Bristlecone Loop

On Sunday, Brad and I wanted to golf, but we couldn't get an early tee time. So, instead, we packed up the dogs and headed to Mt. Charleston for a hike. We did Bristlecone Trail, which is an easy 3 mile trail. The scenery was beautiful, with great views of the mountains and a trail that meanders through pine trees and Quaking Aspen. The high in the Las Vegas valley was 108 degrees, but the temperature was 75 at the trailhead and 68 at the top of the trail where we stopped for lunch. It was the perfect break from the heat. The dogs loved the hike, though Bo tired out early and nearly fell asleep in my arms as I carried her back to the car.
More pictures here

TPC Las Vegas

Brad got a great deal on summer golf at TPC Las Vegas, so we will be playing this course throughout the summer. The course is spectacular, with fairways nestled within the desert landscape and Red Rock canyon visible from nearly all holes. I didn't find it as difficult as the courses in Tucson, but that's probably because the greens are more forgiving. Still, I made only one par, and I picked up my ball several times as the heat started to wear me out.
More pictures here

Bo loves to play

"Please throw the hedgehog for me...I want to play!"

Golf holiday in Tucson

Brad and I spent June 4-8 on a golf holiday in Tucson. We chose Tucson because we wanted a great golf destination, and neither of us had been there before. Tucson is about a seven hour drive from Las Vegas, and the trip took us over the Hoover Dam and through Kingman and Phoenix, and we spent hours and hours looking at yuccas and saguaro cacti.

We stayed at the Loews Ventana Canyon. We chose this resort because of its incredible golf rates (June is low season because of the heat) and its location nestled in the Catalina Foothills. I was nervous about this resort because it received mixed reviews on Trip Advisor, but it was everything that I imagined and better. I don't know how people could possibly give it a poor rating - the service was impeccable, the scenery was breathtaking, and the atmosphere was as relaxing as it can get. I would absolutely stay here again and recommend it to anyone looking for a golf vacation or just a place to unwind.

View driving into the foothills.View of the waterfall from our balcony.
A winding walking path on the back of the property led to this waterfall...
...and a view of the city (with the resort in the foreground).
We golfed Thursday, Friday, and Saturday morning. There are two courses that the resort shares with the Lodge at Ventana Canyon, the Canyon Course (which we played twice) and the Mountain Course (which we played once). Both courses were challenging, despite having surprisingly wide fairways, but the greens on the Mountain Course were absolutely a killer. We were only paired with another twosome on Saturday, and the weather was perfect all three days. Although the highs were around 100, because we played in the morning, we were off the course before the temperature reached 90.

Lots of golf pictures follow. I love this one of the two of us with the 18th green and the Loews behind us.
The most picturesque hole on the course, the 3rd on the Mountain Course.We saw lots and lots of animals on the course, including ground squirrels...
...dragon-like lizards...
...and a road runner. We also saw hundreds of rabbits and quail. Thankfully, there were no snake sightings.
The resort is at the trailhead of the Ventana Canyon Trail. I was anxious to hike this trail, but there was limited time with our golfing. On Friday, I grabbed my pack and headed up the trail, trying to reach the Maiden Pools, about an hour and a half in. At about an hour in, I lost the trail and the cairns disappeared, so I decided it would be best to head back rather than getting lost in the dark. I still enjoyed my hike and was glad to take advantage of the proximity of the trail to the resort.
On Saturday, Brad and I skipped our post-golf nap to check out the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. We were told that this is the second-most visited attraction in Arizona (the Grand Canyon is first, of course). It was about an hour drive from the resort, and the drive took us through town and over this beautiful mountain pass.
The museum is more like a zoo, with many animal exhibits. It is located in the middle of the desert and was quite hot, but we were able to zip through it in less than two sweaty hours.

Mountain lions.
Bobcats.
Sweet little margay.
Desert big horn sheep (Red Rock has lots of these, though the seem to hide every time I'm out hiking).
Bird in the aviary that kept dive-bombing Brad.
The hummingbird aviary was my favorite part.
In addition to the golf and site seeing, we ate many great meals. There were many restaurants on our list that we didn't get a chance to try. A brief run-down:

• Dinner at Vin Tabla - nice outdoor patio, good wine selection, and informative waiter who helped us choose our other dining locations
• Lunch at Wildflower - nice courtyard dining, absolutely fantastic food
• Guacamole and margaritas at the Flying V Bar and Grill at Loews- beautiful view of the 18th hole from the outdoor deck, delicious table-side guacamole
• Lunch at Armitage Wine Lounge and Cafe - probably should have just stopped in for a glass of wine, as the food was unremarkable
• Dinner at the Ventana Room at Loews - AAA 5 diamond restaurant overlooking the city, the service was impeccable, the food was amazing
• Dinner at Cafe Poco Coso downtown - unique Mexican food, loved the idea of the chef's selection where the chef surprises you with three different menu items for your plate

More pictures from our wonderful vacation here. I can't wait to return!

Zion and Bryce with Jamie and Robby

Jamie, my sorority sister and senior year roommate, came out for her second trip with her boyfriend, Robby to play in Vegas/visit me. They stayed with me two nights before moving on to a Strip hotel (no, I didn't run them off, that was the plan!). Friday night I successfully made them hungry enough so that when dinner was served at 9:30pm, they devoured it without minding that I was the chef (with some crucial kitchen prep by Brad).

On Saturday, I wanted to let them escape the neon by taking a trip to visit two national parks in Utah, Zion and Bryce Canyon. Zion is a three hour drive from Vegas, and Bryce is an hour past there, so the plan was to wake up early and hit the road. The wine from the night before kept me in bed until 9am (and the headache lasted all day), so we didn't leave the house until 9:30am.

We got to Zion at about 2pm (we lost an hour with the time zone), and it was breathtaking. The main road through the canyon was closed to private vehicles because they are already in their summer traffic restrictions, but we were able to enjoy the scenery along Highway 9.
We looked for a picnic table along the way to eat our lunch, but we had to settle for this picnic rock along the side of the road.
After leaving Zion, we continued on to Bryce. This area of Utah is very rural with lots of horses and cows. In fact, as we were driving along Highway 89, we came across a herd of cattle being led along the side of the road. Being city folk, we pulled over to watch the scene. It is fitting that that we have Johnny Cash playing in the background on this video.

The trip between Zion and Bryce seemed to take forever, and we finally arrived at about 4:30 local time. Bryce is so interesting because you are several thousand feet above sea level, but you feel like you are on flat ground. You drive through the park and turn into overlook areas which peer into the canyon below. The geology is remarkable. Here are some good pictures of the hoodoos and videos of the amphitheater (turn down the volume so that your speakers don't bust from the sound of the wind and the Quebecois in the background).

We figured that since we came this far, we might as well drive the entire length of the park. The road is 18 miles long and ends at Rainbow Point, which is 9115 feet above sea level. The view looks over the entire park, and on a clear day you can see New Mexico (not that there was a sign pinpointing New Mexico).
We finally started the drive back at about 6:00 local time. We drove through Red Canyon, which not surprisingly had a scattering of red rocks. We stopped to take a picture of this neat arch, and Robby started running away from the car. He figured standing in the middle of the road was less risky than another minute in the car with me.
This sign bid us farewell as we left the scenery. I guess Dixie was the last national park to draw a slogan from the hat, and this is what it got stuck with.

The drive home was not nearly as excruciating as it should have been. Robby discovered that my backseat reclines, so he was asleep quickly, followed closely by Jamie. I spent the four hour drive catching up on my favorite podcast, the Living in Las Vegas Podcast. Thank you to Scott and Melissa for being highly entertaining and keeping me awake on the drive home. We pulled into my garage just before 11pm, for a 13+ hour day of driving. The drive to Zion was absolutely worth it, but I wouldn't go that far again just to see Bryce. I would say these parks are best seen by staying the weekend in Zion and taking a quick trip over to Bryce.

You can see more pictures from the day here

My Lazy Dogs

Ajax and Bo love to sleep in their kennels while I'm in my office working. I guess they have to sleep a lot to get the energy to be as hyper as they are.
Now that the weather is warm, I like to leave the sliding glass door open, and they go outside to lay in the sun.
Bo of course has to lay in the dirt so that she can get extra baths.