Vegas and Sedona

It's been a few months since I've blogged. I'm on vacation now so thought I'd update my blog.

Nic, April and I are in Sedona, Arizona now. We flew into Vegas last Monday and went to the Freemont Hotel and Casino to the Paradise Buffet for dinner. The food was delicious and so was the chocolate cake and ice cream :) Then we watched the 9:00 American Pie, 10:00 Tribute to Queen and the 11:00 Kiss canopy light shows. They were all good and it was fun to dance to the Queen songs. We walked around and looked at all the vendors along Freemont and also went to the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino to check out the shark and fish tank. It was quite impressive as it was outside in the back of the hotel in the middle of some restaurants.

On Tuesday we went shopping at the outlet mall at the south end of the strip and then went to eat at the new China Star Buffet by the resort. We went to the Criss Angel/Cirque du Soleil show. It was excellent, very dark and gothic and soooo unbelievable. I kept saying "How'd he do that?"...

On Wednesday we drove to Sedona which took about 6 hours including bathroom breaks. Thursday we went and checked in at the Grand Canyon at the Bright Angel Lodge. We had to get weighed in for the mule rides the next day. We also got our bright yellow rain jackets, canteen for water and our string to tie our cameras and glasses around our necks. The drive from Sedona to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon was about 3 hours and we had to be back for the orientation at 7am. We didn't get back from the Canyon until 10:30 or so. Nic got about 4 hours sleep and April and I got less. I think I got less than 2 hours sleep as we had to leave at 3:30am. The mule ride was excellent. My mule was named Pet and she kept trying to stop and eat grass and greenery on the descent down. It was a beautiful view and she like to walk along the edge. It was quite cold and windy at the rim but further down it was nice and warm. I wore my toque and layered myself with water/wind resistant pants, my thermal pants, long sleeve New Balance lightning dry long-sleeved shirt, my fleecy and my Taiga. We also wore our rain jackets on top. We ate dust and dirt throughout the ride as the sand got in our eyes, nose and mouth. Hikers on the way up and down were so brown and dusty. Our first stop was Indian Arm and then Plateau Point for lunch and then came back up. We sure went down a great distance and it looked so high as we were on switchbacks. Pet was slow near the top so our wrangler had to hold onto her rope and pull her. Nic's mule Tisi lagged behind as he kept stopping to eat and apparently doesn't get ridden much. Our wrangler Brendin said that he usually has to pull Pet up near the end. April's mule was named Marcy. She said that after she was back in the corral Marcy kissed her! It was soooo windy at the top. I was glad I had my bandana on to cover my nose and mouth. After we went back to the corral and got our diplomas for completing the ride and dropped our rain jackets off it started snowing!!! Brrr...it was soooo cold and windy. We were sooooo sore. We went to Tusuyan just outside the Canyon and had a snack and looked around at the gift shop. On the drive back to Sedona it was snowing and blowing so hard that it was a whiteout and the signs were totally covered by snow. Luckily I knew which exit to take and the signs weren't covered where we needed to turn off. Sedona was raining.

The days have been nice and warm but it cools off at night.

My neck, back, hips, quads, pecs, wrists, fingers and ankles were all sore. On Saturday Nic and April went to a timeshare presentation and then we went to look at Snoopy Rock, Chapel Rock and Bell rock. We went to Shugrue's Hillside Restaurant for dinner and had a beautiful sunset view of some red rocks. The food was excellent there.

Today Nic made eggs again with green onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, ham and cheese. Yummy! They went on a jeep tour and I rested as my muscles were very fatigued especially my back. Their butts were more sore than mine was. The jeep tour picked them up at the lobby and then dropped them off uptown so they could go shopping. I picked them up and we went shopping at Tlaquepaque. Then went to Airport Road to watch the sun set from up above. It was packed there.

We're heading back to Vegas Monday morning to drop Nic off as her flight is at 4:35. Then April and I will go to San Diego for the night as we're planning to go to the zoo Tuesday. Then we'll stay at April's friend's place in Lake Forest (close to Anaheim). We have to line up at 6am Wednesday morning to try and get Price is Right tickets. Then on Thursday we're going to the Bonnie Hunt show. We'll go back to Vegas Thursday and fly back home Saturday.

Well, that's it for now...will post some photos later on when I get home.