I was awake again fairly early, which was beneficial today. I social media’d for a bit and then opened the blackout curtain using the nifty control next to the bed to let the sun in the room.
Nick woke up soon after the sun started shining in the room and we started getting ready. It was going to be a busy day. But before it got too busy…breakfast!
We headed outside, stopping to take a few pictures while things were still relatively calm. I really liked that our mornings started early because it provided a nice break from the chaos that is the Strip.
Picture taking done, we truly headed for breakfast. The Paris was right across the street, so by Vegas standards it was a quick walk. We checked in for our reservation at Mon Ami Gabi, and were seated quickly, in an open air but covered by the roof section of the restaurant. This is a cute little restaurant.
Breakfast at Mon Ami Gabi was excellent. Service was good, the view of the fountain would have been very nice if not for the NFL draft stage blocking it, and the food was excellent. Nick had waffles with chocolate and nutella on them. I had one of the sweet crepe of the day specials, which was a bananas foster crepe. Amazing!
Breakfast at Mon Ami Gabi was excellent. Service was good, the view of the fountain would have been very nice if not for the NFL draft stage blocking it, and the food was excellent. Nick had waffles with chocolate and nutella on them. I had one of the sweet crepe of the day specials, which was a bananas foster crepe. Amazing!
When we finished breakfast, we headed back to the Bellagio to finish packing, which somewhat miraculously got finished pretty quickly.
Checkout was a breeze once I figured out the best way to do that was through the link in the email I had received in the middle of the night, and pretty soon we were on our way. It should come as no surprise given the parking garage issues I’d had most of the trip, that the barcode in the app for parking disappeared once I’d checked out, even though there had previously been a note next to it that it remained for several HOURS after check out, but…I knew about that help button on the exit gate, so after a couple minutes the voice in the box opened the gate, and we were on our way.
The drive to Utah was relatively uneventful, minus about 20 miles of road construction and people who merge like Massholes just before the Nevada/Arizona border. I may have been swearing and wishing we had left earlier by the end of that cluster, but it all worked out ok. When not stuck in traffic I enjoyed the scenery. It really was an amazing drive, as someone who doesn’t exactly spend a lot of time looking at desert views. Nick continued with his trend of providing the snorechestra soundtrack for our tour of the southwest.
A little less than 3 hours after leaving the Bellagio we arrived at our first destination, Zion National Park Kolob Canyon. This area is northwest of the main part of the park, and in fact, an entirely different highway exit. They don’t “connect” at all. I’m going to mostly let the pictures do the talking, so I’ll just summarize now before I do that. If you’re going to Zion, allow yourself the time to go here too. It’s STUNNING. And it’s WAY less crowded than the main part of the park. We drove the scenic drive and “hiked” (walked) the Timber Creek Overlook Trail. We were in Kolob Canyons for a couple of hours, so our later than I would have liked start to the day, traffic, and losing an hour to the time zone change, all worked out fine. We still had plenty of time.
Once we’d gotten our fill of red rocks for now, we headed back to the highway. Up here in this rural section of the state, the speed limit was 80!!! AMAZING! Anyway…it was about a 40 minute drive to our hotel in Springdale, UT, the gateway town to the main part of Zion. It was a very easy, and mostly beautiful, drive to the Hampton Inn Springdale/Zion.
Check in was easy and pretty soon, Nick and I were hauling our stuff to our room, 237. It was exactly what we’ve come to expect from a Hampton Inn, so there are no pictures of the room itself, but with an amazing view. WOW!
We settled in and then hopped in the car for dinner. We both thought the town was adorable as we drove through it. The Zion Brewery Pub was just down the street, and actually basically at the entrance to Zion. We were seated quickly (we were a bit early for the dinner rush). Dinner here was excellent! And much more affordable than Vegas. Nick had a stout to drink and the bangers and mashed which is made with wagyu and bison sausage. Proving I was in the west, I had the prickly pear lemonade and the buffalo meatloaf. We split a side of chimichurri fries. All of the food was delicious, and that serving size on the lemonade was epic. I wouldn’t hesitate to eat here again.
After we ate, we hit the market for some sandwiches for the next day, and then checked out a couple souvenir stores that were right there. Then we made our way back to the hotel where we settled in and I crashed VERY early.
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