Living in Alaska - Life in the Last Frontier

It is so good to be home! My bed felt so good, and the furkids are so happy we’re home. We had a fabulous time on vacation, but it’s always good to get home.

I took a lot of photos and if I included them in one entry, it would take forever. I’m going to break down our trip into several parts:

Part One: Arrival in Vegas and our time at Grand Canyon
Part Two: Bryce Canyon
Part Three: Zion National Park
Part Four: Valley of Fire State Park and Back to Vegas

This first part is very photo heavy.

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LAS VEGAS

As I wrote in my previous entry, Steve and I arrived in Vegas around dinner time, checked into the Luxor Hotel, and took off walking down the strip in search of a place to eat. There are plenty of places to eat, but we weren’t in the mood for anything fancy or formal (or expensive), and wanted to be in a high-energy sports bar type atmosphere to recharge our batteries.  As we passed the Hard Rock Cafe, Steve told me that he had never eaten at one before. I’ve had meals at various Hard Rocks on the east coast, and I knew it would fit the bill for a burger and a beer - which was what we were craving.

For those who are not familiar, the Hard Rock Cafe is known for it’s impressive display of music memorabilia. The Las Vegas location had clothing from the Beatles, Brittney Spears, the Osmond Brothers, etc., and musical instruments from various bands and performers.  The restaurant/cafe was on level two, and level three - a nightclub that wasn’t being used at the time we were there - was also full of memorabilia.

Steve and I settled in for a couple of beers and burgers, while enjoying the ongoing music videos playing on the many flat screen TVs strategically placed throughout the restaurant.  We seemed to time our visit right, as the music videos were from our younger years (80s and 90s) rather than the more current stuff. It was hard not to bounce around a little in our seats, or sing along with some of the lyrics.

After dinner, we continued our walk up the strip until we reached the Bellagio. By that time our feet were already aching, and we still had to make our way back to the Luxor. That seemed like a never ending walk!  We could have caught a shuttle, but we wanted to stop into some of the shops along the way. I estimate we walked 4 miles that night.

Before going to bed for the night, we took a couple of Motrin - a good idea since our feet and backs and legs were already aching! The next day, we felt like we were 100 years old, hobbling out of bed and trying to pack up for our trip to the Grand Canyon.

Here are some photos I took on our first night in Vegas:

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NEXT STOP: HOOVER DAM

We set the alarm so we could get up early and begin the 300 mile drive to Grand Canyon.  We opted to have breakfast at the Luxor (breakfast buffet) and we were very disappointed. The food was lukewarm at best, the bread was stale, and it just didn’t seem very fresh. Our server was very prompt with the coffee and juice, which was the only positive part of the experience.  We couldn’t wait to get out of Vegas and get to places that are more our ’style’ - wide open spaces surrounded by nature.  We truly are not big city people anymore. Give us fresh air and views as far as the eye can see, and we’re in our glory.

Our first stop on our long drive was 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas: Hoover Dam. Hoover Dam (once known as Boulder Dam) is in Black Canyon spanning the Colorado River between Arizona and Nevada. It is 726.4 feet from foundation rock to the roadway on the crest of the dam. The towers and ornaments on the parapet rise 40 feet above the crest.

According to the website, there are 4,360,000 cubic yards of concrete in the dam, powerplant and appurtenant works. This much concrete would build a monument 100 feet square and 2-1/2 miles high; would rise higher than the 1,250-foot-tall Empire State Building if placed on an ordinary city block; or would pave a standard highway 16 feet wide, from San Francisco to New York City. The first concrete for the dam was placed on June 6, 1933, and the last on May 29, 1935.

Hoover Dam was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985. Lake Mead is the reservoir created by the dam, named after Elwood Mead, who oversaw the construction of the dam.

We paid the fee to park our car ($7 per car) so we could get out and walk across the dam and take photos. We didn’t opt to go to the Visitor Center (additional fee), as we had a long drive ahead of us.

The view from atop the dam is pretty impressive. On one side, Lake Mead is about 50 feet below the roadway. On the other side, the drop is much further and steeper. I did get a few pangs of vertigo when looking over the railing and down towards the turquoise river below.

There are several small monuments honoring those who died while building the dam, as well as information panels and other interesting marble designs. Two are the “Winged Figures of the Republic” - iconic sculptures on the Nevada end of the Hoover Dam. With wings about 30 feet tall, they were created by sculptor Oskar Hansen, responsible for most of the dam’s various heroic and mythical artwork. He made the figures from more than four tons of bronze. They sit on bases of black diorite, flanking a 142 ft. high flag pole. This monument to the dam was dedicated in 1935.

The figures have weathered to a green patina, but the toes are burnished to a soft gold by countless tourist hands. It’s supposedly good luck to rub the toes of these winged beings, and both Steve and I figured a little luck never hurt anyone!

The monument is surrounded by a terrazzo floor with a celestial chart which shows the exact position of key stars on the day the Hoover Dam was dedicated by President Franklin Roosevelt. Some say the star map would assist a future civilization of giant flying humans to pinpoint the date as September 30, 1935. Interesting stuff.

In the first photo below, you can see the progress that has been made on the Hoover Dam Bypass. The Colorado River Bridge is the central portion of the Hoover Dam Bypass Project. Construction on the nearly 2,000 foot long bridge began in late January 2005 and the completion of the entire Hoover Dam Bypass Project is expected in Late 2010. When completed, this signature bridge will span the Black Canyon (about 1,600 feet south of the Hoover Dam), connecting the Arizona and Nevada Approach highways nearly 900-feet above the Colorado River.

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GRAND CANYON - DAY ONE

The drive was fairly nondescript, with the exception of occasional large masses of rocky hills punctuating the desert-like landscape. Gradually red rocks began appearing and more hills and small mountains. Our route took us on Hwy 93 (which became I-40) to Williams AZ, where we took HWY 64 to the south entrance of Grand Canyon National Park. It was in Williams that we had the problems with our credit cards being denied, and later found out that the bank had flagged the account thinking they were being used fraudulently. Fortunately, we got that mess straightened out without too much headache. I’m glad the denial was over a $32 purchase and not while trying to pay for lodging! That would have been really embarrassing.

When we arrived at the Grand Canyon gate, we inquired as to what time sunset was and were told we had about 15 minutes to spare. We rushed to the Yavapai Observation Station just in time to see the pink light of sunset paint the canyon with gorgeous pastel colors.

After the sun went below the horizon, we continued on the park road, along the rim, until we reached Grand Canyon Village and our hotel - the El Tovar.  The sky was still a pretty pinkish-orange, so I continued to take photos until the light became too dim.

You can see Bright Angel Trail down in the Canyon in this photo:

We stopped into a gallery overlooking the canyon. It was decorated for Christmas and quite cozy and pretty:

And then the sun dipped below the horizon:

We checked into the hotel, and made our way up the stairs to our room. El Tovar hotel is located 30 yards from the rim of the Grand Canyon. Designed by architect Charles Whittlesey, El Tovar was created to complement without competing with the geologic wonder of the Grand Canyon.

When it opened, El Tovar was considered the most luxurious hotel between the Rocky Mountains and San Francisco. The first-floor lobby at El Tovar was modeled after the great hunting lodges of Europe and contains the Rendezvous Room, registration area, two gift shops, lounge, dining room, and some guest rooms.

El Tovar has hosted a distinguished number of guests, ranging from Albert Einstein to Elizabeth Taylor. U.S. Presidents who have stayed at El Tovar include Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, Herbert Hoover, Calvin Coolidge, Dwight Eisenhower, and Bill Clinton.

Our room (standard with queen bed), was small, but well appointed. The bed was comfortable, and while we didn’t have a view of the canyon, we were satisfied with it. (Because of the location, the room certainly wasn’t budget-priced, and ate up a large portion of our vacation expense.) The hotel has recently been remodeled, and our room - while small - still had space for a bed, an armoir with flat screen TV and mini-fridge, a sitting area, a closet, and a bathroom designed with the charm of years gone by (white subway tile with black accents, a pedestal sink, a side table, and very high ceilings). The window above the tub (huge, with frosted glass and a sheer curtain) allowed natural light to brighten the room, which was quite pleasing. A heat lamp above, warmed the air and floors while showering.

The staff was very accommodating, and a bellhop helped us with our bags, as the hotel does not have elevators, and our room was on the 2nd floor. Also on the 2nd floor was a lounge area with plenty of tables and chairs, sofas, a television, a piano (quiet entertainment nightly), and an open view to the lobby area below.

When we checked in, we discovered that the reservation I had made for dinner was for that night, and not the next evening, which gave us just enough time to freshen up and spend some time in the upstairs lounge, sipping champagne that we had purchased in Williams. The staff was wonderful about providing us with champagne flutes and champagne buckets to keep our bottles chilled.

Dinner was delicious, although on the pricey side. Steve enjoyed fillet Mignon, while I opted for Chicken Cordon Bleu. The restaurant is decorated with Native American art, and was very warm and inviting. A roaring fire was going in the stone fireplace, while candlelight flickered at each table. We were on vacation, so we didn’t mind splurging a little.

After dinner, we went up to our room to enjoy some more champagne and unpack our bags. The sky outside quickly turned dark and a few hours later, a nearly full moon rose. I convinced Steve to go outside with me to get night photos. We were both glad that we packed our long underwear and fleece, because it was very cold with the wind blowing across the canyon.

I set my camera on my tripod and took a few long exposure photos of the canyon under the moonlight.  It’s amazing just what you can *see* when the camera shutter is open for 30 seconds. It all looked pretty dark to my eyes.

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GRAND CANYON - DAY TWO

The next morning, we planned to have breakfast at Bright Angel Lodge, which was about 1/4 mile down the trail from El Tovar.  We knew the breakfast was much more reasonably priced there.  We pulled on our warm clothes, as we could see the wind gusting outside.  We had set the alarm so we could get up and watch the sun rise over the canyon, but the clock was set wrong, and we found ourselves getting up and dressed at 5:30am instead of 6:30am. When we realized the error, we climbed back into bed (in our long underwear!) and fell back to sleep. When we woke up, it was already past 7am, and sunrise was due at 7:15am.  We rushed out of the hotel with only minutes to spare, and joined several others who were waiting for the canyon to light up with the sunlight.

We decided to drive along the rim road all the way to Hermits Rest, which is toward the west end of the canyon. We stopped at all the overlooks, and at the galleries and few small shops along the way. We picked up a few sand paintings to bring home to Alaska.

We caught sight of a mule train making its way into the canyon on the trail. When we inquired about this trip, we learned that one trip was an overnight mule ride down into the canyon, while the other traveled down a few miles and then came back - an all day ride. I couldn’t even imagine being in the saddle for that long, let alone traversing steep trails with long drops to the canyon below.

Here are some more photos taken from the many overlooks along the canyon, and one I took when I visited the mules that didn’t get to go on the trail ride.:

We opted to have dinner at Bright Angel Lodge, and ate early enough to ensure we wouldn’t miss the sunset.  Sunset was a little after 5pm, and we were happily full of food, and waiting for it to arrive.  There were several clouds in the sky which picked up the colors of the sun, and also a few criss-crossing contrails, left behind by planes. These wisps of moisture in the sky caught the orange glow of the sun as it headed down below the horizon.

As the sun went down, the temperature did too. We were happy to go back inside the hotel, where we opted to relax in the room, while enjoying the second bottle of champagne we had brought with us.

After night fell, and before the moon rose, the night sky was pitch black. We went back outside for some more night photos. Gazing up at the sky, we were both pleasantly surprised to see the number of stars above. We could even see the Milky Way (or at least we thought it was the Milky Way) - something we don’t get to see in Alaska (or at least I haven’t seen it).

I set up my camera to take 30 second and 1 minute exposures and these are the images I captured. The stars were spectacular!:

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LEAVING GRAND CANYON (On the way to Bryce)

The next morning, we were up early again. We had another long drive ahead of us before we reached Bryce Canyon. We again chose to have breakfast at Bright Angel Lodge. The wind was cold and blowing hard. The night before, we had seen weather reports on TV warning of a huge winter storm that was coming our way. We hoped that we’d dodge the system.

As Steve loaded the car, a hotel employee raised the American Flag. The moon was visible in the early morning light:

We left the park using the east entrance. Along the way, we stopped at all the overlooks. In the higher elevations, snow dotted the ground. As we got closer to the park exit, I began to notice familiar surroundings. Soon we were at the very location where Steve and I renewed our vows on our 10th wedding anniversary back in 2002.

I remember that day well. It was late March (even though our anniversary isn’t until early April) and there was still snow on the ground. The first place we stopped was overrun with tourists, and we didn’t want an audience. So we followed a path that originated at an overlook, until we came to the canyon edge, secluded from prying eyes.

Our renewal wasn’t a formal affair. It was just us, our hand-written vows, and a video camera on a tripod. But that afternoon was magical, and I truly felt that the renewal was even more special than our initial vows.

It’s easy to pledge your life to someone when you still have that first sparkle of new love in your eyes, and you’re surrounded by smiling friends and family. But to pledge your life to your mate - again - after you’ve been through a decade (or more) of life’s ups and downs… that’s something special. I felt that our second pledge was a true bonding of hearts. In fact, when we were planning this trip, we actually discussed having another private vow renewal at that same spot. Although we opted not to, Steve made me smile when he took my hand in his and asked me to marry him again. Of course I said yes.

There were great memories made at that beautiful spot on the rim, with the Colorado River visible below us, and remembering warmed both our hearts.

Next up - the drive to Bryce Canyon Utah, and our time visiting Bryce.

Until next time…

Continue to PART TWO