We set out bright and early with Amarillo as our destination for the day. After 12 hours and the first of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy on audio book, we made it. It was a good drive and thankfully uneventful (the words of my Grandpa when he traveled). Amarillo was not the most notable town, but we did eat at The Texas Roadhouse (because when in Texas, do as the Texans do).
The next morning we got up and back on the road with Flagstaff, AZ as our destination. We stayed at an Airbnb and had a great time. We stayed for three nights and got to explore the area. The first night we ate at a local pizza place and then drove around to see downtown Flagstaff. The next morning we woke up bright and early (thanks time change) and drove north to see the Grand Canyon.
To say that the Grand Canyon is breathtaking is an understatement. It was so impressive and beautiful. After walking around the rim, we decided to take one of the trails into the canyon. We easily hiked the two miles into the canyon and couldn't stop talking about how amazing it was. We got to a vista point and decided to turn around and hike out...that proved to be a bit more of a challenge. We made it out, a little sweatier than we thought we would, but it was still a great hike and very memorable.
The next morning we woke up and it was my BIRTHDAY!!
I had heard about Slide Rock State Park before our trip, so when we saw signs for it we decided to stop and check it out. The river has smoothed the rocks over time to create a neat little slide. People were slipping and sliding all over the place, sadly we didn't have our swimsuits with us or we would have been right next to them. After Slide Rock, we ventured into Sedona to walk up and down Main Street and in and out of all the shops. We had a great afternoon and then headed back to Flagstaff for the evening.
We ate dinner at the Cottage Place restaurant and it was amazing!! I had the lamb chops and Alex had the shrimp and scallop fettuccine. It was a great dinner and we topped it off with some birthday cheese cake. After dinner we headed up to the Lowell Observatory. We got to look at the stars and through some of their giant telescopes. We also sat in on a lecture about the New Horizon space mission. It was very fascinating and we learned a lot about a subject that neither of us had much knowledge of.
The next morning we woke up to a cool Flagstaff and hit the road headed for the hot Mojave Dessert. It was an easy, pretty drive and we arrived in no time to my brothers. Alex's only lament is that there are few bathrooms in the middle of the dessert...
We had a great time with Jim, Shannon and the kids. We ate, played and spent some good ole quality time together. Jim gave us the tour of where he works and of the base. It's a beautiful location even if it is lacking in some other departments....like cold weather ;). Friday night we got to go see Tyler play football. He did a great job, even though they lost. Paige and Josiah had no clue there was a football game going on, they ran around eating snow cones all night and slept the whole way home.
Tyler is #50
(not the best quality of picture...)
After we said our goodbye's we hopped on a bus and headed to Las Vegas. We stayed at the Trump International Hotel and it was wonderful. As much as that man annoys me, he runs a nice hotel! The first night we had tickets to see a Cirque du Soleil show- Mystere at Treasure Island. It was a great show and I'm really glad we went to see it. I'm not afraid of heights, but when they were doing their trapeze act, my hands were sweating! The next day we woke up and watched a little Sunday football and then spent the afternoon by the pool. After we cleaned up we went to see a murder mystery dinner show- Marriage Can Be Murder at The D. It was very entertaining and a lot of fun. After dinner we walked up and down Fremont street. It was definitely something to see in Vegas, but not where I wanted to spend my whole evening. So we made our way back down to the Strip to see all that Vegas is known for.
We stopped at the Venetian to see the gondolas and the canals, we walked through Caesars Palace, saw the Linq and Eiffel Tower and of course we stopped to watch the fountain show at the Bellagio. It was very impressive and of course there were plenty of interesting people to people watch. After all that excitement we needed dessert so we stopped at Serendipity 3 for the biggest, tastiest fried Snickers sundae I'd ever had!
A major attraction (to me) was the Sprinkles cupcake ATM. I knew there was one in LA, NYC and had heard rumors that there was one in Vegas, so it was my mission to find it. Thankfully I'm determined and Alex humors my whims, because we found it on our last night in town. I got a carrot cake cupcake and it was delicious! Well worth the hike to find it.
Alex and I spent plenty of time lounging by the pool, eating and walking. I only lost $2 gambling....but I only played $2 in the penny slots, so basically I'm a terrible gambler and not ready for the high rollers lounge. We had a great trip and I'm so glad that we got the opportunity to go and see all that there was to see. I have about 150 pictures so this has just been a snippet. We got to mark off several states from our list and have a wonderful adventure before we add another adventurer. Thank you Mom and Dad for everything, including but not limited to watching Moose, you're the best!
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