Day 12: Second day at Bryce Canyon; Zion and Las Vegas

Miles driven to-date: 3,573
States visited to-date: 15

We got up early to head over to Bryce for a few more hours. The main park road is 18 miles long and has several scenic stops along the way, so we started at one end and worked our way to the other, pulling over and taking pictures at different points. We both remarked that the hoo doos and views looked different each way you turned your head, so seeing them from different perspectives throughout the park was interesting.

We then wanted to get up close and personal with the hoo doos so we did a short hike down into the canyon. The rocks were surprisingly smooth and cool to the touch, and seeing the large structures from the ground up was another neat experience.

Steve hiking among the hoo doos.

Heading back on the road again, we drove about 90 miles to Zion National Park. Because of limited time, we knew we would only be able to drive through the park without stopping for long, but that still gave us a chance to get an overview of the place. We were most impressed by the enormous rock formations looming above us in every direction. We also enjoyed driving through a mile-long tunnel in the rock. We got out of the car to take a few photos as we drove through the park.

The roadside view in Zion.

It was another gorgeous day, although the hottest we’d yet experienced. Here’s a picture of the car’s thermometer as we headed out of Zion:

For just a bit of a change from Bryce and Zion, we made our way into Las Vegas in the late afternoon. We had both already been to Sin City but in terms of our route, it made sense to stop there overnight. Plus, my brother Scott rented a motorcycle and drove out from L.A. to meet us!

Scott spent about six hours hunched over this bike as he rode to Vegas. I was impressed he could even walk afterwards.

Thanks to Steve, we had a cheap room at the Tropicana Hotel right on the strip. The hotel itself was kind of gross but the location was great, and we enjoyed a quick dip in the pool in the still-blazing afternoon heat. We saw countless drunken idiots, wedding photos being taken next to the pool, a pregnant woman smoking in the hot tub, and a woman changing her baby’s diaper practically in the water. Gotta love Vegas!

My Dad had given us a few suggestions for places to eat, so we went to Burger Bar at Mandalay Bay. Thanks for the suggestion, Dad - the food was great (you can choose from different gourmet toppings for your burger) and it gave us a chance to catch up with Scott and hear about how his scriptwriting is coming along. Steve was also amused to get a few messages from Rusty from the Pearl Jam concert in Pittsburgh during the evening. He wondered if Rusty and IV have quit their jobs and become “roadies” for the band?

After dinner we walked up and down the strip, taking in the sights and sounds. When we got to Caesar's, I was reminded of our family's wonderful trip here a couple of years ago to see Celine Dion's show.

It was amazingly hot out, even late into the night. We kept remarking that even the breeze didn't really help; it just felt like hot air blowing around.

Vegas can certainly be fun, but being there made me glad that the rest of our trip will be focused on nicer cities or national parks! By about 2:30am, we were all pretty tired and crawled into our hygienically-questionable beds at the Trop. It was a fun evening, and was especially great to see Scott!