Honeymoon Recap

We had decided in 2007 to take a swing out west for our 2008 vacation. When we started to talk about marriage in early 2008 we agreed to stick with our original vacation plan and make that our honeymoon. As you can see, we did a little bit of everything.

jump to Sedona, Grand Canyon, Utah, or Las Vegas,

Day 1 (Friday, June 27th) - Flying to Arizona

After a whirlwind week of preparation for the big trip it seemed like we were ready to go. The only problem is that our 5 p.m. connecting flight from Cleveland to Phoenix was delayed for 2 hours. So we did what anyone would would have done: we headed for the bar. Yes, we were toasted even before the honeymoon even started.


We arrived at the Springhill Suites in Prescott, Arizona to find a lovely honeymoon setup. In my reservation request I put in something about us being on our honeymoon and they left us a couple of really nice wine glasses, some fake champagne and a ton of Hershy's kisses.


Day 2 (Saturday, June 28th) - Sedona


We set off from Prescott to make an 11 a.m. appointment at the Pink Jeep Tours in Sedona. The trip there took a bit longer than we had planned on and we had to reschedule for the 1 p.m. departure. Sedona itself was very cool although as you may suspect it was somewhat of a tourist trap.The jeep tour was well worth the time and money. Our guide Cynthia went well out of her way to get us some cool shots make us feel special (yes, we were milking the honeymoon angle for all it was worth).


At about 3:30 p.m. we decided that we had seen enough of Sedona so we set off for the Canyon. We arrived a couple of hours later and Rebecca got her first glimpse of one of the natural wonders of the world. I know that we took a ton of pictures but I can't stress this enough: none of them do it justice. At the observation points you hear people saying not much more than "wow" over and over again.


Day 3 (Sunday, June 29th) - Grand Canyon

We had a quick breakfast and arrived at the Bright Angel trail at about 8:20. The temperature that day was supposed to be 105 (and higher inside the canyon) so we thought we'd get out in the early morning. The trail runs out to Powell Point - about 6 miles of hiking (3 miles down and then another 3 miles out). We were carrying about 10 bottles of water in anticipation of a very hot day. There are resting areas every 1.5 miles where shade and fresh water can be had.



The worst part about this hike is that you're going down first. In the back of your mind you're thinking that evey enjoyable step down is going to be countered with a long step up on the way back. For the most part the path zig zags back and forth down the side of the big cliff until it nears the canyon floor. We reached the floor in about 2 hours time and it was already getting hot. Really hot. Despite the fact that it was still in the morning the temperature at the rest area was already over 100.

It was at this point that Rebecca was starting to feel the heat. We're both in pretty good shape but nothing about living in Buffalo prepares you for working out in an oven. I'm still surprised that the heat didn't seem to be affecting me as I am the one with the really thick blood. The air was so dry that neither one of us were sweating despite the gruelling hike down.


We had an extended rest and Indian Gardens (4.5 miles down) and then set off to the point. While this hike was across level terrain it was also through the heart of the desert floor and a cloudless sky. About halfway there Rebecca started to have more problems with the heat and both of us were becoming alarmed. If we pushed forward we were not guaranteed of any shade at that point and we would also have to walk back through the blazing sun. Turning back would mean missing out on one of the greatest views on Earth.

We waited for a bit and then pushed forward. The point is simply spectacular. It is at the bottom of the canyon, just above the Coloarado River. From here you're looking up at the Canyon walls on both sides. You hear nothing but the wind blowing by your face. We saw very few people out this far because it is so difficult to get to (most of the people we saw along the path were Europeans and most of the people up top or on the mules were American). We sat out at the point for the better part of an hour, wishing we could bottle it up and take it home with us.


If we had to do it over again we would have left at about 4 a.m. so that we were walking up while the day was still young. However, we lucked out: clouds had started to roll in. We started back across the desert floor and the temperature seemed like it had dropped 15 degrees and we were both very comfortable. At Indian Village there was a moment where it looked like the the clouds were going to turn into a full-blown storm (and thus the sand would become mud) but this did not happen. As we left the village our luck ran out and the torturous sun returned for the better part of the afternoon.


The middle third of the hike up was brutal. We saw plenty of people in pretty bad shape. At times we resorted to scampering from one shady spot to another. We finally reached the 3 mile rest house and there was a full group of people there already. The thermometer at the door said that it was 120 degrees (no joke). We left the house and returned to our ascent. I can't imagine what the hike up would have been like if we hadn't found shade about halfway up the wall.


As we neared the top our bodies really started to break down. We spent so much time trying to stay cool that we forgot that this was a gruelling physical experience. Muscles ached, lungs burned and feet had blisters. We probably each drank between 15 and 20 bottles of water and neither one of us had to go to the bathroom once (nor were we even sweating). When we reached the top there was a feeling more of relief than of accomplishment. We left at 8:20 a.m. and returned at 6:15 p.m. Other than the stop at the point we never rested for more than 10 minutes.




Dinner that night was quite an experience as both of our bodies were hurting. It was an effort to even sit up! We had joked all week that the meal we'd have that night would be among the most guilt-free that we could ever have. Unfortunately, we ate very little and were asleep by 9 p.m. and neither one of us felt bad about that.

Monday (June 30th) - Driving to Utah

We agreed that we had seen all that we cared to see of the Canyon and set out for Utah. The drive itself was going to be quite unique: 5 to 6 hours of 2 lane road through the heart of the west. Needless to say, we'd be seeing a side of this country that most people do not get to see.



I've always had mixed feelings on what has happened to Native Americans over the last few centuries. On one hand we were far more hostile to them and committed the bulk of the atrocities, but on the other hand people have been moving all over the Earth since the beginning of time and one group has always taken land from another group (including squabbles between Native American tribes). Most of the roads that we traversed were through Indian Reservations and it was heartbreaking to see how these people lived. There was shack after shack of poor people. Many of the shacks didn't even have windows and were nothing more than plywood cobbled together to try to stop the rain from coming in. And in front of many of the shacks were jewelry stands. One of the stands even resorted to describing themselves as "Nice Indians" and said that we should not be afraid of them. At no point did we see a pocket of people that were doing ok. One of the most telling scenes was at a rest stop along the way. We saw a girl sitting on the pavement with a blanket full of handmade Native American jewelry. She texted on her phone as people walked by her "stand".

Tuesday (July 1st) - Utah

We set out that morning to spend some time in Cedar City. The travel information that I had seen depicted the city as being rustic and quaint. We picked this town mostly because it was halfway between Zion Park and Bryce Canyon but we looked forward to seeing some of the town. Well, that didn't last long. There wasn't much to see in town as it looked pretty much like every other town. There was a "historic" area of the town but this consisted mostly of antique stores. We ate lunch at a local deli and then headed off to do some tubing in Springdale.

We arrived in Springdale (about an hour drive) and it quickly became apparent that the tubing company had closed. However, one of the locals told us that there was another such company in town so we headed there. The Zion Adventure company set us up with tubes and directed us toward the river. At first the ride could not have been nicer: we sat on the lazy river with our feet in the cool water and our eyes focused on the cliffs above. However, it appeared that the water level was lower than normal as we spent half of the ride getting up to walk over the rapids because our tubes kept getting stuck. At one point Rebecca fell while trying to get back on her tube and ended up doing an awkward doggie paddle on the rocks as she tried to get up. It was scary at the time but looking back on it now I have to laugh. We both had some pretty wicked brushburns from the tubes as well.

Wednesday (July 2nd) - Utah

We had originally planned to hike for two days (Bryce and Zion) but I think we both knew on Sunday that this was not going to happen. We started our hike up the Angel's Landing trail at 9 a.m. The hike itself was quite gruelling and was not recommended for everyone. After about an hour we reached Scouts point as the sun really began to bake the mountain. From here we could see Angels' Landing: it was a point that jutted out over the land below and vaguely resembled an angel. The problem with getting to the point is that the hike quickly turned into an exercise in rock climbing. At many points the only thing keeping you from falling down the cliff are chains that you MUST hold on to.

We traversed the first section of the trail with great trepidation. We reached a flat point and then once again reassessed our position. It was getting even hotter and the most dangerous part of the trail was still in front of us. It looked almost like a narrow winding road that spiraled up to a haunted house on a cliff. We looked at each other and knew that it wasn't going to happen today. I hate heights to begin with and Rebecca was unnerved about the first part of trail we headed back. By the time we got to the bottom we were both zapped of our energy and decided to head back to the hotel. We took a nap and did some laundry.


On a whim we decided to check out the Utah Shakespeare Festival that night. We were kind of on the fence about it since we had so much going on in Vegas in the coming days. It is a good thing we went - it may have been the highlight of the trip. We saw Fiddler on the Roof as it is one of Rebecca's favorites and I had never seen it. It was opening night and the auditorium couldn't have held more than 250 people. What a performance... every person in the play could sing and dance and seemed to have Broadway-quality talents. We were mesmerized for the better part of three hours.

Thursday (July 3rd) - Vegas

We got up early and hit the gym after breakfast. After packing our ever-growing suitcases we hit the road. 'Ol leadfoot got us to Vegas in 2:20 - not bad at all if I do say so myself.

Thanks to the time change (we gained an hour coming from Utah) we got in at a little after lunch. We decided to get some monorail passes (after hearing a spiel by Marriott) and head down to the strip. We had lunch outside by the pool at MGM and then had a few more drinks. I don't know if it was the lunch or the drinks or the absoluely oppressive heat but by 5 p.m. I started to feel really nauseous. We decided to go back to the room to take a nap and then head back out again. We got back at 7 and then... well... we both slept through the night. What can I say? I think we were still recovering from the two hikes.

Friday (July 4th) - Vegas

Thanks to the early night we were back at the gym at 8 and ready for the day. We agreed to see the new Marriott that they are building in return for a $75 visa gift card and some other crap. If nothing else it gave us a free ride to the strip (even the walk to the monorail is blistering hot). The whole thing ended up being painful - we were promised that it would be no more than 2 hours and that there would be no pressure. It turns out that it was three and half hours and the salesman tried every trick in the book.

We strolled around town for a while after that and had a nice afternoon. It is so easy to lose track of what day it was when you are on vacation - it wasn't until the middle of the day that we remembered that it was the fourth.

That night we had excellent seats for Cirque du Soleil's Ka. While we had almost no idea what was going on we very much appreciated the incredible stage and athleticism of many of the actors. I highly recommend seeing it.

Saturday (July 5th) - Vegas

We showed up to attend a Text Hold'em class at the Excalibur only to find out that nobody else showed up so they cancelled it. Oh well, we still managed to drop a bill or two in our only serious gambling of the week. Both of us HATE to lose.

That night we had tickets to see Penn & Teller at the Rio. I've long since been a fan of the duo and couldn't wait to see them live. For anyone that does not know the duo, they are master illusionists and NOT magicians. In fact, they despise anyone that says that they have magical or supernatural abilities. As Penn said in a recent interview, if it were possible to bend the laws of physics these two would be working in a different line of work.

And the proof was in the pudding. They did a few unbelievable tricks and then showed you how they did them. One of my favorites was showing how fakes such as Sylvia Browne or John Edwards fools their audience. Teller threw some comedy books into the audience and had the audience members pass them back over their heads until Penn said to stop. That holder of each book was then told to find a funny joke in the book. By using hot reads or cold reads, Penn was able to tell exactly which joke the audience member had been looking at. Harry Houdini had made the practice of exposing these fakes his life's work and I'm thrilled that Penn & Teller can continue this practice.

My other favorite trick of the night involved them bringing up an audience member to record some of the act using a video camera. The premise of the trick was that many "magicians" use camera tricks to pull off an illusion and that an audience member wouldn't be doing this. As the audience member began to record Penn's "tricks", Teller held up a sign that what the audience thought was the joke really wasn't the joke. Truer words were never spoken. Teller went on to play tricks on the cameramen while he recorded Penn doing an "act". The whole thing was hysterical because the camerman had no idea that the audience was laughing at Teller making fun of him through a backdrop. The culmination of the bit was Penn thanking the cameraman for being such a good sport. As the cameraman took down his camera you saw it was actually Teller - at some point he had switched places with the cameraman. We were sitting 25 feet away from the stage and did not see any of it. Amazing. The joke was actually on the audience.




After the show the two stuck around for pictures and they could not have been nicer. I thanked Penn for their honesty and also recognized Teller for his great work on a Houdini biography that we had seen last year.

Sunday (July 6th) - Flying Home

And with that, we left Vegas on the 9:20 flight on Southwest. Even after a great vacation we were excited to go home.