Spring Trip

Looking down on Palm Desert in Southern California from our hike in the hills.

We've found the sun! Seems it spends the winter months in Nevada and Southern California - Who Knew?

Arrived in Las Vegas on the 15th and spent a few days in the city just thawing out, soaking up the sunshine, and generally enjoying the place again. Didn't do any gambling but walked around the strip taking in the sights. Had booked one show - the Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian Hotel, so stopped there to collect our tickets at the Will Call window before we returned for the show the next evening...which was terrific. We really enjoyed the night out. I even wore a coat and tie for the first time in 4 years for the occasion. Had pre and post show drinks at a bistro in the hotel that looked out over the lagoon where the gondolas were paddling up and down. Much nicer (and warmer) than our trip to the real Venice a few years ago when we nearly froze to death on a blustery early Spring day. The Gondoleers were in much better voice too. Good thing we left early - it was St. Patrick's Day and traffic was creeping up the strip thanks to all the party-goers out and about. Just what Vegas needed...one more reason for people to get hammered.

After 3 nights we headed south to Palm Desert in Southern California to visit Frank and Maureen Davis - Frank's an old friend from high school. They split time between their nice little place on a golf course in the desert and their house in Cerritos - a suburb of Los Angeles not far from the Downey/South Gate area where we both grew up and went to school. Enjoyed hanging out with them for a couple of days, and even getting in a short hike up into the foothills, before driving up to Zion National Park where we are now.



Springtime in the desert


A good look at the trail thru the hills. Really was a nice hike - wouldn't want to try it in July or August however



We even found the Palms of Palm Desert at this little oasis along the trail.


Drove back thru Joshua Tree National Monument...lots of these guys as far as the eye could see.



Arrived in Zion just in time for an afternoon hailstorm - it actually covered the ground and turned everything white for about half an hour before it all melted away. Nice this morning though - scattered sun and temps in the mid 50's - perfect hiking weather. As you can see from these two photos there's still snow at the top of the canyon so we stayed low. Found a flat hike just outside the park that worked its way up along a pretty little mountain stream coming out of the hills. The Cottonwoods were just greening up along the riverbanks, and the desert flowers were in bloom which made for an enjoyable day.





Lots of interesting rock formations with the evidence of the years, millennia ago, when the area was an inland sea.

The weather is supposed to be cooperative for the next few days before turning showery for our departure day on Friday. It's forecast to be cold and snowy in Bryce so we're going to skip it and drive around to the Grand Canyon instead. Still supposed to be a bit chilly, but at least the forecast is a bit more promising than Bryce Canyon.