Take the Long Way Home

About 20 miles south of Cedar City just off I-15 is the Kolob Canyons Area of Zion National Park. Because the federal government shutdown started at midnight, we weren't sure whether or not the park would be open today. When we arrived around 8:30AM, we found that the visitor center was closed (no stamps - bummer!) but that the road up to the Kolob Canyons Overlook was open. It took us about 15-20 minutes to drive to the parking lot at the end of the road. 

In the Nick of Time

Since we had to check in for our cave tour by 8:45AM, we hit the road about 7:15AM for the 70-mile drive back to Great Basin National Park. It rained most of the way along US 50, but when we turned onto NV-487, we saw this in the rearview mirror and had to stop for a pic...

Grove of the Ancients

We checked out from the Cal and hit the road around 7:00AM this morning for the ~300-mile drive to Baker, NV and Great Basin National Park. We practically had US 93 all to ourselves!

Today's driving route: 390 miles, 6.5 hours

Unbelievable!

R checked all of the ticket apps first thing this morning and found seats at our price point, so we decided to go ahead and nab them. After reserving a spot in the Mandalay Bay parking garage using SpotHero, we were all set for the Bears-Raiders game this afternoon at Allegiant Stadium! Yay!

Before leaving for the game, we stopped to play one of the slot machines that was good to R during his March Madness trip earlier this year. Sure enough - I put $20 in and hit a small jackpot on my very first spin! 

Fiesta Loca!

Secret Tunnel

Taking advantage of the cooler temps in September (as compared to July when we usually have our family reunions in Vegas), our goal was to hike the Historic Railroad Trail this morning. We made arrangements with the hotel front desk for late check-out and then headed over to Lake Mead National Recreation Area after a quick breakfast.

Storming the Castle

When the Chicago Bears schedule was released earlier this spring, R and I talked about going to watch them play the Raiders in Vegas on September 28. A few of his March Madness buddies also expressed interest. But then we saw the ticket prices ($400+ 🤯) and decided to table that idea.

Fast forward to August when we hatched the plan to spend the weekend in Las Vegas as a stopover on the way to Great Basin National Park, regardless of whether or not we actually made it to the game in person or if any of his friends joined us. We set our price limit, and then R started tracking ticket prices on Ticketmaster, Vivid Seats, and SeatGeek like a day trader on Wall Street.