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| This year we finally had a chance to do a holiday we�d been trying to do for a few years, Las Vegas and a tour of the National Parks near by. We�d wanted to go to Las Vegas for the experience that you can�t get anywhere else in the world. The hotels, the food, the shows. The travelling came about as we thought if we�ve travelled that distance we might as well make the most of it. By looking in Travel Guides we came up with a list of places we wanted to go. |
| Las Vegas & The National Parks - Issue 5 2000 |
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| We were staying at the Luxor hotel that was more of a theme park than a hotel and in the shape of a pyramid. Las Vegas was an experience we couldn�t get anywhere else in the world and not to be missed. |
| It was excess in every way. From eat and drink as much as you like to gamble as much as you like, to the architecture of the hotels. We experienced as many of the free shows as we could. The musical water fountains at the Balagio and the Pirate Battle at Treasure Island being the best. Whilst in Las Vegas we couldn�t miss out on going to an English pub and watching England lose at football along with several hundred other Brits. We had couple of goes on the slot machines and lost all of 10 dollars until Kevin won it back at the airport as we were leaving when he was getting rid of the coins we had left. From Las Vegas we hired a big American car with all kinds of gadgets and set of to tour some National Parks for the next few days. |
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| At Bryce Canyon we had a little walk up a small hill and thought we weren�t very fit as we easily got out of breadth. It wasn�t until we were going out of the park and spotted a sign saying we were at 6000 feet that we realised it was the altitude. At no point had we gone up any hills or steep climbs whilst driving to Bryce Canyon so it came as a bit of a shock. |
| The first place we went to was Zion National Park in Utah. It was spectacular drive getting there. Every time we turned a corner the scenery totally changed. We drove through Zion National Park just stopping to take pictures and then headed further north to Bryce Canyon National Park. On the way we went through Red Canyon that as its name suggests was rock that was bright red. Bryce Canyon is a canyon with lots of rock formations in it. The rock colours were amazing. |
| From Bryce Canyon it was off to Lake Powell in Arizona. We had a look round Lake Powell with its vivid blue lake set against the sandy red colours of the rocks. Then it was off to Monument Valley the scene of many Cowboy and Indian films. More staggering scenery met us at Monument Valley. These massive pillars of rock standing on a big plain of land. Again the colours were something special against the blue sky. We had a picnic there and then headed of on dirt track around Monument Valley. We ended the day in Flagstaff staying on Route 66. |
| With another long day covering nearly 500 miles on our 7th day we set off early for a Meteor crater east of Flagstaff. The Meteor Crater is where the Astronauts for the moon missions trained as it resembled the surface of the moon. We approached the crater via a plain of land that was flat as far as the eye could see. This was except for a mound of earth that got bigger and bigger as we approached it. We realised this was the earth that had been displaced when the meteor hit. When we reached the top of the mound you looked down to a big indentation in the earth. From here we went to the Petrified Forrest National Park. Here trees that had fallen into marshes millions of years ago had turned into rock. Every where you looked you could see what looked like real tree logs but when you got close to them you could see they were solid rock. Again the colours of the land and rocks covered every colour of the rainbow. Next was Phoenix as far south as we were going. On the way there we went through forests, desert, mountains, Great Plains, you name it we went through it. As we came down from the mountains outside Phoenix we came across the cactus tress that are associated with Arizona. Phoenix was a rest for us. We did a bit of site seeing, a bit of sitting around a pool and a bit of shopping. After 3 days of rest it was off again sightseeing. We headed back to Flagstaff where we would be staying that night but drove right past it. We were heading to the Grand Canyon National Park. We reached the Grand Canyon after going through the heaviest rain we�d ever seen. It was dry as we approached and you could see the rain falling on the road in front of you. Then we were in it. You couldn�t see more than 10 yards. We had an afternoon at the Grand Canyon. Hopping off and on a bus at various viewing points. The views were spectacular but unfortunately we�d been �viewed out� with all the other scenery we�d been through and it didn�t excite us as much as other sites. Once the sun had set off back to Flagstaff. The last day of our holiday was spent travelling back to Las Vegas. We headed back via Needles where Aunt Edna used to live in the winter and London Bridge. London Bridge was a bit too touristy it was also 110 degrees. We coped quite well with temperatures at 105 degrees and were comfortable walking around but 110 was too much. A bit more shopping in Las Vegas and then the holiday was over. A busy 2 weeks staying in a unique extravagant town and seeing some spectacular scenery. We just wish we�d had a bit more time. We needed another holiday to recover. |
| A Quick Break In London - Issue 5 2000 |
| We got a chance for quick break in October. As per normal it started off where we were going to New York then Toronto then Rome them Amsterdam. Either we couldn�t find any accommodation or the flights were full so we ended up going to London. We went for the full touristy option. We normally go to London a couple of times a year for the day. This time we were going to stay a night. We got a ticket for an open top bus tour that allowed us to jump on and off during a 24 hour period which covered all the sites. This took up most of our time and gave us an insight into London we hadn�t had before. We had a tour of the London Palladium that included a talk about the history of the Theatre and then were taken around. This included going into the Royal box, back stage and on to the stage. Surprisingly the back stage area was no bigger than that at the Lyceum Theatre in Crewe. We stood on the stage in the same place as all the worlds greats have, like Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davies Junior and Bob Hope. We also got a chance to see the show Starlight Express. This show was very spectacular. It was very technical with its lighting and scenery. It was very good and very entertaining. You were sitting in the set of the show as the cast were on roller-skates and regularly skated around and above the audience. Another hectic holiday. We might take it easy one day. |
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