Day Twenty Two

Didn't get up particularly early as we knew our trip today was going to be quite short in comparison to other days. Ate our own prepared breakfast again and gradually started to gather our things. Eventually left just after eleven and headed south west.

Had a fairly uneventful journey, just trundled along gradually losing altitude on our way. Also gained an hour as we are now back in Pacific time, so 8 hours behind the UK. Suddenly, with about twenty miles to go, we saw large buildings clustered together in the distance, and knew we were nearly in Las Vegas (Ocean's Eleven, The Hangover, CSI).

Then the journey got interesting. When we left Zion, the car said we had 220 miles worth of fuel left, and we only had 170ish miles to drive. Gradually as we travelled the gap between the two got less and less until the car starting shouting at us to 'get some bloody fuel, you idiot'. So we pulled off the interstate right at the northern tip of Vegas to top up. Pulled into the first gas station we could find. Soon realised that it wasn't quite the part of Vegas to be in. Had to pay for fuel inside before you filled up and they didn't accept credit cards. Then when I went back outside to put the gas in, the guy didn't release the pump. Had to go back inside and he thought we were pump four even though I had said pump one. Eventually managed to get some fuel and not to get shot at by a gangster rapper. Left asap and headed on down to the main part of town.

Pulled up outside the Mirage about 1.30pm and handed the car over to some bloke. Not sure we'll ever see it again. Then man put luggage on trolley and told us to ring when we got to our room. So within 2 minutes of arriving we had lost everything. Went inside to check in. Queued up for a while, then when we did check in our room wasn't ready. At this point we were feeling slightly disorientated by it all.

Now I forgot to mention yesterday that Ann reckoned she saw the same Japanese family that we saw in three restaurants in Moab, trying to check into the the Desert Pearl Inn. Then today at the check in desk there they are again. Think they are ninja family trying to silently stalk us.

We decided to go for a wander whilst we waited and ended up going into the Forum, the shopping part of Caesar's Palace. Got lost immediately. Eventually found out how to get where we wanted to go. Had lunch in The Cheesecake Factory. Didn't have cheesecake but there was way too much food. Tried to video it but it was too dark. Gradually made our way back to the Mirage to see if our room was ready. It was.

Went up to the 22nd floor and went in. Phoned down for our luggage. It arrived later, hurrah! Had to tip the man who brought it up even though that is his job. Still can't work that out.

Decided that we didn't want to go outside as it was 107 degrees. Sat on bed and watched Four Weddings and a Funeral. Eventually decided to go and explore much later. Still very hot. Walked along the strip and eventually went in to one place.

Wandered around the casino floor, watched a few things going on. Went back outside and watched Treasure Island's pirate show which included two big ships. It was appalling. Made our way back to the hotel, stopping off at a shop to get some supplies in. Lots of families wandering about with small kids late at night. Can't imagine why anyone would bring their kids here. What would you do? Only options are to gamble or play golf.

Now back typing this whilst eating a packet of 'Nerds', anyone remember them? Ann has fallen asleep as ever. And it is still 95 degrees outside despite being midnight.

Day Twenty One

Got up and made our own breakfast in the room's mini kitchen. Skyped back home and started to get ready to leave. Seeing as we were only moving down the road, Ann emailed the next hotel to see if we could drop our stuff off early so we could go and explore. Short while later Ann checked her email for a reply, unfortunately it said they had been expecting us last night and that they had no room tonight. Oh dear, our first real problem of the trip. Decided we'd better try and find somewhere else to stay tonight. Ann went to reception to see if we could stay at the Desert Pearl Inn for another night. Luckily they said we could keep the same room, which was an absolute result. Down side is we may have to pay the other hotel as we didn't turn up. Sent them an explanation email hoping to persuade them to let us off. Heard nothing back yet.

Seeing as we now didn't need to pack, we discussed our plans for the day. We decided that as Ann described it we were 'All parked out' having seen so many in such a short time. We therefore decided to spend the day getting some r and r. Spent three and half hours out by the pool, with hardly anybody else around. Swam a bit, relaxed a bit. Ann then decided she wanted to go and get a drink, so she needed the room keycard. She asked me where it was. I said on the table. She looked it wasn't there. Spent the next 10 minutes looking for it around where we were sat. We knew it was around somewhere as you need it to get through the gate to the pool. Managed to shin a table whilst looking. Bloody hurt and made a big crashing noise. Eventually Ann spotted it at the bottom of the pool. Appears I left it in my pocket when I went swimming. Amazingly it then didn't work anymore. Luckily reception gave us a new one. Oops.

Then came back to the room and spent the rest of the day watching more of the Star Wars trilogy. Nipped out to get some food from the local shop for tea. Now going to bed before heading to Vegas tomorrow newly refreshed.

Day Twenty

Disaster of a day. Worst news possible. Not sure if I will recover. Premiership season starts and Everton lose.

Got up in good spirits due to the fact I didn't know the upcoming sports news. Ate breakfast at the Canyon cafe not the El Tovar hotel as Ann had decided overnight that it was too expensive. Checked out of hotel about 10.30am, and started heading for Springdale, Utah. First part of journey seemed to take an age due to the roadworks in Grand Canyon NP and also in part due to the following.

We finally started making progress, stopping only to fill up with fuel. Gradually made our way north heading out of Arizona. Crossed over the Glen Canyon Dam, which holds back Lake Powell, only created about 50 years ago. Ann filmed this next footage and is hoping to win a BAFTA for Best Voice Over Artist.

Crossed into Utah and kept heading north. Stopped for lunch in Subway in Kanab. Got asked by a foreign gentleman about what was the most scenic route to Salt Lake City. Looked at him blankly. Not sure why he asked us when there were the people who worked in the place, but I suppose as the staff seemed to be from Belarus we were probably the better bet. At least we were able to explain to him that the road to Zion, which he thought was shut, was actually open as the hotel we were heading to had emailed to let us know the details of the roadworks.

When we reached the road in question we could soon see the extent of the repairs being carried out. Originally when work had started they had shut the road completely, but when everyone complained about it being one of only two routes into the park, they relented and only close it at night now.

Plus side was when we reached the park entrance, we didn't have to pay the normal $25 fee as it is a free weekend. Great news. Cheered Ann up by reading extracts from the Zion National Park newspaper we were given. She particularly enjoyed the bit about male tarantulas heading down the canyons. Told to shut up. Eventually made it through the works to reach Springdale. Checked into Desert Palm Inn. Went up to the room and immediately gutted that we are only here one night, despite being in Springdale for two. You can see why.

Sat on balcony in the sun for a while before heading down to the pool for a swim. It was 6pm but still absolutely roasting outside. Had much needed dip. Too many French people in the water, although Ann reckons they were Italian. Sat on the big steps in the water watching the people who were coming and going. We had to laugh at one woman whose bikini bottoms seemed to be a token gesture. Played a game of lookalikes as we compared the various characters in the pool area to people we know back home. Outright winner was the 'Chinese' Danny Board.

Went out for a late dinner. Headed to 'The Flying Monkey'. Ate too much as ever. Now back, writing this listening to music on headphones whilst Ann is watching Return of the Jedi. Might head out to sit on the balcony and look at the stars when I have finished. Contemplating the fact that by the time we wake up tomorrow morning we will have been away from Ermingtrude for exactly three weeks! Where has it gone?!?

Day Nineteen

Woke up at various points in the night to check the time as brain was well aware we had to get up early. Various dreams all to do with not being able to find a place to see the sunrise. Got up at 5am. Ann said that she’d had dreams about not getting up in time, only to wake and discover it was still dark. Out on the road by 5.15am. Travelled east along the rim in order to find a good, uncrowded place to stop and watch. Eventually settled on somewhere facing east so we could watch it rise directly in front of us. Got out car to discover it was windy and freezing. Jumper good idea, shorts and flip flops bad idea. Found a spot to stand and wait. Frenchman annoyed us as he just kept wandering about kicking gravel instead of just waiting patiently. Eventually after a few minutes we were rewarded. He didn't fall over the edge, but the sun started to come up.

Having watched the sunrise, we decided to keep heading east to find a place to take pictures which would show the colours falling across the rocks. As we travelled along the road I suddenly braked hard and shouted ‘Camera!’ at Ann. She was slightly bemused, but all was revealed as I reversed a few feet.

Our first real wildlife of the trip and all we had to do was to be travelling at 5.30am to see it. Left Mr Elk and headed to the Grand View point. Took some pictures.

Arty!

Headed back to room to go back to sleep. Got up properly at 9.30am ish, and went for a very nice breakfast across at the Canyon cafe. Wandered in the shop nearby before heading back to room. Decided that we would head to the far east of the park to see the canyon in daylight and work our way back stopping at various points. Most places were extremely busy and road works along the route didn’t help matters. Eventually we pulled over at the side of the road and took a short walk to the rim.

Headed back towards Grand Canyon village and explored various views and buildings. Saw a stuffed Mountain Lion in one place. Thought it shouldn’t be a problem taking one on if attacked. Stopped in at the famous Tovar Hotel to enquire about eating breakfast there tomorrow. Shouldn’t be a problem. Sat out on some rocking chairs on the hotel’s porch. Headed home to write blog before tea, so I can use the wifi in the cafe to post it. Extremely tired now and getting ready to move on another 270 odd miles to Zion NP tomorrow.

Day Eighteen

As we only had a short distance to travel today, we took the opportunity to have a bit of a lie in. We then had a complimentary breakfast, which according to our copy of the booking form we weren’t entitled to, but they gave us a voucher for it when we checked in, so we obliged. It was very nice too.

We then headed back to our room and hung around until 11am then checked out. Used the printer in the lobby to print out our Alcatraz tickets for later in the trip. Then headed into Flagstaff to do some shopping and to fill up with fuel.

Having given the car a working over yesterday we felt it was only fair to give it another wash, so we embarked on another crazy against the clock cleaning frenzy. I had hoped to bring you footage, but technical difficulties with the filming meant I am unable to do so.

We were then left with some spare time. The Grand Canyon was only 90mins away but we couldn’t check in until 4pm, so we had to find some other entertainment. We decided to drive 25 miles to Williams and check out an attraction we had seen.

As you can see we went to Bearizona (great wordplay), which appeared to be a brand new wildlife park. There wasn’t a great deal there, but at least we finally saw a real live bear or nine. We saw some other creatures too, but the bears were the main attraction. Phone rang whilst there, it was the same number that text the previous night at 3.30am. Didn’t actually get to speak to whoever it is.

A 'Packed' photo

Is for goat

For lunch we decided to get some sandwiches, but ended up buying aviator sunglasses and a cowboy hat instead. Figured that wouldn’t be much good at filling us up so got some food too. Went and sat by a famous road to eat it.

Get your kicks!

We then made our way up towards the Grand Canyon.

Old Joke of the Day: How do you turn a duck into a soul singer? Put it in a microwave until its bill withers.

Reached the Yavapai Lodge by 5pm and unloaded. Sorted out all our washing and headed to the nearby laundry. Chucked it in the wash and sat there for half an hour waiting. Opened the machine to find tissue over the entire wash. Oh dear, pockets not checked fully. Manage to sort it, threw some stuff in the tumble dryer and took the rest back to the room to hang it up.

Collected tumble drying and then headed for tea at the Yavapai Canyon Cafe. Food was really good. Roffe-Knightley effect occurred on a mass scale. Incredible.

Only downside is the fact there is no wifi access in rooms, so having to be creative to get this to you. Getting up at 5.30am to see the sunrise over the canyon. Can’t wait.

Final thought: In the guide to the area it says if you are attacked by a mountain lion then you should fight back. Bring it on.

Day Seventeen

Wow, what a day. A fairly long drive south, but broken up by lots of different activites.

Woken up by some spanner at 3.30am. Phone received a text and made a right noise. Looked at message half asleep thinking it must be important to send it here at extra cost. Turned out to be some muppet from the cricket club asking if I was back and if there was a game tonight. Seeing as there had never been a game scheduled for the 11th August I wondered if anybody ever checks emails they get sent. Don't know who it was from either. Tried to go back sleep whilst being very annoyed.

Had breakfast at a diner so we could eat early. Watched a fight at a baseball game on the news. Hilarious.

Left Moab at 8.15am, full of fuel and supplies, and headed south towards Arizona. Our first stop was at Butler Wash, a very small place off of a very quiet road. We completed a mile walk to see some Indian Cave dwellings.

Cave Dwellings

Next we headed further south and then took a very small dirt track to Muley Point overlook, which is in the eastern tip of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. From there you get a great view south, overlooking some great sights. The track to it was just over 3 miles long and very bumpy.

A certain famous valley in the distance

We then made our way back to the main road and down Mokee Dugway, an 1100 foot drop in 3 miles on  an unpaved road.

At the bottom of Mokee Dugway we then turned left onto another little track which takes you into the Valley of the Gods (Forrest Gump, Airwolf). This track was a bit rough to start with but then got much worse with steep hills and drops and massive great lumps missing. It was a good job we had a Jeep to get us through the 13 miles it lasted.

Gradually we got further into the valley until we were up close with the rock formations

On our way out of the valley we saw many things, someone driving an RV towards the really difficult bits, good luck mate, and a woman having a pee behind a car not realising cars were coming from the opposite direction too. Having got back on to tarmac we headed to Gooseneck State Park where the San Juan river meanders through. We stopped here to eat our packed lunch.

Noticed lots of dark clouds towards the way we were heading. Had no choice but to drive towards them. Stopped to top up with fuel at Mexican Hat, named after a nearby rock which looks exactly like a sombrero. Fuel very expensive, for the USA, so only put a little bit in. Also the fact there was lightning all around the gas station helped me decide to get out quickly. We then continued south to the day's main event. Went through more heavy rain and storms before reaching our last stop of the day.

Track through the Monument Valley (2001, A Space Odyssey, Easy Rider, The Searchers) was our third off road trip of the day. Ann was quite happy to not go off road again.

Having completed all our scheduled stops for the day, we then started the 170 mile journey south to Flagstaff, Arizona and the Pony Soldier Inn. Arrived at 8pm. Unloaded then headed to IHOP, having enjoyed the one in Michigan so much. Ate a scrumptious dinner before heading home. To make things even better we noticed the sat nav saying the time was 8.50pm, not 9.50pm that we thought. Turns out Arizona goes to Pacific time in the summer, so we had gained an hour. Awesome. Now I can finish this and still get to bed early. Result.

Tomorrow's aims: Get up later, wash car.

Fast Show tribute

Day Sixteen

Headed out to breakfast at 8am as instructed. Just as Niagara, sat with everybody else and had no choice in what to eat. Old American woman started conversation with us by asking if we had been to Tokyo before as my t-shirt had it written on. Said no. She persisted with the conversation efforts. Where are you from? Where are you heading? When we mentioned Las Vegas as one of our future stops it gave her the opportunity to go on endlessly about Cirque du Soleil. Have you seen them before? Are you planning to see them in Las Vegas? Erm no. I said I wanted to go on one of the gondolas in the Venetian Hotel. She said it wasn't the same as Venice. Really? I thought an over the top, freak filled, neon fantasy land was just like a canal based Italian city. All the other guests were French. We left as soon as we had finished eating.

First stop was a gas station not for fuel, but for water and other drinks. Then we headed up to Arches National Park (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Thelma and Louise)(Movie theme now back for next part of trip). Parked up and did a 3 mile round trip walk. We arrived just before 10am hoping it we be not as hot as later on. It was still very hot

Whilst sat in shade relaxing watched an old couple attempt to go around the arch. Took a picture to sell to news companies as I thought the woman was going to fall down the revine. Unfortunately she didn't.

Go on, fall!

Headed back down to car and then embarked on some drive-by tourism, where we drove around some of the other locations in the park, wound down the window, took a picture and sped off.

Headed back to Moab for lunch. Went to Subway. Ann really pleased as they had tuna and not just meat. Saw some people in there who had been in the same restaurant last night. Took sandwiches back to the B & B and sat in the cool dark room. Rested up and then set off heading to Canyonlands NP (Con Air).

Went to the Grand View Point. Two sets of people who were at Arches in the morning were there. How odd that they turned up exactly at the same time.

Decided to do more drive by tourism. Used a toilet at one of the stops. It was a earth closet. It was full of flies. Euurggh. Moved on very quickly.

Having finished our tourism for the day we headed back to the diner style 'Denny's' for dinner. The same people we had seen at Subway and in the restaurant from the night before were just paying their bill. They must think we were following them.  Ordered all you can eat pancakes for $4. Starts with a stack of 3 then they bring extras 2 at a time. Managed a grand total of .........3.

One last stop before home was to look at the Apache Inn, where John Wayne used to stay when filming in the area. Apparently not so good now.

Not A patche on what it used to be.

Got home at 8pm. Decided we would leave in the morning before breakfast and get it elsewhere as we want to be on the road by 8am, not just starting breakfast with a load of French people.