Bryce Canyon

We went to Vegas by way of Bryce Canyon.  Fun fact, the area in front of the canyon was the home of a settler named Ebenezer Bryce.  He is said to have said in reference to the canyon that "it was a hell of a place to lose a cow." Because it was more of less in his backyard,  it became known as Bryce's Canyon.

Nearly everyone we passed on the trail spoke a different language proving to the kids that other people than their crazy parents think this stuff is cool and worth seeing, not just "rocks, rocks, and more rocks, with some trees" sigh. They are such barbarians. We tried. 

 

We went on a short hike down into a canyon on the Navajo Trail which was only about a mile or so each way,  but wow, windy steep trail.  The hoodoo's were really beautiful! 

Salt Lake City Day 2

Today we toured around Temple Square in the morning.  We went into the conference center,  

the north temple visitors center, and the Joseph Smith Memorial building, which is where Karl's mom works.  We got to tour her floor and meet a few of her coworkers. 

Salt Lake City

We spent our first day in Salt Lake at This is the Place heritage park,  kind of like a mormon Williamsburg, but a bit smaller.  We could have seen so much more but we ran out of time!  We started with Brigham Youngs pink forest home.

This was next to the trunk room,(aka old fashioned closet)  and loom room/dance hall where they made fabric.  Yikes.  Glad I have a fabric store, but period costumes make me squeal with delight! 

We did learn why they say it will cost you and arm and a leg, cause portrait painters charged per limb, and why you need to min your p's and q's, typesetting is a tough job.

The kids got to try a few crafts, pan for gold, and stamp leather. They also rode tiny trains. 

 Karl fell asleep whiles the kids were panning for gold.

We also got to go with friends from Syracuae who moved to Utah.

Pony express monument from the 2002 Olympics,  did you know it took riders 10 days to ride across the country at a gallop,  or that the pony express only lasted about 18 months? Yah, me neither.

Utah- Day 1 Arches National Park

We spent the night in Moab, Ut.  We went first to the Museum of Moab and saw dinosaurs, fossils, mining info of the area, an insane diorama made with tiny Layers of wood, Nativie American artifacts, and pioneer history.

After we left the museum we headed up to Arches National Park.  We were worried about the upcoming storm so most of the park had to be viewed by the car/driving loop.  We did get a few short hikes to see the Balanced Rock, and the North Windows.

After Arches we drove to Prpvo to see the temple and BYU, stopped at the creamery, and went to Salt Lake City.

Colorado National Monument

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We left Denver later than we planned, but we made it to the scenic Monument Road before the sun completely set for the day.

The view was spectacular as we drove the 30 odd miles through the canyon area.  We didn't get to see a Big Horn Sheep despite the sheep crossing sign, but we found a prickly pear cactus with bunny dining upon said cactus, ouch,  and a tiny little lizard! The trees were knurled an fascinating and the dirt was red and soft. We even saw insane bikers going up the 1000ft elevation. 

Just don't look to the right as you drive on some of the hairpin turns as you go on the edge!

Day #1 wedding

We had an amazing Saturday!  The wedding was beautiful, couple was so happy and cute, reception was yummy and lots of fun! Super tired from the late arrival and car fiasco, but so happy we were able to come.  Emily caught the bouquet. Yikes.  But she shared all the flowers with all the other little girls.  The kids loved the soft serve ice cream bar at the reception, especially because it was slightly tucked out of the view of any parents who might say silly things like no thirds!  Cousins galore at the Johansons house!  

Worst rental pickup experience to date

You'd think at 1am it wouldn't be a huge rush to get your reserved car.  There were 10-12 people lined up. Mind you, my body thinks it's 3:00. One person is taking rentals and she is agonizingly slow.

We landed at 12:06, It took almost 30 minutes to dock the plane, we waited for another 20-30 in baggage claim and now it's been maybe 45 minutes and there are 5 more people in line ahead of us.  I want to cry. It's still a 45 minute drive to get to our final destination.  I'm so glad the wedding isn't at 9am.  Never flying west after 6pm ever again.

It took 2 hours to be helped.  The kicker, oh,  we don't have a mini van.  You can have a large suv instead.  I am still annoyed because behind the kids are all kinds of happy about touching one another.

 What is the point of reserving a specific style of car (at a specific price point) if they don't honor it?  I gave my arrival time.  Surely that would allow staff to gauge when the vehicle will be needed so they don't give it away. 

What would the staff have done if we had 4 kids, not 3.  3 can uncomfortably stuff themselves into a tiny suv, but 4 not so much. If I had wanted to experience the joy of hearing kids say "he's touching me" on my 2000 mile road trip,  I'd  have gotten the cheaper suv.   thanks for the extra 60 mile detour to go back to rental car place to hopefully get the car I asked for 6 weeks ago. 

***update. We were able to get a van on Sunday!  Drove through some amazing mountains today on our way to Arches National Park!

Dance recitals done!

Emily and I both had dance lessons this year and as a result we're both performing in the annual dance recitals.  I didn't get a new shot of Emily in her tap costume, so hers the one from dress rehersal/crash night from last weeks post.

   My recital was Friday night, hers Saturday afternoon.  As usual,  my favorite part was watching the experienced girls dancing.  Hopefully we can both continue to get better next year.

I got her hat wrong last Monday,  so we fixed it up for the real show! Love my baby girl! I can't post videos from my phone, so I'll try to post from the computer once I upload them! So proud of her hard work,  and now that I've performed on stage,  so proud of her for going out there and performing despite anxieties over being on the stage.  I had no clue how scary it really is to get out there and perform.  I don't have a video of me yet,  hoping to get a copy from a friend.

Please can we keep it

My rental.  Kids love it.  Sigh.

Update... The car officially got totaled out by the insurance company I've been car shopping and going nutty all week trying to find a good replacement.  Kids of course are putting in their wish list items. I went yesterday and got all our stuff from the car.  I cried as I drove away leaving my poor smashed car behind. Couldn't help but be grateful it took the hit on impact and Emily and I walked away with no issues.  Granted it was a slow moving accident, but over the last 6.5 years it has been a wonderful vehicle for me and I will really miss it.

Everybody is ok!

So two weeks ago I accidentally hit a bumper of a parked car.  That was bad and super embarrassing because the owner was in his car,  and I had two youth and an adult leader in mine.

Today was worse.  Emily and I were off to her tap dance dress rehersal.  

I was the fifth car in a pile up.  My poor Van looks awful.  I was so upset I promptly burst into tears.  It had been a rough day to begin with,  and this just did me in.

Thankfully we were fine.  No air bags deployed,  nothing terrible happened.  We missed the rehersal, and we have no car.  Karl is in VA,  and his car is in the shop.  

Sigh.  Thankfully I have awesome neighbors who came and got me,  then took me out again to dance class so Emily could go to her hip hop,  and I could attend my tap recital.

Updates!!

Got a lot done this past week!  So happy to be able to enjoy some time with family this week!