Sun and Moon Day

Sunrise in Bryce Canyon

My goodness what a day I had today! I got up early to take my group to see the sunrise over Bryce Canyon. This time I took them to Sunset Point and it was really great from that spot! The moon was full last night so we could see it set this morning as we watched the sunrise. The hoodoos really do light up as the sun hits them. It was really a very nice morning.

Just call us the wild bunch!

After dragging my group kicking and screaming to the Hickman Bridge in Capitol Reef we made such good time that I chose to squeeze in Canyonlands tonight instead of jamming it into tomorrow (with Arches and rafting) it was such a great move! I am so glad I was able to do that. We did a few viewpoints and then walked to Mesa Arch and then we realized the sun was about to set and so we stopped and found a seat and watched. It was so cool to see it set over this huge canyon and it was shining on the red rocks and cliff faces. Wow! As we drove to Grandview Point the moon was rising so we caught all four things today. Sunrise, moonset, sunset, moonrise. What a day. Lucky for us those events are happening at normal hours so we weren't pushing the limits by doing all of that.
And all of that fit into the day after I stopped at Hanksville for Cinnamon Bears. Yummy! My van full were sound asleep at that point and when they realized the road was so long and straight they chose to stay awake and keep me entertained. So that played a game called "prequels" naming movies and then thinking of the prequel title to it. It was pretty funny.
I called ahead to Moab Brewery and so we went there for dinner, it was really fun and good food as usual. They all tried the apple dumpling and loved it. I think they are headed back there again tomorrow as well. Same story as my last group. It just has everything, and good beer.
Tomorrow the group goes rafting with Moab Adventure. What a drag they are to make reservations. I've never had such a hard time as with them. One thing after the other and then they wanted credit cards over the phone. I'm like, "lady, we're in teh middle of nowhere on the road, can't they just pay when they get there tomorrow?" and then she needed addresses and phone numbers and she went off on my commissions and i just stopped her and said "its 100 degrees here right now, my group is in the van waiting for me to finish this stupid call just get this done for me." my gosh, why was it so hard, my cell phone was on the fritz at that point so I had to drive around Torrey (a one horse town, thank goodness) and find a pay phone to use. I will never use them again. The other company I wanted to use was closed for the season now so I had no choice but I'll know from now on. I'm sure the group will have fun! They are excited and there are no clouds in the sky this time.

Chicken at Shafer Point

Then we'll be able to take our time in Arches tomorrow! Yeah!! I'm so glad to not rush that and we'll get to enjoy downtown Moab more too!

Bryce and Me

Queen Victoria is sitting on her throne, use your imagination!

I had such a nice day in Bryce Canyon today. Compared to the last time I was here this was a piece of cake! I got the horses sorted out, lunch eaten, hikers set off and then I had a nice hike myself as well. It was great fun. Then we went on a quest for Utah Prairie Dogs (which are on the endangered species list~is that the craziest thing you've ever heard?) So we drove further south than I've driven in the park and it was really nice actually. The scenery changes. We saw Antelope on the side of the road and no prairie dogs. It wasn't until we turned around and were almost out of the park that one of the boys spotted a dog on the side of the road and so I had to turn around and park and they were so thrilled! It was hilarious! And the p-dogs were so entertaining! So that was good fun. After we recovered from the thrill of dogs we stopped again for some deer with babies. Oh so cute and fuzzy and eating right by the road! My photographer guy got some great shots. The bambi would look up at him and eat so he got it chewing. He has an amazing zoom lens on his camera.

This evening we all hurried to the buffet trying to beat the buses in and guess what? No buses this time. The season really is ending. Having alot of parking places left in the park should have been my first clue! So we ate and ate and ate! Then we waddled over to the Old Bryce Town and had a hilarious time with the photos. I'll post some here. But needless to say, this group has been amazing! I hate to say it (again, I'm sure) but I'd like to come back and do these same tours again next summer. So that I can do more of them and they will really be good ones. I wish the pay was better. It doesn't make sense in any way to work for explore again but I am having fun at least. And hiking like a mad woman! Its been great.

View from Observation Point, looking down on Angels Landing

In Zion I did an 8 mile round trip hike. I went up to Observation Point. Ouch! About mile 3 on the way up I thought I was going to die and I really had to mentally battle with myself to keep moving. Then on the way down I had to keep from crying and then cussing aloud (lots of echos there) because my knees were really hurting. I thought for sure my knee caps were going to pop off. Oh man! But the view was amazing. Really worth it. I was looking down onto Angels Landing and I thought that hike was pretty much the toughest one I'd do.
At the end of the day we all met up and went to the Bit and Spur and had dinner, it was great fun. And really good food. Don't get the burrito though it was gross. The rest was good!
Tonight in Bryce when I finally got us all checked in I realized I'd been given a voucher for dinner (after I'd already paid wah!!!) that sucks. I didn't think I'd get that sort of thing this time around. Boohoo!
Tomorrow morning sunrise is at 6:53am so I'll drive my peeps up and see what we can see. Should be good fun. Its a big day tomorrow and not my favorite one. I like Capitol Reef but its just so much driving and the group will be tired and so it makes it tough to stay awake.

check your local listings for Lone Pine

Tonight when we got to Lone Pine we went straight to the film museum. Um, did you know that 100's of your favorite shows were filmed in this area. Like right outside of the town of Lone Pine?! It is the most fantastic museum! Like the room at Gouldings only 5 times bigger and a movie that plays that talks about all the films made there. It was great, my group really enjoyed it!
We have our early morning tomorrow. Its going to be tough on the kids. They are not morning people. Though I think they'll like Death Valley. I'm really excited about it! I'm really excited about it at least.

My group is so great. Having different people is a good way to not burn out on seeing the same things over and over again. This group is all about trying new foods. Mostly they've seen or heard of them on TV but they will try anything. I love it! They had corn dogs today. They've never even known what those were until today! They also went with me to the Taco Truck and had tacos too! I couldn't believe it! They were good sports about it all. I really like them. After we got back from town (our hotel is on the outskirts of town) we had a fun swim in the pool. My first time swimming this whole summer. Wow.

They are excited for Las Vegas. They're not sure what they'll do but they can't wait to figure it out. I think they'll give in and go to bed earlier than later, but we'll see.
I'm not sure what I'll do this time around. Probably same as last time. Nothing. Though I have a cuter outfit so I might feel better walking around at least.

One of my group got to stay in the John Wayne Suite! I am so jealous! They have photos of John Wayne and its the biggest room with all sorts of things in it. They just thought that was great. I mean, I'm the one who loves John!
But its okay. we're getting up at 5am tomorrow so it won't matter much beyond that.

Today at the South Tufa Grove (Mono Lake) the youngest and bravest of my family waded into the water through a thick blanket of flies. I couldn't believe she did it! She is so brave. I wouldn't get near that water, its so gross...well, the water is a nice clear color its just that the flies cover the shoreline so it just seems gross to me.

In Lee Vining I got to make a wish on the bear finally. I dropped my coins off his tongue and into the bucket below. Yeah! I'll upload the photo so you can see what I mean. Its a big bronze bear.

My blogs are so much more boring this time around. I'm not continually messing up like I was before. Actually I'm still messing up but I know how to undo what I've done so its not really the same. And I have a much less inquisitive group than before. This group is so into trying new things that they don't mind the exploration or the new food or new towns or things like that. Its great fun! The single guy on the tour has been to Africa a few times so he knows what its like to really rough it and that has helped. He is a really good sport about everything. And he makes the kids laugh too so that really helps!
I will say, knowing what a town is like makes it more fun for exploring for me personally. I can drop the group off and go sit and eat lunch or walk in a new direction (like i did in Bodie today) so its kinda fun for me still. I'm sure if I do this tour too many more times I may hate it (is that possible?) but like I said before having a group that is different means you're seeing it differently too, or catering to a different type of need as well. Fun. I like that part of this job. I suck at time management and time management! And getting comped meals.

Well, now that I've bored you to tears (and its my bed time) I'll say so long.

The Big Catch Up

Let's see I last left you at the end of a huge day around San Francisco.
I'm so exhausted I'll have to catch you up when I get to Lone Pine tomorrow night. We've been having so much fun. This group is SO different to the other. Not just that I know more but they dynamics are different too. These teens are fantastic. Very funny and smart and they think I'm funny and tonight we played Pig Mania on the picnic table. Ha! How fun. They'd never had S'mores so we had some tonight and I taught them how to do it and it was so funny.
Yosemite was alot of fun as well. Very different. They were very independent and I had a nice time exploring the meadows etc
We had a good hike up to Lembert Dome in Upper Yosemite. Oh boy, off to bed. Sorry!!

First Solo Driving Tour (a.k.a. Operation Exploration) of San Francisco

First of all let me just say that I saw C3PO today, twice! That alone should have been the highlight really! He was even animated! He had a bucket next to him for tips. I'm not joking. It was fantastic!
Today was my city tour day. The one day I'm forced to love everything about this city. I went and got the van picked up and found street parking near the hotel so I was off to a good start. No parallel parking for me yet today.
I gathered my little group and we had a quick chat about the trip and then off we went. I chose to take them up into Chinatown through the Tenderloin (whoops!) and then because I missed the turn at Powell I bypassed Union Square. (whoops) so I got to Grant and turned up into Chinatown and managed to get part way down the street when two people double parked within a van length of each other on opposite sides of the street. So I had to wait for someone to notice I was there and come move a car. Then I get to Columbus thinking I can turn left, but from Grant you can't turn left. So I went straight through Columbus and then discovered I could only circle around to my right before I could even get back to Columbus again. Wow! At about Bay street I turned towards the Embarcadero and drove them past the Piers there and showed the Fishermans Wharf and up Hyde St past the cable cars and then on to who knows where. I ended up on Chestnut and then had to make a few turns to get myself past the Palace of Fine Arts. I wanted to get them to the parking lot at the base of the bridge. I ended up at the last exit before the bridge and was able to find parking there. Phew! We decided to walk along the bridge today, which I haven't done and that was GREAT fun! What a beautiful bridge up close! So we walked to the first tower and then turned around. I got to see their paces and learn who had issues with heights. It was good. It did take an hour though so we were running behind.
One of my passengers had booked a ferry ride to Alcatraz so I had a deadline later in the day.

Once we got out of the GGB area I decided to take them along to see the Cliffhouse. Um hum...don't really know how to get there but I figured all roads lead to the ocean...or do they?! No, they don't. We ended up at Baker Beach or something. A dead end. ha! So I claimed scenic detour and found another road that seemed to lead in the right direction (Lincoln maybe?) Until a sign appeared and said "no vans beyond this point" crap! So I had to turn down some street and then I found Geary and I vaguely remembered that being a main road to the beach so I took a right and off we went. Luckily it led us right to the Cliffhouse and down Ocean Beach and along side the park. The park was closed (as usual on Sundays~to drivers) and also because of the Outside lands festival so there was MAJOR traffic getting around the park. I found my way (totally accidentally) to Haight Street (which was my goal, you see) and took a left and down we drove. I found a cafe that looked okay, dumped my people out and proceeded to go find parking. I did smartly tell them to eat without me (thank goodness!) so I circled and I attempted and I circled and all the while cursing my larger than life vehicle in the tiny spaces of San Francisco. Phew! Then I stumbled onto a CHEAP parking lot near the park and in I went.
Upon returning to the van, with my group and needing to get down the road, I could see that the driver side window appeared to be broken out. It was missing, I was pretty sure. Either that or so clean as to appear to be missing (I was sure that wasn't it) so I was panicking. How was I going to deal with a broken window and theft of the "binder of power" that I carry around with me all the time. So I held my breath and approached the van and discovered I'd walked off and left the window down (when I had reached out of it to grab my parking ticket at the machine) I did lock the van, which is important. So, nothing was missing. I could not believe the luck. We got in and off we went. They were none the wiser, not one of them mentioned the window.
By this time I was really starting to panic. I was at Haight St and needed to be at Pier 33 in like 20 minutes. Is that possible? I don't know! How do I get there most directly? I don't know! Does Karen know how to us her GPS in her new phone? No!
So, "the wheels on the van went round and round, round and round, round and round" I was every which way but Embarcadero. Seriously. How the F do you manage Market Street? Huh?! So I got myself to Mission thinking it might be a safer bet as I wasn't sure Market went through to Embarcadero and I didn't know if at the end of it I could make my way to Embarcadero so I sped my little wheels off and then guess what happened?
I got to the Embarcadero when EVERYONE else got there. There was so much traffic, we were inching along, one pier at a time. Ever so slowly, the clock was ticking. It was so insane! When I finally got close I told the Dad to move, the guy to get ready and he literally jumped out and RAN to the ferry terminal! As I got there I could see the ferry's still docked but he was about 2 minutes late. (they gave him a window 1:50pm to 2:10pm show up~ we got there at 2:12pm, no joke)
So that done, I took the family to Fishermans Wharf, dropped them off into a sea of humanity and told them to meet me at that spot at 5pm. Then it hit me, I hadn't told the guy when and where to meet me. Oh dear.
I went to Safeway (free parking for 90 minutes with validation) and had a little cry in my van.
I went from there to Fort Mason and parked and had a mini snooze and figured out what to do with the remainder of my day. You see, I hadn't even shown them half of the required items on their SF list. So I drove back to Embarcadero and scooped up the family then, scooped up the guy and we hurried our way past City Hall, Alamo Square (by the way, British people could care less about that place!) and then I got back to Market, what a bitch. I wanted to go right. I couldn't, I wanted to circle around and go either through market or left, I couldn't. Then I got onty Market, couldn't turn left. Why Market, why!!!!

I finally made a few proper U-y's and got headed towards Twin Peaks. That much I knew. So we had an amazing view from there today. So windy and cold but the sun was out and it was great!
Then we headed to the Beach Chalet for dinner and we got there EARLY! After all that I managed to do something right. We were able to walk on the beach and have some photos and then we went inside (where it was warm) and had a delicious dinner.
About midway through the entrees I noticed that two of the kids were almost asleep in their noodles so we hurried back towards home. Only guess what? An accident on the one road I'd managed to find that led back to Mission St. So, no left turn. Crap! I had to drive and drive, then take Sloat back to Portola and then to Market (again!) This time I knew enough to keep going and turn close to the hotel.
It was 10"30pm when I arrived here. I was still supposed to take teh van back to the office and ride the bus back to the hotel. yeah right. I told the Valet, I don't care what it costs, can I just leave it here please! (It costs money otherwise the company would do that, you see) I said put it on my bill then and after all was said and done they let me park it for nothing tonight. Thank goodness! That was so nice.
So now, here I am about to snuggle up and go to bed! What a day! I can't wait to get out on the highway again and only be traveling east or south etc. So much easier!
This group is going to be great fun! The guy is a great photographer and very personable, he's been teaching the kids about photoshop. The kids are really great too, very friendly and curious and interested in what I say and good sports about everything. They are good jokers too. I think that is what the last batch lacked, a sense of humor like mine. Parents are fantastic too. It should be alot of fun. And knowing things already makes me feel better so it should be good.

Lift off for Tour 2

I'm sitting here thinking, how do I simultaneously give a briefing tomorrow morning and then appear with the van for a city tour? Hmm not sure how anyone else has done that? I'll have a nice chat with them and then I'll have to say "now give me about 1 1/2 hours to wait for a bus to come along, so I can wait for the other bus to come along and get the van and then find my way back here again~be right back" its likely to go like that too. Catching that 19 on a Sunday morning takes forever!
I guess we'll just have to wait and see. The bummer about it is they can't sleep in a bit while I go get the van because I can't leave it parked anywhere around here?? Hum its a real dilemma for me. Not thinking it through very clearly.
Of course at this point I've just woken up from a much needed nap and am in need of some food. I had a huge lunch today. Eggs Benedict again, but from the Just for You cafe down the road from the office. It was really good, in line to be as good as Squat and Gobble.
Here after a little while I'll catch BART to the airport. that is the one thing I didn't write down, how long it takes to get to the airport on the train. If I remember right I get there in plenty of time to sit around and wait. If only I knew how to work my new phone I could entertain myself.
I'll be without internet again until Thursday night when we get to Walker. I sure hope these people like BBQ because that is where I'm taking them. Yosemite is a no mans land. Which isn't a big deal it just makes catching up tough.
I was found on facebook by my group already. They are wishing me luck for my upcoming tour. They've only just gotten home. I will miss some of them this time around. Being with them and knowing everything would make it a GREAT trip! But I'll just have to go visit them on their turf and see how it goes. Looks like I'm headed to north England. I won't even attempt to put the names down. I'm not certain that they are not all in the same spot. Ha!

Quick Turn Around LA to SF

I managed to get "home" to San Francisco (August 13th, Friday). It seemed to take forever and it was really only a few hours. Funny I was in a hurry to get back to this city when it continually kicks my butt.
I got back to the office and they were all busy and in a weird funk. It was kinda strange, so I got my new paperwork, got all my stuff organized and vacuumed the van out. Best to avoid the weirdness I think!
My van was so dirty it took 2 turns on the vacuum to get the dirt and sand out. Its still got signs of Monument Valley in it, with the red mud.
I take it to the carwash today and get it cleaned on the outside. I have a much smaller group this time so we are going to take out the back seat and that way I won't have a trailer! Yeah! It will be so much easier to go where ever I want!
The Biodiesel man Joe (he does so many jobs I'm not sure what to call him) he offered (and his roommates) to put me up for the night and that was really nice. They were fantastic people! Foodies! I love foodies! I told them my story about crying over ice cream yesterday and they sympathized! Mr and Mrs Miscellaneous was closed WAHHHHHH!!!!! they took a week off and it happened to be my weekend in town. Oh my goodness I was so disappointed. Anyways I got to Joe's house and met Barbara and Lee and then Marni and Jenna and we all went to a place called Squat and Gobble for dinner. Oh my Eggs Benedict! Wow. That food was soo good. We had a great time there and after dinner we ran into Tanya and Monique (?) and they were the most hilarious people, we had some good laughs!
After all that we went back to the house and Marni had brought wine which we opened and proceeded to talk more about food. They were giving me suggestions about where to eat, where to find good icecream and all sorts of fun things. We had a great night. I'm so glad that worked out! I got my notes done for my next round (times between things etc) I feel so much better prepared!
This group is 7 total. 6 are a family, youngest is 12, 15, 2 17's and parents. Then I have one single guy my age. I hope he is nice enough because he will be alone alot on this trip. In fact I'm sure he doesn't know he'll be without other travelers yet. The family will stick together pretty much so its going to be he and I...hmmm. Not sure how that will go. I'll cater to the family for fun etc and then the guy I'll point in the direction of the hiking etc. we'll see. Should be fun to be creative with this group.
Lets see what else did I miss? I followed my first semi trailer full of garlic on Friday. That was pretty fantastic. He had 2 trailers actually. I've never seen that much garlic before. I was near Gilroy though and they are famous for garlic so it came as no surprise.
Here in a little while I'll get moved into my hotel room and then hang out until its time to meet this group at the airport. Sheesh! They come in really late and in two separate parties so I'll send the family on to the hotel and meet the guy later on.
I had the whole office to myself this morning so I got out ALL 100 of my bags (seriously!) and unpacked and repacked and stored away and tossed stuff to make it only one bag. That will be much better. Without a trailer to carry all my stuff around it will be way more obvious that I've filled the van with all my bags.
Tomorrow in the park they are having a big music event so once again I'll have to get creative with my tour. Boy, I wish I could just put them on the bus and show them the city that way, it would be so much easier! Its going to be hilarious! I'll keep you posted on that.

Los Angeles

My goodness. I had such a long day yesterday and I had to sit in teh lobby to use the internet that I just gave up and went to bed.
So I'll review my Wednesday and then talk about today (Thursday? ;) and we'll see what happens.

I got the group up early and we all headed to Universal Studios. I planned to drop them off and they'd all spend the entire day there and I'd pick them up with some time to explore Hollywood. So we are making our way to Universal, I've studied the maps and we get stuck in traffic. Then when we get to Universal City I say, hmmm I wonder if the exit is marked with a "universal Studios, this way" its not! Going south on 101 its called Universal City, going north on 101 its called Universal Studios (remember that) so I had to exit the freeway and circle back and then cross over the freeway, all of which i did very well until I got to the last turn that was a no left turn, I could see the entrance to the park by then (as could my horrible back seat driver...) so I had to head up and over the hill and the find a place to turn around and make my way back up to the entrance again. My goodness! So I got them dropped off and then I went and drove circles around Hollywood adn Highland so that I'd know where to park, what was there, etc and that was a good move for sure! I then drove down Sunset Blvd and turned at some street headed towards Wilshire Blvd and as I did that I passed a Verizon Wireless which I needed so I went in and got myself sorted out and then went on to the beach! I drove down Wilshire until it turned into Santa Monica Beach (or area??) and I drove up the coast towards Malibu to see if I could find the restaurant that Brian recommended. I had a nice time doing that. Its the street you see in teh movies alot, the one lined with palm trees. Its really spectacular there! I parked and got my bearings and then it was time to head back to my group. Traffic in LA is insane! When its bad, its really bad! So I managed to get them picked up on time and without incident and we made our way easily to Hollywood Blvd. I walked them around and showed them the stars on the sidewalk and the hand and feet prints of the stars at Graumans Chinese Theatre. It was fun. They all really enjoyed it.
It was finally time to drive them to our restaurant ( I'd heard it took 40 minutes to get there on Sunset Blvd, that is no joke!) I drove like a mad woman through Beverly Hills and up and over the hills to the beach where we were greeted by our dinner stop! Gladstone's. Oh my gosh, the prices! I should have found that out ahead of time and warned my group because they about died when they saw how much stuff was. And it was REALLY expensive. They are famous for handling groups and they have a ton of room there but our waiter wasn't very efficient. the view is worth it though really, I'd say get there at sunset time and you'd really have it made. We ate well and then hit the beach and then I drove them back to the hotel. I had to park the van and get that taken care of and when i got back to the lobby they were all waiting for me to give me the cutest card and a tip as well. It was so nice of them. They were so proud of that, it wasn't much but they were so sincere about it that it was worth it for sure.

Today (Thursday) I met my group later in the morning and we headed out to explore the beaches together. I only had 6 of the bunch as the family had rented a car and moved along on their own. So we 7 had a fantastic time today!! It was the best day! I drove them to Venice Beach and we walked in the sand and saw Muscle Beach and they ate and shopped and we walked a long ways! What a blast.
I took them back to the hotel and gathered their bags and we set off to LAX. Which, by the way, is the EASIEST airport I've ever been to in my life! Talk about organized and easy to get around. For being a huge airport it was so nice to just get them to their gate and drop them off. Thank goodness.
I got hugs from all of them and a kiss on the lips from one of my guys, it was such a surprise and he was just being funny but it was hilarious. They all invited me to come visit them in England which I'd love to do and I said goodbye. It was sad to see them go. They were my favorite bunch for sure.

I didn't make any friends with the valet's at the Sheraton I will say. They let us park the van in this spot out back and the last two times I went there I got hassled by either security or the valet. I was escorted to the security office today by the manager. I told him, somewhere someone had talk to someone at the hotel and they'd made an arrangement to park the van there...that was literally all I knew. The really annoying part was that today I was only leaving it set there for 20 minutes before I went and picked up the group so what was the big deal? They threatened to tow the van and everything. I'm hoping I didn't spoil it for everyone else from Inc Ad who will go there. I'm going to warn them about it. "self parking" is a joke, its like miles away and I have to pay 15 bucks each time I come and go, which is often!

Once I got the group sent off I drove through town and got onto the 110 headed towards the I5. It took forever to get out of LA but it was okay, I drove straight through the center of LA today.
The drive was pretty boring but I made good time getting to my hotel stop. Which is where I am now. In a place called Kettleman City.
I got all my bags out and sorted out the stuff I've been packing around with me. I'm really excited to get rid of the dead weight I've been carrying around for 3 weeks. Speaking of dead weight one of my group spotted my drivers license and said I'd lost weight and she insisted on showing it to everyone. I can't tell how much I've lost but I sure felt like I've been working my a** off so its nice that it shows.
I'm so tired right now and I got the last cheap room with no a/c in it so I'm going to sweat myself to sleep! 3 more hours of driving tomorrow and I'll be back in SF. Hard to believe it, seems like an eternity really. This next tour will be good though, knowing the stuff really helps!

Rush hour in Los Angeles

I managed to drive a van with trailer through rush hour traffic. Gotta say I'm pretty proud of that. It was a little scary and I had one really close call when I can in front of me changed lanes and then stopped (he was still partly in my lane) but other than that we made it.

This morning I had them all get up early so we could get down the road to Joshua Tree National Park. We left "Aweful-lin" at 7am. We managed to find this hilarious oasis in the desert. Called Fenner. A truck stop with toilets basically. We drove down Route 66 again today. Not much to it, the towns on that part of the route are all dead. You can see the entire towns are all ghosts now. Its kinda sad actually.

We ended up in 29 Palms today. Guess what? That place isn't much either. Really weird town, but we ate at Wonder Garden Cafe and the food was really good! We had lunch there after we wandered through the Cholla Cactus gardens. I loved Joshua Tree. What a cool place! We walked around among the rocks and trees at Hidden View campground and then we went on down the road. At lunch I had called Brian to see how long a drive I had and he said 3-4 more hours (after 3 already) and I thought he was joking, I'd done so good on time management all day and then to hear that I'd underestimated my driving time by 2 hours was a little disappointing.
But we made it. When I got to the road I needed for the hotel I had the directions wrong or took the wrong exit and we drove through some really weird places before I turned around. Its hard to just pull in somewhere and flip a U-y because with that trailer I'm not quite as "flexible" our hotel is pretty deluxe though. Really busy and full of pilots and stewardesses, we are just down the street from LAX. Imagine how many movie stars are driving down this road out here right now!! I mean, seriously!
So, tomorrow I drop them all off at Universal Studios for the day and then I'll drive around and get my bearings and take a little break and get some things done while I wait for them. It should be good. I'm excited to get to know the city without them along to judge me :)
They are good sports but they are pretty sick of my mess ups I'm sure. I'll really miss half of them and the other half I'm excited to be done with.
I talked to Casey today (a fellow class mate) and he is doing such tough work, faking his way across America basically! I've struggled to fake my way through California and AZ Route 66 but sheesh. I suck at that aspect of the job too so I'm not sure what I'll end up doing. Maybe this again, at least I know it now!
Thursday I hope to get on down the road to SF before I stay the night somewhere, that way Friday I don't have much driving to do.
I'm hoping to cross paths with Brian A so I can get his play list off his ITunes. He has great music!
And I really can't wait for Mr and Mrs Miscellaneous Ice Cream, they've ruined me for ice cream and thats no joke!
Anyways, off to bed now. Dreams of more LA freeway driving tomorrow. I'm going to the beach!

Laughlin...seriously?

Yes, I'm in Laughlin. Its a scenic short drive from Grand Canyon to Laughlin and some neat stuff to see along the way but my group self destructed today so we skipped a bunch of stuff. They were suddenly very grouchy and it was really weird. I think it was the spirit of Route 66 that did it. We had a great stop in Williams, which should be at least an hour, and then on to Seligman AZ which should be a quick look and a shop and then lunch in Kingman. I'll know that next time.
We stopped in Kingman for a little stretch break and I was able to use the bank. That is the first time I've had the chance. I usually get to a town too late or the town doesn't have a bank.
Laughlin was really hot! We were all melting after having such a nice cool temp for the last few days. It was pretty funny how spoiled we've been with weather.
So, I got us checked into this monstrosity and got the van parked far far away from here and there you have it.
It was a grouchy day for all of us for sure. I got some retail therapy at the outlet mall across the street so that good. I got a new warm jacket for 15 bucks. Its a really pretty blue one. I figured I could use it in San Francisco since I'm headed back there this Friday. I can't believe it. I start a new tour already. (well first I have to survive LA)
I'm finding this company really challenging to work for. No reimbursement for cell phone minutes (and there is alot of calling to do with this job) then they won't cover internet for looking ahead...which really won't matter after this trip anyways.
I have to find a place to eat for the group too and that has not been easy so far. I've basically sucked at getting us all at one table.
Anyways, its time for bed, we are getting up early tomorrow to get through Joshua Tree to LA.

Grand Canyon is grand after all

Okay, I loathe it much less today. I woke up early to sun and was happy that our helicopter flights would be taking off. As time went on the clouds came and went and came and went. So we finally decided to go to the helipad and just wait and see. Once I got them there (early,thank goodness) the lady said "oh do they all have ID's"...um no, you never mentioned ID's, so I grabbed the heads of passports and drove like a mad woman to the hotel (47 in a 35) and they ran to their rooms and we rushed back to the helipad. They were all put on flights and they all came back smiling which was great!
I sat and read a book for a bit and then they were back.
We got all our things together and headed into the park so they could go about their day exploring. The sun was out for teh most part. The rain came a few times and it would really pour and then it was done. It was a great temperature. I parked at Market Plaza and dropped the group there, then as I was buying lunch on of my couples asked about my coming with them on a hike so I gave in and went along. it was great!
We did the top portion of the South Kaibab Trail. Not nearly as crowded and it was really scenic. We did the hike in 2 hours. One hour in and one out, with one hour to eat lunch and befriend a fat squirrel.
The lady I was with told a really funny story about her breakfast this morning. We had free breakfast in the hotel, it was all sorts of things! Biscuits and gravy, weird omelet things yogurt cereal, all sorts of stuff and so she had grabbed a bowl of porridge and had put milk on it and took a big bite only to discover it was gravy! I can just imagine her surprise, she said it looked like oats so she helped herself! Ha! So when she went back she debated about the various breads and picked one and toasted it only to discover it was a donut and so started to burn and bubble in the toaster. ha! How funny is that!?

After a great afternoon hike we three headed back to the gift shop so Mr could buy his vase and as we were waiting for them to wrap it up I spotted this really cute wooden chicken. He is fantastic! They ended up buying it for me, it was really sweet of them! I really love it! I'm going to attach him to the dash somehow and he'll be my watch bird over the group in the van.
He's watching me right now from the nightstand. he's red with corn husk plumage and has a little yellow beak. I'll take his photo tomorrow.
I brought them out of the park and to the hotel and they invited me to see the IMAX with them so we did that, which was really good! Boy, do you really feel like you're flying when you watch that. Over the rim, over the river, through the rapids. Its great! Before the show we had time to get to the cantina at the Mexican restaurant across the street so I introduced Mr to Modelo Especiale. I think he liked it.
After the movie we went to dinner and they braved the "street tacos" which was really good. I had that as well.
So it was a really good day, very laid back and scenic, this couple are really easy to get along with and are my oldest and best hikers. In their 60's and walk a good pace, they bagged alot of tough hikes on this trip!
Tomorrow we head out of here and onto Route 66. I'm excited to see this part of it for sure! I talked to an Intrepid guide (another company doing the same tour as me) and he told me what to see and where to eat etc.
Should be a good day. We head to Laughlin to stay overnight before heading to LA the next day. I can't believe its getting to the end of the trip already!

Grand Canyon can go take a flyin leap

I loathe Grand Canyon. Hate it, will continue to hate it until someone shows me why I should like it. What a day I had today. Loathe, hate...hmmm that must have been your first clue!
The day started off alright, we had a good breakfast at the Anasazi Inn, it is the one redeeming value for sure. Cheap and good food. My breakfast cost 2.75. Biscuits and gravy with hashbrowns!
Once on the road we drove right into a rain storm that lasted for two hours. It rained so hard my wipers couldn't keep up. We made a stop at Cameran Trading Post, that place is huge! Tons of stuff and some food and a cafe and store. Wow!

As we got to the Grand Canyon I realized they wouldn't be able to see into it...they couldn't, it was full of cloud. I thought it was kinda pretty. (that is true actually) And since I'd never driven to Grand Canyon myself I had no clue where to stop or what to do and it was just a bad start. I didn't realize how unprepared I was until we stopped at Desert View and they were like, where do we go, what do we do, where are we?, what's over there? Phew. that was about the time I realized I hadn't eaten enough mid day...bad bad mistake!

We missed some viewpoints since it was getting late for lunch (again) but I did stop at Grandview Point. You've always got to stop at places called Grand View because they are usually named taht for a reason. This would have been a grand view except for the grand cloud in the way today!
 I dropped them off at the busiest place I could find (who knew) and they were waiting there for me expectantly to feed them and there was no food at that facility. Oh man, so one of my people whom I'd be lost without got us onto the shuttle and we went to Market Plaza where there is a cafeteria and grocery store (big one!) so they ate and I ate (thank goodness, I was not thinking clearly at all!)
I told them when and where to meet me and I went and caught a shuttle to explore the park adn get oriented. Its very confusing the first time. Roads everywhere and nothing is marked very intuitively. You have to know the names to get to the right part of th road and then there is parking with a van and trailer. I got my butt kicked by that park today. It was bad. The free shuttles are nice but they go all over the place so it takes a while to get somewhere. I went and asked questions to everyone I could find and then walked the Rim Trail just to get an idea what they were up against.
Everyone ended up happy except for my problem "child" who was mad at me for making him leave Grand Canyon right as the sun finally came out over the rim. I let him go to the rim for some photos so I think he was happier. I could have cared less at that point. Which is bad but man!
Tusayan is a one horse town. Hotels and food and gasoline, thats it. Lots of all those things though so its a nice stop.
Tomorrow if the sun is out they'll do Helicopter rides and that will be good fun for them. Then a hike into the Canyon a bit if they want. I'm looking forward to reading a book and taking it really easy. I'm thinking a nice big chair at the El Tovar Lodge, overlooking the Grand Canyon might be in order. I might even leave the van outside the park and take the shuttle in...oh yeah and my group too...sheesh!
Ha!
I miss Monument Valley!

Meet me in Monument Valley

Meet me in Monument Valley! (no internet last night so this was written Friday August 6th at 12:30am the 7th)

This was the best day I’ve had in two weeks!! We slept in today. I was able to get good sleep finally! I woke up and got my things done (gas, ice, check the van etc) My people were almost on time…and then we were off to my favorite park, Monument Valley!

Since we were doing the evening program in the park I decided we’d kill time and see some neat things before entering the park. We stopped at Hole in the Rock first. That place has really grown up since I was there. Really cute petting zoo (which I of course went and saw!) they had funny play on word sculptures. Jail house rock, electric chair. One of my couples went and did the tour of the hole in the rock. No one else wanted to pay.

After all of that we went on down the road and stopped next in Blanding. I missed the Pioneer Museum (I’ll do that next time) but we found a great market there and it had benches etc so we did picnic lunch there today. Kind of random but it worked out great. The other option would have been Navajo Twins Café in Bluff. But it worked out fine. We really kind of took our time, saw some stuff and then when Mexican Hat came along I made them all wake up and get out and walk for a minute so that they would be awake for the views of Monument Valley as we approached.

I took them to Gouldings to see the museum and John Wayne of course! They were half impressed half not but it was fun. They climed into the stage coach and took their photos. It was great fun I thought. From there we headed into Kayenta to see the Code Talkers display in the Burger King and also the Hogan display that they have there as well. It’s a great set up, with a really good museum, needs more time there for sure.

About the time people got into places this huge rain storm hit and it poured rain! It was lightning and rain and thunder too. Big show!

I wanted them to have time to shop for jewelry and see the Visitor Center before the Jeep tour so we headed back to Monument Valley again (all this as opposed to going to the Anasazi Inn and back again…boring!)

We stopped at a table stand along the way to the park and bought some jewelry and had some amazing views of the place with the light being dramatic and the storm on one side. It was the best views today!

As we entered the park we were chased into the parking lot by this huge dust storm and dark cloud. It was fantastic. What a mess it made! And then just like that it was done and the sun started to creep into the valley and there was light again. Beautiful! Absolutely the most amazing time to be there. Light and dark and dust.

John giving the safety talk. "Hold on tight!"

I was standing near the parking lot with my group waiting for our jeep to show up and I got a phone call. John was there looking for us so we finally connected with him and I got the group all loaded up and off we went. The jeeps are really a big pickup truck with a flatbed on the back and bus (or bench) seats bolted into it. Its pretty ingenious because you can put a lot of people in them and everyone can see out, no windows to get in the way.

John told them it would be a bumpy dusty ride but worth it and then off we went. We stopped at the Mittens and Merrick Butte first and had another little “shop” there before setting off to John Fords Point. I’m telling you, doing this tour with a guide is so much more fun. Never do that park on your own, you really miss out!

As part of the tour we get to go on roads that the regular public doesn’t so we see a lot more of the park. We saw Arches and heard flutes and singing and drove behind the dunes to see the Totem Pole Butte. It was great. I discovered what “tumble weeds” look like when they are green. Did you know those plants are spiked??! Very tough on your feet to walk through, yes I did that…

We were getting pretty hungry and the sun was setting and John pulls up to this picnic area right at the base of one of the buttes (a huge one) and there was dinner waiting for us. We got a big plate with a huge fry bread on it and then we dressed it with toppings. Veggies and meat. It was really good. We all had a good laugh about how to eat it and then took photos of it of course and had a great time eating. I was so happy to be there. What a great place that is. I really like it there! Love it there really!

We had fry bread with cinnamon and honey for dessert. Yummy!

After all that was done and cleared up here came this really tall Navajo guy called Ashley and he served us “John Wayne coffee” cowboy coffee. It was good, gritty. Terrific.

Carlos came out and told us a story about the beginning of the flute. He is a great story teller and I enjoyed it. He is very animated and runs around and is so entertaining. Then he has a “grass dancer” come and do some dancing and by then the fire has been built up and sky is dark and so you see the shadow of the man dancing there in front of you. It was great. He calls us all up there and has us do a dance along with Elroy the dancer and then at the end he gets us in a circle and has us do improve dancing to the beat of the drums and sound of their singing in Navajo. My group were amazing dancers. So hilarious and everywhere and really lived it up. We had such a good laugh.

And then it was over. It was too short. We got to take pictures with Elroy and then John ushered us back to the jeep for our ride home. By this time every star you can imagine was out and it was so bright from stars the Buttes were in silhouette. I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to lay out under the stars all night long. The temperature was perfect and the bats and moths were busy keeping the bugs at bay, it would have been a really amazing night.

Listen to me, great, amazing, fantastic. I can’t seem to find any other words. I loved every minute of it and my group did too. They were all abuzz on the way back.

This day made all the others worth while. I officially love this day on my tour. Monument Valley is my favorite still. 

John says hi!

We made it to the Anasazi Inn in the dark, which helps ease the shock of the place. But one the rooms has no working toilet and I’ll find out what else went wrong tomorrow I’m sure, but I don’t care. This day was so good they can all walk to the Grand Canyon tomorrow. Ha!

We’ll have breakfast in the café and that will be a good start to the day for sure. Looks like good food. This place is way bigger than I thought. Having seen it before I never noticed these two outer buildings full of rooms. They aren’t much but they are clean and the water isn’t bad either so I’ll take it! 

Arches and Canyonlands

Its tough to sit and type. I'm so tired today! I got up early and got my group to the rafting office and had a good time helping synch them into their life jackets. Brought back memories of my rafting days!
The Bus ride was wild, the guy knew that road by heart and how fast the school bus could take every corner, I've never seen a bus go that fast. I road up with them to the put in so I could snap their photos you see, but then they weren't ready to go by the time my ride left so I went back on the bus to the office.
When I picked them up they were all abuzz with excitement about their day. Everyone had a good time. One guy was out of the raft and panicking a bit but he was fine i'm sure. he could have gone through these rapids, they were really ripples. I gathered everyone and got on the road on time.I decided to switch the day around so that we would be seeing Arches in the sunshine (which was still out~no rain clouds yet) and I'm glad I did. some of the group did the Delicate Arch hike and the other I drove around to see the smaller ones while we waited. It was good everyone got what they wanted. It was getting late though and we were all hungry (as usual) so I hurried them out of the park and into Canyonlands (that place closes at 6 or 6:30 so no gate keeper and no visitor center) but we had amazing lighting over the canyon from the view points. I stopped at Shafer Point and then at Grand View. It was definitely getting late by then so no hiking. I drove them back to Moab at warp speed because I was hungry and I know they were. We all got ready and went across the street to Moab Brewery and ate dinner. It was fun. I'm up late (finally able to sleep in a bit) so I've got to run and get fuel and check my maps and get the cooler stocked with ice. Today is Monument Valley!! If the sun can hang in there and we have no clouds then we'll see it at Sunset! Its going to be great!
So essentially the day went okay it just seems too late to get to dinner at 9pm. And we were supposed to see a sunset in either park but luckily for me the sun was tucked away behind a big dark cloud so we didn't miss it. Phew! I'll add photos at the next chance. No internet for a day or so again.

Messed up day!

Sunrise in Bryce Canyon

After the lights were out and the big storm had rolled through I woke up (just in case) and the sky was clear so I took Jenny up to Bryce Point to watch the sun come up. It was nice but I like that canyon in the full sun I think. But at least I was there to offer it. 

I got back and got packed up and hooked the trailer up and got on the road. What a day it ended up being! I wanted to get an early start so we'd have time for a hike in Capitol Reef before the long drive to Moab. Ugh. I suck at time management for some reason. I guess its because I have an unrealistic idea of how long it takes to drive a windy hilly road in a van with a trailer. Sheesh. I grossly underestimated the first part of the day and so was way behind by "lunch time" (at 3:30pm). We had some photo stops and a coffee stop and I kept us moving right along and still ended up being late. These guys are such funny eaters though so its hard to judge if they are ready to eat or not. So I kept going. Then I chose to eat at Hanksville instead of Torrey and there is only one choice there...yikes. Luckily the food was good. Next time I'll know but good grief. We did manage to hike to Hickman's Bridge without rain. We had just driven through a big storm and there was one on the horizon but it never came our way. 

I'm the only one who really noticed the day was funny (strange not ha ha) It just was frustrating to have gotten an early start and fit in things as I'd planned them and then still eat at almost 4pm?! 

I sped on to Moab at that point. I didn't want to get in too late so I made good time. We arrived and put our bags away and then the rains came! I mean downpour! So much water everywhere and thunder and lightning it was crazy! 

I was going to walk across the street to the Moab Brewery and a couple of my group members were doing the same so we ran through the rain together and had a pint and a good chat. The Brewery is the "local" so its a fun atmosphere. Good food too it seemed like. We only had a pint. The one gal had a desert that looked (and smelled) amazing! Apple dumplings with cinnamon and ice cream. Wow!

Tomorrow will be a big day for sure. I drop the rafters off and then take it easy before we have a mad dash to get Canyonlands and Arches seen in an afternoon. Its such big country its a shame to rush it! we are supposed to have a sunset hike but its supposed to be really raining again tomorrow afternoon so we'll probably do some short hikes instead. I want them to see the arches at least. They didn't seem too impressed with the Natural Bridge at Capitol Reef. Its hard to say because they are so even keeled about everything. 

Thank goodness for my group. 

One funny thing this afternoon when I unhooked the trailer I wasn't paying attention to the fact that it was sitting on a hill and I couldn't stop it from rolling away from me. It was really funny. I had to let it hit the pavement on its bum basically. Then I had to pick it up and try again. I'm sure people were laughing at me because I was really panicking! 

I'm getting tired and this is going on and on. I can't believe how hard this is and today I finally said to myself (after everyone has kept telling me) that the next time I do this day it will be much better. I've kept good notes and my driving log will be invaluable too. Its got my actual driving time for each day on it so I'll know whats coming up. 

Fingers crossed the rain lets up for the morning rafters (and shoppers). 

I'll keep you posted.

Running around Bryce Canyon

Well, what’s a person to do really? I got up and got the van all sorted out and cleaned up. I met my group, who were on time (wow!) and we hit the road. I made a beeline for Bryce to get them into the park as soon as possible. Since my one ½ group hadn’t made up their minds about the horse rides we had to walk in and get on a waiting list and of course only 2 of the 6 could get on a horse. Ugh. So then I hear how I should have made reservations before hand not the last minute, to which I said, no one had made up their minds in time to call them. But that is besides the point.

The thing about the horses is you have to pay at the Lodge then walk to the corrals with your receipt and I didn’t know any of that so luckily I had walked ahead to the corrals found out the story, ran to get the van and speed to where the group was, take them to the Lodge to get signed up (where they learned they were on a waiting list) then I took them to the trail to the corrals and went and parked the van again. I walked back and waited with them to see how it went. The others I took back to the Lodge to get their money back and then I dropped them at the trailhead and had a rest in the van.

Without hiking it seemed like a long afternoon. I’d rather go hiking I think. Next time I’ll know the horses better and can drop the van and disappear myself. The weather was a little iffy so as the lightning started getting closer I watched as my group returned early to the meeting point so took off.

Turns out we did that just in time because we got in the van and the rain commenced and then we got to Ruby’s, got our rooms figured out, got our bags taken in and then the power went out. Ha. I couldn’t believe it! So without thinking I decided to have a wander and left the group to figure things out, thinking they’d be right behind me. Well, I walked right into the buffet and started eating and then felt massively guilty for not waiting for them or encouraging them to hurry up. As I sat there and watched out the window, 3 motorcoaches full of people showed up. Oh my gosh, the place was packed in minutes! So I kindly gave up my table and found my group scattered about and made sure everyone found food.

Oh yeah, the power is out in the hotel portion of the place, the store, gas pumps, restaurants on this side of the road are all working. Its about 10pm now and the hotel finally started handing out flashlights that wind up. Most people were returning from their hikes to find their rooms dark. Oh man. Its getting really funny now!

The one thing about it is that the sky was amazing looking tonight! Huge dark clouds and then the sun broke through and was shining on them, it was fantastic!

This whole thing has been great fun. I hope they are all thinking that too. None of them got showers though so they are pretty bummed about that.  Tomorrow we were supposed to get up and watch the sunrise but they are calling for more storms tomorrow so I’ll get up and see what its like and see if anyone is willing and then we’ll come back and have breakfast and get down the road.

I just called ahead to McStiffs in Moab to make a reservation and they don’t do that, which I find really annoying. I am hoping it won’t turn out like last night at Oscars. Ugh. I told the lady that it went badly but she wouldn’t help me. I suck at this job. I should be charming their pants off but instead I’m paying full price and not getting any help. How do people do it? I don’t know how, this job isn’t for me. I need a travel companion who makes magic happen and I’ll just facilitate and drive the van etc. Ugh. I’m not liking this much. So much work and so much networking happening and there I am doing everything the hard way.

Now I’ve gone way over my minutes and it will really cost me. The company isn’t paying me back for that and I find that really frustrating, this job revolves around the phone, pay me some money for using it?! That is only fair.

But whatever. No sense in complaining I’ve paid so much to do this whole thing and the next tour will be much easier so it will be okay………it will be okay….

My cell phone was about to die too and I still had calls to make so I found a plug in in the middle of the store and stood there like a big goober talking on the phone while everyone was struggling to get items bought and get gasoline and my gosh Ruby’s is a nightmare! They handle it well but it’s so packed with tours that you can’t get through the lobby and the grocery store was a big mess too. Man. I think with the power being out though they were caught unprepared so it may not always be like this.

While one of my couples was waiting in line a tour lady came by and ushered all her people (all 53 of them) ahead of the couple to get them seated in the buffet. I mean, excuse me. There were a ton of people waiting and what gives her the right? Of course by then I’d had it up to my eyeballs with French people. Seriously.

Phew. What a day! Everyone gave up on the lights and went to bed which is wehre I’m headed. I’ll upload this in the morning assuming they have power by then. Luckily I’d filled the cooler full of ice today and it wasn’t hot enough to melt it so we can keep milk cool etc.

Power just came back in. I heard the A/C turn on and then all the lights were on. So not bad, 5 hours with no power. Could have been much worse...had the restaurant not been up and running. Oh my! 

Free day in Zion!

Sunset in Springdale last night.

What a great day I had today! After setting my alarm for an early start I rolled over and went back to sleep for a little while longer. When I got up and got outside I found Jean and David had done the same thing so I rode the shuttle up with them to the Visitors Center and then met them on the trail. What a trail that is. They called the massive amount of switchbacks "Walters Wiggles". Once you manage all of that, about 2 miles worth, you reach a ridge and then are confronted by the last 0.5 miles which is along this thin little ridge with a chain running along it. I managed to get all the way up to the top. You really have to scramble up the rocks, its not a regular trail. Some parts are so steep and a tiny bit technical that you have to use the chains to steady the ascent (and descent) once you get to the top though you have 360 degree views of Zion and all the peaks there. Its beautiful!
I met a really nice man on the top of the trail and ended up walking down the trail with him. He is from Las Vegas so he was interested to know what my group got up to while they were there. We hiked up to Emerald Pools after that and then parted ways. He took my email and name and we're going to try and connect when I come to Las Vegas. We'll see how that goes. But it would be fun to have someone to walk around with at least. He is a Mormon so we'll just be friends but company will be nice.

So I came back to the hotel and took a shower and had a little walk and fell asleep. I was supposed to meet my group here at 6:45pm and at 6:45pm I woke up suddenly from my nap and ran out the door. Yikes!
Dinner was supposed to be a big group thing and it was a disaster! They couldn't get us all together and then the service was terrible, it was really too bad because I'd been there the night before and had a good time. It was too bad! I think I'm the only one who was disturbed by that. My group has really divided and I'm not sure how to work that out. They are finding it hard to get along and its their vacation, do you force them to get along or just keep the peace?
So we're off early in the morning. Headed to Bryce. It will be a big push for the next few days. Packed with hiking and optional things and go go go. These guys will be so worn out! They have all opted for the "Dreamcatcher" tour in Monument Valley so we'll be having a jeep tour with a Navajo guide and then dinner with them and entertainment, dancing! Should be great fun.
So now to bed. I have to get up early and get the van cleaned up and get ice bought etc. Oh boy. The fun begins again!

Nevada Arizona Utah in two hours

We all survived the night. Some better than others (my problem person had no A/C~in Las Vegas) the others went to shows, did the wild rides at Stratosphere and were up all night. They were almost all up for 24 hours yesterday what with our early start to Death Valley. I couldn't believe it. I was so tired I walked back to the hotel and went to bed. 11:30 ish.
We slept in today and I told them there was breakfast in the hotel for them and it was these really lame croissant things in little packages. And also coffee and juice. It was really pathetic! I'll remember that for next time. We got a start out of the city at around 10:30am and I took them to the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign and they thought that was great fun.
I stopped in Mesquite for gasoline and a coffee and then we trooped on to St George to have lunch at Cracker Barrel wow~families everywhere and screaming babies and kids throwing things. I finally said to the lady who showed up after 10 minutes to just put it in a to go box and I went outside to eat it, what a nightmare. Other than the food I felt bad for my group. I won't go there again.
I had by that time endured the LOUDEST eaters you can imagine and also the occasional cough and the music that is so loud in their ears its just audible to me. My goodness. I was so ready to get to Zion today. I hurried them to their rooms gave them the low down on the Rangers at the Visitor Center and then came back to my room to get unpacked and laundry done.
Jean and David had the same idea so we put our loads in and then went and found a beer nearby and had a chat and then finished up with the drying. I'm so glad that is done. I am tired! I just want to relax. It will be good to get away from the group. Though half of them I really enjoy and the family is really a challenge for sure. They are tight knit and the father is difficult and not very savvy so they struggle. I can only help them so much since he doesn't listen to me. I can just imagine what that would be like, vacationing with your family and wanting to do everything together. The group is definitely dividing. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to make them care of not?