Zion Canyon National Park (Part One)- April 2015

Every year, Dan has to spend a few long, exhausting weeks working the NAB Convention in Las Vegas. This year, I arrived as the convention was ending. I had a massage, shopped at Nordstrom and enjoyed the pool the Trump International. Clearly, my life is rough. I was relaxed and well rested, when we set off for Zion National Park early on Friday morning, the beginning of our mini-vacation to Utah with Niklas, Dan's coworker and friend from Germany. Dan and Niklas were shattered and I was ready to go!

From Las Vegas, It takes less than three hours to drive to Zion National Park, which includes a brief dip into the state of Arizona.

As we approached Zion, the rocks took on a reddish hue.

We were staying at the Zion Lodge, the only hotel located within the park. We had to stop at the visitors center to pick up our red permit, which would allow our car to enter the park. Parking inside Zion is very limited. For anyone who is staying elsewhere, there is a free shuttle that makes a loop around the nearby town and into the park, stopping at all of the major trailheads.

Dan and I stayed in the Zion Lodge a few years ago and thought that it was very nice. We had the same experience this trip. The rooms are basic, but cute. They have little balconies and the bathroom has tiles with local animals on them. Here is a panorama of the communal room. I took some of my blog cards and hid them in the puzzle boxes. I've had a lot of people connect with me via blog cards that they have found. I like to hide them!

I saw this sign and I knew that they were speaking directly to me!

When Dan and I were last in Zion, we did a mega hike to Observation Point. We had intended to do the same hike this trip, but we arrived late in the day and we really we not up to a major hike. Honestly, I was relieved! We did the much easier, shorter and very beautiful hike from the Temple of Sinawava to the start of The Narrows.

No kidding, this trail is easy. I think even wheelchairs could probably handle most of the trail. It's flat, wide and not too rocky. We arrived just a few hours prior to sunset and the light made for some gorgeous photo ops.

Pretty rocks in the Virgin River.

The path was shady and the weather cool. Actually cold, I was walking fast to keep warm!

Chipmunks and squirrels were everywhere. It was spring and they were frisky!

Of course, we didn't feed them, but they were so friendly, that they came right up to us. I love taking pictures of signs and this was the winner.

More pictures to come in part two of my Zion National Park trip report!

Las Vegas March 2015- High Roller Observation Wheel

On a sweltering hot Saturday afternoon during our March trip to Las Vegas, we headed to Margaritaville for lunch. Nothing says vacation quite like umbrella drinks and cheeseburgers in paradise! After parking behind the Flamingo, we became distracted by a large, shiny object. The enormous High Roller Observation Wheel is a new-ish attraction in Las Vegas and one that we had not yet experienced.

The big question...night or day? I love the twinkling lights of nighttime in Vegas, but we decided to just go for it then and there, opting for a daytime ride. At twenty-six dollars a ticket, the daytime rides are ten dollars less than nighttime. The ride lasts for thirty minutes and we had the option of paying thirty-seven dollars for a ride in a cabin with an all-you-can-drink bar. We held out for Margaritas. It was the right choice too, because the cabins with a bar had a long queue. It seemed that it was the option that everyone was choosing. Not only did we not have to wait, but we ended up with an entire cabin to ourselves. Score!

Dan took some panoramas to show off all of our space. It was huge!

At 550 feet, The High Roller is the tallest observation wheel in the world. During the ride, there was a video presentation ( with a mega annoying host) giving facts about Vegas and the wheel. They showed a cool time lapse video of the construction of the wheel.

The view was good, but far from the best in Vegas. The wheel is located mid-strip, behind the Linq and Flamingo hotels, so it's off center. There are much better views to be had from many of the hotels actually on the strip. Still though, we had fun taking pictures.

When we exited, they had several bars ready to go. Drinking is popular in Vegas, who knew?

We also saw some pretty rock decor under the wheel.

Was the wheel worth the price? Meh.

Let me qualify my reaction by letting you know that I'm not a "view" person. Sure, I can appreciate a pretty view, but I get bored with it quickly. Thirty minutes is a lot of time to spend looking at a subpar Vegas view. However, the wheel itself is a bit of a marvel. I've done the London Eye, which was a similar experience. If you've never done anything like it, then absolutely add the High Roller to your Vegas itinerary.

Finally, here is a picture of me with a giant Flamingo that we found on our way to Margaritaville. Many years ago, I spent over two thousand hours gathering observation research on Greater Flamingos at the zoo.

Eddie Izzard's Force Majeure at the Hollywood Bowl

Dan's second visit to the iconic Hollywood Bowl, came the night after his first visit. On Saturday, we saw comedian Eddie Izzard's Force Majeure.

Rather than take the shuttle from the Los Angeles Zoo, we decided to try a different approach to bowl parking. We parked at the Hollywood and Highland mall and walked to the bowl. It takes about fifteen minutes to walk and is uphill going, downhill on the way back. It's nice to be able to leave the crush of people exiting the bowl, with people trying to figure out buses and navigate their cars out of the stacked parking. The bonus of parking at the mall was getting a little extra exercise.

On the cons, the traffic in Hollywood was a nightmare. It was sluggish both ways and it would have been quicker to use the zoo lot. Parking is fifteen dollars for the Hollywood and Highland lot, which is three more than the zoo shuttle. This is a good option if you plan on eating in Hollywood, but aside from that, the zoo lot was more convenient.

This time, we did not have a terrace box. It was hard to go back to the bench seats after being spoiled in the boxes. Our benches were the same level as the boxes, so same distance from the stage, but way off to the side. Luckily, this didn't pose much of a problem with Izzard's show and we had a clear view of the monitors. It wouldn't have been great seating for a concert.

Dan took this panorama before the show. The bowl ended up being completely sold-out.

Since we were in the benches, we didn't hassle bringing a picnic. We ate dinner at home and then bought popcorn, lemonade and beer to snack on during the show. This made our experience so much easier and less expensive. I love the idea of picnics at the bowl, but the reality is always such a pain.

One of the best bargains at the Hollywood Bowl is cushion rentals. Those benches are hard and for just a dollar, you can rent padding. After the show, you don't even have to bother returning them, you just leave them on the bench. It's a must for the bench seats and just easier than bringing your own from home.

Here are a few shots of our view, including a blurry one of Izzard.

We had sky-high expectations for Izzard's show. We were pumped.

Unfortunately, Izzard failed to meet our expectations. This isn't to say that the show was bad, it just wasn't, for the most part. laugh-out-loud funny. He took a long time setting up jokes and the effort didn't meet the pay-off. In his two-hour show, he occasionally circled back to earlier topics that unfortunately, had already been forgotten, making the joke fall flat.

Much of the content was historical and political ( in itself, not a negative) and the result came across more like Izzard was a mildly humorous college professor. Even if my laughter was mostly internal, I did appreciate Izzard's quick wit and brilliant mind. He's very clever.

My British husband thought that Izzard was pandering to an American audience. Izzard continuously broke from the comedy to tell the audience that we were the "Intelligent, Liberal Minded" citizens of Los Angeles. Apparently, all of the "smart people" bought tickets to his show. It wasn't part of a joke either. It was like when people win an academy award and they use their acceptance speech to get on their soap box.

I happen to be liberal, but I did find this to be insulting. I very much dislike this mob mentality that groups "like-minded" individuals based on their politics or religion. It's exclusionary and close-minded. Yes, many liberals are pretty close-minded! It was entirely unnecessary in Izzard's show. He could have made political jokes and proudly told everyone his liberal views and it would have been fine, even funny.. It became offensive when he reigned-in the audience to rally to his cause, making a hive mind scenario. It crossed the line into an uncomfortable territory.

There was one part of the show that I did laugh. I laughed a lot. The kind of laughter where I couldn't catch my breath, my stomach knotted, and where tears were rolling down my cheeks. It was a whole skit on horse dressage. I don't want to spoil it, but I nearly died laughing. Youtube it, trust me. I wish his entire show had been this hysterically funny.

Ultimately, we were both let-down by Force Majeure. Izzard is a funny guy, but he seemed off his game with this one.