21st October to 24th October - Las Vegas and Los Angeles

Tuesday in Las Vegas was our big shopping day.  Our first stop was Walmart to buy a bag to put it all in, and then we hit the outlets and a couple of malls and shopped up a storm!  That night we hit the Bellagio buffet for dinner (which is a must for us in Las Vegas), and as usual it did not disappoint!  

Wednesday morning, we did a little bit more shopping and then spent the afternoon by the pool relaxing and having a few drinks.  Wednesday night saw us at another buffet - this time at the Wicked Spoon which was at the Cosmopolitan.  It was pretty good too, all the buffet options came on little single serve plates and they had an amazing Gelato Bar with a whole heap of flavours to choose from.

Thursday morning Wade returned the Mustang to the rental company and picked up our car to drive to LA and then it was back to Walmart to stock up on all the extra goodies to take home (ie. chocolates, lollies and sauces etc)!!  The drive to LA was pretty busy - there were lots of trucks on the road and a lot of roadworks.  There was also an accident just outside of LA that held us up a little bit and strangely (or maybe not) it was in almost the exact same location that there was an accident last time we drove that route!  After checking into our hotel, we headed across to Universal City Walk to grab some dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp.

Friday, Wade managed to con me, and got his wish to go to a theme park - Six Flags Magic Mountain!  It was about 40 minutes from where we were staying, so we timed it to arrive at opening time so we could get it over and done with (clearly my words not his)!!!!  It was pretty quiet when we first arrived and Wade managed to ride on quite a few of the roller coasters without too much of a wait.  When we hit the one where it told us it was a 15 minute wait time, and I waited 45 minutes for him to get off the ride - it was time to go!!  

We then headed back to the hotel to pick up our bags, before heading across to one last mall near the airport.  The traffic was pretty ordinary on the way here, so after a quick stop, we returned the car and headed to the airport.  Surprisingly, we got through check in and security really quickly, so headed to the lounge to wait until our boarding time.

We arrived home Sunday morning after a long flight but we both got a little bit of sleep on the plane (thank you business class lie flat beds).  We had an amazing holiday, made some great memories, but at the same time it was great to come home too!

A massive thank you to my sister and her family, for looking after our house and Rog for the entire time we were away.  Not only that, we came home to a spotless house, our gardens all cleaned up (with some help from some of our friends as well) and beautiful flowers on the bench.  We are very spoilt!

Until next time.......  

19th & 20th October - Monument Valley & Page

On Sunday we hit the road again for our drive out to Monument Valley.  Today’s drive took us 260 miles/418 kms out of Arizona and into Utah.  We had organised a Sunset Jeep tour for the afternoon, so by the time we got there, had a wander and some food, it was time for the tour.

The tour took us down in to the valley where we got to see the various monuments up close and from different angles.  Our guide was a native of the area and we also visited a traditional home, where they showed us how they do the traditional rug weaving and I was chosen to get my hair put into a traditional bun using wool (I say chosen loosely - it was by default - I was the only one with long hair as everyone else on the tour was old)!!  We spent a couple of hours on the valley floor, our guide sang some traditional songs for us in one of the rock areas that had great acoustics, and we watched the sunset around the various rock formations.  It was a really good tour, but a very cold and dusty drive back to the hotel after it was over!  

Tonight’s dinner was at the hotel’s restaurant (again, by default as it was the only place to choose from - the next closest thing was a decent drive away), but it was pretty good.  The hotel we were staying at is the only one that is situated right above the valley and our room had an amazing view.  It was a really clear sky that night and you could see stars forever!  We got up early too, to watch the sunrise, which was pretty amazing (we have uploaded a time lapse video to show the sunrise too).  

We hit the road again pretty well as soon as the sun was up, and our next stop was Page, Arizona which was 125 miles/201 kms away.  In Page we took a tour of the Lower Antelope Canyon - which was amazing.  It was an almost 2 hour trek through the canyons, but well worth it as the rock formations were amazing - the photos pretty well speak for themselves.  It was a great tour and our guide was really knowledgeable and we were really glad we decided to do this tour.  

Next stop in the area was Horseshoe Bend, where we walked the 1.2km hike out to the cliff edge (I wouldn’t let Wade too close to the edge, and the GoPro on the pole came in handy here!!) to see the point where the Colorado River does a complete turn.  It was pretty amazing, although we were there during the middle of the day, and it would probably be more amazing at sunrise & sunset but our time didn’t allow for this.  The hike back was a killer though very soft sand and mostly uphill - definitely got a work out!

It was back on the road then, for the next part of the trip!  We drove 280 miles/450 kms from Page to Las Vegas, but we did this via Zion National Park.  By this stage it was late afternoon, so we didn’t have a lot of time to spend here unfortunately, but the drive through the park was pretty amazing, and we had a quick stop at the visitor centre for a wander around, before hitting the road to Las Vegas.

Here are some photos from these few days

Monument Valley from our Hotel

Monument Valley Sunset Jeep Tour

This Rock formation looks like a bird

The same rock formation from a different angle looks like a horse!

Stars from our room

Sunrise in Monument Valley

Sunrise Time Lapse

Lower Antelope Canyon

Horseshoe Bend

Zion National Park

17th & 18th October - Sedona

Days 22 to 24 - Vegas & Sedona

We arrived in Las Vegas on Thursday night and picked up our hire car - a Mustang V8!  We made our way to our hotel, The Mirage, checked in and then hit the strip!  The Mirage is known for its volcano which has an eruption show multiple times each night.  In all the times we have been to Vegas we haven’t managed to see the show, but tonight we did, and it was pretty cool!  We then walked that end of the strip for a little while, before grabbing dinner and heading back to the hotel.

Friday morning we were back on the road, this time on our way to Sedona, Arizona.  The trip took us 278 miles/447 kms out of Nevada and into Arizona.  We had a quick stop in Flagstaff for lunch and fuel before heading towards Sedona.  The road towards Sedona had some really windy sections which Wade enjoyed, and the landscape really surprised us.  I think we expected it be very desert like with lots of red rocks but it was pretty much the complete opposite!  Definitely lots of massive red rocks but lots of green trees as well.

We checked into the Inn on Oak Creek, which was a beautiful, homely little place built right on Oak Creek.  Our room had a view of the creek which lucky for me was home to a large family of ducks that kept me entertained many times while we were here!!  We dumped our bags and headed into town to check out the main street.  After a quick walk around here, we went for a bit of a drive and then headed up the airport road to check out the sunset over the rocks.  Dinner tonight was at the Hillside Grill across the road from where we were staying.

Saturday morning we had organised a jeep tour that took us out onto some of the red rocks.  We did the Broken Arrow tour, which took us to see many of the rock formations including Chicken Point, Submarine Rock, Bell Rock and Chapel Butte and many others!  Our tour guide, Larry, was really entertaining and knew a lot about the area and how to make the jeep do things that you probably wouldn’t think it could!  We took some great pictures but they still don’t really reflect what we actually saw - the views were amazing!  After the jeep tour, we grabbed the car and went for a bit of a drive along some of the scenic routes and then out to a little town called Jerome, which was an old mining town that overlooks the Verde Valley.  We grabbed lunch on the way back into Sedona at Sonic, which is a fast food restaurant where you park your car, order from your car and then they bring the food out to you on roller skates! 

In the afternoon we headed out to the Village of Oak Creek, where (of course) Wade came across a little hot rod show, so we pulled in for him to look at the cars.  We then went to the Sedona Golf Resort, where Wade had organised a round of golf.  I got to be his caddy - well sort of - I drove the golf cart and handed him a few clubs when I wasn’t taking photos (I don't think he'll take me again)!!  Apparently I drive the golf cart just like him (I have spent way too many years driving in a car with him obviously and it has rubbed off)!  He didn’t get a full round in, but still enjoyed it and the views around the golf course were great.  Tonight we had a few drinks and snacks on our balcony, while listening to the music playing at the wedding happening at the place across the creek (free entertainment!).  Dinner tonight was at the Oak Creek Brewery.

Here are some photos from the last few days:

Volcano Show at the Mirage

Crazy duck hanging out in the lake where the Volcano show goes off!

Ducks galore at the Inn on Oak Creek

Sedona town

Our Jeep tour

The love heart tree!

Driving around......

Sedona Golf Resort

The ducks sure do like Sedona!

Sunset

Happy Hour!