Animal tracks and Sir Elton

After a whirlwind couple of days, I'm finally playing catch up.  Two concerts in a row hadn't left me anytime to blog, so here I go.

Two days ago (October 1), I left the town of Kanab, UT on my way to Las Vegas to see Elton John at Caesars Palace.  But, before I got there, I spent the day doing a little sightseeing.  Going from Mountain Time to Pacific Time, I was gaining an hour and made good use of it.  First, I visited Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park just north of Kanab.  The park gets its pink sand from the natural wind erosion of sandstone so prevalent in the area.

 

I decided to get a closeup look of the sand by walking the marked nature trail.  Immediately, I realized I should have changed my shoes as the sand filtered right through the mesh of my trail runners.  Oh, well.  One thing I noticed right off was the many different animal tracks left in the sand.  Mostly rodents and insects by the looks of it.  I thought it was pretty cool.

Next, I drove to St. George, UT on a mission.  First, pick up some half cases of Diet Code Red Mountain Dew.  They quit selling it in my home state of Washington, and they also don't have it in Idaho, Oregon AND California.  So, the next closest state to buy it is Utah.  The stuff is like gold to me.  Then, lunch at In-N-Out Burger, which is also not in Washington.  Finally, a much needed car wash.  My Blazer was pretty dirty after a week on the road.  Before leaving town, I visited the Dinosaur Tracks at Johnson Farm museum. They have on display imprints and track molds of real dinosaur footprints.  One mold actually shows the imprint of the dinosaur's skin!  Amazing!

But, all of this pales in comparison to my evening with Elton John.  After days of road trip fare, I decided I deserved a nice pre-concert sit down meal.  I was already thinking buffet before even getting to Vegas, and I settled on the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace. It's pretty pricey for dinner at $50, but I you only live once, right?  Did I get my money's worth?  Probably not, but I liked the variety of food available. 

After my meal, I walked over to the show venue, The Colosseum.  The concert is billed as Elton John: The Million Dollar Piano.  I got a great seat...front row center in the 1st Mezzanine.  This was the first big Vegas show I've ever attended.  Oh, I've done smaller ones.  Most memorable for me was Five For Fighting at House of Blues Mandalay Bay in 2007.

I was not disappointed with this one.  Sir Elton put on a terrific show!  He performed most of his well known hits, including Rocket Man, Crocodile Rock, Empty Garden, Candle In The Wind, Circle Of Life and my favorite, Your Song.  With a fantastic backup band and singers, and awesome video graphics on a big screen AND the piano, the concert was thoroughly entertaining.  Sir Elton hasn't lost anything over the years...I was impressed!

 

After such a great show, it made me think about seeing more Vegas shows in the future.  Speaking of great shows, I was looking forward to another one in Boise, ID the next day.  I had a LONG drive ahead of me, and losing an hour due to the time zone change wouldn't make it any easier.