its pretty small, and not that diverse. I met some cool people along the trail including a couple of dudes from Mass and Rhode Island. Took a break for some snacks (apple and cliff bar) and more water (I made sure to keep plenty hydrated after the previous issues) and hiked back up to the Sunrise point.

After grilling up some grilled cheese for dinner, we headed back into the park to check out Sunset point, but Sunrise point was where we watched the sun set.

Back at the camp site, you could feel the temperature dropping. I bundled up in a hooded sweatshirt and flannel pants and was pretty comfy…The goal for tomorrow was to wake up for sunrise at Sunset Point, pack up the tent and head down to Zion for our final stop….

Day 7: Thursday, September 30, 2010 - Utah 2 - Gib/Winger 0

Utah 2-Gib/Winger 0

So apparently whatever we tried to put ourselves through yesterday pissed off our bodies. I didn’t sleep all that well last night and woke up feeling awful…Achy and feverish. That’s the theme of today.

Our goal today was to drive from Moab to Torrey, Utah and stop in at Goblin Valley State Park and Capitol Reef National Park.

We managed to get to Goblin Valley, and walk around for a little, but it was really tough. Following that, we headed for Capitol Reef, but by the time we got there, neither one of us was looking forward to exploring/photographing. The route we were on cut through the park and we managed to take a few pictures and stop in at the Visitors Center, but that was it for this park. By noon we were at a Days Inn in Torrey and though they don’t check in until 2PM, Winger managed to talk the woman at the front desk into letting us in early where we’ve spent most of the day sleeping…

After sleeping for 5 hours and getting some food, I definitely felt better. Hopefully in the morning we’ll be ready to head down to Bryce Canyon!