Day 6 Bryce Canyon to Las Vegas 250 miles

After a smooth start we went just a few miles up the road to visit the fantastic eroded shale/sandstone formations of Bryce Canyon which were arranged in a natural amphitheatre.  It was a peaceful time – before the coachloads of tourists arrived.

We then headed through very green almost alpine meadow scenery with mainly conifer forests on the valley slopes.  We presently arrived at Zion National Park.  The park consists of two ‘back to back’ valleys.  The visitor experience is enhanced by these being joined by a quite extensive tunnel.  The first valley contained some beautiful formations, however there was no place to park up and take photos – I hope you will forgive the following ‘borrowed’ via google.

Once through the tunnel the grandeur was on a different scale.  We pulled up and enjoyed the view.

At Springdale we stopped for coffee and souvenirs before leaving the shade of the mountains into more arid terrain.  We had lunch at a Japanese restaurant – delicious and then began the long stretch to Vegas.  The gorges at St George were spectacular – although negotiating a counter-flow system around road-works made sight-seeing a little perilous. Down at lower altitude once again in the semi-desert Great Basin the temperature soared to around 40 C and we were glad of a couple of stops to drink water and douse ourselves with it to keep cool.

Finally we made the approach to Las Vegas itself, keeping tightly bunched in the hectic traffic.  Those of our party who were leaving the tour today handed in their bikes at the Eaglerider depot while the rest of us made our way to our ‘humble lodgings’ for the evening – the Luxor Hotel. 

A small corner of the lobby

After finding our rooms and getting lost a few times in the lobby we assembled for the transport to our team meal.  The transport turned out to be a luxury stretch limo-bus with tinted windows, disco lights and full volume rock music.  

After a photo stop and trip along the strip we arrived at the Harley Davidson Restaurant for a great meal. 

After bidding farewell to those leaving the next day we walked back and I took a photo of the ‘guest house’ next to ours.