We got to Las Vegas Sunday afternoon, got checked into the Luxor (via the casino and smoke) and set out to find a dive from the TV show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on Food Network. Guy (the host) had recommended the stromboli and he was right! The place WAS a dive and the stromboli was "off the hook!" When we got back to the strip we decided to check it out. We saw really quickly why it is called "Sin City!" We safely got back to our room (through the smoke) and decided to get out of Vegas. Monday morning we headed out to Valley of Fire State Park, an hour outside of Vegas. It was beautiful and the weather was great. We got lots of pictures and had fun hiking through the rocks. 
Tuesday we set off for Utah and Zion National Park. We decided we would get a hotel there and spend the night, so we took a change of clothes and left Vegas. As we got closer to the park the scence in front of us was beautiful. When we got there it was raining and cold. We weren't prepared for either! It finally stopped raining and we were able to get a hike up the mountain in. Wednesday, we had a perfect hiking day. We did a long hike in the morning and then hiked to the beginning of the Narrows after lunch. The Narrows is actually a trail that goes through the canyon, up the river. Unfortunately we didn't even have water shoes to go the first part, so we will definitey go back to do this trail next time. We got back to Vegas just in time to get cleaned up and go to the O Cirque du Solei show. It is all done in, above or around water. It was amazing. The best Cirque show I've seen!
On the plane ride back Thursday, we got out our National Parks of the West book and began planning our trip for next year. We will probably still fly into Vegas because of the great flight prices, but definitely won't hang out there. There are a few trails back at Zion we'd like to still do but there's also Bryce and the Grand Canyon right there too.
