USA Fam Trip Day 3: 16th November 2015

Another good nights sleep but up before sunrise to get ready for another busy day - had time for a quick Skype chat with my Mam though so that was a good way to start the day. Another good way to start the day is with a hearty breakfast and the Red Rock Grill didn't disappoint and with the snow lying I thought porridge was a good idea with loads of fruit and a big mug of tea. These buffet breakfasts are a great idea when you're travelling as you can stock up for the day but they're not good for the waistline! Pancakes with bacon, waffles and syrup - oh my word, glad I stuck to my porridge lol The snow has made everything look so different and, I think more beautiful as it highlights the contours of the rocks. The old tree is looking particularly lovely this morning too, it's a Fremont Cottonwood which are all over this area and provide food, roosting and nesting for all kinds of wildlife in the park from fish to birds, insects, deer and beaver. The one on the main lawn is one of the oldest in the canyon and measures over 25 metres tall...

We loaded up the mini bus and headed deeper into the National Park along the zig zag road above Pine Creek to Checkerboard Mesa...

The snow really makes the cross-hatch pattern stand out. Navajo sandstone is the most widespread rock layer in the western US and in Zion Canyon reaches it's greatest strength (over 700 metres) and is thought to be the thickest sediment layer in the world. The checkered pattern is a result of thousands of years of repeated thawing and refreezing of snow and melt water along with erosion. We continued on the Zion to Mount Carmel Highway through the 1.1 mile long tunnel which was built in the 1920's on to Kanab before dropping back into Arizona at Wahweap Overlook where there wasn't the slightest hint of snow as we stopped to look over Lake Powell with lovely blue sky and sunshine...

Lake Powell is actually a reservoir on the Colorado River which sits between Utah and Arizona and is named after the one-armed explorer John Wesley Powell, a Civil War veteran who was the first explorer in wooden boats back in 1869. It was created as a result of the building of the Glen Canyon Dam (1956 - 1966) and a few minutes south we saw it for ourselves, all 710 feet of it! ...

The original idea came about in 1924 but was shelved in favour of a dam in Black Canyon - the Hoover Dam. Despite producing over 4 billion kilowatt hours of hydroelectricity per year and all the recreational activities such as fishing and water-skiing, it is still criticised for it's impact on the environment and ecology of the Grand Canyon. The bridge was originally built to transport materials for the dam and when it was completed in 1959 was the highest arch bridge in the world. It has a little peep hole in the fencing where you can take unobstructed photos of the dam wall.

At the end of the bridge is the Carl Hayden Visitors Centre, which sits on top of the dam power plant (I wish we'd had time to do the guided tour - I know, I'm weird). It was built in 1963 and now has over a million visitors each year. There are a couple of memorials just outside the main building: a fountain for 8 co-workers who were killed in a plane crash and a bronze plaque dedicated to the 18 men who were killed during the building of the dam. Just outside the main entrance are some fossilised dinosaur footprints which came from a nearby side canyon...

About 5 miles south is one of the most photographed and breathtaking views in the area: Horseshoe Bend. A large parking area leads to a wide path over a flat-topped hill which leads down to an un-fenced view of almost sheer cliffs, down the 1,100 feet drop to the river below...

I've wanted to photograph here for a long time and whilst I was taking this shot, Curtis was having kittens!!! And Kevin was taking this one of me...

I don't think Curtis will ever forgive me for that! Good job it wasn't this year as I'd never have been able to do it with my knee problems :) From here we headed north to Page where we had lunch and then continued our journey into the Navajo Tribal Park. By the time we arrived at the Navajo National Monument - Betatakin Ruins the weather had taken a turn for the worst so it was back on with the layers and a hike through the snow to the viewpoint...

High on the Shonto plateau are three cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Puebloan People - Kits'iil (Broken Pottery), Ts'ah Bii' Kin (Inscription House) and Bitat'ahkin (Ledge House). These little villages, built in sandstone, mud mortar and wood date as far back as 1250AD and have remain unchanged since these times. There are various hikes and trails in the area as well as camping and picnic grounds but we only had time to do the Sandal Trail from the visitors centre to the overlook at the Ledge House. There are trails which take you right into the settlements themselves, but I'd rather view from afar...

A little over an hour later and we were back in Utah and checking in at Goulding's Lodge. Literally on the edge of the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Goulding's Trading Post was set up in the early 1920's by Harry and Leone Goulding. Working with the local Navajo people, trading jewellery and rugs for food etc, it wasn't long before they were able to build a permanent building which is now the site museum. The Navajo Reservation suffered greatly during the Great Depression in the 1930's and The Goulding's heard of a company looking for film locations in the Southwest, so used their last $60 to head to Hollywood and meet with film director John Ford. As soon as he saw it, he knew it was the perfect location for his next movie "Stagecoach" starring John Wayne. In the following years, more and more people came to film, photograph, paint and experience the stunning surroundings and the Goulding's built the lodge and dining facilities and now hosts thousands of people every year from all over the world who come to marvel at Monument Valley.

Thanks to Judith for her picture from her room :) It was a bit of a rush as we needed to head out on the tour bus before the light faded, but our Navajo guide quickly got us across the road and in among the huge sandstone buttes...

We didn't have enough time to complete the 17 mile "Valley Drive" but we did get to see Sentinel Mesa...

East and West Mitten Buttes and Merrick Butte...

Elephant Butte...

The Three Sisters and Mitchell Mesa...

and The Thumb...

We did have time for some fun in the fading light, and tried to do some perspective pictures but (as always) mine failed miserably lol...

We also made a stop at John Ford's Point for iconic photos of this amazing natural landscape. I took this one of Stacey who was brave enough to get on the horse!...

John Ford was a famous American film director most known for his Western films and his use of rugged locations. His first film shot in Monument Valley was Stagecoach in 1939 starring John Wayne and Claire Trevor. We made it back to the hotel in the dark and crossed the car park to the dining room behind the hotel for dinner. A bit of an odd place to say the least but we ate well and headed off to bed. Early start in the morning for sunrise at The View Hotel / Visitor Centre.

USA Fam Trip Day 2: 15th November 2015

Good morning Las Vegas! My body clock had me awake at silly o'clock this morning but what a view to wake up to - I sat up in the biggest, comfiest bed I've ever slept in and across the valley I could see hot air balloons taking off on their sunrise flights...

I really didn't want to get up and could have quite happily sat for ages watching The Strip come to life from my "deluxe panoramic king" room but there was work to be done and many miles ahead.

We checked out and went on a site inspection of the Wynn and the sister property Encore next door before enjoying an amazing breakfast. I kid you not, these hotels are like small towns, they're so huge and have populations not workforces - well, with 2,716 rooms to look after you'd need an army lol Unfortunately we didn't have much time as we needed to be on the road pretty quickly as not only did we have a long day ahead, but it was the Las Vegas marathon and they were closing the roads, but we did have time for our first team photo of the trip...

So we left the bright lights, tall buildings and pavement escalators (!?) behind and followed the I15, through Mesquite and across the stateline into Arizona and on over another stateline and into Utah; driving through such places as St George, La Verkin and Hurricane. The mountains began to surround us as we followed the north fork of the Virgin River towards Springdale and the Zion National Park...

The 229 square mile Zion National Park is divided into 2 main areas: Zion Canyon and Kolob Canyon. An oasis of colour in this wild wilderness area, summer temperatures can reach way over 100F but it remains high season. I'm so glad we are here at the end of the season, less cars and people and a real feeling of remoteness. Here's the mind-blowing bit.. it's taken 13 million years for the north fork of the Virgin River to carve it's way through the plateau and create the Zion Canyon and each winter the walls grow further apart, as the water that seeps through the sandstone freezes and shears off huge chunks. There's never been much of a population but archaeologists believe the first settlers came around 500AD but were driven out by drought by 1250AD. Isaac Behunin set up a log cabin in 1862 on the site of the Zion Lodge as a refuge but it wasn't until 1872 that the area became known for it's scenery after John Wesley Powell's expedition and it was finally awarded National Park status in 1919.

We had a short site inspection after checking into our lodge rooms before taking the park shuttle bus to the Temple of Sinawava and then walked about a mile up a beautiful wandering path until we came to the beginning of "The Narrows" where you hike up the the river through the canyon. As the light was beginning to fade we made our way back to the bus stop, passing some majestic deer and beautiful autumn foliage...

Our rustic lodge style rooms were lovely and warm with little balcony areas complete with wooden rocking chairs and of course the stunning backdrop...

Dinner was in the Red Rock Grill - homely food in huge portions and as we headed back to our rooms the snow began to fall.

USA Fam Trip Day 1: 14th November 2015

I can't believe it's been a year since I went on my American adventure, I didn't blog about it then as I wasn't writing as much and didn't really get the chance to, but here we are a year down the line so I thought it was about time I told you all about it.

For those not in travel, a fam (famil / familiarisation) trip can come in many different forms - some are very structured and keep to a strict timetable and include lots of hotel visits and some follow the trip itineraries that clients would and slip in hotel visits here and there. I've been lucky on my trips as I've not had too many hotel visits to do; it sounds awful but they all blend into one after a while and you can't remember!

Anyway, my trip to Spain with a different company was cancelled in the morning and in the afternoon an offer came in from North America Travel Services (NATS) and Alastair very kindly put me up for it. I'd not worked with NATS before joining Norseman so it was appropriate really and they were great, booking everyone from their local airports.

Fam trips are funny things, you throw together a group of people from all over the country and hope to God they get on for the duration of the trip! I must say with one exception (there's always one!) this group was brilliant, we all got on so well and are still in touch - we're actually planning a reunion for after Christmas! Once the itineraries were sent out, we all had each others' email addresses and were in touch before we left. There were 3 of us travelling from up here so Martyn took charge and checked us in for the flights :) 14 November eventually arrived and I met up with Martyn and Stacey at Newcastle airport and we flew down to London Heathrow together; by the time we got to London we were like the 3 Musketeers. We met up with the rest of the group at Heathrow and had a quick briefing with Curtis from NATS who was hosting the trip before boarding the plane to Las Vegas. It's always a special treat (for me) to travel in business class (or Club World as British Airways call it) this was the first time with BA and although it was very nice I think the layout is awful but never mind, the 3 musketeers liked it...

It was dark when we arrived in Las Vegas and we were whisked off to the hotel. We stayed the first night at Wynn, it seemed like a hike from the lobby up to my room along the longest corridor I've ever seen but the view was fab! We literally had time to freshen up before heading to the hotel theatre to see the resident show "La Reve - The Dream". What an amazing performance - I must admit I was really tired and didn't actually feel like going but I'm so glad we did, I was mesmerised for the entire show. I've never seen anything like it and probably never will again! If you get a chance, have a look at it on YouTube. We met up with our Detours guide Paul and had a drink after the show - he was so enthusiastic about what he had planned for us and we all wandered off to bed full of excitement for the days ahead. When I finally got to my room (at the end of the looooooong corridor!) the view that greeted me was amazing! I couldn't figure out all the buttons for the curtains so just left them open - let's face it, there's not going to be many people spying on rooms this high up lol

Day in Dublin

Yes, you read that right - I went on a day trip to Dublin :) Low-cost airline Ryanair held a mad sale a couple of weeks ago where you could travel anywhere in their network for £4 as long as it was on a Wednesday or Thursday but you had to book that day. My friend / work colleague gave me a call and asked if I fancied going as we both had the day off - so, why not!? I'd never been to Dublin before so it would be an adventure. Our flight from Newcastle was at 1120 so we arrived at the airport not too early but very excited...

The flight went very smoothly - and it wasn't long before we left the snow of Yorkshire for the sunshine on the Emerald Isle...

We had booked the "aircoach" along with the flights and as soon as we came out of the airport, the coach stand was right in front of us. It was a bit of a hairy drive I must say with a grumpy driver but we were on O'Connell street within half an hour. If I did it again I'd probably use the "airlink" bus which you just pay as you get on and it goes straight to the city centre rather than going to the other terminal at the airport, but hey it didn't matter this time: voyage of discovery and all that :) We were very blessed with the weather, the sun shone all day and it was beautiful (certainly warmer than Newcastle) which meant it was great for sightseeing / walking. We made our way down O'Connell Street, past the GPO (General Post Office) a very grand Greek-looking building...

We walked along the river Liffey to the famous Liffey Bridge - aka the Ha'penny Bridge. So-called because the toll to cross was, yes you guessed: a ha'penny. It was the only pedestrian bridge over the river until as recently as 1999. When it first opened, around 450 pairs of feet crossed it daily, now it's an average of 30,000 and I would have been very happy to pay my ha'penny!

We crossed over to Merchants Arch and up into Temple Bar. A grid work of narrow streets full of pubs, bars and eateries. Even just after lunchtime, it was bustling with people. Some say it's named after the Temple family who once lived here and others say it's named after the Temple district of London (which was older and more famous). Doesn't matter, it's an interesting place to grab a drink and watch life pass by. We came out of Temple Bar on to Dame Street which felt more like being in a city centre with lots of traffic and very busy pavements, and we walked along to Dublin Castle. I'll definitely do a guided tour next time I come over (see, I've not been here long and already I'm planning on returning!) but we had a lot to see in a short time so carried on along Dame Street until we came to Lord Edward Street and Christchurch Cathedral with it's beautiful arch over the roadway. We were going to go further along to Saint Patrick's Cathedral but decided to head back into the centre and it was here we stumbled upon Molly Malone...

I say stumbled upon because she's actually in a temporary home at the moment while the tram lines are laid throughout the city so she's not on Grafton Street as expected but tucked up a side street (long and narrow - ahem!) beside St Andrew's Church until next year. Look closely and you'll see that poor Molly's been a bit manhandled over the years and the bronze on her bosom is a different colour to the rest of the statue, she's in need of a thermal vest and woolly scarf if you ask me! From Suffolk Street, we made our way to Trinity College to see the stunning buildings on "the squares". Founded in 1592, it wasn't until 1904 that women were permitted to study here! Despite being right in the middle of the city, you enter the large wooden door and a tranquility hits you - everyone speaks quietly and marvels at the beautiful buildings. I wanted to visit the Old Library to see the Book of Kells - a manuscript of all 4 Gospels chronicling the life of Jesus - but it was closed, so after a little wander up to St Stephen's Green we headed back towards Temple Bar as by this time we were hungry and in need of some Guinness! Of all the places in all the world... of course we had to stop at The Norseman pub in Temple Bar, named after an old wooden statue of a viking (long since gone) it seemed the most appropriate place to eat...

The self-cook steaks are an absolute dream with the Jameson whisky sauce and of course a Guinness or two (maybe 3, oh and a whisky!) Before we knew it, it was time to head back on to Westmoreland Street for the bus back to the airport. Of course, being very prepared travel agents, we left enough time for a mooch around the shops and a sneaky Guinness! Thanks for a great day Dublin, I hope it's not too long before we meet again...