Day 10: New Year’s Eve in Vegas

Today was the first day that I slept in on my vacation. Alex drove over to fetch some coffee and food from Starbucks, then at around 10:30AM he dropped me, Peter and Vlado off at the strip. We did some sight seeing, I had a strawberry daiquiri and then we had lunch at some China buffet across from Caesars casino, which was actually pretty tasty.



Las Vegas strip, New York New York

The weather today was partly sunny and about 60 degrees, and it started out a bit windy too. But as the day progressed it became very gusty and some dark clouds started to roll in, it looked like rain in the distance. My festive jester hat almost got blown off a few times.





Las Vegas strip Paris



Whoopi and I

The strip was very crowded., it seemed like everyone was out walking around. After we finished walking most of the strip Alex swung by to pick us up at 4PM and we went back to the house for some relaxation before heading back out to the strip later on. We made it back home just before it started pouring rain.



Bellagio



We all took naps, grabbed some food at the house and went back out to the strip. Parking was tricky, but we managed to find a spot.



Las Vegas strip at night

The strip was closed off to traffic and it was filled up with people already, filling up even more as people were spilling out of their hotels right before midnight.



At midnight the most spectacular fireworks started, they were going off in a few places and went on for a long while. We went to Mandalay Bay arriving at the house at 3:30AM.



Fire works on the strip

Day 9: Zion N.P. Utah

Another beautiful sunny day. We pilled in to Alex’s rental car, a Lincoln Town Car, grabbed some coffee and food at Starbucks and took off for Zion National Park in Utah, 2.5 hours away.



Our route

We took the exit for 14 and found Kolob Road, but it was closed due to ice and snow. We tired it anyway but less than a quarter mile in to it, it got very slippery and we turned around and took 14 to 89 to 9. 14 was an awesome road with beautiful scenery and really nice curves.



Utah sign, 3 Serbian guys and 1 Polish chick



14 North of Zion



14 up high in elevation with snow

We grabbed lunch at the corner of 89 and 9 at the Thunderbird Restaurant, the sign read “Home of the Ho-made pies”. The food was good, I ordered a cheeseburger and fries.



Buffalo on 89

After lunch we entered Zion National Park for the hefty fee of $20, but it was so worth it, the road was super curvy with spectacular views of rocks. There were a few tunnels, one was extremely long and curvy.



Climbing rocks in Zion



View from rock



9 through Zion N.P.

We climbed one rock, it looked easy but it was exhausting but the view from the top was great.





9 through Zion



Canyon Scenic Road through Zion

A lot of wild life in the park, many deer everywhere, we saw herds of them and wild turkeys and some cows standing in the middle of the road. These roads sure make you wish you had a bike here.




We crossed the whole park and tuned on to the Kolob Road, the road that we tried to get to from 14 but it was snowed over. We knew we couldn’t drive it all the way, at 8,000 feet the snow and ice on the road would get too dangerous, so we drove it for a bit and turned around just before it got too dangerous. A lot of deer on this road. Also, there was a curve posted here at 5 MPH, really steep right hander if you were going North.



Kalob Road

What a great day and a great park, I’m so glad we could check it out since we were so close. And the weather was nice too, the sun was shining all day with some clouds here and there, temperatures in the 50’s and 40’s at higher elevations. The sun went down as we headed for the interstate on our way back to Las Vegas. Grabbed some snacks in the car and then ate some more at the house and called it a day.

Day 8: Mt. Charleston & Red Rocks

Today was my last day with the rental car and I was going to be returning it tonight. The sun was out and the temperature was going to hit the middle 60’s. I wanted to go exploring on my own one last time. I grabbed another breakfast of French toast sticks from Jack in the Box and headed Northwest of Las Vegas to Mount Charleston.



Roads around Mount Charleston, Nevada

156 rose up from the desert floor and went straight up for at least 4,000 feet then it started to twist, a bunch of sweet turns on this road and nice views, nothing like the Nevada I’ve seen so far, there were forests up here made up of evergreens and the rocks were gray and pale beige, not the colorful shades of orange, brown and gold.



157 and some snow on top of the peak

The road climbed to 8,500+ feet in elevation and it was very pretty up here, also chilly. There is a ski area here but I didn’t see too much snow at the top, only a dusting of it, maybe there is more just I couldn’t see it from here.



157 in the distance

After driving 158, I turned right on 157 and went all the way to the end, there was a hiking path here so I decided to check it out. This area had many trails to choose from, but at 7,000 feet in elevation I was soon out of breath as the trail climbed up the mountain. The air was so clean and crisp out here with a hint of pine scent, I climbed back down. The mountains on this side were littered with charming cabins. I drove up for a closer look. The houses had neat little decks with awesome mountain views.



Cabin with a view on Mount Charleston

I took 157 back, it twisted more than 156, better scenery and curves. I drove down the mountain to the desert but before continuing to the next park I stopped by Jack In The Box and grabbed a chipotle grilled chicken sandwich to go and a eggnog milk shake.



Donkeys crossing - modified sign on 157

Then I proceeded to Red Rock Canyon, admission was $5 per car, only $2 per motorcycle and there were a few motorcycles here but this isn’t the best park to bring a bike, the road around the park is a single lane going in one direction, the speed limit is a painful 35 MPH and this park was very crowded with tourists today, since it‘s the closes park to Las Vegas, I‘d imagine it gets more visitors than the other parks I visited.



Red Rock Canyon scenic drive

The first thing on the agenda was to find a picnic area and eat my lunch. I found a nice table overlooking some rocks, ate and then I drove to the first and best attraction, the Calico Hills. I could have spend a week just hiking around these rocks here. These were much better for climbing than the Rocks of Sedona or the rocks at Lake Mead or Valley of the Fire. And there were so many rocks here, all connected, it would probably take me a week to get from one side to the other.



Climbing Calico Hills

I found a small section to climb, the views were amazing, how can nature create so many different kinds of rocks, all so beautiful and so different. It was a blast climbing these rocks, they were placed so perfectly for climbing. The only thing was getting way from all these people here at the park, they were everywhere, even on the rocks. As I climbed down between he rocks I found some cut flowers that someone had placed there, maybe someone had died here. You could easily slip and crack your neck. In the distance people were scaling rock walls using ropes and rock climbing equipment, I prefer to climb without, while I can’t climb vertical walls using my bare hands, I can get up there pretty high as long as I have some footing and a place to hold on to.









Red Rock Canyon scenic road twisties

I drove through the rest of the park, it was pretty but nothing else was as pretty as Calico Hills. I continued back to Las Vegas to return my rental car. The red Chevy Cavalier now had 1,600 miles more than it did last week. It served it’s purpose and saved me a lot of money in gas.

We grabbed some dinner tonight at the Bahama Breeze, never been to the one in Chicago, I ordered linguini with shrimp and a glass of wine. Then we went to a show at the Rio called Erocktica, sex, sweat and rock and roll. We had four free tickets and the boys wanted to see a real Vegas show with topless showgirls. When in Rome you do like the Romans.

Day 7: Lake Mead & Valley of Fire

Today was overcast and cold, high temperature of 59 degrees. Out here the warmth comes from the sun, even now at the end of December the sun feels very warm on the skin, even on a cool day, the sun keeps you very warm, but when it’s overcast and the sun doesn’t come out, it’s cold. What a difference a few clouds make. I headed out to Lake Mead, they usually charge a $5 admission to enter the Lake Mead Recreational Area, but the station was closed.



Exploring Lake Mead and Valley of Fire



Driving 166 near Lake Mead



Lake Mead

This area is large and it took me a while to get thought it, first I drove south then I drove North, to make sure I saw it all. The scenery got more interesting as I traveled Northward, nice sweepers and some tighter turns too, beautiful mountains in the background. At times it reminded me of Death Valley.



167 through Lake Mead Rec. Area

The only thing, I only had breakfast this morning, you guessed it, French toast sticks from Jack In The Box, and there was no where to get lunch out here. So I continued on but then I had to stop at these really cool red rocks and climb them. They were so easy to climb and so much fun. I could spend all day here climbing these rocks, but I had to get through this park so I continued North reaching Valley of Fire, another park right next door.



Rocks in Lake Mead Rec. Area



I see rocks, I climb rocks



Looking down from the top of the rock

Immediately the pavement changed from gray and broken up at times to black and pristine. The road is like a black silk ribbon that someone had laid over the rocks, twisting up and down and sideways across this amazing landscape.



Twisty road past Mouse Tank in Valley of Fire

This is a place to bring a bike to, there were a few cruisers riding through, they all looked like they were freezing their asses. This road and scenery costs $6, but there were no people present to collect the money so the admission money was to be dropped in to an envelope. I was surprised to see so many more people here than at Lake Mead. The main road in the park was nice with the speed limit of 45 MPH but the road that went past Mouse Tank was spectacular and it was only 35 MPH. The sun was already setting, so I had to get moving. The curves continued outside of the park. The sun disappeared behind the horizon as got on the interstate. There was a lot of traffic coming in to Las Vegas, since I was starved, I stopped at Arby’s and grabbed some food. It was still a while before I got to the house.



Valley of Fire twisties



Sunset in Valley of Fire

Alex’s flight was delayed and one of his friend’s suitcase was run over by the luggage loading cart, most of the contents was lost or destroyed. They all arrived later than anticipated.

Day 6: Sedona to Las Vegas

I woke up at 5AM Arizona time. I wanted to be hiking the trails at sunrise. It was a crisp 31 degrees outside. When the sun appeared over the rocks, I was already hiking back to the car. It was hard to see the trail as I was blinded by the sun. As if someone switched on a heater, right away the temperature started raising. Now in search of some breakfast, I found the Desert Flour bakery on 179 and grabbed a egg and cheese on a croissant. I also grabbed a loaf of crusty jalapeño and cheese bread that I can snack on while hiking.



A chilly morning hike

I decided to eat my breakfast outside, it was at least 45 degrees now and it felt warm sitting in the sun, although the people inside the bakery were giving me funny looks though the windows. After breakfast I did some more exploring. I drove Chapel Road, at the top of the hill sits modern looking church.





Church on top of a cliff

I went back to the motel to pack and check out. As I sat in the lobby using their free wireless, I overheard the front desk lady say that the whole town is booked up tonight though the 1st, I noticed way more traffic on the roads today, even though it was still early in the day.



Climbing red rocks, almost at the top

Now it was noticeably warmer, although some thin clouds rolled in to the area and the sun wasn’t giving off as much heat as it did yesterday. The trails were crowded today so I found me a big red rock and started climbing to the top, escaping the crowded trails. I got pretty high up there, at times the footing was difficult to find and the rocks hard to climb, I walked around the rock until I found another path to climb higher. At times my feet would slip on loose rock and I would slide back down but I was never in any danger of falling off the cliff. This was still less dangerous than riding a motorcycle on a public roadway.



I climbed this one



Walking the ledge



Hiking path below

Now I was way above the trails. I decided to climb around to the other side of the rock away from the hiking path. Pretty soon I realized that I might not be able to get down this way, the edge dropped off and it was smooth, I needed to find a set of rocks that I could climb down and climbing down is always harder than climbing up. It took a while but finally I got to the other side of the rock and I was able to climb down. That’s the fun part, looking for a way to get up and a different way to get down safely.



Looking down from the top

I went back to the car and had some bread and water. Then I realized that I had to get going if I was to arrive in Las Vegas before 10PM. It was sad to leave Sedona, there is so many things to see here, so many rocks to climb, paths to hike and roads to drive.



89A going to Flagstaff

I took 89A to Flagstaff. It was noticeably cooler now. This road is so amazing, great views and awesome turns, the hair pins are spectacular, but are also very wide so you can go fast though them.



I noticed that in Flagstaff there was no snow in the mountains, it was actually warmer now than it was in March, when I rode though here.

It was getting late so I grabbed a quick dinner in Kingman, AZ at a Wendy’s. The Hoover dam is under construction but there was no delay, I arrived in Las Vegas just after 8PM.