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Posted by Juno on May 13, 2008, 10:32 am
Emily Bengston wrote:
> Congratulations on having such a fabulous trip. DS & I went to Vegas just
> before moving to Houston and drove down to lake Powell one day, the entire
> area is just gorgeous.
> Emily
>
>
> On 5/12/08 11:51 PM, in article
> RPOdnWAiOeZsgLTVnZ2dnUVZ_hudnZ2d@comcast.com, "BEI Design"
>
>> On Friday, April 25th, we flew from Portland, OR to Phoenix,
>> AZ. We found the desert SW to be absolutely fabulous this
>> time of year: no crowds, moderate temps (Phoenix was hot,
>> but we were only there overnight, rented a car and drove to
>> the south rim the next day). We saw lots of exquisite fauna
>> (ravens, Black-chinned hummingbirds, Painted Bunting,
>> Evening Grosbeak, wild turkey, pronghorn antelope, ground
>> squirrels, deer, lizards, snakes) and flora, (the cacti were
>> in bloom, and I took pictures of many wildflowers which I
>> have yet to identify) and I loved the desert. I saw my very
>> first Saguaro cacti!
>>
>> We stopped for a couple of hours in Sedona, AZ for lunch and
>> browsing/shopping. Cute town! Due to forest fires and
>> volcanic activity, there was a lot of haze at the Grand
>> Canyon, so our pictures are probably mediocre. Nevertheless,
>> it is definitely worth seeing in person, pictures just
>> cannot convey how HUGE it is. We had booked a fixed-wing
>> airplane flight which took us down into the canyon and made
>> a big loop up to Glen Canyon Dam, around over the north rim,
>> and back to the airport south of Canyon Village on the south
>> rim. We stayed two nights in the original lodge, El Tovar,
>> and did lots of walking to viewpoints. We stopped at
>> several more of the viewpoints on our way driving east
>> toward Mesa Verde.
>>
>> We stopped overnight at a cute B&B in Bluff, UT on our way
>> to Mesa Verde, and learned of another ruin just north of our
>> planned route, so we detoured to Hovenweep Ruins and spent
>> several hours walking around the site. Very different from
>> Mesa Verde, they built their structures on the rim for the
>> most part. We saw several varieties of lizard and a big
>> snake there, along with lots of birds.
>>
>> At Mesa Verde it was very cold at night and quite windy our
>> last morning. We (all three) were moved to tears looking at
>> the Anasazi ruins, it's been on my "must see" list since I
>> was about eight. DD and DSIL actually did two strenuous
>> hikes to two of them cave ruins, Cliff Palace and Balcony
>> House, more than I thought I could handle, but they took me
>> along for the third one, Spruce Tree House. We booked rooms
>> at Far View Lodge and were hugely disappointed (in the
>> rooms, the restaurant, and the service), it needs a *major*
>> renovation and updating. I would stay in Cortez next time
>> and drive up to the mesa.
>>
>> Lake Powell was fabulous, we did the walking tour of
>> Antelope Canyon, and next day took the 7-hour boat tour to
>> the Rainbow Bridge. Just stupendous, pictures do not do
>> either one justice. We stayed for two nights, and we were
>> very happy with our rooms at Lake Powell Resort, lovely
>> rooms with views out over the lake.
>>
>> Next we drove to Bryce Canyon, then on to Zion, each
>> spectacular in very different ways. We stayed in another
>> very nice B&B in Springdale for two nights, and rode the
>> shuttle to tour Zion NP. We had a lovely dinner at the
>> lodge. I wish we could have stayed at the lodge, but
>> apparently it's booked a year in advance.
>>
>> We ended out trip with one night in Las Vegas (four star
>> hotel at Motel-6 prices, thanks priceline.com), and took in
>> the "Star Trek Experience" at the Las Vegas Hilton, had
>> dinner at "Quarks Restaurant" and drove up the "strip" which
>> is unbelievable, much like old time "Broadway" was in many
>> large cities 40-50 years ago...but on steroids. The next
>> morning went to see the HUGE automobile collection at the
>> Imperial Palace Hotel. We didn't drop even $.01 in any of
>> the slots. ;-)
>>
>> The flight home on May 6th was very bumpy, and the oddest
>> coincidence happened: The man seated directly in front of
>> me works at the firm my DH worked at for 42 years. While I
>> was talking to him about Tektronix, the man in the seat
>> across the aisle from him said *he* had retired from Tek a
>> few years ago. Then the man across the aisle from me piped
>> in that his *mother* had worked for Tek. So four seats on
>> one flight from Las Vegas to Portland were occupied by a
>> retiree, the spouse of a retiree, a current employee and the
>> son of a former employee of the original high-tech firm in
>> Oregon. How weird is that???
>>
>> My knees held out very well, we arrived home, tired,
>> sun-tanned, exhilarated, with about 3000 pictures, and ready
>> to go back!
>>
>> Beverly
>>
>>
>
Fantastic sounding trip. I'm so glad you had a great time and that you
knee held up well for you.
Juno
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