Our Last Night in Vegas: 4/23/11

Well, after we drove back to Vegas, the kids spent some time in the hotel pool and then we went out for a night on the town.  I have to say, my kids were quite intrigued by the nightlife in Vegas and had a lot of questions about the “Hot Babes” signs everywhere.  We had dinner at Gilley’s which was some of the best BBQ I have ever had and definitely the best meal I had had all week!  The kids also got a kick out of the outfits that the waitresses were wearing!  We walked around for a couple of hours, checked out some of the hotels and casinos and then we called it a night.  A wonderful end to a wonderful and awesome family adventure…

Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam (and back to Vegas): 4/23/11

Today we got up early and continued to explore the Grand Canyon.  We didn’t do any of the trails that went down into the canyon because my Mom and Dad were very nervous about the incredibly far drop to the bottom of the canyon and there are no railings what-so-ever.  Kind of a risky hike with crazy boys like my brother Sean.  We drove through Grand Canyon National Park and stopped at many of the view points to check out the view and take pictures.

Once we left the Canyon park, we made our way back to Las Vegas, with a quick drive-by stop at the Hoover Dam.  We didn’t take the tour or anything since we had toured Glen Canyon Dam, but we did take a few pictures.  Mom’s “dam” joke was getting very old by the time we left there!  We arrived back in Vegas, swam at our hotel pool and then went out to dinner on the strip.  We had come full circle from where we had started 8 days ago.  What an awesome trip we had!!!

Dam Tour and Grand Canyon: 4/22/11

Just posting these now because we had no WiFi in the Grand Canyon…

On Friday we started the day with an organized tour of the Glen Canyon Dam. It was really cool! I learned a lot of very interesting facts. While the Hoover Dam stands 16 feet taller than the Glen Canyon Dam, the Glen Canyon Dam is actually 130 feet wider than the Hoover. I also learned that the dam provides water to over 30 million people. During construction of the dam, 4 VERY large buckets (pictured) poured concrete every 4 ½ minutes for 3 years and there is enough concrete in the dam to build a 4 lane highway from Phoenix, Arizona to Chicago, Illinois. It took 10 years to complete construction and it was built for 3 reason; the first being to be a water reserve for people in Utah, Arizona, Nevada and California. It was built to supply electricity and the 3^rd reason was for fun on Lake Powell. There are 8 gigantic turbines working to provide electricity and in our pictures, you can see one that had been replaced and is now on display on the top of the dam. They are also in the process of replacing another turbine and you can see the large empty hole in our pictures down where all of the other turbines are. It is an on-going process to be replacing these turbines. Overall, it was a really cool tour and we learned some really neat stuff!

After the tour, we began our journey to the Grand Canyon National Park. When we got there, we stopped at a few of the scenic points along the way. Once you enter the park, you have to go about 27 miles before you get to Grand Canyon Village and all of the lodges. We stayed at the Maswik Lodge which is only ¼ mile from the rim of the canyon. After we got in our room, we decided to take a walk on the Rim Trail which runs for about 13 miles along the rim of the canyon. We walked about 3 miles of the trail and got some great pictures. It is kind of scary though because you are literally right along the edge of the cliff and one wrong step or trip and off you go… My parents, especially my Dad, were quite nervous with the 3 of us there. Later we went out to dinner at a restaurant at another one of the lodges here, the Bright Angel Lodge.

There are several trails that actually go down into the canyon but not sure if we will do any of those, as they are pretty scary with little kids. Stay tuned…

Horseshoe Bend and Lake Powell: 4/21/11

Today, the Cooney family did a lot that had to do with water. First, we went to Horseshoe Bend at around 10:00. When we got there we had to walk a path to a cliff where we looked over and saw a huge horseshoe out of the Colorado River, it was amazing that the shape actually looked like a horseshoe. It was a 1000 foot drop to the bottom with no fence of any kind and my Dad was a little nervous! See the sign in one of the pictures about falling off the edge. After this, we went on a boat tour on Lake Powell called Navajo Tapestry Boat Tour and we got to go between a lot of the canyons on the lake and we got a good close up view of the Glen Canyon Dam. Later, after the boat ride, Dad took Tara and me to a local beach where we braved the freezing cold water and actually went for a swim in Lake Powell. The water temperature was approximately 52 degrees…brrrr!

Drive from Bryce, UT to Page, AZ: 4/20/11

The drive from Bryce Canyon to Page, Arizona was magnificent, some of the most amazing views I have ever seen!  We also stopped at Glen Canyon Dam on the way, which was pretty amazing!  It is on Lake Powell and we are going to spend the next 2 days exploring this area and going on a boat tour on this huge lake…  Our hotel is the Days Inn in Page.

More Bryce: 4/20/11

I (Peggy) am writing this post today.  I had so much fun that I wanted to be the one to write.  Bright and early this morning, Tara and I got up and went to the lodge at Bryce Canyon where we headed to the corral for an early morning, 2 hour horseback ride down into Bryce Canyon.  It was absolutely amazing and one of the big highlights of my life!! (up there with swimming with the dolphins)  It was quite scary at points, actually I was petrified!  My horse, Ruby really liked to hug the edge of the cliff on the trails and I could just imagine the 2 of us tumbling to our death.  Another highlight of the trip…a horse peed on my foot.  I was told that it was good luck.  The ride gave us a totally different perspective of the canyon and brought us all the way down to the canyon floor and then all the way back up.  We saw different parts and views that we were unable to see on foot.  Tara’s horse was named Hatchet and Tara rode him like an old pro!  She enjoyed the ride immensely and rode behind me and had a great view of Ruby, as she dangerously teetered on the edge of the cliffs with me on her back!  It was truly a once in a lifetime experience to be summed up in one word…SPECTACULAR!!

After our ride, the boys picked us up and we dr0ve the entire distance of Bryce Canyon National Park, stopping at multiple scenic look-outs to enjoy some amazing views and vistas!  We went all the way up to an elevation of over 9000 feet…

Bryce Canyon: 4/19/11

Today, the Cooney family drove from Zion to Bryce Canyon and arrived at Bryce at around 2:00. We ate linner (lunch/dinner)  at the only place in Tropic, Utah called Restaurant (what a clever name). Then we drove to the Bryce Canyon and we hiked on a trail called Queen’s Garden. We started on the trail and realized we were going down into the Canyon. As we were getting farther down in the canyon, it kept getting more and more beautiful. We got to the bottom and there was a huge rock that was in the shape of Queen Victoria. The hike back up was a bit more challenging, as we had to ascend about 400 ft. in elevation and we were at 8000 ft. above sea level…no wonder we were so winded! We got back to the car and we drove to our hotel in Bryce Canyon City (established 2007).  We stayed at a very nice Best Western!

Zion National Park: 4/18/11

     Today the Cooney family walked through the great trails of Zion National Park at an altitude of about 5,792 feet. First, the Cooney family went on a trail called West Rim Trail that went up through the mountains and up to one of the highest peeks. The West Rim Trail was walking along side of a cliff the whole time. There was a part that was called Walters Wiggle which was back and forth for about 30 minutes. We finally got to the top of the mountain and enjoyed the beautiful views. Then we traveled back down the mountain and started another trail called “The Emerald Pools”.  We spent over 4 1/2 hours hiking today! Sean was a little cranky at times but overall, he hung in there like a champ…  After, we went home to the hotel, Cliffrose Lodge & Gardens (a fabulous hotel and highly recommended), and swam in the pool. Finally, at sunset we drove back to the park and climbed our last trail of the day, “The Canyon Overlook Trail”, and it had the best views of the day. We went out for dinner at “The Spotted Dog” and then went home to bed, tired, and ready to sleep…

Sunday, April 17th, 2011

     Today, The Cooney’s explored Las Vegas! We went to a few casinos and saw some sites. We went to New York, New York Hotel and Casino and wanted to go on the ride, but we had to be 54 inches tall and could not go. We saw some more places and finally settled down to eat lunch at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville. Later, we started on our way to Zion. On the way, we stopped to take a hike in “The Valley of Fire“. It was very exciting to climb the big rocks of “The Valley of Fire”. Next, we finished the hike and got back to the car. We drove to a Walmart and got some water. We were all tired from the long hike in the warm weather. After, we drove to our hotel and set up. We then ordered some pizza and pasta from The Pizza Place. Finally, we got to bed, ready for the adventure’s of the next day to begin!

Our Travel Day

We made it to Las Vegas!  We had two planes.  One plane ride was from Philadelphia to Chicago. The next plane ride was frome Chicago to Vegas. Then, we went from the airport to our hotel (Marriott SpringHill Suites Las Vegas Convention Center). It was around 2:00 in the morning our time. Within an hour, we all made it to sleep and awoke early the next morning.

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