Getting home...
Wednesday, April 7, 2010 at 12:38AM Okay. Last bit about our trip last month...promise. ;) Here are the pictures and tales from the drive home:
MARCH 12: We checked out of the unit in the morning (John & Nancy having left for the airport quite early) and headed north a bit to Dana Point where Nathan had managed to arrange a short tour of Nordhavn (a luxury boat building company that Nathan’s admired for years). We all checked out a new model (such workmanship!) and then drove to the nearest public beach for a last little stint of seashell collecting (this time with strict instructions to stay dry).
;)
After that, we headed out of California (leaving most of Asher and Micah’s sniffles and coughs behind…must have been allergic to something there)…negotiating the horrid traffic on the way to Vegas.
We made it to Hoover Dam just before 5:00 and were able to walk across and back and convince the employees to let us in to use the penny press (though they were closed). Here are the boys straddling the state line between Nevada and Arizona.
;)
Next, we drove through Las Vegas so the boys could see the strip, taking in the Bellagio’s water fountain show from the road and stopping briefly for the Treasure Island pirate ship show. We made it to the outskirts of town before stopping at an IHOP for dinner and continuing on to Cedar City, UT where we crashed for the night.
MARCH 13: From Cedar City to Arches National Park…we arrived about 2 pm and ate a late picnic lunch in front of the visitor center. After that, we drove into the park, admiring the rock formations as we went and speculating as to what they looked like. A couple of my favorites…(Noah) “it looks like a guy, balancing on a walrus, holding a dog”…and (Asher) “it’s a one legged man sleeping on his back with a Freeco Speeder on his belly.” We did the Landscape Arch hike (1.6 miles but through snow and mud) and the short upper viewpoint hike to see the Delicate Arch (.5 miles), finishing just as the rain started.
Here are Nathan and the boys at Landscape Arch:
;)
And here's me and the boys from the viewpoint to Delicate Arch:
;)
With the lightning literally lighting up the sky in the near distance, we made it into Moab to do the penny press and then stopped for a fabulous dinner (and dessert) at the Moab Diner. Yum! Amid the continuing rain storm, we then drove on to Grand Junction and stopped for the night.
MARCH 14: Waking up to another Holiday Inn Express breakfast, we got back on the road around 9:30 but were met with a snow storm over the Continental Divide along I-70. Traffic crawled. With that added delay (of maybe a couple hours), we stopped in Idaho Springs for a late lunch and were able to meet up with my friend Molly for a little visit (she was home for her sister’s birthday) before finally making it home around 4:30 pm…2955 miles after leaving home initially. Whew.
If you're lucky, I may get to Easter pictures before this weekend. ;)
Reader Comments (3)
Dang, you guys like to drive! LOL! I hate to say it, Amanda, but you may end up being the shortest in the family the way your boys are growing!
Your hair is getting so long and I remember when the youngest one couldn't even walk...where does time go!! :) Love reading your blog.
I should have said, this is Kristen who used to work at The Treasure Box!! :)