Aspen, Moab & Vegas Baby, Vegas!

---

Wow, has it really been ALMOST TWO WEEKS since my last blog???? So much has happened since the last time I wrote. We have been so busy with work and sightseeing that I literally haven't had time to sit and write. We are currently in Las Vegas and I have about an hour....so I will write as much as I can.

After we checked out of the Hampton Inn hotel in Glenwood Springs, Colorado we decided to go to Aspen for lunch. Aspen is only 40 minutes north of Glenwood so it would've been a shame to miss it.

The ride to Aspen was beautiful! Our first stop was at Snowmass Village which is geared more toward families. This alpine village was adorable and all I imagined it to be. We felt like we were in Switzerland as we drove up the winding road to the base village. Snowmass is a very well kept, beautiful resort. It is small (most of the activities revolve around the village mall). The scenery is breathtaking. The wildflowers were bright and colorful. One of the best things is that the temperature went from 90+ to low 70's the higher up we went. Everything had that "log cabin" design (which we love) -- the houses, the hotels, the shops -- everything. I could only imagine how magical this area is during the winter. They also have a very impressive golf course. I don't know anything about golf, but the course looked big and lush.

After our quick stop in Snowmass we continued north to Aspen. Wow, what can I say about Aspen? It is everything you thought it would be -- except pretentious! Aspen is more of a small town/city then a resort. The mountain is breathtaking as it encompasses your view as you face main street. Aspen is a quaint town with free shuttle buses, a pedestrian only shopping plaza, lots of great looking restaurants/cafes, movie houses, theatres, and every outdoor activity you could possibly think of. Quick fact: Aspen has a HUGE nordic/snowshoe trail that is FREE to the public!! How cool is that? We pay close to a $150 per person for a season pass up in New England. Way to go, Aspen!

After gawking at the multi million dollar houses and scenery we decided to stop for lunch at one of Aspen's most famous restaurants -- Boogie's Diner. This cute/retro looking diner has indoor and outdoor seating. Since the weather was PERFECT (low 70's and breezy) we opted to sit outside. It was a surreal moment to be sitting at Boogie's Diner overlooking Aspen Mountain. In the distance there were dark clouds forming and deep rumbles of thunder. It was a moment I will remember forever. Also, it "snowed" while we were there. Yup....well, OK...it wasn't SNOW, but it sure looked like snow. There were these pretty, white, puffy trees that were shedding their white flowers EVERYWHERE and they were flying all over the town! I swear to you it looked like flurries. How appropriate. I wonder if the town officials plant those type trees for that very reason? I am not kidding when I say it looked like flurries. I bet they do. I wish I could've captured a picture but the white little puffs were so small they wouldn't come out. Lunch was very good and quite reasonable. I had their famous sliced turkey sandwich and April a delicious salad. During lunch we did have an "Aspen moment" when we heard a 5 year old little boy ask his mother for a chicken and scrod.....yes, he said scrod....he was so cute in his little polo shirt and white starched shorts. The mother ended up getting him a hotdog I think....lol. I did notice her bag was by Fendi. I was very satisfied by this -- I mean, it IS Aspen afterall!

After lunch we drove around and poked in some stores.....then we were off again to Moab, Utah! I have always wanted to visit Moab. I heard it was a funky, outdoorsy type town with gorgeous scenery and boy were they right! Just as we got off I-70 for the 30 minute ride to Moab, the sky opened up and it downpoured and thundered like I never heard. Surprisingly, the driving was fine. The cool thing with storms out west is that on one side it is storming and on the other it is sunny, as was the case this time. Once the storm passed everything had that "wet/fresh" look and smell. The red rocks seemed deeper red. You could smell the soil. I couldn't believe the height of the red rock walls that were surrounding us as we drove into town. It was sooooo gorgeous and surreal! We drove up and down the cute town and I was instantly impressed by not only the scenery, but their signs -- seriously -- LOL! Just about every sign had this cool, Indian Jones type style design. Very funky, fun and bold. There were many cute looking restaurants, shops, cafes and lots of hotels to chose from. We chose the newest, Holiday Inn Express. This was the NICEST and most gay-friendly HI Express we have ever stayed at. The room was almost like a Marriott's. We were upgraded, free of charge, to a suite and it was awesome. There was a small sink, refrigerator and microwave as well as a huge work desk, sitting chair, king bed and nice size bath. I would recommend this hotel to ANYONE! It is only 2 miles south of Arches National Park and about 5-10 miles south of Canyonlands National Park and Deadhorse State Park. The town is a 2-3 minute drive south.

Our first night in Moab we went for dinner at Buck's Grill House. The restaurant seemed very casual from the outside, but the second you walk in the door it is more of an UPSCALE casual type restaurant. It was quite impressive and the food delicious. We both had small steaks and salad.

During our 3 nights in Moab we visited the following: Arches National Park, Dead Horse State Park and Monument Valley. The most impressive was Monument Valley. It is everything you imagine it would be. The set of many western films, this Navajo monument is breathtaking. The most spectacular ROAD SCENE can be found on 163 south from Moab. As you approach Monument Valley the familiar shaped rock formations come into view as does the long, flat and very exciting road that leads there. April and I had so much fun taking pictures in the middle of the road, but got nervous because it started to thunder! LOL! It was VERY, VERY surreal to be there, in the middle of nowhere, no one around, in the middle of the road......looking at Monument Valley and listening to the crackling sound of thunder --- one of those defining moments of our trip for sure! We drove to Goulding's Lodge, the base for many of the westerns filmed in the area and lodge where many celebrities stayed. Just when I thought the scenery couldn't be any more spectacular -- there was the view from the lodge....WOW. Mixed with old wooden fences and wagons, the view was one of the best I have ever experienced -- IN MY LIFE -- thus far. It looked like a movie set. It didn't look real. We just stood there and took it all in. After going in the little Indian shop we took the (long) road back to Moab (about a 2 1/2 hour drive). Please make sure your car is in top condition before venturing out to Monument Valley -- especially in the summer. There weren't many cars at all and gas stations are few and far between. Also, make sure your A/C is in great condition. It gets REALLY hot in the summer.

Arches National Park was pretty cool, although be prepared to do a lot of hiking if you want to see their more famous arches. We weren't ready to do this. It was close to 100 out and we weren't dressed (i.e. trek shoes, hats) for any hikes. We settled for the loop drive and distant view of their most famous arch, delicate arch. I have to say, Valley of Fire State Park and Red Rocks Canyon in Nevada were more impressive in mine and April's opinion. Arches is beautiful but I was a little underwhelmed.

Our next park was Dead Horse State Park. Wow, wow, woooow. This is a MUST do when in the Moab area. It rivaled Grand Canyon and personally I think it was slightly more impressive. We experienced a quiet we had never experienced before. It was DEAD SILENT....LOL.....I mean, you could hear yourself breath. The view was out of this world. Dead Horse State Park is one of the most photographed parks in the entire state of Utah and I could see why. Of course, while we were there, thunder started to rumble so we decided to head back. It sure is intimidating to be out in "the middle of nowhere" and have the fear of a flash flood! Before we left some nice Canadian couple from Manitoba asked if we'd like our picture taken together and we said yes. They were so nice. You have to love Canada!!

Another cool thing we did was visit a very famous roadside attraction -- HOLE IN THE ROCK. This attraction is actually a real home some guy built in the 1960's for him and his wife. He drilled through this huuuuge rock and dug out rooms. It is actually quite impressive in a freaky sort of way. The inside temperature stays at temperate 72 degrees year round! We took the (very short) tour and found out lots of "weird" facts about the couple and then explored the rest of the attraction grounds. The coolest thing about this place was the petting zoo. OH MY GOSH, they had two adorable KANGAROOS! April and I just fell in looooove with them. The kangaroos, called Joey Ramone and Joe Strummer, were the cutest things ever. We fed them grapes and mango slices and they loved it. They even got into a little battle which made us feel like we were home watching our cats Thumpy and Mr. Fajizzles go at it....lol! After a while we reluctantly dragged ourselves away and said goodbye to our new friends.

Some of the cool restaurants we ate at while in Moab were.....The Moab Brewery, Eddie McStiffs, and Zax's (which had a great all-you-can-eat pizza buffet, but after only eating 2 slices I found the price of $10.99 per person pricey). The Moab Brewery had great bbq chicken and Eddie McStiffs great salad (try their house vinaigrette). We also had breakfast at the Denny's and the staff and service was awesome. Their pancakes were very yummy and inexpensive.

After Moab we decided to head to -- VEGAS BABY, VEGA$!!! LOL! We love Vegas so we couldn't wait to get there, plus a new Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville opened up so we were EXTRA excited (we are huge parrotheads). On our way down we stopped for the night in the very cute town/city of St. George, Utah. This town has everything you need. All the comforts of home which is a rare commodity in the canyonlands. There were movie theatres, a Target, Walmart, chain restaurants, and an overall feeling of city life. I know most people would find this boring and icky, but it felt comforting and homey to us. It was nice to see so many familiar things. We had dinner that night at the very delicious Famous Dave's BBQ. I had bbq ribs and April had bbq chicken. This place, now a chain, reminds us of Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse, only the BBQ version.

The next morning, on our way to Vegas, we noticed the wildfires burning in the distance. We actually saw the orange flames and couldn't believe how much smoke there was. So sad, but it is part of nature I guess. I just feel bad for the people who live close to the fires and whose lives are being effected.

We arrived in Vegas early afternoon and went directly to Margaritaville. We were seated in 25 minutes. What I couldn't believe was how BUSY Vegas was -- in the middle of SUMMER!! I remember there was a time when there was a HIGH and LOW season, but now it is HIGH season year round. The traffic was beyond horrible! I guess that is to be expected for the fastest growing city in the country, but when the temp hits 107 and you are in your car, in bumper to bumper traffic, and your a/c starts blowing semi-warm air, you start feeling crazed.....craaaaaaaaazed I tell you.....lol....just a little though. I mean, this is VEGAS, BABY!!! Anyway, back to Margaritaville. This Margaritaville is pretty big. It is a cross between the Orlando and Myrtle Beach restaurants. There are 3 or 4 bars throughout the restaurant and the gift shop is huge. We had our "cheeseburgers in paradise" and then headed to our hotel for the next five nights, MonteLago Village Resort in Lake Las Vegas (located about 15-20 minutes north of the Vegas strip). This resort, owned by one of our favorite companies, Intrawest, was/is gorgeous but lacks ammenities. Yes, it does remind us of The Portofino in Orlando, but WITHOUT the customer service and ammenities, such as an onsite restaurant or room service. But for $59 a night (travel agent rate) we really can't complain too much. Our 1 bedroom suite is HUGE. It has a full size living room with TV/VCR/CD player, a full size kitchen, a huge bedroom and a gorgeous bathroom. The resort IS far from the strip, but if you don't mind a 20 minute drive -- it is a good place for the $$. The resort has an onsite (24-hour) casino, a village with several (fancy) restaurants, shops and nightly entertainment, but alas at 107 degrees it is tooooooo hot to stay out for more than a minute or two in my opinion. Avoid the summer.

Ape and I have been here since Sunday afternoon, so Monday was our actual first FULL day. We had lunch at the coolest/fun German restaurant. The Hofbräuhaus Las Vegas. OH MY, this place is so much fun. It is an exact replica of the original in Germany. Their style and food is Bavarian. They have a very large beer hall and stage where there is live music nightly starting at 5pm. Their Bavarian chefs prepare delicious German food in a traditional style. It is located on Paradise Road, right in front of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. We shared a delicious German cucumber style salad and each got one of their world famous solf pretzels with mustard dipping sauce. For our main course I got the NÜRNBERGER ROSTBRATWÜRSTL (three roasted sausages with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes) and April the WIENER SCHNITZEL (classic breaded pork cutlet with cranberries and homemade Bavarian potato salad). The food was very good. I ate a little bit of everything except the sauerkraut (ick). We will probably go here at night, at least once before we leave. It must be crazy fun when the music starts!

After lunch we went to the new WYNN Las Vegas Resort & Casino. It didn't impress us. How can that be you may ask?? Well, it is really not our speed. It looked like the Bellagio, which I actually think is more pretty. It is WAY too high end for most folks. We could've stayed here for $159 per night (travel agent rate) and actually had reservations, but cancelled after we read some negative reviews from other agents (i.e. color schemes, service, noise etc.,). We gambled a little and then went to The Orleans. The Orleans is a fun resort/casino (huge difference..lol). The Orleans has a movie theatre, bowling alley, arcade, lots of cute restaurants, cafes and a great laid back feeling. We decided to see Bewitched which was pretty funny. We then decided to head to New York New York Resort & Casino, one of our favorite places to gamble along with Treasure Island, and boy am I glad we did. April, who has been the lucky one of the duo thus far, won close to $200 on a .50 Wheel Of Fortune Machine! I then won over 300 quarters on another wheel type machine. We decided to split the money and came out with over $100 per person....pretty cool. We then went for a late dinner at AMERICA which is a funky restaurant with emphasis on all of the states in North America. We ordered pancakes again...mmm...mmm...but unfortunately I had to leave early as I was VERY dehydrated and almost lost my voice. I guess you don't realize all the moisture that you are losing in this kind of heat. We did a lot of walking and I hardly had any water all day!! I thought I was going to faint! April got our food to go, and I swallowed a bottle of water and 1/2 a bottle of Gatorade. By the time we got back to our hotel, well maybe 1/2 hour after that, I was feeling somewhat better! WHEW.....MUST STAY HYDRATED IN THE DESERT....who would've thought??? ;-) LOL! Please take this warning seriously....carry bottled water with you everywhere you go.....drink, drink, and drink some more while in the desert. The dry heat is very tricky.

The next day we visited several other casino's including New York New York (again), the Flamingo and our casino, the MonteLago. April has been doing awesome! Which means, I have been doing awesome -- since we split all our winnings...lol...yaaay!

Off the subject, but I thought it was worth a mention. The other night we went for dinner at the 24 hour restaurant at MonteLago Casino. I was just slightly hungry so I thought pancakes would be a nice snack/dinner. Literally ALL of the restaurants opened 24 hours in Vegas serve some breakfast foods, so I thought this would be fine. Before entering the restaurant I even noticed on their blackboard pancakes were listed...woo-hoo--SCORE! Once we were seated I POLITELY asked the waitress if the pancakes listed on the blackboard were available and she, very SARCASTICALLY said, and I quote, "NO SWEETIE, PANCAKES ARE FOR BREAKFAST, IT'S DINNER TIME........DINNER? YOU KNOW? NOT BREAKFAST TIME...IT'S DINNER TIME? PANCAKES ARE FOR BREEEEEEEAKFAST---UNDERSTAND??" Wow....I just sat there and gave her the dirtiest look ever (my Italian blood can't help it) and just nodded and said, "Yeeeeeeeah, I know!" If looks could kill, well, she would've been a goner. She said this so loud and my face was so red. I felt like such an idiot. I looked at April and said, "WOW, HOW RUDE"! I had to count to 10 and breath deep because I was at my wits end. One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone is RUDE. I mean, I know when someone is joking with me. I can laugh at myself very easily....trust me. But when someone makes a FOOL out of you, well that is a different story and I am very sensitive to that. The person instantly goes on my "you know what" list. April was all ruffled as well.....so after I got up to leave (there was no way I would eat there) she told the older woman how RUDE she was and stormed out (don't mess with April....lol). I mean, c'mon??? You don't talk to someone that way. I was raised to be polite. It always amazes me when people lack that ability. There.....whew......I am done venting...lol! There is always one A**hole per trip. I have come to this conclusion...ugh.

Now back to regularly scheduled blog matters....lol......

Yesterday we went to see War Of The World which was actually quite good. Stephen Spielberg really knows how to make a blockbuster. The special effects were awesome and Dakota Fanning were great. The only problem April and I had was that the ending was anti-climatic. I don't want to say much more than that for those who haven't see it yet, but that was just our opinion.

After the movie we headed back to our hotel. We figured we'd pick up something quick for dinner and eat back at the room. We saw an In-N-Out Burger and laughed at the name and figured we'd give it a shot. While in line, our CHECK GAGES light went on and our temperature gage was all the way over....we were overheating! We panicked because it was 106 degrees outside and we were at least 15-20 minutes from our hotel. We decided to go inside the air-conditioned restaurant and call triple AAA which showed up about an hour and fifteen minutes later. The guy towed our truck to a local mechanic and we took a cab to our hotel, $40--ouch! Which brings us to this morning, Thursday. Our jeep had to have some work done....cost Ape and I over $150 each....but Bessy is worth it. She is a good jeep!

We are in talks right now about where to go next......California or Canada??? Hmmmm....I do know we are SO done with these 110 temps!!!!! MY WORD -- SOMEBODY DIP ME IN ICE WATER!!! :-)

Til then...

Happy Travels!

Des & Ape

---

Photos

050
Heading to Aspen. This HAS to be the mountain used for Paramount Pictures? Hmmm?

070
Beautiful homes line the hills of Snowmass Mountain near Aspen.

096
Aspen, Colorado.

115
Famous Aspen Mountain!

110
Welcome to Aspen!

158
Beautiful Aspen sky.

154
Outside of Boogie's Diner.

150
Heading upstairs to Boogie's Diner.

152
Welcome to Boogie's Diner!

168
Saw a lot of this on our roadtrip!

010
Arches National Park - Moab, Utah.

012
I really don't know what to say about this rock...ummmm?

029
View entering Arches National Park.

071
Standing in front of the "Three Sisters" rock at Arches National Park.

087
For some reason this rock reminds me of Barney?

100
They had some strange looking rocks at this park..lol.

112
There was no way Ape and I were hiking 3 miles roundtrip to Delicate Arch in 100 degree weather (especially in flip flops) so this is the best picture we got of "world famous" Delicate Arch...lol..whoa!

141
I thought this arch was more impressive.

203
Dead Horse State Park - Moab, Utah.

210
Dead Horse Point State Park was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

211
Beautiful Dead Horse State Park.