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Vegas and Utah
  • Hywel Johns
May – Jun 2023

Vegas and Utah

A 22-day adventure by Hywel Read more
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  • Trip start
    May 27, 2023
    Hywel JohnsVegas and UtahTraveler

    Arrived into Vegas

    May 27, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 30 °C

    Arrived after a loooong flight.
    Moved into the Luxor hotel on the strip, it's very cool being inside a pyramid! My room window is slanted and the elevators go up and also sideways to follow the shape of it.
    Needed to stay awake so headed out for a walk and visited the Bellagio fountains which are always good and the conservatory inside the hotel which looked amazing.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsVegas and UtahTraveler

    Atomic, fish, pinball

    May 28, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    Busy first full day here started with the Atomic museum, all about the Atomic bomb testing they did nearby. It was interesting, talked more about the positives or preventing a war with Russia rather than the negatives. Including one test they did on an island in the south pacific, the island is now a crater under the sea. I did get to play with a geiger counter though which was cool. I'm not radioactive!
    Then headed to the Shark Reef aquarium which was really cool, lots of sharks, plus a touch tank with rays!
    Next was the Pinball hall of fame. I don't think I've ever played full size Pinball before. My only experience is the Pinball game on Windows XP. So I obviously sucked, but it was fun playing some old and new games.
    Finally an obligatory picture next to the sign!    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsVegas and UtahTraveler

    Katy Perry!

    May 28, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 28 °C

    Ended a very good day in the best possible way by watching Katy Perry in concert!
    She was amazing, played all her famous songs, the stage set-up and costumes of the dancers were the usual crazy and she was just so good interacting with the crowd.
    There was even a proposal, he said yes, and the most 'fabulous' 9 year old boy wearing heels who got invited onto the stage.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsVegas and UtahTraveler

    Oh Deer!

    May 30, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    So yesterday was a write off, I came down with a cold, barely slept overnight, so was basically in bed the whole day. 🙄

    Today I'm feeling a little better and it's car pickup day. Because it has been a 'long winter', some things I want to visit are still closed in Utah, so I've had to change plans.

    After a false start, where I picked a car that had the engine light on... I left Las Vegas a little late and headed for Arizona instead. Had a quick stop in Seligman, which was very much a tourist trap. Before continuing on.

    Next was the Grand Canyon... deer farm. It promised friendly deer you can feed and then a petting zoo vibe for a number of other animals. I walked in with my $6 cup of deer food, where I was mobbed by about 30 deer who attacked the cup. It was an intense 20 seconds! Would recommend.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsVegas and UtahTraveler

    Grand Canyon - Sunset

    May 30, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    So after the deer, I drove up to the actual Grand Canyon and bought my annual pass for all the parks I'm hoping to visit in Utah.

    The place is amazing, it's hard to comprehend how big and deep it is. Pictures don't do it justice, but they still look amazing.

    I ended up joining the couples and the families to watch the sun go down before heading back to my static caravan for the night. I'll be back there to explore more tomorrow.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsVegas and UtahTraveler

    More Grand Canyon

    May 31, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Today I headed back to the Grand Canyon to do more exploring. The place covers a huge area, but I was just going to do more in the South Rim.

    My first plan was to head down into the canyon a bit. It's a long way down and to get to the river is an overnight hike, so I did the Bright Angel trail down to the 1.5 mile rest house. That involved a descent of over 1000ft.. and obviously had to come back up again. The views were good though and it was nice to see the walls close up.

    I then took the shuttle bus to another part of the canyon and the views were also amazing, you could see the Colorado river, it was cool, then there were some clouds and that was cool... basically it's very pretty.

    Cool thing I read was that the canyon is so deep, the temperature increases as you go lower and the top of the rim can be 21C while the inner canyon can be 32C!

    Also... next to the visitors centre, there is dedicated space for people to protest against whatever they want, which is cool. When I walked past, cookie monster was there, he didn't say what he was protesting against, but I'm sure it had something to do with cookies.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsVegas and UtahTraveler

    Lowell Observatory

    May 31, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 10 °C

    I headed to Flagstaff and the Lowell Observatory.

    This is where they discovered Pluto and you can see the telescope and Observatory that was used. They aren't keen on it not being a planet anymore...

    It's also where rich Mr Lowell set-up an Observatory to try and prove that there were canals built by aliens on Mars. He seemed convinced and made drawings proving it. They think it was some psychological thing like when people see faces in things.
    They still have the telescope working and it was open and pointed at the moon so got to use it.

    There was also a lecture on stars, a very cool constellation tour and about 5 telescopes set up viewing different things, including the ring nebula!    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsVegas and UtahTraveler

    Monument Valley

    June 1, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Spent the morning in Flagstaff but there wasn't much there... so I jumped in the car and headed to Monument Valley for the day. It's the place that was used for westerns all the time and now for car adverts apparently. Also run by the Navajo native American tribe. They sold some cool things including hand made pottery, but not $800 cool...

    When I arrived there was a little bit of rain and lots of wind, so the sky was a hazy orange, but it quickly cleared.

    The place and the views were amazing again (I'm going to quickly run out of superlatives at this rate). There was a driving loop with stops on a dirt road which was fun to drive. It was also more green than I expected, with wild flowers growing but I guess it's the season.

    Again, it was very pretty basically.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsVegas and UtahTraveler

    Valley of the Gods

    June 1, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Ended the day by driving into the Valley of the Gods which is also know as a miniture Monument Valley. The difference is that there aren't many people here and you can camp overnight for free, so that's what I tried to do!

    I found a cool spot next to the 'Cockrel', but when I tried putting my newly purchased tent up, the poles were missing... thank you Walmart.

    Stayed anyway, the views watching the sun go down were really cool and it was just so quiet. Ended up sleeping in the car, although it is not that comfortable.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsVegas and UtahTraveler

    Morning, Dugway and more views

    June 2, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    The sleep was not very comfortable and I woke up a number of times. I did see something walk past the car in the middle of the night which was cool, I'm guessing Coyote 🤷

    I reluctantly watched sunrise, had some breakfast and then continued around the Valley of the Gods. It was very cool, some of the names I did not see, but Lady in the bathtub you can see!

    Then drove to something called Moki Dugway, which is basically a road but it goes up 1100 ft in 3 miles, it was very cool to drive.

    Then went to Muley Point for more canyon views, there was nobody there, so I just chilled for a while, and got in a jump shot!    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsVegas and UtahTraveler
    1

    Natural Bridges National Monument

    June 2, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    The National Park for today is the Natural Bridges National Monument. There are three natural bridges all connected by a road and then a path down the side of the canyon so you can end up underneath them.

    The park was really quiet, although it only takes 2 Americans in the distance to break the serenity, they do shout rather than talk.

    The views were great and the hikes down were fun, with some ladders and scrambling involved.

    Bonus knowledge, according to Utah, bridges are formed by flowing water, while Arches are formed by other forms of erosion. So they can look the same, but the cause gives it a different name.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsVegas and UtahTraveler

    Canyonlands - Island in the sky

    June 3, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Today's National Park was Canyonlands. It's huge and the area I was in was called Island in the sky! It's a big mesa linked only by a small 'neck' otherwise it would be an 'island'.

    Again, the views were amazing. 🙄
    Did a number of short hikes to viewpoints or on things like Whale Rock, or Aztec butte (no Aztecs and no butts) There was an arch, a crater they think might have been caused by a meteorite, an old puebloan granary, and the location where the Thelma and Louise film finished (technically in Dead Horse Point State Park).

    It was a busy day and it was nice to get some hiking done. I also learnt that the dirt is alive!    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsVegas and UtahTraveler

    Canyonlands - Needles hiking

    June 4, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Today I was back in Canyonlands, but in an area called the Needles. Named after the needle looking spires of rocks that are all over the place.

    Its not as accessible as the other areas, so today was going to be a full day of hiking to get to an area called Chesler Park. Ended up being out for 6 hours in total, but the views were beautiful and it was a really fun hike, barely saw another person, and even getting to go through a slot canyon between the big rocks.Read more

  • Hywel JohnsVegas and UtahTraveler

    Arches!

    June 5, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Today's imaginatively named National Park is Arches National Park. It's home to the highest density of natural arches in the world.

    It was a mix of easy access roadside arches that had lots of people (including a Spanish singer recording a music video on a mobile phone, nobody recognised him) and ones you needed to hike to see, which included probably the best one and the symbol of Utah, the Delicate Arch.

    It was a long day as I was still a bit tried from the day before, but it was really nice there and I could have stayed longer. However, I had a long drive north that ended up going over a mountain pass in Colorado, and I almost ran out of fuel. 😬    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsVegas and UtahTraveler
    2

    Dino day!

    June 6, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Today was dinosaur day! I stayed in Vernal at the Dinosaur Inn and Suites, then headed to Dinosaur National Monument.

    There used to be a large quarry from back in 1910 where they excavated loads of dinosaurs. The guy who discovered it, wanted some to be left in place and protected for people to visit... so it is!

    They say there's probably more underneath the layer they display and also under the building, but it's being preserved.

    It was very cool to be able to see them all in place, so many bits, mainly Camarasaurus, but also stegosaurus and allosaurus, and others! Even encouraged to touch some of them!

    After that, I visited a dinosaur trackway next to a lake. Amazingly, when I got there, there was a local family just chilling out swimming next to the tracks, and throwing rocks into the water... rocks that could have things on them! I totally judged them.
    They were about to leave luckily and some other fellow Dino hunters appeared to help look for the tracks. We eventually found some and had to clear some debris. Some were underwater, but it was cool to see the ones we saw.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsVegas and UtahTraveler
    2

    Goblins and a Little White Horse

    June 7, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Today was very much a day of playing, it started with Goblin Valley state park. It's filled with goblins/hoodoos/mushroom looking things. They just went on and on, just endless! One of those things you end up seeing faces and animals in them. They also encouraged the fact there are no paths, so just go and explore. It would have been an amazing place for a game of hide and seek.

    Next was Little White Horse canyon, this is a slot canyon that is super narrow in places. It was lots of fun to walk through and there was a section that had water in so had to walk through it. There was a loop, but by the time I got to the end of the canyon to walk to the next one, I decided it would be more fun to go back through it again!

    Ended the day in an amazing hotel and a private hot-tub I used for stargazing!    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsVegas and UtahTraveler

    Capitol Reef National Park

    June 8, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Today I visited Capitol Reef National Park. This one covers a crack in the earth's crust that goes about 100 miles north to south and the park is only about 6 miles wide.

    So it was a bit of a geology lesson day. There was a scenic drive with an audio tour, explaining what the different rock colours are and how old etc. It was cool to understand more about it.

    There was also an old Mormon village that had a shop with famous pies made from fruit in the orchards (I bought an apple pie and mixed berry pie). Some historical graffiti by Mormon 'pioneers' from 1900 ish..., some petroglyphs, and a short hike to the tanks, some natural pools that hold water... although not much left as you can see in the picture. There was like 4 tiny fish in there though. I also met a friendly squirrel.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsVegas and UtahTraveler

    Sal Tlay Ka Siti

    June 9, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    I am now in Salt Lake City and planning on spending a few days here to include some relaxing.

    As I was here, I had to go visit Temple Square and learn more about the Mormons... how much of the book of Mormon musical was accurate.

    Unfortunately there's some construction going on to protect the temple from earthquakes, so some sections were closed and the temple was covered in scaffolding.

    There were tours in the conference centre though and I managed to get one on my own, so it was me and Sister Smith from Louisiana and sister Nsiete from France. They were both awesome, it was supposed to be 40 mi utes, we were there for over 2 hours. They were here for their mission they were both doing after a year of college and before completing their studies. I was able to ask a lot of questions and it was really interesting.
    So basically, you may now call me Elder Johns.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsVegas and UtahTraveler

    More dinos, scooting and birds

    June 11, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    After taking a relaxing day yesterday except for some Pokémon, I visited the Natural History Museum to balance out the religion from Friday.

    The Museum covered a huge period of time up until now, but I was mainly interested in the dinosaurs! They had a lot of fossils and casts of dinosaurs.
    Utah is a bit of a hotspot, they have discovered 26 new species since 2000. They think there was a sea seperating them from other dinosaurs we know so they evolved differently to become unique species.

    I then jumped on my first e-scooter (loads of fun) and scooted... to a park in the city for some Pokémon playing and to visit an aviary. While I was walking around, it seemed like most had just been fed so got to see some mice being eaten.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsVegas and UtahTraveler
    1

    Bryce Canyon

    June 12, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    Left Salt Lake City and back to the national parks, this time Bryce Canyon.

    This one isn't as big and I got around most of the sights in the afternoon/evening, including a couple of short hikes.

    It was a bit cloudy and I think it had rained a little, plus it was colder because of the altitude. The views were still really pretty, as always. The place was just so orangy-red! There was also a hoodoo that looked like Queen Victoria and one the was called Thor's hammer. I was there as the sun was going down which made some of the rock look even darker.Read more

  • Hywel JohnsVegas and UtahTraveler

    Riding Red Canyon

    June 13, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    This morning, after a mess at my hotel last night where they couldn't check me in, so I had to go to another hotel. Then didn't get much sleep, I went horse riding through red canyon.

    The trip was going to be somewhere between great and disastrous depending on allergy reactions. I dosed myself up good and luckily didn't have a problem.

    The trip was very relaxing and quiet in some ways and also painful sitting in the weird way I had to sit in others. Tabasco preferred a little gap between us and the rest of the group, couldn't go to the toilet while moving, and also didn't like down hills, but otherwise he was a good horse.

    Enjoyed the ride, three hours was about right, and the red canyon is pretty red!    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsVegas and UtahTraveler
    11

    Looking for snow

    June 13, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    After the cool ride in the red canyon, I tried to visit Cedar Breaks National Monument, it's even further above sea level and the road has only recently opened.

    As I got higher I passed a cool lake, some volcanic rocks and the old snow started appearing. Once I got to the park, the office was still closed and unfortunately they also haven't opened the paths up so couldn't go hiking. The views were good and I was able to make use of the snow at least.

    Ended the day at my hotel back down the hill and finished the day in the swimming pool with 30C heat.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsVegas and UtahTraveler
    1

    Zion

    June 14, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Today I visited my last National Park of the trip and the most famous one, Zion National Park.

    It reminded me of Yosemite, with the massive Cliffs either side of the valley. Very pretty views and I did a number of walks around the canyon, it was pretty busy here though.

    There is a famous walk called the narrows where you basically walk through a river up a narrow canyon. It's the reason I went to Arizona first, but unfortunately the walk is still closed because of the long winter they have had. There is still too much water in the river. That sucks, but means I will have to come back another time I think. It would normally be open by this point in the year. 🙄

    I have taken many pictures of lizards on the trip, I saw the biggest one yet after he started charging me on the path. Looked different to all the other ones and seems to be shedding!    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsVegas and UtahTraveler

    Angels Landing

    June 15, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Back to Zion National Park today, Narrows are still closed, but I did manage to win a permit to climb Angles Landing.

    Its a tough hike zigzagging up the side of a cliff then a scary climb along a ridge that goes out to Angels Landing with a 1000ft drop either side.

    It was a really fun walk and scramble, had amazing views and an awesome way to finish the national park tour I was on.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsVegas and UtahTraveler

    Manilow!

    June 16, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    Last full day of the holiday, back in Las Vegas, car dropped off, staying at the New York New York hotel, and ending the holiday as I started, by going to a concert. This time Barry Manilow!

    I wouldn't put myself as a fan before the concert, but he was awesome. He had an effortless strong voice. Ended up sat next to members of his fan club who had come to see him three days in a row... I'm not at that level yet. It is his birthday weekend though, 81 tomorrow!Read more

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