(Click on the photos for enlargements.)
Today we flew from Madison to Las Vegas, and then drove up to Zion National
Park. Things went fine, except that we had
the worst meal I've had in a long time (at the Thunderbird Restaurant in Mesquite,
Nevada). There were thunderstorms while we were driving (which was kind of cool,
and, I guess, pretty rare for this area).
We picked the Emerald Pools trail for our first hike at Zion. This is not a real hard trail (about 400 feet elevation gain), although some parts of the trail are rough and rocky.
After doing the Emerald Pools hike we drove up through the Kayenta Tunnel. There
are some photos from there farther down. We had to wait to go through the tunnel
because an oversize vehicle was coming the other way (the tunnel is only big enough
for two-way traffic with fairly normal-size cars). The ranger said they get hundreds
of oversize vehicles a day through there in the summer. It must be a total pain in
the butt. I don't really think the $10 they charge is enough....
Here are a couple of photos just giving a general idea of what Zion Canyon looks
like.
Today we hiked the Angel's Landing trail. This is one of the most spectacular
hikes I've done (up there with Yosemite Falls). It's certainly not for the wimpy
(1500 feet of elevation gain) or those afraid of heights.
After the Angel's Landing hike we also hiked the Riverside trail. The photos
from that weren't so spectacular, so I'm leaving them out.
Later in the day we drove out of the park. We ended up at the La Verkin overlook.
Here are a couple of photos from there.
Today we drove up through the Kayenta Tunnel again. On the way up to the
tunnel you get some great views of the Great Arch.
Just on the other side of the tunnel is the Canyon Overlook trail. It's a
pretty easy trail (not much elevation gain, since you've done that on the road)
and only about a mile round trip. You do get some really cool views.
After hiking the Canyon Overlook trail we drove farther east (all the way out of
the park).
After coming back through the tunnel we drove out of the park the other direction
and then up the Kolob Road. (My knees were a little sore after the Angel's
Landing hike so we were taking it easy.) We got up to about 7000 feet elevation
on the Kolob Road (we turned around when we hit snow on the road).
Today we hiked the Watchman trail. This was actually one of our favorite
hikes at Zion. It was not real strenuous (about 400 foot elevation gain)
but the views were really nice and it was not at all crowded.
Later in the day we rented bikes. I did some mountain biking (outside
the park) and Sue rode on the road through the park.
We drove from Zion through Las Vegas to Hoover Dam. The dam was pretty
interesting to see.
Then we drove back to Las Vegas and checked into our hotel (the Flamingo Las Vegas).
We went to a show at our hotel, and we ended up sitting next to the parents of Sue's
parents' next door neighbor. Small world!
We did some walking around on the Strip. We saw the fountains at Bellagio, which
were pretty cool. We couldn't help thinking about how much water they use, though,
especially after just having been at Hoover Dam. The reservoir was something like
50 feet below normal because they've had a drought for about the last three years.
Today I did a day of race driving school at the Derek Daly Academy
at Las Vegas Speedway. We drove FF2000 race cars. They don't have an
awful lot of power (around 140-150 hp) but they only weigh about 1100
lbs., so they perform pretty well! The instructors said that they can
do about 1.2 gs cornerning and 1.5 braking, even on the street tires
that we used for the class. They can supposedly go up to about 135
mph, although we only got up to about 100, just because the tracks we
used didn't have any long straightaways.
After taking this class, I have a lot more appreciation for how hard
it is to actually drive a race car well! You get no idea at all from TV,
even from the in-car shots. When you are trying to go as fast as you
can it is darn hard to even do one corner decently, let alone a whole
lap or a whole race!
It was really hard work. By the end of the day I was pooped, I think
mainly from the really high level of concentration it took.
While I was doing that, Sue did some stuff in Las Vegas, such as
visiting some the art galleries at the Venetian and Madame Toussaud's
Wax Museeum.
Today we just did a bunch of stuff in Las Vegas. We walked around on
the Strip, and I rode the roller coaster at New York New York. We also
went to Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay, which we thought was one of the better
things we saw in Las Vegas. We also saw the pirate battle at Treasure
Island, which was actually pretty cool, especially considering it was free.
Today we flew home. I gambled a couple of dollars or so in the slot machines
at the airport, because I figured I couldn't leave Las Vegas without gambling at
all. I have to say that I didn't find it especially interesting, though. I
meant to spend some time before the trip learning how to play blackjack decently,
but I ended up not having time for that, so I didn't do any blackjack (which
probably would have been a little more fun).
Last updated 2003-03-09.
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