25 Years And Still Going- Day 1 & 2 Southwest February 2012

February 14th marks our 25th wedding anniversary, so to commemorate we decided to head back to some of our favorite places. We started out with something that really showed our age. Jon Anderson, lead singer of Yes, which we have seen in our youth, was performing live acoustically and solo in Phoenix. We planned the first night to see him to kick off our adventure. Jon at 68 still put on a fabulous show and we were in the 6th row!

After the show we spent the night in Phoenix and then headed for Sedona. The power and beauty of this place has always drawn me here, even though today it is so grown up and populated with huge homes and shops, you can still escape into the back country around the town.

Too many great places to eat in town, but we always seem to go back to Dahl and DiLuca and I always have the same thing....

Highly Recommended:

Mesa Arts Center- Mesa Arizona

Inn of Sedona- Best Western Sedona Arizona

Dahl and DiLuca- Sedona Arizona

Judy's Restaurant

Cowboy Cafe

25 Years And Still Going-Day 3 & 4 Southwest February 2012

Day 3 and 4 has us leaving Sedona in the morning, but not before stopping at the Oak Creek Canyon overlook, and then driving to Zion National Park via Page Arizona. Vicky had never seen Page, so we took the long way to view Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon Dam. We had a blast staying at Zion Lodge and doing some easy walking to the Emerald Pools, Grotto Walk, and Weeping Rock. We explored the town, but were a bit early to eat at some of our favorite places, but Oscar's is always open and good.

Mt Humphrey- Flagstaff Arizona

Escalante Plateau and Vermilion Cliffs ( above and below) panorama

These two ( above and below) go together in a panorama of Lake Powell

Escalante Plateau

Welcome to Zion East Entrance

Zion Lodge

Our Cabin 509 and bedroom with nice fire

So many beautiful pictures of Zion, words can't do it justice- Just enjoy the photos

Just a couple of minutes and the light changes everything!

We did have time to catch up with our good friends at Zion Adventure Company, Jonathan, Catrin and Massimo (center)

Highly Recommended:

Zion Lodge

Oscar's Cafe

Zion Adventure Company ( hiking the Narrows and Slot Canyon adventures)

25 Years And Still Going-Day 5 & 6 Southwest February 2012

Leaving Zion is hard as I would like to stay forever and someday maybe I will, but the call of Sin City was large and we had a date with the Blue Man Group. But on the way to Vegas we decided to take the back roads through Lake Mead Recreation Area and the Valley of Fire. The Valley of Fire was Arizona's first state park.

After the Valley of Fire and driving up the Lake Mead Recreational area we decided to see the new Hwy 93 bridge over the Colorado River. The Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge is HIGH! 1800 feet above the Colorado and 900 feet above the level of the Hoover Dam.

Our skyline view from the 33rd floor of the Cosmopolitan Hotel

Mystere by Cirque Du Soleil was on hiatus while we were in Vegas so we saw BMG

Blue Man Group- you will never look at Twinkies or Capt Crunch the same way again

The plane finally whisks us home- what a great trip!

Highly Recommended:
Cosmopolitan Hotel
PF Changs- Las Vegas
Nine Fine Irishman Pub
Breakfast at the Cosmopolitan
Blue Man Group