ExplorerGirls

Who doesn’t love a good road trip?  Whether you’re surrounded by your besties or some good family, road trips offer heaps of time to re-acquaint yourselves, tell lots of stories and have humorous situations arise along the way.

I decided to plan a road trip with my husband and brother checking out the southwest of the United States.  Flying into LA from Australia we rented a car and drove to Las Vegas to meet up with my brother, who is now living there.

It was great to get a locals view of the town, but I was pretty sure I wanted to party at the Palms after watching all the highlights on TV from Girls of the Playboy Mansion and Sunset Tan.

We headed to the Playboy Club for some drinks and then finished the night dancing at Moon.  The DJ played some awesome tracks, a good mix of hip hop and club, and we had the best view of the Vegas strip from the outside balcony overlooking the city.

The rooftop opened up to allow a star gazed view from the dance floor…a definite plus to a great night.

We spent the following day checking out the casinos and shopping.  Whatever label you like or brand you’re looking for its on offer in Vegas.  Caesar’s Palace has one of the most up market and visually pleasing shopping centres I have ever seen all in one place.

We left Vegas very early in the morning to make sure we had enough time to see a few places along the Grand Canyon.  The drive from Vegas to the Grand Canyon offers some great landscapes and parts of Route 66 with some vintage shops.

The Grand Canyon was absolutely awesome!  It always looked amazing in photos, but photos cannot truly do it justice.  Once I stood at the cliffs edge, it was only then I could really appreciate what an amazing place it is.

It was even more interesting to read more about the Native Americans and what this land means to them.  And, leaving there the drive through the Navajo Nation to Monument Valley was even more spiritual.

This is god’s country and no matter how many movies you see with the sites from Arizona and Utah (like the opening to Mission Impossible with Tom Cruise) until you stand there yourself and see the reddish brown rocks, cut into all kinds of shapes, against the blue sky you can not appreciate how vast and beautiful it is.

We made our way from Monument Valley north through Utah, passing Moab and turning right onto route 70 in Colorado.  Route 70 runs right between all the ski resorts.  It’s hard to choose which one to spend the most time.

But, we choose Vail because it’s the mother of all resorts in the area and offers an amazing amount of runs. With 193 trails and a summit of 11,570 feet it’s a labyrinth of snow and trees.

We spent 2 days there and might have only covered half of the terrain.  I have been to many mountains amongst the East Coast of the US, California, Australia and NZ and Vail still ranks in my top 3 for sure.

If you like getting lost and finding new trails and super long runs then this is the place for you.  

The best part about our road trip was the impeccable timing.  Travelling two weeks before Christmas is proving to be the best time to see places.  The quiet before the storm. (Dec. 6-14)

We were still able to get good deals on hotels, find parking places at the Grand Canyon, eat at uncrowded restaurants and snowboard down vacant runs.   

Check out the highlights from our adventure!

www.ExplorerGirls.com / Courtney Crow