On the road to Monument Valley, somewhere near Kayenta, Arizona
Friday, July 31, 2009
VEGAS BABY!!!!!
We arrived at Planet Hollywood on Monday noon, waited in line for 45 minutes only to find out that we were considered VIP and didn't have to wait in the line!!! Why do they always tell you those things AFTER you have stood in line??? Then I had to wait in another line to get my "freebies" for being a VIP. I'm still trying to figure out if it was worth it all!!!
Any way our room was very classy, with all kinds amenities. We were on the 20th floor and very comfortable. Well as comfortable as you can be with a picture of David Hasslehoff and two Baywatch babes looking over your bed! I'm talking BIG pictures not little 8 x 10 pictures. They also had a huge picture of two of the babes in the bathroom over the soaking tub, why would you put that kind of picture over a tub? A signed speedo bathing suit in one of the end tables and a Baywatch, suit hanging on the wall. I guess that is one of the drawbacks of staying in a hotel that is totally "hollywood" orientated.
Monday afternoon they had all kinds of areas roped off in the casino and lobby and it only took me about an hour to figure out that they were filming the TV series "CSI" at the hotel that day. I got to watch the whole scene that they were shooting. Saw, Jerry Bruckheimer, Marge Hellgenberg and the guy that plays the detective. Watch for the scene next season when she is handed a ring by an oriental guy at the craps table. When she looks up after he leaves, she was looking right at me. I was so impressed. Denny was not and didn't even know who or what CSI was . . . my phone was useless, couldn't take one picture cause I had dropped it at the Grand Canyon and all it says now is, "busy try later" Phone works but not the camera.
One gentlemen that works at the hotel was talking about his morning, telling us and everyone else in ear shot that he went out to get his morning paper at his home and saw nothing but helicopters, DEA agents, Cops and anyone else that was involved in the raid on Michael Jackson's doctor's home. This employee lived in the same area as the doctor and he said it was a mad house at 6:20 in the morning.
That was all in the first morning and afternoon!!!! Isn't Vegas exciting?????
Saw Cirque de Soilei at Treasure Island on Monday night. It was a very good show. Great costumes, colors, and performers. You didn't know where to look and the time went by very fast. It was funny, and very entertaining well worth the price of the ticket.
Tuesday we took a walk. I wanted to see the Titanic exhibit at the Luxor. What a walk, 114 degree weather. It was so hot you could see the heat coming up from the street, the sidewalks were hot to walk on and you could not touch the railings on any stairs or escalators. BUT it was a dry heat. Denny says it was so DRY he didn't break out a sweat. ME, 114 is hot whether it is dry or wet. It was HOT, HOT, HOT. Not one day got below 112. Oh yeah, and when we got to the Luxor the line for the tickets was about an hour long so the nice walk in the very dry 114 degree weather was a bust!!!
We finally wised up and took the bus to downtown. Wanted to experience the "Fremont Street Experience" It was so HOT under that canopy that you felt like you were in a furnace. But the light show was good and so was dinner. I also found the "old" lighted signs from years gone by interesting. I guess they have a whole museum just with the old neon signs from Vegas during it's heyday. The bus ride back to the hotel was long. Traffic was awful and we finally got off a few blocks from Planet Hollywood and walked in the HOT weather even at 10pm. It must have cooled off to about 99.
Vegas is HOT (just a reminder in case you didn't understand from the paragraph above), crowded and noisy. I really missed my quiet corn fields. The shows were exciting, the food good, but expensive and the hotel stay was worth the noise and crowds. We met some very nice people and enjoyed our stay very much.
Today - July 31, 2009
We left Vegas and headed north to Zion National Park. We did the scenic route, got to the entrance to the park and were surprised to learn that today was their 100th BD and we didn't have to pay the $25 fee to enter the National Park. Woo Hoo!!!! It was a beautiful drive lots of hairpin curves, no barriers along the road and very pretty scenery. They even have a 1.1 mile tunnel in the mountain and that was pretty cool.
We stopped at Lake Powell and saw the dam and the marina. The ranger was telling us that the lake is 58 feet lower this year than last. Same at Hoover Dam you could see how much lower the water was just since the last time we were there. It didn't stop the boats or the people going to the lake and it was very pretty nestled in the mountains.
We are now resting in a Best Western outside Monument Valley. Tomorrow is going to be a long day. We have reservations in Canon City, CO tomorrow night so we are talking about a 7-8 hour drive through the mountains.
I will try to put up some pictures. We didn't take any in Vegas, but took alot today on the drive to Kayenta, AZ. Oh and just in case you haven't finished laughing about the mix up with the time zones, it does get better. Kayenta is on a Navajo Indian Reservation and guess what they don't follow what the rest of Arizona does so their time is different than the rest of the state. We are STILL an hour behind the times. I don't think we will ever get the time straight.
Any way our room was very classy, with all kinds amenities. We were on the 20th floor and very comfortable. Well as comfortable as you can be with a picture of David Hasslehoff and two Baywatch babes looking over your bed! I'm talking BIG pictures not little 8 x 10 pictures. They also had a huge picture of two of the babes in the bathroom over the soaking tub, why would you put that kind of picture over a tub? A signed speedo bathing suit in one of the end tables and a Baywatch, suit hanging on the wall. I guess that is one of the drawbacks of staying in a hotel that is totally "hollywood" orientated.
Monday afternoon they had all kinds of areas roped off in the casino and lobby and it only took me about an hour to figure out that they were filming the TV series "CSI" at the hotel that day. I got to watch the whole scene that they were shooting. Saw, Jerry Bruckheimer, Marge Hellgenberg and the guy that plays the detective. Watch for the scene next season when she is handed a ring by an oriental guy at the craps table. When she looks up after he leaves, she was looking right at me. I was so impressed. Denny was not and didn't even know who or what CSI was . . . my phone was useless, couldn't take one picture cause I had dropped it at the Grand Canyon and all it says now is, "busy try later" Phone works but not the camera.
One gentlemen that works at the hotel was talking about his morning, telling us and everyone else in ear shot that he went out to get his morning paper at his home and saw nothing but helicopters, DEA agents, Cops and anyone else that was involved in the raid on Michael Jackson's doctor's home. This employee lived in the same area as the doctor and he said it was a mad house at 6:20 in the morning.
That was all in the first morning and afternoon!!!! Isn't Vegas exciting?????
Saw Cirque de Soilei at Treasure Island on Monday night. It was a very good show. Great costumes, colors, and performers. You didn't know where to look and the time went by very fast. It was funny, and very entertaining well worth the price of the ticket.
Tuesday we took a walk. I wanted to see the Titanic exhibit at the Luxor. What a walk, 114 degree weather. It was so hot you could see the heat coming up from the street, the sidewalks were hot to walk on and you could not touch the railings on any stairs or escalators. BUT it was a dry heat. Denny says it was so DRY he didn't break out a sweat. ME, 114 is hot whether it is dry or wet. It was HOT, HOT, HOT. Not one day got below 112. Oh yeah, and when we got to the Luxor the line for the tickets was about an hour long so the nice walk in the very dry 114 degree weather was a bust!!!
We finally wised up and took the bus to downtown. Wanted to experience the "Fremont Street Experience" It was so HOT under that canopy that you felt like you were in a furnace. But the light show was good and so was dinner. I also found the "old" lighted signs from years gone by interesting. I guess they have a whole museum just with the old neon signs from Vegas during it's heyday. The bus ride back to the hotel was long. Traffic was awful and we finally got off a few blocks from Planet Hollywood and walked in the HOT weather even at 10pm. It must have cooled off to about 99.
Vegas is HOT (just a reminder in case you didn't understand from the paragraph above), crowded and noisy. I really missed my quiet corn fields. The shows were exciting, the food good, but expensive and the hotel stay was worth the noise and crowds. We met some very nice people and enjoyed our stay very much.
Today - July 31, 2009
We left Vegas and headed north to Zion National Park. We did the scenic route, got to the entrance to the park and were surprised to learn that today was their 100th BD and we didn't have to pay the $25 fee to enter the National Park. Woo Hoo!!!! It was a beautiful drive lots of hairpin curves, no barriers along the road and very pretty scenery. They even have a 1.1 mile tunnel in the mountain and that was pretty cool.
We stopped at Lake Powell and saw the dam and the marina. The ranger was telling us that the lake is 58 feet lower this year than last. Same at Hoover Dam you could see how much lower the water was just since the last time we were there. It didn't stop the boats or the people going to the lake and it was very pretty nestled in the mountains.
We are now resting in a Best Western outside Monument Valley. Tomorrow is going to be a long day. We have reservations in Canon City, CO tomorrow night so we are talking about a 7-8 hour drive through the mountains.
I will try to put up some pictures. We didn't take any in Vegas, but took alot today on the drive to Kayenta, AZ. Oh and just in case you haven't finished laughing about the mix up with the time zones, it does get better. Kayenta is on a Navajo Indian Reservation and guess what they don't follow what the rest of Arizona does so their time is different than the rest of the state. We are STILL an hour behind the times. I don't think we will ever get the time straight.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
You know those emails you get about stupid people calling tech support about their computers? Well you can add me to the list. I told you that I called US Cellular and wanted to know why our cell phones went to Pacific time instead of Mountain time . . . . .Duh, we found out today when we arrived at the Grand Canyon (an hour early) and after reading the little article about "What Time is It?" We found out that Arizona doesn't adhere to Daylights Savings Time. So for the last two days we have been an hour behind whatever time we thought it was. . . . Gee no wonder the restaurants weren't crowded!!!!! It also means we probably left Flagstaff at about 6 am this AM!!!!!!
We now have our watches and our minds set to the right time and are functioning at an almost normal level. Boy it is really scary when my "Polish" comes out unexpectedly.
The Grand Canyon was breathtaking. You loose any conception of how far away things are, how big it is and how far it is to the bottom. We looked at the rapids (one of the pictures below) and it looked like a stream but the waves in the rapids were 10 feet and the drop in the river was over 30. Denny read in the same newspaper that we learned we were an hour behind, that it was over 21 miles from one rim to the other side and over a mile to the bottom!!!!
It took the health nuts almost all day to walk the 7 miles from the first lookout we saw to Hermits Point. We know this because every once in awhile you would see them walking the paths or at one of the lookouts. I don't have to tell you we didn't walk. They had a free shuttle bus and we used it, but my little pedometer says we walked almost 4 miles today. The rangers give good advice and tell those adventuresome hikers don't expect to walk to the bottom or around the rim in one day. Allow 1/3 of your time to get down and at least 2/3 of your time to get back up. I liked the shuttle got to see just as much if not more than the hikers.
We had sun screen with us and on but both of us got sunburned. Denny didn't have a hat, his head is okay but he forgot to put the sunscreen on his forehead and the tops of his feet so they are now bright red!!!! I got a little on my arms and that was about it. It was very hot and I was surprised that they didn't have water available. Of course, I didn't have any so we were very glad when we finally made it to Hermits Point and were able to get water.
It took us all day to see the 7 miles of the shuttle at the south rim. Hopefully if we have time after we leave Vegas we may try to see some of the North Rim on the way home.
We still have Ravens following us and I almost walked into a deer that I didn't see. The guy across the way kept saying, "deer, deer" and I just kept walking. Denny finally grabbed my arm and I saw the thing. I guess I wouldn't make a very good hunter!!!!!! I've uploaded a picture for you to see.
Not very many Americans are vacationing (at least not out here) most of the people were Eastern Europeans (I could tell Toni) and alot of French speaking people, probably from Quebec. Today was the first time we saw crowds and full parking lots. But we really didn't have to wait too long for the buses. So it was a very good day.
Lloyd I saw one plaque with a Bible verse on it and it was at Hermits Point right outside the gift shop. There may have been more but we didn't see them.
We are now in Williams, cute little town right on Historic Route 66 and tomorrow we are off to Vegas. Haven't decided how we are going. May take a two hour side trip to Lake Havasu, but we aren't sure yet.
Jackie and Cindy, hope you both have a good week at VBS.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
July 25, 2009
We are still in Flagstaff. Haven't a clue what we will do today, but I'm sure we will find something.
Karen, my catsitter and neighbor called. . . seems our garage door was opened this AM. I had left the opener on the table for John to use next week when he mows the lawn for us. Guess, Jerry decided to play with it and opened the door sometime early this AM. He is such a bad kitty.
Postcards should be arriving soon to all family members. I didn't say much but the pictures are pretty. I know that is getting old but it really is very pretty and each place is unique and different.
Nothing else new or exciting . . .
Decided we are heading south to Sedona and maybe some canyon down that way. We are a little screwed up here. Our watches are on mountain time and our cell phones have decided they like Pacific time better. Same thing happened to mine on the cruise my phone kept changing time zones for no reason. I'm going to have to check this out with US Cellular.
Talk with you all later.
We are still in Flagstaff. Haven't a clue what we will do today, but I'm sure we will find something.
Karen, my catsitter and neighbor called. . . seems our garage door was opened this AM. I had left the opener on the table for John to use next week when he mows the lawn for us. Guess, Jerry decided to play with it and opened the door sometime early this AM. He is such a bad kitty.
Postcards should be arriving soon to all family members. I didn't say much but the pictures are pretty. I know that is getting old but it really is very pretty and each place is unique and different.
Nothing else new or exciting . . .
Decided we are heading south to Sedona and maybe some canyon down that way. We are a little screwed up here. Our watches are on mountain time and our cell phones have decided they like Pacific time better. Same thing happened to mine on the cruise my phone kept changing time zones for no reason. I'm going to have to check this out with US Cellular.
Talk with you all later.
Friday, July 24, 2009
July 24, 2009 Flagstaff, AR
We arrived at Flagstaff around 5 this evening. It was a tiring day but we saw lots of beautiful places and things. The Painted Desert was really pretty and very colorful for a desert. I didn't expect to see all the different colors. The Peterified Forest was neat too. We pulled over at every spot to look and see. Each one was different and worth the effort. It is hard to believe that they were once trees. There are no people out here. I was very surprised at the lack of cars. The one picture of just Denny's truck in the parking lot is not a trick picture as we were leaving the area one other car drove in . . .
I think we are staying in Flagstaff for 2 days with the hopes of making it to the Grand Canyon on Sunday. There seems to be lots of things to do around here so we will do that stuff tomorrow.
We are both having a good time, missing home and the cats but they are being well cared for and probably getting even more spoiled than we spoil them.
Enjoy the pictures, we took lots more. Can't wait to show them off.
We arrived at Flagstaff around 5 this evening. It was a tiring day but we saw lots of beautiful places and things. The Painted Desert was really pretty and very colorful for a desert. I didn't expect to see all the different colors. The Peterified Forest was neat too. We pulled over at every spot to look and see. Each one was different and worth the effort. It is hard to believe that they were once trees. There are no people out here. I was very surprised at the lack of cars. The one picture of just Denny's truck in the parking lot is not a trick picture as we were leaving the area one other car drove in . . .
I think we are staying in Flagstaff for 2 days with the hopes of making it to the Grand Canyon on Sunday. There seems to be lots of things to do around here so we will do that stuff tomorrow.
We are both having a good time, missing home and the cats but they are being well cared for and probably getting even more spoiled than we spoil them.
Enjoy the pictures, we took lots more. Can't wait to show them off.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Thursday July 23, 2009
Up at the crack of dawn! (Being married to a farmer does at times have it's drawbacks!!) Breakfast at Denny's and then off to the Cavarns. Dreary socked in misty day. Remember we are in the desert. Humidity is NOT supposed to be 87%!!!!!
By the time we got to the information center at the Cave you could not see two feet in front of you.
We decided to take the whole self guided tour. Three hours and about 4 miles later we were back in the parking lot.
It was beautiful and if you ever get here, I would suggest that you make the trip. I had my pedometer with me so I know exactly how far we walked and thankfully, it was all down hill. Took us an hour and a half to get to the natural cave entrance. The only problem was dodging bird poop from the cave dwelling swallows that were not thrilled that we were there and interupting their morning routine. The further down you got the damper it got and the cooler it got. Denny took lots of pictures and we saw lots of really neat formations. When we finally got to the "BIG ROOM" we realized we still had another mile and a half to go. Remember down hill, but even that gets old after awhile. My calves feel like I ran a marathon. At the orientation that the ranger gives you before you start your trek he reminds you that there is at least 3 miles of walking between the restrooms. The rangers do have "convenience" bags but they are neither convenient or private. Again they may work for a male but I would have trouble and so would any other female. I saw shades of the movie where Mel Brooks hands the Flight Attendant his barf bag after his plane trip and I'm sure most people try not to ask for them.
I also surpressed the urge to be a Becky Thatcher and scream my head off like she did, after getting lost in the cave with Tom Sawyer. But again at the orientation the ranger tells you to use a low whisper because voices travel through the whole cave. So I had to give up on that idea too. It was weird you really could hear conversations like they were right next to you.
We got to the last restrooms and thankfully took the elevator up the 750 feet to the information center. There I got Ricky his picture of the bats leaving the cave and postcards for the other 3 grandkids.
We set off for Socorro, NM. By way of Roswell and a very scenic route through the mountains. We passed the White Sands missile range and passed the Trinity site where the "bomb" was tested. Trinity is only opened 2 days a year, so we didn't see that, bummer!!!!
Lots of sunflowers, sagebrush, cacti and pecan trees. Even saw a few corn fields.
Tomorrow we are off to Albuquerque and Flagstaff.
If anyone can tell me why my pictures aren't showing up on this blog I would appreciate any and all instructions!!!!!!
Up at the crack of dawn! (Being married to a farmer does at times have it's drawbacks!!) Breakfast at Denny's and then off to the Cavarns. Dreary socked in misty day. Remember we are in the desert. Humidity is NOT supposed to be 87%!!!!!
By the time we got to the information center at the Cave you could not see two feet in front of you.
We decided to take the whole self guided tour. Three hours and about 4 miles later we were back in the parking lot.
It was beautiful and if you ever get here, I would suggest that you make the trip. I had my pedometer with me so I know exactly how far we walked and thankfully, it was all down hill. Took us an hour and a half to get to the natural cave entrance. The only problem was dodging bird poop from the cave dwelling swallows that were not thrilled that we were there and interupting their morning routine. The further down you got the damper it got and the cooler it got. Denny took lots of pictures and we saw lots of really neat formations. When we finally got to the "BIG ROOM" we realized we still had another mile and a half to go. Remember down hill, but even that gets old after awhile. My calves feel like I ran a marathon. At the orientation that the ranger gives you before you start your trek he reminds you that there is at least 3 miles of walking between the restrooms. The rangers do have "convenience" bags but they are neither convenient or private. Again they may work for a male but I would have trouble and so would any other female. I saw shades of the movie where Mel Brooks hands the Flight Attendant his barf bag after his plane trip and I'm sure most people try not to ask for them.
I also surpressed the urge to be a Becky Thatcher and scream my head off like she did, after getting lost in the cave with Tom Sawyer. But again at the orientation the ranger tells you to use a low whisper because voices travel through the whole cave. So I had to give up on that idea too. It was weird you really could hear conversations like they were right next to you.
We got to the last restrooms and thankfully took the elevator up the 750 feet to the information center. There I got Ricky his picture of the bats leaving the cave and postcards for the other 3 grandkids.
We set off for Socorro, NM. By way of Roswell and a very scenic route through the mountains. We passed the White Sands missile range and passed the Trinity site where the "bomb" was tested. Trinity is only opened 2 days a year, so we didn't see that, bummer!!!!
Lots of sunflowers, sagebrush, cacti and pecan trees. Even saw a few corn fields.
Tomorrow we are off to Albuquerque and Flagstaff.
If anyone can tell me why my pictures aren't showing up on this blog I would appreciate any and all instructions!!!!!!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
I've tried for an hour to upload pictures. Change blog title so that there is a picture of Denny and I and can't find any of them. If anyone finds my pictures out there in cyberspace please let me know. I'll try again when I can call Liz or someone else and figure out what I'm doing wrong.
The caverns and then on to Roswell.
The caverns and then on to Roswell.
Carlsbad, NM. July 22, 2009
We arrived at about 3 pm after driving through two states that rarely have rain and had flash floods all day today. The monthly average for rain in New Mexico is 2 inches. Today they had over 6. Hope this doesn't mean that we will get lost on our "self guided" tour at the cave tomorrow!!!!
I'm experimenting with this and if it works will continue rather than try to keep everyone updated with emails. I may even try to load some pics on this if I can figure out how to do it.
We are chilling in our "free" hotel room. See it pays to complain when things aren't up to snuff. We were given a free night when I complained to the hotel chain back in April. So I really can't comjplain about the accomodations tonight.
WE are both pretty tired from 16 hours in the car. From now on we can take our time and enjoy the many sites (the world's deepest hand dug well; the largest ball of twine and many more roadside tourist traps!) along our route.
Talk with you later.
We arrived at about 3 pm after driving through two states that rarely have rain and had flash floods all day today. The monthly average for rain in New Mexico is 2 inches. Today they had over 6. Hope this doesn't mean that we will get lost on our "self guided" tour at the cave tomorrow!!!!
I'm experimenting with this and if it works will continue rather than try to keep everyone updated with emails. I may even try to load some pics on this if I can figure out how to do it.
We are chilling in our "free" hotel room. See it pays to complain when things aren't up to snuff. We were given a free night when I complained to the hotel chain back in April. So I really can't comjplain about the accomodations tonight.
WE are both pretty tired from 16 hours in the car. From now on we can take our time and enjoy the many sites (the world's deepest hand dug well; the largest ball of twine and many more roadside tourist traps!) along our route.
Talk with you later.
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