Saturday, August 18, 2007

What's Next? Europe!

Now that we have conquered the West on September 2nd (2007) J and I head over the big pond to Europe for 1 month!

This blog will now be about Europe and I will update as much as I can. Sadly, it probably won't be as much as the West trip but I will do my best.

I invite you to come along on my trip to Europe with me!

See ya there!

33 Days and 8942 miles later: The End



It has been 33 days and we have traveled 8,942 miles through 17 states, 11 National Parks and 6 Cities and we are now back home in Cincinnati!

States: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri.

National Parks: Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Badlands, Grand Tetons, Waterton-Glacier, Wind Cave, Yellowstone, Crater Lake and Olympic.

Cities: Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Denver.


This trip was truly a trip of a lifetime and through traveling out West I have learned a lot and am happy to report that the only major incident was a speeding ticket in Utah (J).

Driving cross country and having the opportunity to see everything that I have has taught me that there is so much more to America than what meets the eye. Every time I got bored or tired of the landscape some new rock formation or mountain would pop-up and I would again be in awe.

The landscape of America is so diverse and so interesting that until you really stand looking up or down into a canyon that you can see and understand how amazing the Earth really is and how it is always changing.

THANK YOU so much for joining us on our trip and I hope that you have enjoyed reading the blog as much as I have updating it!

Stayed Tuned because there are always more adventures to be had!!!

Thursday, August 16, 2007

3rd Stop in The Colorado Plateau: Capitol Reef

Capitol Reef's defining feature is the Waterpocket Fold which geologist know as one of the largest and best exposed monoclines of the North American continent. (sorry no picture). Other than the Waterpocket Fold, Capitol Reed is beautiful with a lush valley caught between canyons.


Another cool things about Capitol Reef is that there are peroglyphs visible on the canyon walls. Sadly, my camera didn't really capture them well.

Fremont Indians pecked into the cliff large humanlike figures in headdresses. The origin of these Indian farmers about A.D. 600 and their disappearance 6 centuries later are still a mystery. Early settlers found what appeared to be remnants of their irrigation ditches, granaries and pithouses. (From National Geographic)


2nd Stop in The Colorado Plateau: Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon is another amazing site.

The local Paiute Indians' legend explains that feeling that one has when viewing the rocks; "Once there lived animals-like creatures that changed themselves into people. But they were bad, so Coyote turned them into rocks of various configurations. The spellbound creatures still huddle together with faces painted just as they were before being turned to stone."


The legend is one way to explain how the rock formations came to be but geologist explain that through natural erosion and water Bryce Canyon was formed.




First Stop in the Colorado Plateau: Zion National Park

Zion National Park was named "Zion" b/c 19th century Mormon pioneers saw the rocks as the "natural temples of God." They called the canyon Little Zion after the celestial city.

After driving through Zion I understand why the early pioneers were s amazed by what they saw. Even with paved roads, tunnels, and rest areas the dramatic canyon still is worthy of awe.




History of Zion: Zion was formed by millions of years of flowing water cutting through the red and white beds of Navajo sandstone that forms the sheer walls of Zion. The geologic hear of the canyon began as a vast desert million of years ago; almost incessant winds blew one dune on top of another until the sands reached a depth of more than 2,000 feet. (from National Geographic)



The Colorado Plateau

After leaving Vegas we entered the Colorado Plateau.

The Colorado Plateau covers 4 states;Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. The plateau encompasses nearly 2 billion years of Earth's history and contains the nation's largest concentration of national parks. (Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Grand Canyon, Great Basin, Mesa Verde, Petrified Forest, Saguaro and Zion....and thats just to name a few)

We took a scenic drive along Route 12 and saw some amazing canyons and rock formations.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

On The Road Again

We are back on the road today. We made it to Utah and are now making our way home!
Next stop is Zion National Park and then Denver.


Last Night in Vegas

For our last night in Vegas we went to Wolfgang Puck's Trattoria del Lupo.


The menu is really cool b/c it is printed every day so I went with the ravioli sampler which ranged from green pea to traditional cheese.




Viva Las Vegas!!!

Wave Pool and Cabana at Mandalay Bay

After battling the Las Vegas heat for days we decided to cool off at our hotel's wave pool so we rented a cabana and spent the day riding the waves and then when we were bored with that we rested in the lazy river.


The cabana was awesome it had a TV (not pictured) and a mini fridge!


Red Square Russian Bar at Mandalay Bay

Sunday after brunch we checked into Mandalay Bay and rested from our hard afternoon of eating. Then we headed out to the Red Square Russian Bar. The Red Square has an iced-cover bar and over 150 different types of vodka so Matt and Scott decided to check out a couple of the best vodkas.

Sunday Brunch at the Wynn

For Sunday brunch we headed to the Wynn buffet. The Wynn buffet is nothing like Golden Coral. The food is high quality with things like King Crab and lamb chops. My personal favorite was that the buffet had pastry chefs on staff making homemade pastries/desserts before my eyes.

Needless to say I (along with everyone else) ate so much that we had no room for dinner!





New York New York part 2

This is the outside of New York New York......



Las Vegas: A New York State of Mind

One of my favorite casinos was New York New York b/c well it looked and at times felt like New York City. Plus it has pizza by the slice until 3 am!





Hoover Dam (Saturday 8/11)

On our back from the Grand Canyon we stopped at Hoover Dam.

Hoover Dam history: The dam's construction began in 1931 and took 5 year and 5,000 men to complete it. In 1935 when the dam was finished, 96 men had died.
The result of their work was a 726 ft. structure that pumps more than 4 billion kilowatt hours of power to Las Vegas and LA.

The Hoover Dam is a tribute to America's "think big" era and big it is weighing 6.6 millions tons and measuring 660 ft thick at its base and 1244 ft across the canyon at its crest.





Grand Canyon Saturday (8/11)

Saturday we arrived at the Grand Canyon and didn't have much time so we started right away! We headed to the popular South Rim where the views are amazing. The Grand Canyon has some of the nation's cleanest air, with visibility averaging 90 to 110 miles which is helpful b/c the canyon is about 277 miles long!

A little history of the Grand Canyon: Rocks at the bottom of the Grand Canyon date back 1.8 billion years and even though geologists don't know exactly how the river was formed most agree that it was formed in the last 5 million years.

Amy, Rich and J were very brave and climbed out a ledge to get a better view. I had flip flops on at the time and decided I didn't want to fall off and die!



This was Rich's 3rd time to the Grand Canyon and he really wanted to go hiking so I changed into my tennis shoes and we started off on The Bright Angel Trail.
The Bright Angel Trail zigzags 8 miles and 4,4460 ft down to the river. It is an overnight backpackers trip but we did about 3 miles of the hike and it was hard but well worth it. The hardest part was coming back up!



This is looking down at the trail that we were just on!

Get your kicks on Route 66 (8/10)

On Friday (8/10) Amy, Rich, J and I pile into the car and start our way to the Grand Canyon. We were on Route 66 for part of the way.



We stopped at a little diner for dinner and Amy and I had a chili dog but it wasn't anything like Cincinnati Chili!


Across from the diner there was a train that was in a park so Amy checked it out for us!

Friday, August 10, 2007

Friday and The Grand Canyon

Today we are headed to the Grand Canyon and the Hoover Dam!

Will post pictures when we get back tomorrow!

Viva Las Vegas

Thursday night we got dressed in our best and headed to Emeril's New Orleans Fish House
Las Vegas and Amy said "was a great dining experience."

Here is the Fam: (from Left to Right) Rich, Amy, J, me, Lori and Matt

The sisters outside of Emeril's..

For Dinner I had:
For my Cold Starter: Tempura Fried Sushi Salmon Roll With Spicy Cucumber Salad and Cilantro Crème Fraìche
For my entree:
Lobster Bienville Two Pound Maine Lobster stuffed with House Cured Bacon, Aromatic Vegetables and Spinach in a Rich Velouté Sauce (pictured below)

not that there was any room left but for dessert I had to try: sweet potato bread pudding.
It was yum yum yummy!


We were so stuffed we weren't able to go out afterwards so we went home put our PJs on and headed to BED!!!

The next day (Friday) we got up and after a couple of hours we were hungry so we headed to Toby Keith's I love this Bar and Grill and Amy and I spilt a fried bologna sandwich..it was yummy!!