Saturday Sept 14 - Hanoi-HKG-Vancouver
We left the hotel by taxi at 7:30am for our 10:25am departure for HKG - all went smoothly - fairly quick trip to the airport - quick check-in etc and then we waited in the very ho-hum all-airline lounge for our Dragon Air flight to HKG - it was recliner seats and a poor brekkie - not nearly as good as our TG flight (of similar duration) from BKK to HAN. Anyway we waited at one of the 4 CX lounges for our flight to YVR.
The flight was fine - left on time and arrived around 1pm. We both had to admit that the seat and food were better than SQ.
We landed in YVR around 1pm - got through immigration in about 20 minutes in spite of long queues; however, the luggage delivery was a disaster - first suitcase came off in the first batch, second one about 30 minutes later.
We checked into the Fairmont at YVR and showered and crashed out - we shared a burger in the bar with our welcome drink and hit the sack very early - 7:30pm.
Sunday Sept 15 - Vancouver - SLC
After a sleepless night (particularly for Dieter) we got up at 4am and checked-in for our 7am flight to Salt Lake City (SLC) at 5am for a 7am departure. From check-in to being in the Priority Pass lounge took about 30 minutes including security and US immigration.
The 2 hour flight to SLC on Delta was uneventful - we not very impressed when particularly as no food was served in First class - I had been hoping for a cooked brekkie.
At SLC we picked up our hire car (a 4WD) and in spite of being fully insured with road side assist we elected to pay the optional $US9 per day for tow truck insurance - clearly a total ripoff but since we were going to be in some remote areas - fell for this scam.
We arrived at our hotel, the Hyatt Place around 11:30am and could check-in right away but the room was on the ground floor with the windows literally a meter from the footpath and road. The desk agent told us no other rooms were available for immediate check-in. So we changed into shorts as it was a hot day (35C) and walked around and found a place for lunch (as we were starving by this time). We stopped at the Bambara at the Klimpton Hotel - since it was Sunday all restaurants were serving only brunch so we settled for this.
We walked around some more then went back to the hotel for a rest and to change to a room on a higher floor - around 4:30pm we took the free tram to the Great American Hotel to check it out - as it is clearly the best hotel in town - highly recommended by Merrilyn - we booked dinner for the following night.
After showers - we went for a quick pizza dinner at Medici - which was very unimpressive. Again - off to bed early.
Monday Sept 16 - SLC
We got up really early, 6am and after an in-room coffee then went for an early breakfast. The free breakfast turned out to be quite good - fresh fruit including strawberries and blueberries as well some hot dishes, cereal, toast - simple but suited us just fine.
We visited the Utah Visitor Center where we picked up lots of excellent looking brochures then visited the State Capital building as it was right next door. From here we did some grocery & grog shopping.
We had dinner at Pallet, a restaurant I picked from Trip Advisor as it was 8 minutes walk away and had good reviews - it turned out to be a good choice - quite hip atmosphere and excellent food - scallops for me and pork chop for Dieter.
Tuesday Sept 17 - SLC to Yellowstone
We were off early for the 6 hour drive to Yellowstone. We made good time stopping once in Idaho Falls Walmart for a bit more shopping (including a styrofoam eskie) and petrol.
The only eventful part of the drive was getting stopped by the police for speeding (90 mph in an 80 zone) - fortunately Dieter was let off with a warning.
We arrived at our lodge at Canyon in Yellowstone just before 3pm to be told in no uncertain terms that checkin was not until 4:30pm - not a single room would be ready earlier in spite of an 11am checkout. We also found out that the only dining options were at Canyon Center - 5-10 minute walk away and that the a la carte dining room was fully booked for the next 3 nights. The only other options were the food court, bar snacks or a diner in the general store where last orders were at 7pm.
So we decided to go the bar at the centre for a drink and see if we could get something for lunch - alas we were too late to get any food but sat at the bar and had a drink and got to talking to a nice couple from near Kanas City.
We finally checked in - the whole process being a bit of a schmozzle and by the time we settled in we decided to skip dinner and have a sambo in our room using the stuff we had brought along to make lunches - it was early to bed - 8:30pm