It's been a busy summer this year with alot of travel. None of it in the coach though. Annual trek to Raleigh in May, a staycation in June, and 2 weeks in Vietnam in July. I may get back to VN as it was a road trip (over 1300 miles). This month I took a trip with JT to Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. It started out as just a trip to Reno, NV for the last ever air races in Reno to celebrate his 30th birtday. When I was a kid in the 70s I used to see it on Wide World of Sports. Always was interested, found out this was the last year, so now or never.
Found this clip from the '80s that was shot from the hillside in the flight path. Yeah this was what they showed on TV.
Toward the end of June he calls and says 'about the trip' and my heart sinks as I fear the worst. Well it's good news as his work schedule came out and he finishes work in the afternoon 4.5 days earlier than hoped, so he actually has 9.5 days off! We start talking about other options as I hadn't booked any flights yet.
We come up with a ridiculous plan of flying to Vegas, driving to Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Meteor Crater, Petrified Forest NP, Grand Canyon NP, Vegas, then driving to Reno via Death Valley NP. Mind you this would be in 5 days!!
So that mileage (over 1600) is about that same as driving from Miami to Maine or so... I actually tossed the North Rim of the GC in there as well, but it got quickly lost. We both knew this was a ridiculous plan so we started to whittle it down for the trip within the trip.
Once I started looking at airfares, the Vegas - Reno portion fell off very quickly. A one way flight at $35 per person vs. 8+ hours in the car and additional cost of the car (more than the flight for two) for the extra day and gas. As it turned out the first ever tropical storm to hit the area flooded Death Valley and it was still closed indefinitiely when we were out there, so it all worked out.
Additionally, the Petrified Forest fell off the radar as did Bryce (but less so). As I was looking for lodging, I settled on Saturday night in Kanab, UT which actually shows up on the above map as a dot on the line on the AZ/UT border to the west of Paige, AZ.
So by the time we set off, it was fly into Vegas on Friday, get up Saturday drive to Zion (3.5 hours), send afternoon, drive to Kanab (30 miles away). Sunday (JT's birthday) No set plan, no hotel booked in case we really liked Zion, or wanted to go to Bryce or the North Rim (equal distant from Kanab). Monday early shot out to Meteor crater, then return back and stay at Grand Canyon Village (room booked). Tuesday meander to Hoover Dam and back to Vegas. Wed chill day in Vegas and fly to Reno.
As you will follow along, we mostly stayed to the plan and many things went our way through luck or good planning.
My travel day started late morning with a tri-rail ride to FLL. Not a fan of Spirit but non-stop to Vegas was hard to pass up, so off I went. Flight was issue free and we arrived early, with me getting a great view of the GC out the window on the way in.
As with all grand nature photos, they don't do it justice, so we will leave it there. I had contacted Lucy's 2nd cousin Victoria who lives in Vegas to meet up with. Was hoping to see her Dad and we had a great time in Vietnam together as wel, but he was out of town along with Paul, her husband.
We agreed to meet at one of the two famous tiki bars in Vegas, The Golden Tiki as that was the one with a kitchen. I made a 7PM reservation as I was told to do so, especially on a Friday night. I was glad I did, it was busy. I figured I'd have a ton of time from a 4:30 arrival, but it took me over 2 hours to get our of the airport! Budget was stupid busy and understaffed, at least 1:45 to get my car, while the other car rental places weren't as busy (but more $$$, as I checked while in line).
I got the car and had enough time to drive to the bar with one quick stop at a grocery to get some snacks and such as we were road tripping. We met up, had a lovely time and the bar was fun with good drinks and decent food (limited tapas menu).
We finished and I went to the hotel to check in and a short time later it was time to collect JT at the airport. His flight was early too. We drove directly to the other tiki bar, Frankie's Tiki Room for a nightcap.
Both bars were great, but the overall vibe at Frankie's won the day for me. It was the total package. The decor was outstanding at both, but Frankie's felt less overdone. The music was better as were the videos on the TV. Some are put off that it's a smoking bar, but it was maybe 20-25% capacity while we were there and only one or two people smoking so it wasn't an issue. Our clothes didn't even smell when we left. It was a much more relaxed experience, but then again I was more relaxed as I wasn't travel stressed anymore once JT was collected and the room set up...
Had a couple and called it a night as we were both on east coast time and it was already after midnight and we had a drive in the AM.....
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