August 2013 - Oxnard to Vail - Part 1, Las Vegas and Arches National Park

About two months ago, my friend Joyce Krasnow asked me to play in a tournament with her in her hometown of Vail, Colorado on August 6, 7 and 8.  My first response was to decline as I had never played in a tournament before and was nervous.  Also, it seemed unlikely I could get away or that Stan would want to go with me.  After thinking about it overnight, we decided that we would drive to Colorado with a stop first in Las Vegas to visit our warehouse, and then in Moab, Utah to visit Arches National Park.

After arriving in Las Vegas and taking care of some business, we invited two of the guys that work in our warehouse, Chris and Jim, to golf with us that night at the 9-hole Callaway course on Las Vegas Boulevard.  Callaway Golf Center  Happily, they decided to join us at about 8 pm, when it would be cool enough to play.  Summer in Las Vegas is ... well, you know how it is.  

Before we went to the golf course, we checked into our usual hotel, the Marriott Springhill Suites in Henderson.  Marriott Springhill Suites  The Marriott is a great place to stay.  We love the suite.  It has a sofa, work station, lots of plugs, free wi-fi and a good breakfast.  The staff is great, the room is clean and quiet, and it 's convenient to our office.  We gave up staying on the Strip a while ago.  For as often as we are in Vegas, which is quite often, it got too expensive to stay and eat there.  We do love the variety and quality of food on the Strip, but we'll take a little trip to the city if we want to.  The restaurants in Henderson are more in line with our budget and the kind of food we regularly eat.  Speaking of which, we have found a little Mediterranean restaurant that we just love.  It's called Crazy Pita Rotisserie and Grill.  It's near Green Valley Casino, right across from Lucille's BBQ.  Crazy Pita  I ordered a chicken pita which was excellent, served with a small cucumber, tomato and feta salad.  I usually get the steak pita which is amazing, served with eggplant dip, feta and olives, but opted for something a little lighter this time.  Stan ordered the quarter chicken, which he loved.  

Chicken Pita with Salad

Quarter Chicken with Salad and Pita Bread

Off to golf!  We opted for the Happy Hour deal, which is $30 for nine holes of golf and two drinks.  Fun!!  We met Chris at the range for a little practice; Jim ran late, but was there in time to tee off.  

Chris, Me and Jim

Golf is a challenging game under the best of circumstances and in broad daylight.  Night golfing is another thing altogether, but we had a great time with the guys.  

Note center-right the plane taking off from McCarren Airport.

After golf, we stopped at the bar, which, unfortunately, was about to close.  We got both our drinks at once, which I didn't finish, and Stan and Jim tried to figure out our score.  Confusion set in, but math prevailed.  I have no idea what happened to the scorecard, but I do know that I shot the highest score.  

Apres-golf.

The next morning, we left for Moab, Utah and a visit to Arches National Park.  The grandeur of Arches is something that should be on everyone's Must See list.  Each bend in the road is more breathtaking than the last.  Each trail takes you to wonders you will not believe.  

Our first stop was Park Avenue, in late afternoon, where the sheer walls look as if they were sliced off of somehow.  This is the first step to arch formation.

Park Avenue

We drove around the park a bit, but it was getting late, so we checked into our motel, the Inca Inn, a 50s-style, one-story, drive-up-to-your-door type of motel.  It was clean and quiet with a great bicycle weather vane on the roof top.  Our bathroom was vintage 1950s, decked out in yellow tile with brown trim.  Perfect!  Inca Inn

Since the Inca Inn is on the outskirts of town, we strolled next door to La Hacienda, a Mexican restaurant to grab a bite to eat.  La Hacienda  It is a cute and busy place.  I ordered the taquitos which were very greasy - dripping with oil when you took a bite.  Stan ordered soft chicken tacos.  The tacos, rice and beans were fine, but just not great.  I would have liked to sample a margarita, but I was acclimating to the elevation, as we were headed to Vail and over 8,000 feet.  I had suffered from altitude sickness before and didn't want to experience it again.

After dinner, we strolled into town where there was lots going on.  There were gift shops, art galleries and many restaurants available.  Stan and I each bought some t-shirts to commemorate our visit.  I felt a little sad that we hadn't taken the time to check it out before we ate at La Hacienda.  Oh well, next time.  We have to see Canyonlands, after all.  

At the hotel the next morning, we had a lovely little breakfast of hard boiled eggs, toast and coffee and set out to further explore Arches.  

Yummy Eggs, Toast and Coffee - A Perfect Start to an Arches Day

It was pretty warm in Moab, so we wanted to get an early start in order to do a little hiking and see some of the world-famous Arches and hoodoos.

Balancing Rock

Landscape Arch

Tired and hungry, we went back into town for a quick bite before we hit the road for Vail.  When you're driving, you need food that won't revisit you or cause any problems, especially if you're in remote areas.  My favorite road food is a BLT.  It's hard to screw up that sandwich, and they are heavy enough to give you energy for a while, but light enough to not weigh you down.  We stopped at the Moab Diner for the perfect BLT (we both ordered that).  Moab Diner  Now, Stan is something of a bacon aficionado.  In other words, he doesn't like most bacon.  He was semi-happy with the bacon on this sandwich, which made both of us very happy.  

BLT at the Moab Diner

Bellies full; we're off to Vail!!