The first (and best days) in Las Vegas we stayed with daughter Kris. She is a wonderful hostess and cook. The rescue dog she is fostering Maple, Bonito (her puppy), and our Bailey were great together. We were able to get some home projects completed and had a lot of fun together!
She took us to Ethel M chocolate store that had a lovely desert and cactus garden on its grounds. The tour of the candy factory was fun. This is the only place where the Mars candy bar is still produced (You may not be familiar with Mars bars if you are not a child of the 1950's and 60's). The candy was really good and some made it home with us.
After three days, we moved to the Wyndham Grand Desert so Kris could get back to work. Bailey was fortunate to be invited to continue her stay at Kris' resort which was a big help to us.
We all went to the Elvis Show (All Shook Up) at Planet Hollywood and had a great time. "Elvis" had a great voice and a great sense of humor. The audience sang along, some danced along and it was fun!
Pete and I walked up to the Strip from the Wyndham and picked up discount tickets near Harrahs Casino to the Mob Museum, David Copperfield and Mac King. We have seen Mac's comedy magic show before and loved it then and again on this trip! He is SO good and SO funny and it's not expensive! Len Hibbard first told us about him.
"we are not trying to sell you--just educating you"! The salesman did tell us a good story about a mid-eastern family that cooked a goat in their Wyndham unit which resulted in many complaints about the terrible odor. Apparently a number of fines involved!
Pete and I ate lunch at Guy Fieri"s (Triple D show) restaurant near Harrahs. This three pounds of fat were BBQ pork nachos. Not a good choice! We walked 5 1/2 miles that day but it didn't begin to put a dent in those nachos that we shared!
The Mob Museum was Kris' idea and what a winner that was! It was SO well done! Nice videos and lots of great docents with personal stories. The best one was Frank, age 83, who grew up in a mob family but managed to stay on the fringes and stay alive!
They had an electric chair so we had to try that out! We were there over 3 hours--a lot of that was Frank's stories!
The Mob Museum is in the Old Las Vegas part of town. It is a different world. The covered area of Freemont Street has beautiful projections on the 3 story high ceiling, talented street performers, live music and lots of food. Wonderful day!
Kris was so generous with her time taking off four days to spend with us. We enjoyed every minute with her!
We had to fortify ourselves after all the walking so were sucked into the M & M store. Four floors of it--including all these dispensers of M & Ms.
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We were rejuvenated and on our way to the David Copperfield show. Spectacular magic with large visual effects. Excellent! We sat with a young couple from Russia who are are evaluating moving to New Jersey. The best thing about the USA is freedom to work hard and succeed and the lack of corruption here (relatively speaking of course).
About 7 hour drive down through Oak Creek Canyon with its spectacular scenery. Sedona is beautiful. We hiked up and around
Chimney Rock which took up about 90 minutes. Fortunately people around to ask directions because lots of trail decisions. We went up the steep climb first and that was good. Someone told us it was about 1/2 mile loop--it was more like 2 miles!
We took the 90 minute mini-bus tour of Sedona which was a free perk staying at Wyndham. Wonderful. Favorite stop the Catholic chapel (Chapel of the Holy Cross) built up high into the side of a rock formation by a woman who felt inspired to do this. The view in every direction is so beautiful!
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| View from the church |
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| View from the Airport mesa |
We hiked the nice easy trail to Bell Rock--only problem no shade so better for morning.
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| Bell Rock |
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| Courthouse Rock |
27 miles from Sedona and it is an old copper mining town built on the side of a mountain. Parking is tight so try to get there in am. We wanted to see the Museum that is on the way down from the town but missed the turnoff. Heard they have good movie there.
Red Rock State Park
We started out for Red Rock Park on the Red Rock lower loop road. Turned away--no pets-- so redirected up the loop to Crescent Moon Ranch a Forest Service Park.
On the way there, we looked up to see this home which appeared to be clinging 100 feet up on the red cliff. There was no road to get up there! The architect that lives there built a tram system to get to and from his home. There is a small building at the bottom where the tram originates and room to park a vehicle. Long way down if you miss the tram! Spectacular!
We had a picnic and hiked around this wonderful park. At one time, it was a very successful fruit farm. Water source is Oak Creek which carved Oak Creek Canyon. Water used for irrigation and to turn a water wheel connected to a generator for electricity. The white Cottonwood trees are beautiful!
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| Rock Cairns are common on trails but this was quite a display! |
Fay Canyon trail was the next day and our favorite! Not far from town, parking lot, bathroom, gorgeous scenery and no way you can get lost. It was an easy trail until you made it to the dead end. Don't come to Sedona without hiking this trail.
The Fay trail dead ends into this rock formation and the goal is to climb up about 100 feet and take in this beautiful view. Pete did it---Bailey and I didn't--someone had to photograph the event!
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| The blue shirt is Pete | 1 |
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| This is the rewarding view for those brave climbers! |
Sedona--next time hike Templeton trail which cuts off the Cathedral formation about 0.4 mile up. Shaded and goes down to a creek. Try to go earlier in day--crowded area Cathedral area is big Vortex area.
Fairly easy. Use Map my walk to make sure don't get on wrong trail coming back. About 2 miles round trip.
Next time stay Florida Bay Club 3 nights, San Antonio 3-4 nights, Tuscon for 1-2 weeks, Indio 2-3 wks, Las
Vegas 2 wks, then a few days with Kris, and Sedona 1 1/2 to 2 wks. Next time stay 1 1/2 to 2 wks in Sedona and get a book to find the multitude of trails in the area.and 4 days to drive home.
