We woke up this morning to a beautiful blue sky and a clear forecast for the rest of the day – just what we had been hoping for to take our hike up the Zion Narrows. We started the day with our first breakfast out of the trip, and we happened to pick a great one. If you’re ever in Mount Carmel, Utah check out the Thunderbird Cafe. My breakfast of ho-made (yes, spelled that way, you’ll have to go yourself for the explanation) biscuits, filled with scrambled eggs, sausage, and cheddar cheese, and covered in gravy was probably one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever had. I learned the hard way to order the half order next time. Although everyone else at the table was glad I got the full.
Despite leaving at our planned time the drive to Zion, preparation, and shuttle ride to the end of the canyon put us at the trailhead quite a bit later than we had planned and the crowds were already thick. The girls had been anticipating this hike since Molly discovered it, and it was probably the one they were most excited for. Unfortunately, for us it seemed a bit of a let down after some of the others we had done previously. The rocks hurt, the crowds were huge, trash was scattered everywhere, etc. I have a feeling that on any future trips the time we allotted for Zion this year will be spent elsewhere.
We did manage to get a good hike of about 8 miles round trip in, our longest of the trip. We fell a couple miles short of making it to our goal after numerous bumps and bruises.
After getting our passports stamped once again we made the quick 2.5 hour drive to Las Vegas for our second meal of the day. One of Molly and my favorite restaurants is Baja Fresh. Although we’ve made room in our hearts for Chipotle since Baja left the Chicago market Chipotle can’t quite fill the void in our stomachs. One of our must do meals for this trip was a stop at Baja, and there just happened to be one in the hotel across the Las Vegas strip from our hotel. After checking in we made our way over and kept our fingers crossed that it would be just as we remembered it. It was.
Finally, after another long day we finally went up to our room at The Signature at MGM. Wow! This is by far the largest hotel room I’ve ever stayed in. There’s more sinks in here than there are in our house. I think Molly, and possibly the girls, are ready to move in permanently.
Tomorrow we have nothing planned except laying by the pool and swimming. With an expected high of 109 I’m not sure I’ll last too long though!
