Day 37 - Zion to Las Vegas..Sanctuary to something very different.

Our last day in a National Park. Our last day in the 'wilderness'.

Zion means Sanctuary. The Mormon settlers must have initially thought they had found paradise. Stunning scenery and a constant water supply. After a few years of trying to grow crops here the regular flash floods that took away the crops became too much....and they gave the land over to the National Park Service.

We did two really nice walks.

First of all we caught the Zion shuttle bus (you cannot drive in the park) to the start of the Emerald Pools walk. This pleasant 3 mile hike took us to a series of pools, fed by water that falls down the 1,000 feet or so of the canyon walls. It was getting hot (90 degrees) so we were glad a lot of this walk was in the shade.


Next we boarded the shuttle bus to the end of the Zion Canyon to do the riverside walk. At the end of this walk the canyon is about 10 metres wide. In the summer you can walk along the river further into the canyon until the walls close in and it's only about 6 feet wide - but 800 feet tall. As the water flow is so high at this time (snow melt) we were not able to do that - but it was a good walk anyway.

One final Ranger Badge completed by the kids and it was time to say farewell to Zion...farewell to Sanctuary and hello to LAS VEGAS.....the complete opposite to the natural beauty and tranquility of Zion.....

On the way to Vegas we stopped in Grafton - a ghost town and scene of a bit of classic movie making. For those fans of Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid - we visited the house where they filmed the "Rain Drops Keep Falling on My Head" scene where Paul Newman rides a bike around a field....

Our US route is a figure eight shape. Las Vegas Boulevard turned out to be the cross point in the trip.

With the advantage of an hours time difference we rolled into Vegas about 3:30pm in 104 degree heat. Perfect timing for a swim then a big Vegas night.

We had not booked a hotel but got lucky with the Platinum Hotel (just off strip) where we got an enormous suite, which had a fireplace, two TV's an bath the size of most peoples bathrooms and a kitchen. Excellent choice Emma!

A BIG Vegas night for the Reid family involved:

1. A walk through Paris Paris
2. Another trip to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner
3. A brisk wander through Ceasars Palace and the Forum shops
4. Finally, the Treasure Island Sirens show (it was cancelled twice 4 weeks ago)
5. Another two viewings of the Belagio Fountains
6. ICE creams
7. Home at 10:00pm

Much to my surprise, Emma has quite liked Las Vegas. After three days we have done most of it - and would quite like a 'grown up' visit next time to really enjoy the shows/tables/restaurants.....

A full-on day - lots of walking - in Canyons and later in a recreation of a Paris street.

Tomorrow a long, long drive to San Diego.

Ken

No photos as WIFI not too good.