Travel with Me: Arizona, Utah & Nevada

Paris Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada

In July of 2018, two of my girlfriends and I took the road trip redefined. Which means, we didn’t do any driving (lol), but we were on the road for several days exploring Arizona, Utah and Nevada. First of all, I have to talk about how I manifested this trip. I talked about one of Oprah’s Rules for success on the blog, which is create the life you want. You do that by first aligning your thoughts with what you want in your life. In December of 2017, I created a vision board and placed pictures of the Grand Canyon and Antelope Canyon onto the board. I envisioned myself visiting these places and six months later, I did.

During the planning phase of our road trip, we all decided that we did not want to drive. So instead, we opted to make Las Vegas our home base and took a 1-day Grand Canyon bus trip through Grand Canyon Destinations and a 3-day Sedona, Monument Valley and Antelope Canyon Bus Tour with Empire Vacations.

We spent our first day lounging in our own private poolside cabana at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. I have a friend who is amazing with researching and finding travel deals so she was able to get the cabana at a discounted rate that we split three ways (another tip to save money but get some luxurious experiences). We had dinner at the Eiffel Tower restaurant and then prepared for our first road trip to the Grand Canyon.

This 1-day tour bus tour included a stop at the Hoover Dam, Route 66 in Seligman, Arizona, 3 hours at the Grand Canyon and dinner at In and Out Burger. We visited the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, which was absolutely breathtaking. I plan to visit again and will go to the West Rim to take in the views on the skywalk.

Views of the Grand Canyon South Rim

Our 3-Day bus tour with Empire Vacations started with us traveling across the Mojave Desert to a quick stop at Route 66 (we didn’t mind visiting again) before we traveled to Sedona, Arizona. Sedona had a calm, peaceful affect on me and I didn’t want to leave. As we toured the city for a few hours, I found out Sedona is home to healing vortexes. They are “thought to be swirling centers of energy that are conducive to healing, meditation and self-exploration.” I will definitely return to Sedona for a wellness retreat.

Monument Valley

During the next two days of the trip, we toured Monument Valley, “one of the most majestic and photographed points of the world.” The jeep tour, led by Navajo Indians included the history of the land, people and culture as well as an outdoor barbeque. Our next stop was Horseshoe Bend, an entrenched meander of the Colorado River. There is a 1.5-mile hike to and from the overlook that you must have plenty of water, sunscreen and energy to endure in the heat.

Horseshoe Bend, also cover photo

During our last day of the tour, we visited the upper Antelope Canyon, which are beautiful dunes created by the wind, water and sand. On our way back to Las Vegas, we visited the Valley of Fire, “world renowned for its 40,000 acres of bright red Aztec sandstone outcrops nestled in gray and tan limestone. It also contains ancient, petrified trees and petroglyphs dating back more than 2,000 years.”

After the awesome 3-day tour, we returned to our home base, Las Vegas and had dinner at Gordon Ramsay’s steakhouse before seeing the Michael Jackson “One” Cirque Du Soleil show. It was a great trip to some of the most beautiful sites in the United States and I can’t wait to go back to these states to experience more.

Antelope Canyon