California Roadtrip - Las Vegas!

Soon after leaving the Grand Canyon, in Tusayan, we spotted two elk on the side of the road.

 It took us just under five hours to drive to Las Vegas, passing mainly through desert country with the unique rocky outcrops.  The ground was covered sparsely with scrub vegetation, but I noticed as we approached the mountains that surround Las Vegas, there was lots of cactus, giving the surrounds a sense real cowboy country!

The deserts of New Mexico

Cactus now appearing, as well as another distant mountain range..

 The mountains were surprising, they seemed to rise suddenly.  They were covered generously again with pines and I was quick enough to snap the beautiful Lake Mead as we passed by (although a poor shot!)  We also had a great glimpse of the Hoover Dam and thought we would come back and take a tour of it, but other things took priority! The famous Hoover Dam is only about 30 miles outside of Las Vegas.  As we passed the State Line from Arizona to Nevada we were soon greeted by a couple of huge casinos!!  In the middle of seemingly nowhere! 

The Mountains, getting close to the Nevada State line

By passing Lake Mead and the famous Hoover Dam
 (that gets it's water supply mainly from the Colorado Mtns)

Las Vegas was a big surprise.  In my mind, I'm not sure exactly what I expected, but the city is in a large valley surrounded by mountains that are large but not imposing and are bare. Completely bare of any kind of foliage.  The city itself is very modern and clean with wide streets, many of which are lined with towering palm trees.  It's like a huge oasis in the middle of the desert! We found it extremely easy to find our way around.  We arrived Saturday evening, to extreme, dry heat that reminded us all immediately of Adelaide!!  It felt so much like home!

We stayed the first night at La Quinta which was exactly over the road from the International Airport.  Adjacent, on the other side of the Airport lay the famous Las Vegas Strip.  After settling in, we went looking for the 'Town Center' which was a large block of shopping, a bit like a mall, but includes a big square of several streets.  We made a wrong turn and actually found ourselves driving down the Strip.  By this time, it was dusk and the lights were all on.  What a sight!  So bright!  Even the McDonald's sign had sparkles in it!! (I had someone tell me, that Vegas puts out more energy than the whole of California with it's 30 million people.) We were amazed and entranced at the same time! The girls took photos from the car and even stood through the skylight to take pics!!  That was fun!

First glimpse of the Strip at night

Chani making fun of the pokies in the Seven Eleven

 Well, we did find the Town Center and again was very impressed.  It is so lovely to shop at, the atmosphere reminded me of Lygon St in Melbourne or The Parade in Norwood, very lively and fun! 

Sarah...

...and Chani at the Town Center, Las Vegas

"Oooo So juicy!"

However, after the events of the day, keeping in mind the first half of it was treking some of the Grand Canyon, we were pretty tired so headed back to the motel and enjoyed a respite from travelling..  On the way, we found a supermarket and bought some supplies for Sunday. Would you believe it?  There was a large space set up near the checkouts with several pokie machines!  Only in Las Vegas!
Once back at the motel, the girls had a swim in the pool and watched planes land in the night sky while they cooled off.  Nice!

Tom meanwhile, was out on a date!!  Yes, this is part of the reason our time at the Grand Canyon was limited to half a day.  He had already arranged to meet up with 'Chloe' who happens to be Devin Strobelt's cousin!!  Yes, that's my Tom.  Grass doesn't ever grow under his feet!!  With Chloe as a tour guide, he explored a bit more of Las Vegas than the rest of us had energy for!!

Sunday, 17 July 2011

There is such wisdom in 'the seventh day, thou shalt rest from thy labours'.  Thank goodness for Sunday, wereby we can slow the pace down and just rest and regain some energy.  We have travelled a fair distance up to this point and it's so nice to stop and relax.  We all slept in, took leisurely showers and found an afternoon meeting to attend.  The Sunset Ward took in the boundaries of the motel!! So, that was cool, it was nice and close.  We enjoyed the meetings and love that it doesn't matter where you go in the world, the familiar hymns and meetings makes you feel so at home.  The people were friendly and Tom & Sarah quickly made some contacts!! 

After dinner, we drove out to find the Temple.  It is set at the edge of the city with a large mountain as a backdrop!  It has several huge spires and is itself huge and very beautiful.  The evening was still very hot, but the lush grounds invite you to linger and enjoy the Temple.  We took lots of photos and stayed until dusk.  What a wonderful spirit there is on Temple grounds.  So peaceful.. We are glad we took the time to see it.

The mountain is a great backdrop

The Temple is huge, and it's spires can be seen from across the city.

Well, due to the contacts made that day at church, Tom, Sarah & Chani went off for the evening and returned late but happy.  More friends for FaceBook!!

Monday 18th July 2011

In the morning, we took advantage of a later checkout then ventured out into the heat and took Tom to the Town Center to have a look.  It's such a nice place to shop, but I still like it best at night. We eventually dropped Tom off on Las Vegas Blvd where he met up with some new friends, and we dropped the girls at another ronde-vou where they met up with girls from the night before.  They all spent the afternoon swimming! So there you have it, a strange city and we still play taxi to our children's social lives!!  By this point we were able to check into the Excalibur Hotel which is at one end of the strip.  It is a bit dated but looks just like a fairy castle from the outside.  We booked into Tower1 and were on the top floor (just like Rapunzel!)  It was fun to stay right on the Strip, and convenient most of all, however the hotels are all casinos, and stale smoke permeates throughout the hotel.  Still, Rick & I enjoyed a long walk exploring what was around us, then finally found some dinner as the kids made it back. 

The Excalibur:  The Fairy Castle we stayed in.



Haha!  Las Vegas or New York!

 We spent the night walking down the strip and back.  It's really lengthy and I have to say, alot classier than I imagined. There are some great shows to see such as Celine Dion at Caesar's Palace, Donny & Marie at Flamingos, The Lion King, Cirque deSolei, David Copperfield, Australia's Human Nature and more.  Shopping on the Strip is also upper class with all the big brand names present.  There is obviously a lot of money in Vegas!  The downside was the people handing out 'girlie' cards, particularly targeting the males in the passing crowds.  It didn't take long to notice they were mostly small Mexican people including women.  But the end of the night I just felt like slapping one of these women and saying something like, "have you no self respect?  Do you know what you're doing?"  I'm afraid it was starting to bring out the ire in me!! Besides that, I still think the highlight of Las Vegas Blvd aka The Strip are the lighted fountains in front of the Bellagio.

The view from our window showing the airport so close to the Strip.

Our Castle..

Caesar's Palace

Caesar's Palac again.. it's huge, just goes on and on..  Very classy inside.

The Statue of Liberty made out of jelly beans!

Would love to have seen this show! Donny & Marie at the Flamingo

Eiffel Tower opposite the Bellagio

The fountains at the Bellagio just starting..

The fountains go off every fifteen minutes and are different each time, all set to music.  Rick & I watched three sets.  They were just magnificent.  I managed to record two, so watch and enjoy!!

"Being an American.." (I only got part of this, missed the biggies)

"Viva Las Vegas!"

We consequently all spent a late night.  A very hot one, amongst a sea of people.  This was when we were very glad we had accomodation so close.  I think we all had very sore feet!!

The next morning we headed out of Las Vegas onto the next leg of our journeyings.  I was glad to have seen Vegas, but it's a very hot place, hot days and hot nights with no cool change for the entire summer!! When we left at about 10am it was 109F.  Next, California, here we come!!

California Roadtrip - Colorado, Four Corners & The Grand Canyon

Friday, 15 July 2011

We did manage to get away by 6.15am!  We first drove down I-85 through Colorado Springs, and continued on, passing towns and scenic farming country following the line of the Rockies.  When we reached this tiny town called Walsenburg, we turned west onto the I-160. The country is very  flat and dry, the houses looking very isolated with no fences or gardens.  It made me wonder about the people who lived out here.  We passed the turn off to the Great Sand Dunes National Park, which was recommended for us to see, but time didn't permit.  The scenery gradually changed from flat, dry, grassy terrain to winding, hillsides and then we were  in the pine covered mountain area of the Rio Grande National Park.  We had travelled about 41/2 hours at this point before stopping for a break and breakfast since up to this time, the occupants of the back seat had remained completely comotosed!!  We actually woke them up when we reached a small town in  called South Fork.  There was a local fair happening, and across the road from the information site, was a white water rafting company.  We were near the head of the great Rio Grande River!

Breakfast under a gazebo at the information centre

It was a great drive for the next couple of hours as we enjoyed the wonderful mountain, pine country of South Colorado.  It was completely different from the dry, almost desert countryside I imagined!  The road flattened out as we came to Durango, and passed the turn off to Mesa Verde National Park.  I was greatly interested not to miss this sign, as this was one of the places I would have loved to have visited, but was outvoted due to a very crammed itinery.  Mesa Verde is a vast area of indian dwellings ......  This has been a fair drive to get to this location, so I don't think time will permit us to return to see it. unfortunately.

Back to sleep!

We came to the small town of Cortez and knew then our destination goal of the Four Corners was not much further!  Four Corners is a point of geographical interest where the four states of Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico meet.  This site is also in the middle of Navajo country.  It's hot and dry and very much the desert, with magnificent buttes and mesas spanning the vast horizons.  We arrived well and truly ready for a stretch!
The Four Corners surprisingly was very busy and full of visitors.  It cost a small fee to enter and the site is surrounded, box-like with stalls from the Navajo Indians selling crafts, paintings, pottery and jewellery, each from the different states.  We had fun picking up a few souvenirs and enjoying standing in four places at one time!!  The ground however, was very hot when we  tried to spread ourselves over it!!

The Four Corners Square, each stall is in a different state.

The handmade jewellery is really beautiful.

In four different states. 





A quick pic!  The ground is VERY HOT!

  From here, our final stopping point for the day was Tuba City, which is about an hour and half, from the Grand Canyon and two and half hours from the Four Corners.  We had travelled in a full car of five adult sized people and luggage for about 11 hours.  The country remained completely desert, dry and hot with a few rolling hills and scrublands with the amazing buttes and mesas.  The rock formations and outcrops are beautiful. 

Sarah happy to be in New Mexico! (If we can't actually go to Mexico)

 

Arriving at the Moenkopi Motel, Tuba City. 
Sarah having a big stretch in the heat.

Once arrived, the swimming pool at the Toenpoki Motel was very very welcome!  The motel itself, was really lovely and a welcome resting place in seemingly the middle of nowhere!  Interestingly enough, there was a different time zone from one side of the main road to the other as they belonged to different Indian Tribes!  We also noticed the staff at the restaurants, and motel we patronised were staffed by many of the locals, being Indian natives.

Saturday, 16 July 2011:

The next morning, we left a little later than planned, travelling is tiring, but after breakfast at the neighbouring 'Denny's' we were on our way to The Grand Canyon.  This desert area is Navajo and Mokopi country with humble, scattered housing nestled amongst the buttes and mesas.

Once again the scenery gradually gave way to hills and pine country as we came closer to the Grand Canyon.  We actually took a wrong turn, and got to see more of it than intended, but were pretty excited to enter the Grand Canyon National Park! 

We were able to spend a half a day following a map directing us to vantage points of this great wonder of the world.  Words cannot fully do justice to the grandeur and majesty of the canyon. 

We only saw a glimpse of it really from the south rim, and there was a lot of people as the day wore on, but we did get to hike a trail for about a mile down into the canyon, and this really gives you a feel of the greatness of it! 



 

The Bennallack's at this amazing place!



It's a mile down to the valley floor & the river.

This photo is so accurate.  Looking at this view, it really did look like  a poster. 
The cloud shadow, looks like Sarah's shadow.  But this was no pic, we were actually there!

The hiking trail we followed for about a mile before turning back..

Rick & Tom setting the pace!

While I'm absorbing every bit..

It's just magnificent to get down into a part of the canyon.

We were entertained by some squirrels that were really tame.  They are obviously used to lots of people!  However, the heat and the high altitude made our mile enough of an effort, with a slow trek back to the top. It's wonderful how very warm water tastes, when you are really hot and thirsty! It would have been nice to have made it down to the Indian Villiage but we would have needed to have started earlier.  Another time! 

The squirrels in our yard scamper away quickly, but not these guys!

The squirrel posing for Sarah!

Chani's resting spot..



Go Sarah! You wouldn't think it was hot at all!

I would love to come back and spend a week, and trek from the south rim to the north, camping overnight.  I would also love to see the waterfalls and perhaps take a mule tour.   However, I am so glad to have had this opportunity to see just a small part of this  incredible place.  Words cannot describe how beautiful and grand it really is.  Even photos don't do it full justice - just amazing!!


Showing the trail and strip of green trees in  the middle of the photo, this is the Indian Springs
 we could have walked to, but no further in summer.

Tom's Angels.

Regrettably, we left this wonderful place and moved on to the next leg of our sojourn - Viva! Las Vegas! Here we come!

The Bennallack's at this amazing place!