August 5 to 14 2017

Once a year my wife’s family gets together. It is her sisters, brother and their families. It is usually about fourteen or fifteen people total. We use to all meet at one of the in-laws houses or our house for the week. The last two years they decided to do rent a house somewhere. Last year it was the Outer Banks. This year it was Hatch Utah.

I am an ocean person so I would rather be somewhere scuba diving, snorkeling, sailing or laying on a beach. I realized that I was going to have to put on my happy husband face and not complain too much during the week. My wife did agree to my demand to spend a couple days in Vegas at the end of the vacation.

To see what I was getting myself into I looked up Hatch on Trip Advisor. It listed one thing to do in Hatch, Mugwumps Antique Shop and five restaurants. Why did they pick this place? How are we going to keep seven kids entertained for a week?

Getting to Hatch

It was about a three and a half hour flight from Minneapolis to Las Vegas, which is the closest Major airport to Hatch. Once we picked up our rental car we hopped on 15 north. While turning onto the entrance ramp we saw a Total Wine liquor store. I thought about turning around at the next exit but we needed to stop for groceries and it was a long way before Utah where it becomes difficult to buy alcohol.

That was a mistake. The first grocery store we stopped at was a Mexican grocery store. I go to Mexico a couple of times a year so it wasn’t a problem finding my way around but they did not have everything we were looking for. The second grocery store was pretty basic but we were able to find what we needed.

I am somewhat of a beer snob and the grocery stores only had the usual beer- Miller, Bud, Bud light. I decided to wait until we got to St George to buy beer.

St George has two state run liquor stores. One sells beer and the other is just wine and booze. Of course we stopped at the liquor store that didn’t have beer. Karen bought some wine and we went in search of the other liquor store. It had a terrible beer selection so I decided that I would take my chances at the liquor store in Hatch.

We drove out of Nevada through the northwest corner of Arizona and into Utah. As we approached Hatch the altitude increased until we were at nearly seven thousand feet.

Hatch and Surrounding Area

The house we rented was located on the way out of town. It was a beautiful two story home big enough to hold sixteen people but it was located behind a lot with horses, junk and a mobile home. The house had a beautiful deck that ran the length of the house. It had a small fenced in back yard with a gazebo and firepit. Beyond the fence was damp marshy land that stretched to a small river. We didn’t know it but summer is monsoon season so it misted or rained throughout the week we were there. Since there was so much marshy land just out the back door the mosquitos were rampant.

The National Parks

Bryce

Bryce Canyon was the closest national park to the house. We did several hikes on different days in the park and came to the Sunrise Point in the park one morning to take in a sunrise.

Our first hike was Queens Garden and Navajo. The hike started with a steep descent. The majority of the hike was fairly flat but the hike ended with a series of switchbacks climbing up and out of the canyon.

We also hiked Peek A Boo. I though it was going to be like the previous hike. It wasn’t. It started with a steep switchback descent. Unlike the previous hike it was not flat at the bottom, it was a series of inclines and declines. The scenery was mother nature at her best. It was a long, tough hike but well worth it and incredibly beautiful.

Zion

All fourteen of us hiked Zion. We left early to avoid the traffic. It was over an hour drive. We saw mountain goats in the cliffs just outside the park entrance as we were stuck in traffic.

Hiking Emerald Pools was different than the two hikes in Bryce. The climb was not as steep but it was tougher because it was loose sand and rock. The hike ended at a pond. We rested and fed the fat little squirrels. You are not supposed to fed the animals but they were so cute.

The hike was tough on our nieces and nephews. Once we got back down to the lodge Maddie was overheating so I was able to get a bag of ice at the restaurant to put on the back of her neck to cool her down.

After lunch we were going to hike Observation point. It was Karen, myself, her sister Lori and nephew Charlie. The hike was a series of steep switchbacks up the side of the mountain. We made it almost to the top of the first set of switchbacks and Karen ran out of gas so we turned around and Lori and Charlie carried on.

We made it to the bottom and took a short hike to Weeping Rock. I was gassed by that point so I was glad that we turned around. Weeping Rock was very unique. The trail ran under an overhang and water was seeping out of the rock creating a cooling mist. We were hot and sweaty so it felt great.

North Rim Grand Canyon

Someone had e idea of caravanning to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was a two and a half hour drive from hatch. I’ve always wanted to see the Grand Canyon so Karen and I joined the caravan. The only people that didn’t go were Lori and her kids. They were rock climbing in Zion.

The first part of the drive was straight out of a John Wayne western, many mesas towering over the desert floor. It was beautiful.

Once we entered Grand Canyon National Park the scenery reminded me more of northern Minnesota than Arizona. There were lush green fields and forests of pines. There were also miles of forest that had been destroyed by fire, probably within the last six or eight years.

We stopped to watch a heard of buffalo that were grazing alongside the road. One of the buffalo crossed the road not too far from a family that stopped to take pictures. Of course, one of them left the safety of the car and got within about ten yards of the buffalo. They turned their back to the buffalo and lifted their phone to take a selfie. I was somewhat hoping the buffalo would take a couple of steps toward them just so they could see what a stupid idea taking a selfie with a buffalo is. No such luck.

Our journey ended at the Grand Canyon Lodge. It was built in 1928 but later destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt and opened in 1936.

The lodge was huge and it was built directly on the edge of the canyon. You can get vertigo by just looking out the lodge windows. The lodge also has small cabins that can be rented which appear to be the same vintage as the main lodge.

We followed a trail from the lodge a short distance to its end. I am not a fan of heights and there were several areas of the trail that dropped off on both side and there weren’t any railings. There were two rock peaks that were climbable. My palms sweated just looking at them but our nephews were more than happy to scamper up them.

Sunrise Point

Bryce has an overlook called Sunrise Point. So naturally, we had to get up before dawn one morning to experience the sunrise.   Not my idea but I happily went along.

About half a dozen of our group got up, left the house in the dark and drove to Bryce Canyon.  Because we were in multiple cars we got separated but we eventually met at Sunrise Point with the other early risers.

The thing I found most interesting about Utah was all of the Europeans and Asians. That morning at Sunrise Point I had actually heard more English spoken in Playa del Carmen Mexico that at Sunrise Point.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a chance to experience other cultures. I had no idea that people outside the US had any idea where Bryce Canyon is because I hadn’t heard of it until this year.

So, given the option of watching the sunrise in Bryce Canyon or the sunset at Mallory Square in Key West I would have to go with Mallory Square. But sunrise at Bryce Canyon was worth getting up early for.

We wanted to stop for coffee on the way back. The only thing that was open for coffee was a Subway. I would have paid double for a Starbucks or Caribou latte.

The Subway smelled like baking bread. Which should have smelled good but didn’t. There was actually a couple of customer in front of us so it took forever to get coffee. Once we got our coffee it tasted like instant coffee with creamer added to it. We should have gone home and made coffee.

Leaving Hatch

It was a beautiful drive back to Las Vegas. We went from the steep switch backs leaving Hatch with meadows and trees lining the road to the flat desert north of Vegas.

We stopped to get something to eat and I had to pick up a pair of tennis shoes just outside of Vegas. There was a TV in the restaurant and we could tell that something was happening. It turned out it was Charlottesville. It was shocking and sad to see people being run over at a protest.

The Westin

We got a great deal at the Westin it was about $100 per night on the weekend. The hotel is located on East Flamingo just one block off The Strip. I liked the hotel. The rooms were nice. It was far enough off The Strip so it was quiet yet close enough so it was a short hike to the action of The Strip. We spend an afternoon at the rooftop pool. The drinks and food were reasonable.

After we checked in we dropped the rental car and Ubered back to the hotel. I’ve been to Vegas six times for work so I am somewhat familiar with Vegas. This was my chance to show Karen to my favorite casinos, bars and restaurants.

We did see one show, the Beatles Love. It was very good. I grew up with the Beatles but I learned a lot about the songs that I did not know. The videos, staging and acrobatics were perfect.

We walked The Strip and encountered Dr Evil. I had seen him on my previous trips but didn’t have anyone to snap a picture but this time I did. I paid Dr Evil and Mini Me $5 and Karen took the picture.

Recap

I am a beach person so I was not excited when I found out that the family vacation was going to be in Utah. However, the national parks in that part of Utah are beautiful. Bryce is drop dead gorgeous and Zion is amazing. Seeing the Grand Canyon is a bucket list item but I still need to see the south rim. The two days we spent in Vegas were fun.

Most of our nieces and nephews are not that athletic. They hiked several days but I could tell that they were running out of steam by the end of the vacation.

I am glad that we went to Utah and I got a chance to see the vistas that I saw in western movies growing up and I got a chance to hang out in Vegas with my wife but it is the beach next year. We are going to Destin Florida. I should get a chance to dive on vacation and that is what I am hoping for.