Wednesday, 4 September 2013
16th October 2013
Arrived back safely to the UK after our "not quite" the National Parks of America tour. Better luck next year !
15th October 2013
We finished the holiday with visits to more Las Vegas hotels including New York, New York and the
Luxor followed by photographs at the Las Vegas sign.
We then returned to the Stratosphere for the all you can eat buffet as if we need more food !
It was then onto the airport for the flight back home.
14th October 2013
This is the last full day of the holiday and we are visiting Zion National Park. This is quite different to Bryce and the Grand Canyon but very good in its own way.
After a quick wash, we rushed off to try to get tickets to see Cirque du Soleil's production of "Love" ,featuring the songs of the Beatles, at the Mirage. We were in luck, tickets were still available but at a price, 125 dollars each ! However, this proved money well spent as the show was great from beginning to end.
13th October 2013
Today we hit Bryce Canyon and did a 2 mile walk around the rim from Sunrise Point to Sunset Point.
Bryce is quite different to the Grand Canyon , lots of "sticky up rocks" called Hoodoos. In many ways the views are more spectacular.
The weather here is forever changing.Our walk started with howling winds, followed by bright sunshine and then would you believe snow !We completed the walk with 45 minutes to spare.
When we returned to our hotel we found the queue for the restaurant was so long that we decided to buy two microwave meals from the store to eat in our room with cake and beer. At least we saved 50 dollars ! We also discovered two great shows on American TV, Pawn Stars ( note the spelling ! ) and Tattoo Ink. Have a look on Sky, I'm sure they show them.
Bryce is quite different to the Grand Canyon , lots of "sticky up rocks" called Hoodoos. In many ways the views are more spectacular.
The weather here is forever changing.Our walk started with howling winds, followed by bright sunshine and then would you believe snow !We completed the walk with 45 minutes to spare.
When we returned to our hotel we found the queue for the restaurant was so long that we decided to buy two microwave meals from the store to eat in our room with cake and beer. At least we saved 50 dollars ! We also discovered two great shows on American TV, Pawn Stars ( note the spelling ! ) and Tattoo Ink. Have a look on Sky, I'm sure they show them.
11th October 2013
This journey was through Navajo Indian territory and they were our guides for the day.
10th October 2013
We set out in driving rain under dark skies to visit the four corners monument, the only place in America where you can touch four states at the same time i.e
Utah, Colorado , Arizona and New Mexico.
Lots of photos of people in strange positions !
We then travelled through Navajo Indian country to see more canyons and breath taking views whilst dodging rain, sun and snow all within a few minutes of each other !
Utah, Colorado , Arizona and New Mexico.
We then travelled through Navajo Indian country to see more canyons and breath taking views whilst dodging rain, sun and snow all within a few minutes of each other !
9th October2013
Today we visited Dead Horse Point in Utah, a State not National park and saw our first Canyon of this trip.The views were stunning and we got to walk one and a half miles around the rim.
We recreated the scene from 127 hours were the climber traps his arm between two rocks and has to cut his arm off with a knife ( we didn't do that bit but the photos looked scary !)
In the evening we went to Shiloh's restaurant where we had a delicious meal of Elk steak. Yummy !
We recreated the scene from 127 hours were the climber traps his arm between two rocks and has to cut his arm off with a knife ( we didn't do that bit but the photos looked scary !)
In the evening we went to Shiloh's restaurant where we had a delicious meal of Elk steak. Yummy !
8th October 2013
We are off today for a tour of Salt Lake City and the surrounding area, hopefully including the famous salt flats.
For our lunch stop we visited Park City where the bus dropped us outside a micro brewery where we had a very fine Bison burger. This fine establishment known as the Wasatch Brewery offered Jalapeno and Apricot beers as well as a very fine IPA ! A great time was had by all, lets forget about the National Parks and explore the breweries instead.
7th October 2013
The day did not start well as I fell over on a slippery sidewalk going for breakfast at Betty Rock's cafe ! I've bruised my thigh but hopefully haven't done any permanent damage.
We headed off to Salt Lake City on a very picturesque route through the Teton mountains making our customery rest stops en route. One was at the town of Afton which features the world's biggest Elkhorn antler arch.
In a local Afton shop I tried on a cowboy hat but as you can see, I struggled to find one to fit my head !
We arrived late afternoon at Temple Square, Salt Lake City for a tour of the Mormon temples and grounds.
In the evening we had our meal at the Red Rock Brewery which was quite close to our hotel down 200 South Street. See their website at :-
www.redrockbrewing.com
We headed off to Salt Lake City on a very picturesque route through the Teton mountains making our customery rest stops en route. One was at the town of Afton which features the world's biggest Elkhorn antler arch.
In a local Afton shop I tried on a cowboy hat but as you can see, I struggled to find one to fit my head !
We arrived late afternoon at Temple Square, Salt Lake City for a tour of the Mormon temples and grounds.
In the evening we had our meal at the Red Rock Brewery which was quite close to our hotel down 200 South Street. See their website at :-
www.redrockbrewing.com
6th October 2013
We set off from Cody to Jackson Hole travelling through the scenic Teton mountains stopping off en route to visit Thermopolis, Samos for its hot springs. There was no time to try their bathing facilities as the long journey was resumed after a 40 minute stopover.
Lunch was at a Walmart ( Chicken Ceasar Salad roll ) followed by fruit salad and a quick zip up the aisles of the supermarket looking for more cheap T Shirts and bargain Country and Western CD's.
This was the third time we had used the fast scans which worked in almost exactly the same way as the ones in Asda but without the " ...... In the bagging area" noise every few seconds !
In the evening we went to the Snake River Brewing Co. bar and restaurant. We had French Onion Soup with a cheesey topping. This was followed by fish and chips cooked the American way ( like three big fish fingers ! ) with coleslaw and sweet potato chips.
The beers were all excellent particular the Pako's IPA ( over 6% ) and the standard IPA. We tried four others in sample glasses and bought a 6 pack of assorted cans plus a Pako's IPA t shirt.
5th October 2013
The bus outside our hotel room at 8.0am waiting to depart, once the roads are clear of ice !
Hopefully we will get to see the Buffalo Bill museum later today.
We set off eventually at 10.30pm and arrived at the Buffalo Bill museum at 3.45pm.Although we only had just over an hour to get round we thoroughly enjoyed the experience and took many photographs. One of these was Jenny talking to a hologram of Buffalo Bill Cody !
In the evening we went to Cassie's supper club for a meal followed by dancing. The steaks were plate sized with the blood still running from them ! Yummy !!
We tried two local IPA's , both delicious.
4th October 2013
Well the snow has arrived but only about 4 to 6" so I suppose we should be grateful !
It's official we have to stay in our Sheridan hotel all day today as the weather is so bad, travel is out of the question.
Travelsphere have booked us in for another night and will provide complimentary lunch and dinner ( they are not however offering free beer ! )
Nothing much to do but read a book and go for a few more drinks later. It's too wet and snowy outside to walk safely around town.This blows my plans to visit the local Blacktooth Brewery, doh !
Depending on the weather ( the signs are that it will be OK ) we move off in the morning bound for Cody.
3rd October 2013
We loaded everything on the bus again and set off for our next hotel in Sheridan, Wyoming via stops at Tatanka and Deadwood.
Tatanka is a visitor centre created by Kevin Costner to honour the American Buffalo and the native American Red Indians. It was created after the actor appeared in the film "Dances with Wolves" which was filmed in the area.
It features some fantastic full size statues of Buffalo being hunted by Red Indians on horseback.
We also saw exhibits showing how the Indians built their tepees and how they spent their daily lives.
From there we travelled by a bright yellow school bus to our next stop Deadwood one of the most famous towns from the old Wild West. Our driver and guide Dave was hilarious as he told us the history of the town and it's two most famous residents Wild Bill Hickox and Calamity Jane. Both are buried in Boot Hill cemetery which we visited.
We had lunch in Deadwood at Kevin Costner's own restaurant which displays his costumes from films such as "No Way Out", "Field of Dreams", "The Untouchables" and many more. Definitely our best meal stop of the trip so far.
2nd October 2013
We were due to visit Mount Rushmore today but all National Parks were again closed.
We had to make due with taking photos from the coach as all stopping points along the route had been coned off ! Someone somewhere really wanted to upset visitors to this area.
We carried on and visited the fantastic memorial to the Red Indian Chief Crazy Horse. It's a sculpture of him on a horse blasted out of the side of a mountain. This is a mammoth project as only the head and part of his arm have been completed.The project was started in 1948 by the Polish sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski. The head of Crazy Horse was not completed until 1998. It may well take another 50 years or more to complete. Look it up on the Internet, it's really interesting.
After lunching in Keystone ( I had Buffalo stew ) we finished the day visiting Bear Country, a drive through animal park dedicated to animals of the area. Although interesting its not what we came here to see and already there are rumblings of discontent in our party.
Our overnight stay was in Rapid City famous for its many bronze statues of American presidents ( we saw John Adams the second US president ) and the Firehouse Brewing Company !
We took a taxi to this fine establishment where we ate our evening meal and sampled some of there
fine brews. We were able to take a ride back to our hotel on the courtesy double decker red London bus. This is a free service running every hour from the town square for customers of the Brew Pub and other local restaurants.The driver even dropped us outside the front doors of Walmart at our request !
We had to make due with taking photos from the coach as all stopping points along the route had been coned off ! Someone somewhere really wanted to upset visitors to this area.
We carried on and visited the fantastic memorial to the Red Indian Chief Crazy Horse. It's a sculpture of him on a horse blasted out of the side of a mountain. This is a mammoth project as only the head and part of his arm have been completed.The project was started in 1948 by the Polish sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski. The head of Crazy Horse was not completed until 1998. It may well take another 50 years or more to complete. Look it up on the Internet, it's really interesting.
After lunching in Keystone ( I had Buffalo stew ) we finished the day visiting Bear Country, a drive through animal park dedicated to animals of the area. Although interesting its not what we came here to see and already there are rumblings of discontent in our party.
Our overnight stay was in Rapid City famous for its many bronze statues of American presidents ( we saw John Adams the second US president ) and the Firehouse Brewing Company !
We took a taxi to this fine establishment where we ate our evening meal and sampled some of there
fine brews. We were able to take a ride back to our hotel on the courtesy double decker red London bus. This is a free service running every hour from the town square for customers of the Brew Pub and other local restaurants.The driver even dropped us outside the front doors of Walmart at our request !
1st October 2013
Breakfast in our hotel and my first chance to enjoy American biscuits and gravy. Doesn't it look
delicious !
However, our good mood soon evaporates with the news of the US Government shutdown , meaning all National Parks would be closed until a solution can be found. On a tour named "The National Parks of America" this was the worst possible news we could have had.
However "the show must go on" so we move on to Rapid City and stop over to visit the historic train depot museum and rest stop in Cheyenne . This is only a 30 minute stopover but surprise, surprise it has its own brewery inside called Shadow Brewing !Although its only 10.0am in the morning it would be rude not to try one of its beers aptly named "Big Boy" Amber Ale! It was delicious.
We move on quickly as we have over 440 miles to travel before we get to Rapid City.
On the bus a DVD is playing , it's the history of the Oregon trail or how the first settlers discovered the area we were travelling through today. When we woke up we were arriving at Fort Laramie which was closed for the day due to the government shutdown . We had to take our photos from the local cemetery , great !
Arrived in Rapid City at 6.30pm and after our evening meal we visited Walmart for some shopping , the start of our love affair with the US's biggest store chain !
delicious !
However, our good mood soon evaporates with the news of the US Government shutdown , meaning all National Parks would be closed until a solution can be found. On a tour named "The National Parks of America" this was the worst possible news we could have had.
However "the show must go on" so we move on to Rapid City and stop over to visit the historic train depot museum and rest stop in Cheyenne . This is only a 30 minute stopover but surprise, surprise it has its own brewery inside called Shadow Brewing !Although its only 10.0am in the morning it would be rude not to try one of its beers aptly named "Big Boy" Amber Ale! It was delicious.
We move on quickly as we have over 440 miles to travel before we get to Rapid City.
On the bus a DVD is playing , it's the history of the Oregon trail or how the first settlers discovered the area we were travelling through today. When we woke up we were arriving at Fort Laramie which was closed for the day due to the government shutdown . We had to take our photos from the local cemetery , great !
Arrived in Rapid City at 6.30pm and after our evening meal we visited Walmart for some shopping , the start of our love affair with the US's biggest store chain !
30th September 2013
Take-off from Heathrow bound for Denver, Colorado ! Sat next to John Tennant who ,
with his wife Liz, were also on our tour and were to become very good friends of ours.
Arrived safely at the hotel and went straight to the bar to try out some
American beers . First choice Sam Adams seasonal favourite "Octoberfest" !
with his wife Liz, were also on our tour and were to become very good friends of ours.
Arrived safely at the hotel and went straight to the bar to try out some
American beers . First choice Sam Adams seasonal favourite "Octoberfest" !
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