Abba-Kanabra

In preparation for our trip and even after we arrived in Vegas, I didn't have the heart to tell Kristin that the town where we would sleep six nights in, was not Kebab, but Kanab. And when I saw a sign that said "Abba-Kanabra" that this would have to be name of our last post and day on this trip.

After saying goodbye to Marie and Steven who headed back to Scottsdale, Kristin and I bummed around the hotel and town. We were in search of a Zion sticker for Kristin's laptop. We stopped by several outdoor gear stores and a gift shop. We ultimately found the sticker at an outdoor gear store / coffee shop, but along the way, we found Denny's Wigwam.

Here, they sold saddles, tchotchkes, but also had a movie set of a western town! Kanab is also known as "Little Hollywood" as this was the base for so many old westerns.

Here's some photos of the movie set / corral outside:

But also within the store, was a Virtual Reality ride of Southern Utah. You can see Kristin below with the goggles. The wall murals were of Lake Powell, the Wave, and Bryce Canyon from left to right. For $15 each, we flew over all of southern Utah. It was a great way to cap off and revisit the weekend. Interestingly enough, the store clerk was a one-armed man who decided to warn us of flying fish when we flew over lakes and proceeded to grab our feet. Only in Kebab....



We lunched at the Kanab Bakery and had a delicious carrot soup and caprese sandwich.



We were specifically killing time waiting for Kristin's replacement American Express card to arrive at the Hampton Inn as she needed it for her trip onward. As we ate lunch, we saw the delivery truck and we headed back to the hotel to get it.

Then we drove to Vegas in our hybrid rental car for the 3.5 hour trek. We had thought about going to Hoover Dam, but we didn't quite make it. Instead, we drove through the Valley of Fire where we watched a beautiful sunset. Here are some photos:







After refilling the tank, we headed to the Las Vegas strip for some dinner. We decided on the Bellagio so we could watch the water fountains - we saw one show as we drove in, watched a full one, and then watched another when we left. Here are some photos of the playful water:





I was hankering for Asian food, so we ate at a pan Asian restaurant called Noodles. Here, Kristin whipped out her Amazing National Parks playing cards and we talked about all the beautiful places!

 

The airport was just a 15 minutes ride away, and we returned the rental car. Kristin and I were departing from separate terminals as she was heading to Guatemala for about another week. I was so grateful for such a wonderful and easygoing travel buddy to join me for such a unique trip. When Marie and I had chatted about the hike in March, Kristin was the perfect person to round out the foursome for Team Double Wave!

So I got on the redeye back to New York after four days of hiking and getting away from craziness of city life. Unplugged and relaxed, I have my raccoon eyes tan proving that I had enjoyed sunny Utah and breathed in the fresh air.

What a wonderful and unique experience with my friends and I'm so glad that we had a safe and relaxing trip. We got to do a once-in-a-lifetime hike twice! Maybe someday we will explore more parks and hike again together!