We woke up in Flagstaff to a lovely view. It was a really pretty city, but we found that for whatever reason the people that lived there just were not the friendliest folks. It was so odd. We finally had a non-McDonald's breakfast (!!!!) at Cracker Barrel (Jackson will never go when we are at home) and then we got on the road to Las Vegas. It is a pretty easy route down Interstate 40 for about 250 miles. We stopped in a town called Kingman to do a quick hike. It. Was. LOVELY. We were the only people on the trail! We did not see another soul!
Mountain man.
VIEWS.
I hiked in my sports bra because WE WERE ENTIRELY ALONE IN THE DESERT.
Such a great trail!
Buttes in the distance
I didn't want to leave!
It was super warm out there. We got on the trail right at 11 a.m. and there was no shade. Luckily the sun isn't as strong this time of the year so we did not come out like bacon! ;) It was a great way to break up the drive. The scenery on the drive was so great that the miles just flew right on by. Also, I really enjoy Jackson's company. He's a keeper.
Typical.
We checked into the MGM Grand for the evening and found that our hotel room was basically across town. We finally go to our floor and it was still a 2.5 minute walk to our door. The place was huge. I hated it. I consider us to be super independent travelers, but Vegas without my Dad and Diana is lame!
Longest hallway EVER
We made it down to the pool, lazy river and hot tub for about 1.5 hours before it closed at 5. They don't want you at the pool and not gambling so everything fun like that closes early. :( We did not have the best weather in Vegas so that was a bummer.
Quick pool time
We got dressed up-ish and headed out to grab dinner. Then it was pouring down rain. What?! The desert isn't supposed to get rain. BOO!
How handsome is that guy?!
Sports mania
This guy came right in from work with a stop sign and all! HA!!!
As close as we'll get to a pumpkin patch: Bellagio
Little Jackson is so handsome with the pumpkins ;)
We grabbed dinner and got our fill of people watching before calling it a night as we'd had a pretty busy day!
How I get through: ibuprofen and KT tape
We woke up early on Monday and walked the Strip again. We had breakfast outside of the Paris casino (it was SO good) before going back for mid-morning naps due to rain. We ended up going to Henderson to a luxury theatre to catch a showing of The Accountant. It was SUCH A GREAT MOVIE. I mean I may be biased because Ben Affleck was my first love and I'm an accountant, but still. Go see it!
We flew home next to a man who can only be described as a giant. I gave him about 2/3 of my seat. The middle seat, I'll add. I wanted to sit in the exit row for Jackson's comfort. Sigh. The things we do for love. We got home, unpacked and got to bed around 3 a.m. so this morning was a bit rough. I went to therapy, went to get MacKenzie from Yorktown, worked for a few hours and then went to my big doctor appointment for my cartilage injection. The pain I felt was indescribable. Jackson had a quick day of work and then helped out by bathing MacKenzie and unloading the dishwasher. You guys, it took 10 years, but this guy is IT!!!
We love to leave, but it is always nice to be home. We're currently watching what I think will be a Cubbies loss. Poor Jack! :(
A had a few funny photos left over from last evening that I had to share. :)
We chuckled about if people would wonder
where Jackson was from during
his laundry run!
Gourmet!
After we wrapped things up in Page, Arizona we headed two hours down the road to Flagstaff. We've been meaning to get here for years and it was finally somewhat feasible. Our first stop in town was at the #1 rated restaurant on TripAdvisor. While the food was pretty good, the service was miserable. Luckily we sat outside and just enjoyed the views while we waited and waited and waited.
We finished up there and headed to Elden Lookout Trail just outside of town. We wanted to do a trail that branched off from there called Fatman's Loop.
Cool. Lions. ACK!
Petefish.
The trail was really pretty
I love this little hiker boy.
ME: "I love this tree!!!!"
Jackson: *climbs it*
Jackson: "Take my photo!"
VIEWS
Fall and a handsome mountain man
We thought doing a loop trail would be pretty simple. We somehow lost the trail and ended up in the middle of the woods. It was a little dicey for a bit, but we found the trail again. Whew. Also, we saw no lions so that's a win, too.
We headed over to the Arizona Snow Bowl to try another quick hike and catch the sunset. It was a gorgeous area! We stayed up there for about an hour before heading back into town.
Whoa the view.
Pretty excited about the beauty
Humphrey's Peak
Yep. Insane.
Going, going...
Pretty well gone!
We made it back to the hotel for Jackson to catch the Cubs game. They won so Jackson got to pick where we ate dinner. He's so easy. Note: I still do not think the Cubs will win the World Series because they were mean to Bartman. :(
We booked a tour of Antelope Canyon after running into fellow hikers who recommended it. You not only have to pay for the tour ($21 each), but you also had to pay the Navajo fee ($8 each). It was a little bit of a slick deal, but the place was cool so whatever.
That'll be $8!
Checking in
Behind a Korean tour...
Entering the earth. Literally.
We booked the first tour of the day on purpose to avoid the crowds and beat the heat. We got behind two private tours from Korea, but they actually moved fairly quickly so our planned worked well. NOTE: I'd hardly heard of this place. How did the Koreans know about it?! Mysteries of the world.
You take 5 STEEP, METAL staircases to the bottom of the canyon. I mean you had to go down two of backwards because it was so steep. FINE- I had to go down two backwards because my legs were shaking in terror. Jackson was, of course, totally fine. It was worth it, though. This canyon (Lower Antelope) is simply amazing.
How narrow the path got sometimes
Also, my favorite photo of the trip!
Light-rays
More staircases through the canyon
Heart hole
Smiling shark rock formation
A fish shaped hole
Hole in the rock
George Washington's face
Smooches
A little tribute
A couple of years ago 11 tourists were killed in the canyon by a flash flood. After that, they made guided tour mandatory. I'm OK with that. This little tribute was from one of the flood victim's sister who wanted to memorialize her beloved sister. Oh man, it was so sad. She left a letter to her sister to tell her how much she missed her.
Looking up
Love this one, too!
Our tour guide, Larry, was so helpful with getting good photos and just dropping knowledge. You could tell he really enjoyed his gig and it made the whole tour so great!
