Day 6: Page to Mexican Hat

Monument Valley

Monument Valley

Every day on the trip is marked with a specific highlight that I look forward to. Angel's landing, Antelope Canyon, the Grand Canyon. Today is Monument Valley.





Monument Valley provides perhaps the most enduring and definitive images of the American West. The isolated red mesas and buttes surrounded by empty, sandy desert have been filmed and photographed countless times over the years for movies, adverts and holiday brochures. Because of this, the area may seem quite familiar, even on a first visit, but it is soon evident that the natural colors really are as bright and deep as those in all the pictures. The valley is not a valley in the conventional sense, but rather a wide flat, sometimes desolate landscape, interrupted by the crumbling formations rising hundreds of feet into the air, the last remnants of the sandstone layers that once covered the entire region.

It's a two and a half hour drive from Page to Monument Valley, with a whole lot of nothing in between. Hell, Google maps barely has satellite coverage of the area. Once at Monument Valley they have guided and self guided tours. The guided are full day and half day increments visiting areas that are off limits without a guide. We probably won't make it in time for this, and even if we could I probably wouldn't want to do it. Guided tours don't allow you to gloss over things that don't interest you, or spend time at the places that do. Instead, there is dirt road you can drive on that winds through the valley with pull off points for pictures.


Map of Monument Valley


Monument Valley at sunset

After we're done exploring Monument Valley, we'll head to Mexican Hat where our hotel is, the San Juan Inn.

Mexican Hat, Utah


Mexican Hat

After passing the eroded mesas of Monument Valley, highway US 163 crosses 20 miles of rather flat landscape past scattered Navajo Indian houses to Mexican Hat, a small settlement named after a curious formation nearby with a large flat rock 60 feet in diameter perched precariously on a much smaller base at the top of a small hill. The village itself is unremarkable but the surrounding scenery is exceptional and not often visited, with cliffs, canyons and red rock buttes; the two main sites of interest are Goosenecks State Park and Valley of the Gods.

Wow, whoever wrote that was quite blunt. While researching other cities on Google maps, the satellite views of the town in constrast to the surrounding areas make it seem like huge settlements. Then when I search for more information, find out there are only a few thousand people who live there. Mexican Hat has a population of 88. Whenever I post questions on what to do in these towns (aside from the main attraction, the people always respond, "enjoy the quiet solitude". That might work for the first day, but not for 9 days. I'll go crazy, so hopefully I'll be able to find or think of something else to do for the rest of the day.

Day 9: Back to Vegas

Sunrise - Grand Canyon

We'll be doing the generic trip back to Vegas. I'd like to see the sun rise over the grand canyon, I've heard the views are amazing. Since we're staying on the canyon rim, it won't be much of a hassle.

Oatman

As I mentioned earlier, I was trying to find alternatives to the vacation beside just visiting national parks. A reply to a question I had on tripadvisor.com recommended a stop at Oatman, Arizona, I believe it's the last town on route 66. Oatman is a converted ghost town turned tourist trap. They have wild west shootouts, gold mine tours, and their 'claim to fame': a ridiculous amount of burros that roam the streets annoying tourists for food. It's like Philadelphia, but with Burros instead of homeless people (and they both smell!)


Oakman, AZ

Oh no, look out!

Oatman is not far out of the way back to Las Vegas, and seems to cheesy to pass up. Gunfights are at 'high noon' and 2:15 MST. Throughout the planning of the trip, I've had to contact every place I'm visiting to make sure they are operating over Christmas break. When I emailed the Oatman chamber of commerce, 'shotgun Willie' responded with a not so southern "howdy". Luckily, they will be duking it out the day we'll be there (YES!). I'll have to remember to pack an obnoxiously large belt buckle for the visit.

The Hoover Dam
When I was in Egypt we stopped and saw the Aswan High Dam, which is 3 times larger than the Hoover Dam. I remember a completely underwhelming feeling, "yup, it's holding back water". I have no interest in seeing the Hoover Dam, but since I'll be driving either right over it (or right near it) I might as well just to say I've been there. I wonder if I'll have the same thoughts of the grand canyon, "yup, that's a hole."



Las Vegas
I'll return the car rental back to the airport the next day, so there is no hurry to get back to LV. I booked another night at the Las Vegas Hilton, there's no real reason to get a nicer hotel since I won't be there until later in the night, and the flight out is early in the morning.

Day 4: Las Vegas to Zion National Park

The goal of the day is to arrive in Zion National park by 12:00 PM to hike the Angels Landing Trail.





Distance: 5 miles
Average Hiking Time: 5 hours
The Angels Landing Trail is one of the most famous and thrilling hikes in the national park system. Zion's pride and joy runs along a narrow rock fin with dizzying drop-offs on both sides. The trail culminates at a lofty perch, boasting magnificent views in every direction. Rarely is such an intimidating path so frequented by hikers. One would think that this narrow ridge with deep chasms on each of its flanks would allure only the most intrepid of hikers. Climbers scale its big wall; hikers pull themselves up by chains and sightseers stand in awe at its stunning nobility. The towering monolith is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the Southwest.

It's roughly a 2.5 hour drive from Las Vegas to Zion. With an average hike time of 5 hours, and including lunch, we would need to leave Las Vegas minimally by 9:00 AM to arrive back at the car as the sun sets. I have some backup plans if we get a late start. There's additional trails that are nice, I'll post some pictures as a do more research on it. Additionally, alternative plans need to be made in case of snow, since trails will close. If this happens, we can go to the Valley of Fire, or pick even easier trails in Zion to hike.

The details

I checked orbitz, priceline, expedia, and travelocity for ticket pricing. The cheapest was about $375 for layovers that would last hours. Having a nonstop flight is the one extravegence I'll pay whatever it costs to get. I'm 6'5. Being on a plane just sucks and is cramped, I just want to get it over with, and it will kill your whole day. Here is a breakdown of the cheapest non stop flights for each agent (per person):
ORBITZ $493 - US Airways
PRICELINE $486 - US Airways
EXPEDIA - $492 - US Airways
TRAVELOCITY - $493 - US Airways
SOUTHWEST - $412.30

Southwest really does have a whole lot of savings! Their website is easy to use, and I booked the car rental and hotel while on there. I didn't save any more (I checked the car rental website before booking to make sure) but it was just so convenient to use their forms.

Depart PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONAL (PHL) at 9:35 AM
Arrive in LAS VEGAS N (LAS) at 12:20 PM
----------------
Depart LAS VEGAS NV (LAS) at 10:45 AM
Arrive in PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONA (PHL) at 6:35 PM

We're booked!

What's with this first person subject plural bullshit that's going round here? I'll tell you what it is. I'm going to LV with Kate, the insti-kater because, well... I'm pretty sure at some point years ago we made some pact to not go to parks without each other and this is what a good chunk of this roadtrip will be about (post wedding!)

She's a classy kinda dame, in as much as someone who I've called on formal and informal occasions "freak" for more than a decade (there's also rumors floating on her myspace page that she eats ants for sport, but let's not get into that.) I had no problems with staying in hostels when the cost differential was so large for one person staying in a hostel compared to two people staying in a hotel:
1 person per night: hostel--$25, hotel $100 = $75 in savings

2 person per night: hostel--$50/2, hotel $100/2 = $50 in savings

but $25 extra is worth is for a private (clean) room with a hot shower. Instead, we are staying at the Las Vegas Hilton, on average $71 a night for the first three nights of the trip. I didn't look into the benefits of staying there compared to other hotels-- it's where Dave and Jess are staying. It'll be easier to stay close by to them, and the hotel is off the strip, which means more savings.

The strip. I've heard people say if you are going to do Vegas, you should do it right and stay on the strip. At prices about 3 times as much as a block or two off, it's just not worth it. Having a 5 minute walk to save over $100 a night? Is worth it. I don't plan on being in the hotel for more than a few hours of sleep each day, so why go extravegent? Living in Philly, I know firsthand how much pricing decreases for each block your hotel/parking lot/restaurant is away from independence hall/city hall, for the same experience.

The contiki trip is out too. The message board had postings asking if anyone was going to some New Years Eve party that had a $300 cover charge, with no open bar! I wanted to do the tour because I thought I'd be alone for a week, and some fun would have been nice. Having a group of 50 people from all over the world celebrating the New Year in Vegas sounded like a good idea, moreso than hanging out at some house in Philadelphia throwing down beers and shots. With a large group theres no need to go to some ridiculous elite club. Get everyone to chip in $20 and get a penthouse for the night. DONE. I figured this portion of the trip would be the first to go, it was more wishful thinking that I'd have some kick-ass tour group just like the one I had in Egypt.

Day 7: Mexican Hat to Flagstaff

I'm getting ahead of my self in the planning and ironing out my itinerary out of order. Chronological ordering is for the birds! Day 5: December 27th 2007.


The novelty of staying in a town named Mexican Hat is just too good to pass up. Located 20 miles north of Monument Valley, it offers cheaper hotel rooms than the only
hotel in MV, the Gouldings Lodge, which charges $80 a night. I'll save $30 by staying there, and it's closer to the places I plan on visiting this day.

My Mexican Hat

The real Mexican Hat

A view of the hotel is in my last post, which is on the San Juan River. This will be a long day of driving, I'll be in the car for about 5 to 6 hours. I'm starting to discover that the places I'd like to visit involve long driving distances, with little time to hike and explore. With that in mind I'm pondering adding an additional day somewhere in the middle of the trip to have one full day to just go wandering aimlessly in the desert.

Itinerary
6AM -> 30 minute drive to Moki Dugway Overlook
7AM -> Sunrise
8AM -> Drive to Goosenecks National Park
830AM -> Goosenecks
930AM -> Drive back to hotel
1030-> Leave for Flagstaff
12:30PM -> Lunch in Tuba city
1:30 PM -> continue drive to Flagstaff
3:00 PM -> Wupatki National Monument
4:30 PM -> Arrive Flagstaff
7:00 PM -> Lowell Observatory

Moki Dugway Overlook / Muley Point

Moki Dugway Overlook

Muley Point


Another Muley Point Picture, click the image for an amazing view.

180 panoramic, click to scroll.


3-mile section of hairpin turns descending 1100 feet from Cedar Mesa. From the top, the views of southern Utah and northern Arizona are among the best in the country. Once again, Utah is known for having badass names for their parks and roadways.

Goosenecks



Around Mexican Hat, the San Juan River is slow-moving and flows through a relatively shallow canyon with many wide curves; more of these convolutions can be seen in the nearby Goosenecks State Park. The park, to which entry is free, has just one extended viewpoint of several huge river bends, now flowing one thousand feet below ground level in a deep canyon with a series of stepped cliffs and terraces; this is recognized as one of the best examples of entrenched river meanders in the world.

Wupatki National Monument


Wupatki is the only known location in the Southwest where physical evidence from at least three archeologically separate ancestral Puebloan cultures is found together in a number of archeological sites.


Lowell Obversatory




West of downtown Flagstaff, Arizona, founded in 1894 by Percival Lowell. Its initial instruments were a 12-inch refractor leased from Harvard and an 18-inch refractor borrowed from John Brashear. These were replaced, in 1896, by a 24-inch Alvan Clark refractor, which was temporarily erected at a site in Mexico for better viewing of the December 1896 opposition of Mars before being moved to its permanent home in Arizona. The original observatory building at Flagstaff, housing the 24-inch Clarke telescope, at an altitude of 2,210 meters (7,180 ft.) on top of a mesa known as Mars Hill, is now a National Historic Landmark. From here Lowell sought evidence of Martian canals (to support his thesis that Mars was inhabited by an intelligent, technological race) and of a ninth planet. The latter, subsequently named Pluto, was eventually found at the observatory by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930. Between 1912 and 1920, Vesto Slipher made observations of the red shifts of galaxies which helped lay the foundations for the theory of the expanding universe. Lowell astronomers were also the first to detect the rings of Uranus.

I'm attempting to add more places then just photo ops on the tour. Seeing Indian ruins, and going to an astronomy observatory I believe will change things up a bit. I cannot remember ever looking through a telescope, so to be able to check out multiple types in a place where hopefully artificial lightening from the city will be minimal will make it a sight to see. Also, this will give me the opportunity to do something at night aside from just sleeping.

Hotels and Hostels

If I was traveling at any other time of year, I would pull over and camp out in a tent. Average temperatures in the area range from 70F during the day to 20F at night. Since I only plan on using the hotel for sleeping and showering, all I really want is a bed and shower, nothing fancy. Right now my only concern with picking the cheapest accommodations is having either the hotel be of questionable hygiene, or the hostel having roommates of questionable hygiene. I'm willing to put out an extra $10 a night to pick a hotel that isn't known as the cheapest hotel in town and caters to the hooker and vampire crowd. Here's what I have so far.

Las Vegas (3 nights) AAE Casino Wild West Hostel: $77.94 (about $25 a day)

Zion National Park (1 night) Best Western East Zion Thunderbird Lodge: $73

Page (1 night) Super 8: $45

Monument Valley (1 night) either Kayenta Best Western $55 or Mexican Hat San Juan Hotel $55 --Depends on what day I see Monument Valley.


San Juan Hotel

Flagstaff/Grand Canyon (2 nights) Grand Canyon International Hostel: $34 ($17 a night)

Las Vegas (1 night) AAE Casino Wild West Hostel ($30)

Total Cost (including 12% Sales tax): $352 for 9 nights for an average of $39 a night. Not bad!

Already I changed spending one night at the grand canyon, the minimum hotel price I saw listed was around $150. So I'll drive the 1.5 hours back to flagstaff and stay there an additional night, then drive there right to Vegas.

I didn't 'treat' myself to a nice accommodation at any point on the trip, and I'm thinking my last night in Vegas I might want to splurge and stay at a nice(r) hotel. I'll make that change last minute depending on how much money I have left in the budget.

Tripadvisor post #1: So uhh..Should I be worried about Serial Killers?

I'm driving along route 89 on my way to Page, Arizona. There is topically appropriate desert music playing: Men Without Hats - The Safety Dance. It's not a coincidence, my I-pod is on repeat. As the best part of the song come on,


And we can dress real neat from our hats to our feet
And surprise 'em with the victory cry



I don't even notice the sign that states, "Last gas station for 100 miles". Thirty minutes later, or 11.18 cycles through The Safety Dance, I run out of gas. And right out of a bad horror movie, CACTUAR comes out of nowhere and attacks me! I wonder if I can use my cell phone to call for help. I'll consult tripadvisor!

Incidentally, I did a search for horror movies that takes place in the desert, and a similarly absurd movie exists:

[Carnage: The Legend of Quiltface]
On their way out to the desert to take pictures of whatever, the van driver tells them that lots of people have been disappearing out here and rumor has it that Quiltface is behind it. Now the legend of Quiltface is as follows, Quiltface was born in the desert at midnight, then fed on his “mama” and takes the skin of his victims and sews it together to wear.

I feel my talents as an analyst are being under-utilized, and should also be writing desert-local scripts.

As always someone responded rather fast, and they said cell phone reception is spotty at best along the highway. Luckily the roads are rather frequently traveled by tourists doing the same loop as me, so I'd hopefully only need to do battle with CACTUAR for a short period of time before someone can come to my rescue. I'm bothered that my cell phone worked fine on an overnight train in the middle of Egypt, yet in Arizona it does not.

Rental Cars: Cheap, yet expensive

I'll need a car for the desert adventure. For once I'll have an actual legit need for an SUV instead of just for the storage space or leg room. In fact, most SUV commercials are shot at monument valley.

I did a few Google searches and popped in the dates for a midsize SUV and got alarmingly disparate quotes from each company.

Alamo: $500
Avis: $366
Enterprise: $288
Dollar.com: $300
Hertz: $279 (does not include taxes)

There is over a $200 difference for a 5 day car rental for a midsize SUV!! Why would anyone pay those rates unless it is a company rental? Granted if dollar.com was cheaper than enterprise I wouldn't take the risk with an unknown service. Do the car rental companies hope their customers would be too lazy to spend 10 minutes plugging in numbers to their competitors websites? And if so, would you want that type of client? I've decided to pick enterprise. Plus they will pick you up, can't beat it!

Some places had a GPS navigation system you can rent. It was about $50 a week for the few I saw. For that price I should just put out an extra $300 and buy my own (then I could go geocaching!) But I'm hoping someone will let me borrow one for the week.

I never knew that most (maybe all) car insurance policies that have you fully ensured covers rentals. That saves me almost $100 in added expenses, even though I still pay about $2000 a year for my policy.

Jealous much?

I found some amazing pictures of a few places that I will be visiting. The whole trip is supposed to be scenic, which is why there is so much driving involved. It's not just about getting from one destination to the next, but the driving is a part of the scenic experience.

Grand Canyon

Glenn Canyon

Zion National Park

Monument Valley

Antelope Canyon

Christmas in Vegas!

The title of this blog should really be, "Christmas spent driving along route 9 between Zion National Park, Utah and Page, Arizona" but I felt 'Christmas in Vegas' has a better ring to it.

How it Started
DAVE RYSAK is getting married! DAVE RYSAK is getting married TO A GIRL! In Las Vegas! That's how it all started. Actually, it started on my 25th birthday when Dave asked me to be the best man at his wedding. At the time he didn't know the when or where, but after a few months of indecision the date and place was set. First thought was, 'Wow I'm going to miss Christmas with the family' but after I let it sink in, I realized that it would afford me additional days to travel from paid company holidays. FANTASTIC!

The Itinerary


Friday December 21st -> Fly from Philadelphia to Las Vegas.
Saturday December 22nd, to Sunday December 23rd -> Do 'wedding stuff'.
Monday December 24 -> Drive from Las Vegas to Zion National Park
Tuesday December 25 -> Drive from Zion National Park to Page, Arizona
Wednesday December 26th -> Drive from Page, Arizona to Monument Valley
Thursday December 27th -> Drive from Monument Valley to Flaggstaff, Arizona
Friday December 28th -> Drive from Flaggstaff, Arizona to Grand Canyon
Saturday December 29th -> Drive from Grand Canyon to Las Vegas
Sunday December 30th to Wednesday January 2nd -> Meet up with Contiki Las Vegas New years eve tour!
Wednesday January 2nd -> Fly from Las Vegas to Philadelphia

That's the game plan.

The Blog

I spend a lot of my free time on travel messageboards and websites, there is an abundance of useful information that either I forget, or I remember, use, and would find useful to share with others. I'd like everyone, friends, family, strangers to be inspired to go see and experience places they have always wanted to, but just keep putting it off. Maybe you will be inspired to perform your own research, or maybe you will be lazy and do exactly the same trip I'm doing.


-Ed