Vegas Vacation update! Part II . . .

Taking it all in
All aboard!
View of the Colorado River
Thinking I might be cashing in some insurance policy!
Papa and the girls
View from inside our train car
The Sheriff
Wow! The week sure flew by. . . I meant to finish this up last week, but it looks like time got away from me again.

On the Wednesday morning of our vacation, we awoke at 4 a.m. to begin a pretty cool day trip that Papa & Grandma had planned. I think they both planned it, but I am not really sure. Either way, we were thankful they did. Grandma was not able to join us. She had to work and there were not enough seats in the car. I think that next time we can have Eric ride in the way back--ha, ha! Just kidding, dear! Anyway, we were on the road by about 5 a.m. heading to see one of the new "wonders of the world," the Grand Canyon. Too exciting. It was about a 3 hour drive to the town of Williams, the Gateway to the Grand Canyon. On the way to Williams, we traveled over Hoover Dam, quite lovely in the early morning, and along Route 66. Well, we stopped in Kingman and part of Route 66 runs through it. Katy and Emma were pleased to "see" the road. They remember hearing about it from the Disney/Pixar movie, Cars. Eric bought them each a lapel pin in the shape of the Route 66 sign. Emma wore hers for about 2 weeks, including the first day of school!

The reason we were heading to Williams was to catch a ride on the Grand Canyon Railway. You board the train around 9:30 a.m. and arrive at the park by about 11:45. Lickety split. Just like that. For the return trip, you board at 3:30 p.m. and arrive in Williams by 6:00. Riding the train was so much fun. I could never give it an adequate enough description. Check out the link above and watch the video. It really was a great way to get to the South Rim.

It was all good, but the best parts were the two men who played music for us and the train robbery. One gentleman played the fiddle for us on the way to the canyon and another man played his guitar and sang on the return trip. They were both dressed in "old west" attire and were quite good with the crowd, especially the kids. On our way back to Williams, the train was "robbed." Two men on horseback chased the train down and hopped aboard. Emma and Katy, along with other passengers, gave them some money and it was all pretty funny! The "sheriff " came through checking on the "victims" and stopped for pictures with the children. Oh, another neat thing was the wildlife we were able to see. We saw turkeys, antelope, coyote, and cows. I suppose the cows were not wild, but out there, who knows. At the Canyon, we were able to see California Condors, an elk and a few squirrels.

When we arrived at the rim, we hopped off of the train walked up a few too many steps to see the Canyon. I had no idea how high in altitude we really were. It had never occurred to me that we were going to be in a forest, the Kaibab National Forest to be exact. I think Grand Canyon, I think desert! It was a pleasant surprise. Anyway, the attendant on the train said that mere words could not describe the vastness or beauty of the Canyon. He told us to look across to the North Rim and imagine when it was solid ground, untouched by the Colorado River. Mind boggling! I had seen pictures of the area, but I never really noticed just how layered and complex the view really was--it was spectacular! Every angle was a little bit different. We were able to take time to eat lunch and then hit the shuttle for a quick ride to a few other viewpoints. I wanted to see the river and it is only visible from a certain spot on the rim. Dad, Eric and the girls went along with my idea. I only messed it up once. The shuttles were a bit confusing, at least to me, so I managed to get us on the wrong one. By the time we walked back to the train depot, we were tired and I was lucky the family did not abandon me. Thank you for your patience Dad! You were a real trooper!

I am looking forward to visiting the area again. It would be fun to stay the night, so Dad, I'll spring for the hotel next time around! Thank you so much for planning the adventure. We loved it!

Vegas vacation update! Part I . . .

Check out the chocolate!
Did I mention Paris?
Adventuredome fun
Jordan, Katy & Emma
Christian
Valerie
the Calico Hills at Redrock Canyon

We had such a good time on our vacation in August!(Thank you Dad and Laurie!!) Papa and Grandma always make us feel welcome, even as we are tripling the number of occupants in their home. In fact, when asked what they liked best about the trip, both girls replied "family!" Aside from the obvious spoiling of the grand kids, they offer us access to 3 pools, a big screen TV(with cable), a well-stocked fridge and extra sets of ears to listen to my very talkative children. Who knew that "chattiness" was an inheritable trait! Sorry Dad!

We packed a lot of fun into a week. I can't say that the 12+ hour drive there was fun, but it had its moments. Like when we realized how happy Eric & I were that we left the Salt Lake valley. It was growing when we lived there in the late 80's(Eric) and the early 90's(me) but it is now clearly out of control. I can't even imagine where all of those people work or how they manage the roadways. It takes over an hour to get past the Salt Lake/Provo metro area! I do still enjoy seeing the splendor of the Wasatch Front. Always amazing to see those mountains!

The day after we arrived in Vegas, we were able to visit Redrock Canyon, located just a few miles west of the outer edge of Las Vegas. It was right up Eric's alley, with all the rocks and geological features. We checked out the visitor center and decided to drive the loop through the conservation area. The area is home to some pretty neat wildlife including burros and desert tortoises. (I am not convinced that is the correct plural form of tortoise--please forgive me!) It was way too hot to really hike the trails, but we made plans to visit again during the cooler months so as to take advantage of the scenery from outside of the car!

When we returned to town that afternoon, we were able to meet up with quite a few of my family members. We met up with one of the cousins and headed to the pool. Cousin Jordan is about 9 months older than Katy. The girls enjoyed hanging out together for most of the week. While we were at the pool, my brother, Travis and his wife, Karla, stopped by with their two adorable kids. Christian will be four in October and Valerie turned one last May. It was nice to visit with them that day and later in the week. Emma enjoyed not being the youngest and took much delight from observing and playing with them both. We were lucky enough to visit with Laurie's son, Anthony, and his wife. Chantel, Laurie's beautiful, all-grown-up granddaughter was at the house when we arrived the day before. My brother Brennan was in town for a few days, in between his internship at Disneyland and heading back to Northern Arizona University later in the week. We were able to visit with my sisters, Amy and Heather, throughout the trip as their schedule allowed. It seemed like a whirlwind of relatives, but we sure enjoyed seeing everyone!

Arrrgh!!! I just can't figure out how to insert pictures in the order that I want them within the text.

We took the girls to Circus Circus to play in the Adventuredome. Thank you to Nana/Carole for the tickets. The girls, including Jordan, really enjoyed it. Me, well, I am not a big fan of these things. Eric was a good sport and joined the kids on the rides. We were happy to spend some time with Nana, both at her house and with the other grandkids at Chuck E. Cheese.

Another of the "best" things that Katy & Emma mentioned about the visit was the night Grandma took us to see the fountains at the Bellagio. Papa and Eric did not join us on this one. Something about crowds and traffic! Well, thankfully Grandma has a grand amount of patience and willingly offers to take us to places filled with crowds and traffic! (I believe she must also possess a certain amount of craziness to do this because there is a crazy amount of both crowds and traffic on the Strip!) The fountains were amazing! It took a few tries to get to a good spot, but once we did, we were impressed. While stuck in traffic a little later that night, we were able to watch several more fountain shows. The other fountain that we found amazing was located inside the resort. It was a chocolate fountain that flowed from the ceiling to the floor. It appeared to have several flavors, as you can see in the picture. Wow! The Bellagio was a pretty cool place. Check it out sometime when you're in Vegas. No money was spared on this one! The girls want to stay there someday--I had better start saving my pennies.

Now I remember why it has taken me so long to write this! I can't do it in one sitting. I'll talk about Katy & Emma's second favorite thing we did on our trip tomorrow. It involves a special road, a train trip and a very deep crack in the earth!