Saturday, April 4
We left the house around 9am and drove to Detroit Metro Airport, leaving the car at Airlines Parking. At the airport we zipped through Security in 5 minutes. I can only hope we are as lucky when we leave Las Vegas in a week. The flight was uneventful and we landed around 2pm Las Vegas time. We picked up our bags, and then picked up the rental car from Enterprise, which turned out to be an SUV because that is what they had a lot of. Bigger than we are used to, but not bad. We stopped at Walmart to pick up groceries for the week, then checked in at The Cliffs at Peace Canyon. This is a nice resort, and better than the one we had in Malaga. With the three hour time difference we made it to about 8pm Las Vegas time and then crashed.
Sunday, April 5
We were up at 6am, but with showering and having breakfast, it was close to 8 when we left. Our destination was Death Valley, which was about a 2 hour drive from Las Vegas. The Ranger told us that Death Valley National Park is larger than the state of Connecticut, so we weren’t going to see every single thing in the park in our one day trip, but we did see some good things. After checking in at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center we headed for the Badwater Basin to see the salt flats. You can walk out on the flats, which we did for little ways. Then we worked our way back up the road. We looked in at Natural Bridge, but it looked like a bit of a drive on an unpaved road, with an uncertain hike at the end, so we turned around and went back to the main road.
Then we took the Artists Drive, which is a scenic loop for the car, but we got out at a point where there was an overlook and climbed uphill. We were rewarded with good views of the rock formations which are multi-colored. It is called Artists Drive because the colors on the rocks resemble an artist’s palette. I love the rock formations of the southwest, which I first saw when we came out here with our niece Erin in 2017, and then revisited with our RV in the winter of 2022-23.
Then we stopped at Golden Canyon and hiked in a little way, but the path started to be broken and difficult, and I can’t handle a lot of that any more. For our last stop we checked out the views from Zabriskie Point, which were well worth the moderate climb. Everywhere you looked there were fantastic rock formations, but each direction seemed to be different. By now we were tired, and Cheryl took over the driving to get us back to Las Vegas. When we got back to the resort I put on my bathing suit. Our suite is right next to the pool, so I first went into the moderately cool main pool. In this climate I doubt that an outdoor pool ever gets truly cold. Then it was into the spa for some hot water jets massaging my back, followed by 10 minutes lying on a deck chair. That made me feel 100% better, so on to dinner. We had a long day, but it was worth it. Tomorrow we head out again.
Monday, April 6
Today we were off to the Valley of Fire State Park, about an hour north of Las Vegas, and it was pretty amazing. It is the largest state park in Nevada, with red rock formations that are spectacular. On many of the rocks you can see petroglyphs left by the Native Americans.
We started with the Mouse’s Tank trail, which ends at a natural basin where water may collect from time to time. It is not very large though, which is why it is for a mouse. The path is very fine sand, so it is physically taxing to do the hike, even though it is only 1.5 miles round trip. But it was worth the trip. At the end, by the basin, we saw a couple of mountain goats, one of which ignored us and munched on some vegetation just a few feet away from us. We also saw a few lizards, but they were not disposed to pose for pictures.
Then we went to the Rainbow Vista Trail, which would be one mile out and one mile back. But again we had the fine sand, plus the trail kept going down and was rocky. At a certain point I decided I would regret it if I went any further. I was starting to feel pretty tired, so we turned around and went back to the car. The views were different on this trail, with more of a mixture of rock types and colors (hence Rainbow). We then went up the road just a bit to the Fire Canyon Overlook, which gave us great views of the surrounding area. And there we saw a plaque that explained that this is one of the sites used for the movie Star Trek: Generations. Well, it really was otherworldly.
We filled the tank on our trip back, and a sign of the times is that we found a station selling gas for $4.69 a gallon, and thought that was a good deal. Damn you Trump!
By noon it was getting hotter and we were tired, so we headed back. We stopped at Walmart to get supplies for our tour tomorrow, which is a long one. We need to plan for all of our meals so we picked up stuff that would pack and travel easily. And we will go to bed early since we need to be up at 3:30am for this one. But first of all, a dip in the pool. Then to reserve an Uber to pick us up at 4:15 AM to go to the MGM Grand where we join our bus tour.
Tuesday, April 7
The main event! This was the sight we had to see. We got an Uber early in the morning to go to the MGM Grand, and were the first on the bus. We had two stops to make in a 14 hour day. The first was Horseshoe Bend, which we regarded as nice but optional, and the second was Antelope Canyon, which we have been eager to see. In fact I booked this trip through Viator before we left Michigan just to make sure we wouldn’t miss it.
We hit the road and made a pit stop at a grocery store with restrooms, then continued on the Horseshoe Bend. That took us about 4.5 hours. It is the east side of the Grand Canyon where the river makes a bend that does resemble a horseshoe. From where you park you walk down to the rim. There are rock formations on either side when you get there, and people were climbing on them, but we stuck to the paved area with a safety railing.
Then it was back on the bus to Lower Antelope Canyon, about 45 minutes further on. It is on the Navajo Reservation, which is sovereign, so they make the rules. From the outside there is nothing to see. But you go down a hillside, then down steep metal steps, and on the bottom you are in the canyon. The floor is more of that fine sand you get from eroding sandstone. And erosion is what caused this canyon. It is the work of water rushing through and creating fantastic shapes in the sandstone. From where you start at the bottom you are gradually moving upwards, until at the end you suddenly pop out of what looks like a non-descript hole in the ground.
Going back was about a 5 hour drive, with another stop at the same grocery store midway. Our route also took us by the Glen Canyon Dam which forms Lake Powell, and I tried to get a shot from the bus. Eventually we got back to Las Vegas and took another Uber back to the resort. Our driver was a musician (Roy Hamilton, Jr.), and his father was a well known musician, so we talked music the whole way. We got back around 8, and after a short spell went to bed. It had been a long day, but an enjoyable one.
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