In April 2019, while on board the Disney Fantasy, we booked another cruise for April 2020. We know how that one turned out. That same fall (2019), we booked a cruise for April 2021. We know how that one turned out too. The refunds from those two cruises were rolled together, and rolled into one for April 2022.
Well, in August 2021, I returned to work from summer vacation and chatted with members of our district’s Covid Critical Decision Unit. This chat made it clear that cruising was going to be frowned upon by the district for awhile longer. And by frowned upon, I mean, post-travel quarantine required. I’m honestly not sure at this point where things stand with that currently, but…
So, with a heavy heart, we canceled our third attempt at a Disney cruise since this shitstorm called the 2020s started, and started throwing around alternative vacation ideas. Nick suggested Las Vegas and I couldn’t really find a good argument against it. Add in the fact that it was a reasonable drive from some national parks and landmarks that I’ve wanted to go to for awhile, and we decided the alternative to an amazing, relaxing Disney cruise needed to be an epic trip out west.
We booked airfare and then started agonizing over hotels and the exact itinerary. Ok, by we, I mean me. I promise I DID get Nick’s approval prior to booking hotels, just for the sake of him understanding what the intensity of the general itinerary would look like!
And then there were the flight schedule changes… And more hotel reservation updates to accommodate flight schedule changes. Plus some reservation updates to get better prices (I’m looking at you Bellagio…) But I got everything squared away, somehow…while planning a Disney trip for less than 2 months before this one, and tackling this insane school year.
The trip got planned. Nick added to the itinerary. The countdown got smaller. We found a crack in the main water line of our house, because 2022. The school-work got done. I bought us tickets to things like the Neon Museum (NICK). There was (hopefully) one last icy commute to work for the season the week before break (yup…). The unreal packing list got made. Dad promised to come up while we were gone and see if he could fix the water line. We found out the NFL draft was happening in Vegas the week we were there (WHAT?!) And Gizmo spotted the suitcases.
Now…the details, because holy wow are there a lot of them!
Saturday 4/23/22: Nick has to work; I have to drop off the dogs and, you know…pack and then Axis Coach car service will cart us from my mom’s house to our preferred Boston airport hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn Logan Airport, where, pardon my excitement, thanks to Hilton points, I’m only paying $4.64 for the room
Sunday 4/24/22: Fly JetBlue at the crack of oh-my-god-it’s-early, non-stop to Las Vegas, where we will check in to the Bellagio for 3 nights of food, sightseeing and daytrips, including crossing a GRAND landmark off my bucket list.
Wednesday 4/27/22: Drive to Utah! We will explore the Kolob Canyon part of Zion National Park, before settling in to the Hampton Inn Springdale Zion (yay Hilton points for a free stay win!) for 2 nights, which will obviously involve a day of exploring the main part of Zion National Park
Friday 4/29/22: Drive to Bryce Canyon National Park. Spend the day exploring there, and then settle in to a treehouse at the Stone Canyon Inn in Tropic, UT for a night.
Saturday 4/30/22: Drive back to Las Vegas, via the Valley of Fire. Check in to the Venetian for a night of food and perhaps luxury (if the price tag is accurate).
Sunday 5/1/22: Fly home on Southwest a bit earlier than we had originally intended. We’re slumming it with a layover in Chicago (Midway) this time, but we will arrive back into our lovely home airport of Manchester, where mom will meet us and take us back to her house to retrieve my car and go home to get ready for work the next day.
For those keeping score, that’s 1 week, 5 hotels, 3 states including 2 we’ve never been to before, every continental US timezone, two airlines, two national parks, some other landmarks, one seriously crazy packing list and a crap ton of driving. Let’s get this trip started!
Saturday 4/23/22: Nick has to work; I have to drop off the dogs and, you know…pack and then Axis Coach car service will cart us from my mom’s house to our preferred Boston airport hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn Logan Airport, where, pardon my excitement, thanks to Hilton points, I’m only paying $4.64 for the room
Sunday 4/24/22: Fly JetBlue at the crack of oh-my-god-it’s-early, non-stop to Las Vegas, where we will check in to the Bellagio for 3 nights of food, sightseeing and daytrips, including crossing a GRAND landmark off my bucket list.
Wednesday 4/27/22: Drive to Utah! We will explore the Kolob Canyon part of Zion National Park, before settling in to the Hampton Inn Springdale Zion (yay Hilton points for a free stay win!) for 2 nights, which will obviously involve a day of exploring the main part of Zion National Park
Friday 4/29/22: Drive to Bryce Canyon National Park. Spend the day exploring there, and then settle in to a treehouse at the Stone Canyon Inn in Tropic, UT for a night.
Saturday 4/30/22: Drive back to Las Vegas, via the Valley of Fire. Check in to the Venetian for a night of food and perhaps luxury (if the price tag is accurate).
Sunday 5/1/22: Fly home on Southwest a bit earlier than we had originally intended. We’re slumming it with a layover in Chicago (Midway) this time, but we will arrive back into our lovely home airport of Manchester, where mom will meet us and take us back to her house to retrieve my car and go home to get ready for work the next day.
For those keeping score, that’s 1 week, 5 hotels, 3 states including 2 we’ve never been to before, every continental US timezone, two airlines, two national parks, some other landmarks, one seriously crazy packing list and a crap ton of driving. Let’s get this trip started!
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