AZ '23 with Friends
Months ago, our friend group of 6 began planning a holiday trip out West. We met several times (my favorite) to study maps and share what we had each discovered in regards to the areas we were planning on visiting. Dean, Steven, Becky, Clint, Kecia and myself were all so excited about the rough itinerary that we were planning. I decided to blog during the trip as it is so great to be able to come back and visit those memories.
Las Vegas
We began our trip with an early flight out of NOLA directly into Las Vegas. We had wheels on the ground at 9 am Vegas time. Finally secured the largest SUV available and the guys were successful with getting all of our bags into the Expedition Max. We took in a few sights in Vegas- the Sphere is just an amazing sight to see. We also located the site of the original MGM Grand. The infamous fire back in 1980 is where Dean lost his dad, Gustave Noel Guidry. This was Dean's first trip to Vegas.
There is something about having mountains as the backdrop to any city. Las Vegas is a sight to see and I understand that so many people enjoy it's offerings. We however, we so in love with the natural landscape surrounding the city. As we headed northeast towards Zion National Park, we enjoyed taking in such a different topography from home.
Zion National Park
Our plan was to make it to Page for the night. Along the way we stopped and enjoyed Zion National Park. The weather was chilly, with a high of about 43 for the day. Zion is filled with red rocks towering peaks. It is home to The Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel. The drive leading up to the tunnel has incredible views with switchbacks galore! The tunnel itself is 1.1 miles long and was built to connect Zion to the other neighboring National Parks. Our plan was to take the hike that is immediately on the east side of the tunnel, Canyon Overlook Trail.
We had to park about a mile away from the trailhead. We made our own parking spot along the rode up against the side of huge boulders. We got to trailhead around 4:45 pm. Sunset was 5:30 so we knew we were going to be in fading light. The hike up to the overlook was slightly challenging with a few spots of narrow pathways 'on the edge.' The trail was busy with people, but we moved at the speed that we were each comfortable with.
Upon arrival to the overlook, we all realized that it was so worth it (Had Steven polled anyone on our way up....?). We were looking down into Zion Canyon and it was breath taking! We enjoyed the views and took a few pictures of all of us. During our hike back down, the moon was rising. It was a huge, full moon that was a beautiful sight. It also meant that we were hiking back in the dark. We were not alone, as the trail was still fairly busy. We used the flashlights on our iPhones to illuminate our path. It was a great hike that we were all happy to have completed.
We hiked the mile back to our truck (in the dark) and got loaded in. Our next stop was our hotel in Page. During our drive we found a Pizza Hut near the hotel, ordered pizza ahead of time to be picked up at our arrival time and took off on the two hour drive. Lots of dark, long miles. We were all feeling the 4 am departure from home. We picked up our pizzas and got into our hotel rooms around 8:30.
Our plan for Wednesday is to enjoy the sites around Page.
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