Courts77

AUS/USA 2009 Nov. 16-18

Part 2

Las Vegas and Utah, USA

Most people only think of bright lights, busy card tables, topless dancers and all-night partying when you talk about Nevada but what I’ve found is this state has so much more to offer than the Las Vegas strip, gambling and hangovers!

It might be in your face from the moment you arrive at the Las Vegas airport with the sound of so many slot machines chiming and the sight of large billboards advertising everything from strip teases to Barry Manilow as you navigate to baggage claim, but if you can somehow look past the casinos and off to the distance where mountains surround this desert oasis you just might find more than you gambled for!

Nevada is bordered by some of the most beautiful terrain often known as the Southwest including the states Arizona, home to the Grand Canyon, and Utah, famous for its skiing and national parks Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park. Nevada geographically covers the Mojave Desert in the south and the Great Basin in the north offering striking desert scenery scattered with picturesque mountain ranges and serene lakes.

One of the more famous lakes close to Las Vegas is Lake Mead. It’s popular with locals and tourists for wakeboarding, boating and swimming, but world famous for adjoining the Hoover Damn. It represents a meeting of three desert ecosystems: The Mojave Desert, The Great Basin Desert and The Sonoran Desert. All together it’s composed of five basins which are capable of storing close to two years of water flow from the Colorado River.

I’m lucky my brother, Brandon, lives in Las Vegas so he’s been giving me the local’s tour of Sin City and the surrounding areas.  In the two visits I’ve made to Las Vegas I’ve made sure to have a little downtown fun (Las Vegas EG Blog), but never miss an opportunity to get out and adventure.

Last year we visited the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley on a road trip heading from Las Vegas to Colorado to go snowboarding.  And just last week we decided to journey up to St. George, Utah to do some ATVing (four-wheeling) with ATV & Jeep Wilderness Tours (www.atvadventures.com) on the edge of Zion National Park.

In a short 90 minute drive heading north on I-15 you can venture through the Mojave Desert cutting through mountains, slip in and out of Arizona quickly and soon find yourself on the edge of Zion National Park in the bustling town of St. George, Utah.

We soon forgot about the party scene we left behind and with our money safely in our pockets took off on an adventure through massive sand dunes and rock formations starring down the cliffs of deep gorges kicking up dirt on four-wheels.

ATVing is a great way to really inspect terrain and get to know it. You can access areas otherwise inaccessible by any other vehicle. You can easily get to the top of a sand dune, drive yourself right up to the edge of a cliff and stop, get out and walk around then continue on your journey.

After so many of my travels and adventures I have to say this one rates on my top 10 list for sure.  So far the Southwest has not disappointed! Being out there tends to give you a real sense of how small and young we as humans really are. There are fossils and rocks that out number any man or age we know.

It’s Jurassic park with out the dinosaurs, it’s Mars with out having to leave earth, it’s the outback with out the several days of driving through dirt roads to get there.  

And, for a girl who’s never driven a motorcycle, but loves shooting Rally, SuperX, motocross and Crusty Demons…it was my chance to be in control and feel the speed of a powered ATV cutting through the dirt and fish tailing in the sand. It was my turn to stand up and manoeuvre through whoops picking up speed and holding on.

It was fun! And, it was beautiful and adventurous all at the same time.  And, once we got back after 4 hours of running around on the edge of Zion National Park, I also realized what a great work-out we got, too…and again reminded the next day as I sat on an airplane for hours headed to New Jersey with sore muscles. A good reminder!

With only two days in Las Vegas I think I made the most of it! Brandon made sure I got a taste of Sin City at the ‘Rock On, Top Off, Sin City Bad Girls’ show at the Hilton.  You can’t leave Vegas with out seeing a show, right!

Continued…

Travel Tips:

- If you really want to see what a place has to offer do a search online for local adventures.  You might find something to do you haven’t even thought about!

- As they say, “When in Rome, Do as the Romans.” Well, that goes for Vegas for sure! Take the locals advice and go and see a show or try something new – why not!

www.ExplorerGirls.com / Courtney Crow

Images: www.CourtneyCrowPhoto.com