Tally The Trip

 Las Vegas Baby! The glitz the glam and the extortionate price tags, I will share it all with you! What a huge contrast after travelling through three national parks in three days . We had a hotel booked but a few days before changed our minds and decided to splurge and have the real Las Vegas experience. We chose the Flamingo, right on the strip, the mafia history and the authentic old school Las Vegas experience.   View of Caesar's Palace from our room at the Flamingo, Las Vegas The arrival was a little complicated as we really didn't know where to park or what to do. I dropped off half the family at the back entrance and drove half a block away to the nearest place I could park and waited for them to check in and give us the instructions. The check in was a kiosk, but they got there in the end!  If you are staying at the Flamingo you can enter the parking garage on the left as you enter the back entrance of the hotel and collect a ticket. Watch the parking charges as i...

To visit three National Parks in Three days is a big task! Longer to explore would've been ideal but given our tight time frame and winter weather conditions, three days is what we had. We planned our route to make the most of our time, so that we were seeing sights while still covering some travel distance.  The first thing you will need to do is buy an America The Beautiful Pass. This link will take you to the page that helps you plan and decide the best pass for you . For three parks in three days the Annual Pass was the best value for us. We are a family of four, Mum, Dad and two teenagers. The fact that they are teenagers means we often have to pay for for adult entries to any attraction as family passes are for younger children. You can buy your annual pass at the entrance to the park.  Our America The Beautiful Annual Pass We will start our three days in The Grand Canyon. We drove there from Tucson, Arizona the evening before. You can read that post here,  Road Tri...

 Family Road Trip from Tucson to The Grand Canyon Bass Pro Shops - Phoenix, Arizona After a fairly early start, well as early as we could get two teenagers moving without a death wish! We made our way to Phoenix Arizona. With the most exiting of all stops for our two keen fisherman. What an experience a Bass Pro store is! Bass Pro Shops - Welcome Fishermen, Hunters and Other Liars - Phoenix, Arizona This store is unfathomably large! We do come from a small regional center so maybe it's extra amazing for us, but still it is huge. There is a separate gift shop inside the shop, a fish tank, and elevator, a gun library and more taxidermy animals than I have ever seen before. For those not interested, like the other teen, there is also a Raising Cane's just across the carpark. Just incase you have not quite eaten your body weight in fried chicken yet. Just be careful, this country is not designed to walk. You have to walk in the driving lanes or in the garden to get there. We found ...