– photo by Joe Alexander, all rights reserved
I was probably a week or two late to see the peak of the leaves changing colors, but there was still a lot of bright yellow in the trees. That made a vivid contrast to the red and tan striations of the rocky terrain in the park.
– photo by Joe Alexander, all rights reserved
Most of that drive takes you northeast up Interstate 15 through eastern Nevada, a sliver of northwestern Arizona and finally into the southwestern corner of Utah.
You never know what weather you’ll get when you book your vacation a few weeks out but I was fortunate to make the drive on a clear and sunny November day.
There were no traffic issues until I tried to park at the Zion National Park visitor’s center. I guess you need to get there early but I rolled in after 1 p.m. and the parking lot was completely full.
Amidst the crowds and hubbub of the international gathering of sports fans and gamblers, the Wildlife Habitat at the Flamingo offered a place to find a little peace and quiet.
I remember back when you could walk into the south entrance to the Mirage from the Strip and see tigers walking around in glassed-in area right next to the hallway. That is the same spot where Diablo’s Cantina is now.
But the shopping center connected to Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas strip combines lots of high end shops with some fun architecture and entertaining fountains.
The Strip looked a lot different this time around due to all the fencing and seating areas set up for last weekend’s Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Look for the tower at the Stratosphere, which is at the north end of Las Vegas Boulevard, and you’ll see all the big casinos right after that. If this is your first trip to Las Vegas be forewarned – the casinos look smaller and a lot closer together from the air than they do when you’re walking.
This time I got a break in the clouds long enough to get a few shots of the Grand Canyon. The light might be better in the middle of the day, but taking these photos shortly after sunrise created some interesting shadows.
Since it was already the third week of November, I kept an eye out for snow but I didn’t see any.
The band plays 80s era dance music.
