After showering and a change of clothes, we were feeling civilized again and by 12:30 we were on our way to lunch. We we had a good lunch at the Slickrock Cafe in Moab and then Michael and Mikie decided they wanted to walk around town for a while. Val and I didn't feel like walking in the heat so we headed off to the car wash to get some of the dirt off the car. After that it was back to the hotel to look at our pictures and rest for a while.
Michael and Mikie had never been to Arches National Park so we decided to drive out there around five and give them a quick tour.
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| Balanced Rock |
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| North Arch |
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| Michael in front of Turret Arch |
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| Mikie in front of North and South Arch |
After Arches, it was time for dinner and we decided to go back to the Sunset Grill where we had such a good dinner the night before we set out on the White Rim Road. It was more crowded than before so we had to wait a bit, but it was a beautiful, balmy night out on their patio high above Moab so we didn't mind a bit. After another good dinner, it was back to the hotel to get packed up for the start of the trip home the next day.
Friday, 18, Moab to Las Vegas
We left Moab about 9:00 and headed North to catch I-70. We had over 460 miles to cover before we reached Las Vegas, but at least we would gain an hour when we changed time zones. It was very windy almost the whole drive. It was quite cool through Western Utah and we even got into a violent hail storm outside of Cedar City. The hail stones were the largest we'd ever seen. Once we got into Nevada, temperatures warmed up into the 90's again. We had booked rooms at the Southpoint which is way south of the Strip on Las Vegas Blvd. We got into Las Vegas around four and after cleaning up a bit, Mikie and Val headed to the spa for a manicure and pedicure while Michael and I wandered around the casino for a while. After Mikie and Val were finished we all had a very good Italian dinner at Don Vito's in the Southpoint. After dinner it was more gambling with some winners and losers. This time I wasn't the winner, but Mikie was.
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| $500 on our favorite $1 Wheel of Fortune machine and she didn't even have to spin the wheel to get it. |
Saturday, May 19, Las Vegas to Home
Michael and Mikie were on the road early and were already in Bakersfield before we even left Las Vegas. We didn't feel any urgency so we took our time, that's the great thing about being retired. We didn't leave the Southpoint until 11:00 and since we hadn't had any breakfast we decided to have an early lunch. The Southpoint is a pretty nice hotel, but I probably wouldn't stay there again because it is so far away from everything else.
We had never been in the M Hotel which is even further out of town on Las Vegas Blvd. so we decided to drive down there and check it out and get some lunch. The M is very nice and is quite new. It is a bit more upscale looking than the Southpoint, but again, I doubt if we'll ever stay there because it is so far out of town.
After lunch it was onto I-15 for the trip home, but we had one more stop to make in Primm, NV on the California border. There are outlet stores there and one of them is a William Sonoma store which is one of Val's favorites. After a bit of shopping, we hit the road again and except for a gas stop, we drove all the way home and were there by 7:00.
Afterthoughts
What a great trip. We had a lot of fun traveling with Michael and Mikie, and Val and I finally got to drive the White Rim Road after looking down at it from above for so many years. It may be tame for some, but for the four of us, it was a real adventure.
This was our last planned trip until our Grand Canyon rafting trip at the end of August. I'm sure we'll be doing something this summer, but for now, I'm looking forward to being home for a while and catching up on things. I hope everyone has enjoyed this adventure on the White Rim Road, we certainly did.
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