For our move from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Boulder, Colorado, we decided to take the opportunity to sightsee our way across the country from Los Angeles to Boulder instead of shipping the car and flying all the way across. As it turned out, it was really worth it and we can highly recommend the trip up the I-15 and I-70.
We got our car services and checked out, carried an extra 2 gallons (~10l) of water in case of a car emergency in the desert, installed our portable DVD player between the two front seats to provide some entertainment for our two kids during some of the more boring and longer driving stretches and packed some snack food for along the way.
Studying the map we decided to sightsee in the morning until after lunch, then drive for 4-6 hours with a break (kids will take nap in car) and then start to look for a place to stay for the night. The only advanced hotel reservation we made was for Las Vegas, our first stop. We said our good-byes to my sister and her family and set off on our road trip on Tuesday around noon on July 18 (my birthday).
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 Direct distance Los Angeles - Boulder: ~1050mi (~1700km) With 3 National Parks (Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches): ~ 1400mi (~2250km) |
Day 1 & 2: Las Vegas
We left Los Angeles around noon and were heading to Las Vegas on the I-15 which should take us about 5 1/2 hours plus a short break to stretch out our legs and visit the restroom. We were already familiar with this part of our drive as we have visited Las Vegas before during our 6 years living in Los Angeles. This was a good test of how our kids would hold up and if we got our entertainment and food/drinks figured out right. :)
The weather was gorgeous, the temperatures were hot (97F, ~36C), the traffic was light and we were off on our little adventure.
Just before sunset we rolled into Las Vegas and cruised down The Strip from the Stratoshpere hotel to our hotel the Luxor (Egyptian theme). Our kids were squealing with delight at all the marquees and lights and couldn't wait to get out to explore this town.
And then we had a short but heavy rain shower and the whole city turned into a giant sauna (97F (~36C) and 100% humidity)!
Once we arrived at our hotel, they got very quiet and big eyed when they caught sight of all the impressive Sphinx, Egyptian statues, columns and hieroglyphs. Haha! We received a free hotel room upgrade and a $30 dining allowance when we checked in which was a nice little surprise. We grabbed something small to eat and after exploring our hotel we were ready for bed.
The next day we explored all the themed hotels from the Luxor all the way up to the The Mirage hotel which was a couple of miles worth walking. We were surprised at how well the kids held up but then I don't think they realized how far they walked because of all the attractions/distractions along the way.
We enjoyed a fighter jet pilot IMAX movie, a "Search for the lost tombstone" adventure ride that broke down half way through (yeah, my luck!), a live lion exhibit at the MGM, the Bellagio water fountain show and their model train wonderland, Caesar's Palace fountain shows, the Mirage's vulcano erruption, and many more things. It was a packed day that we ended with a taxi ride back to the hotel during which Adrian talked our friendly Russian taxi driver to death about all that he saw. Hahaha!
(BTW, click on the "This album" link to see a larger version of the images)
The next morning we slept in, enjoyed a delicious giant breakfast buffet and left Las Vegas around noon to drive all the way to the Bryce Canyon National Park through Zion National Park.
Day 3: Las Vegas to Bryce Canyon250 mi (~400 km)The weather was gorgeous again, temperatures were high (~105F, ~40C), the traffic was light and with a full tank of gas and full stomachs we were prepared for a long drive through desert land until we would hit Zion National Park (Utah).
Were we wrong! Just when the landscape was starting to get boring (same desert vistas as on the drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas) we were suddenly descending through a gulch into canyon land... for the last two hours we have been driving on a plateau without knowing it!
The land is so vast out here that it was very hard to capture the scenery on a photo. The colors, land formations, and that mostly straight highway as far as the eye can see were very impressive. It's very sparsely populated out here and I can now understand why they can hold here international air combat war training "games", sometimes even with live amunition... I also understand now why this is the area with one of the most reported UFO sightings (hint, hint)...
The scenery made it easy to drive the many miles and we arrived at Zion National Park in the later afternoon. After purchasing a one year National Park pass at the park entry booth we ignored the tourist tram to the Zion canyon and headed for the mountain pass to Bryce Canyon National Park. What a beautiful drive! We couldn't stop our ooh's and ah's for the next couple of miles. Again it was hard to capture the scenery on film. This would make for some incredible backcountry hiking here...
Just when we thought we had recovered from Zion and after passing our first large buffalo herd we hit the Red Canyon State Park (Utah). As with the other landscapes it came as a surprise after a steady uphill climb with some slightly wooded hill tops at the end of the visible road. And BANG! there were absolutely red rock formations all around us! A well kept bike path followed the creek and many signs indicated horseback ridding and camping opportunities. Chalked up that park for future backcountry hiking...
Just about a half hour later we arrived at the Bryce Canyon National Park entry and stopped at one of the few hotels to get a room for the night. We were a bit nervous but as it turned out it was not a problem to get a room for the night at all. Hm, we thought it might be a problem because it was still high season.
(BTW, click on "This album" to see large images)
The only question left was: where was the Bryce Canyon? As far as we could see there was no sign of a canyon...only wide open land... the next day would show us this answer.
Day 4: Bryce Canyon to Moab, UT280 mi (~ 450km)The day started out with glorious sunshine and brisk temperatures. Today we've planned to sightsee Bryce Canyon and then drive to Moab just outside the Arches National Park where we would spend the night.
We left our motel with high anticipation and headed to Bryce Canyon...but we drove 10+ miles and no sight of a canyon until we stopped at the first lookout! We were driving the whole time on the rim of the "canyon"! Hahaha! These American maps really don't show you any landscape details...
The morning sun dipped the Bryce Canyon stone formations into unreal colors. It also got hot really fast even though we found ourselves on a high plateau of over 8500 feet (over 2800 m). We got a pretty good impression of the incredible stone towers but to really experience them one should hike or ride into the national park. Definitely something to do when the kids are older and at a different time of the year. It was getting very hot.
Time to say good-bye to the red towers, bridges, and statues and head along the I-70 to Moab just outside of Arches National Park. Black thunderclouds have raced in and we just made it off the plateau when the thunderstorm unloaded behind us. It was quite a lightening spektacle up in the mountains and we successfully outraced the storm to the north.
After lunch in one of the many western looking towns along the road we would experience another natural wonder: the whole drive showed us the various forms canyons can take on. Before the trip we didn't realize that the whole north of the Grand Canyon was canyon land... you drive for hours through canyons as far as your eye can see! Everytime we went down into another canyon, another variation of canyon land opened up in front of us... the immense landscape and the drama are hard to describe or capture in an image...
We reached Moab just around sunset and found a great little motel with a water slide. What a fun way of ending an exceptional day and some long, hot driving hours. The kids were incredible good sports and enjoyed our little "water park" adventure.
(Click on "This album" link to see larger images)
Tomorrow, we would tackle Arches National Park.
Day 5: Arches National Park to Eagle, CO
230 mi (~370 km)
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