Final Leg of the journey

Ok everyone, thanks for being so patient with me while waiting for all the different parts of our trip. The last leg was from Zion's National park up through Southern Utah, through Bryce Canyon and to Spanish Fork where we stayed a few nights with Kimmie, my sister. From there we went straight home. We had an incredible time and saw so many wonderful things, but we were glad to get home by that last day. Bryce Canyon really was a nice ending to our trip. It has this canyon, filled with these stone formations called "Hoodoo's" It's a fun word to say!

The colors were so vibrant, but here you have the red and white sand, with the changing trees. Very pretty.

It had just finished a downpour, that we barely missed, as you can see by Derek's hat and sweatshirt.

Me, Bryce Canyon, and the hoodoos :)

the next few pictures are on the highway to join back up with the interstate. As you can see through this whole trip, everything we saw was so varied.

This was kind of odd, these trees grew in clumps like this. Sometimes the highway went right through it and leaves are only in the top few feet, otherwise this tall, bare trunk.

Near the end of our trip we saw this rainbow. We truly were blessed with a safe, fun, peaceful time together, and we have such a greater appreciation for all of the beauty God created in this world for our enjoyment and happiness!

Zion's National Park and Red Canyon

Here are some of the pictures from when we went to Zion's National Park. We hadn't made camping reservations so the only campsite left was a group camping spot that could hold up to 50 people. We didn't have that many, fortunately, but we did have 8 other people share with us. They were friendly though. Anyway, it was a beautiful area to camp and again we only had time to drive through it, but not hike.

Checkerboard Mesa, a petrified sand dune. These next three pictures are of Red Canyon. This was such a great trip!

Chaperoning Youth Dances

Derek and I went to a Youth Dance this last Saterday to be the chaperones. That was weird. But anyway, it was a Halloween dance, and the theme was "Twins" so they were suppose to find a partner and have a paired up costume. This is what we came up with. We didnt' want to go all out with a costume, becasue we didnt' have the time to think of one, but we liked what we came up with. It was pretty fun. We tried to speculate who liked who by how many times they danced together, and by analyzing their actions. Good thing it only went until 10:30!

Onward Ho: To the Grand Canyon!

After our time in Las Vegas, we continued on south, across the Hoover Dam, and into Arizona. One little side note i'll mention: You remeber me talking about making the Babette blanket on this trip? Well, I didn't get very far on it, I spent more time looking out the window at the scenery, taking pictures, and trying to navigate than I did on crocheting the blanket. Oh well, it will have to join with all the other projects that I need to finish!
Anyway we traveled on Route 66 for part of it. We arrived late in the afternoon and so made a few stops and took pictures before going to our campsite. The next morning we continued to explore along the rim of the Grand Canyon. We hiked only a little bit of it. I can't tell you how amazing it was. Upon first site of it, I got a little emotional. I always get that way when I experience something exeptionally beautiful. If you haven't ever seen the Grand Canyon, you just need to sometime!

The Hoover Dam
this is just along the way, as the landscape was changing.








These above shots are all taken in the evening. We were walking a trail to get to the Grand Canyon and these Deer were just grazing, not caring that we were there. there were about 4-5 of us that had stopped because they were right by the trail, and then crossed over it a few feet away from us, and continued along their merry way. The tarantula was another trail crosser. It made my legs feel all creepy after that thinking of tarantulas and scorpians were scurrying around.




I like how the angle is all goofy in this picture.

Say good bye to the Grand Canyon...

What happens in Vegas, stays in vegas...

Next stop: Las Vegas! I had been there before, but this was Derek's first time there. We decided to make it legal and our first stop was a wedding chapel! Actually, it was closed but we still somehow got the angle right when we took this picture. I like Derek's cheesy grin!
We stayed about 2/3 up the strip, and walked everywhere. Man, you don 't realize how far everything is! It looks close because everything is oversized and lit up, but it is almost 7 miles from top to the bottom of the LV strip! We walked constantly those two days we were there. My feet were begging for mercy. The second day we got a monorail ticket, but it only helped slightly because the rail was behind the lots, which were ginormous, and only connected you every third hotel or so. Anyway it was fun, but to overstimulated for me. I was glad it was only two days that we spent there. After awhile they all look the same.


This was in Caesar's palace, the forum shops. That was pretty cool to walk through. It was like an underground Huge mall, but the ceilings were painted like the sky. It had alot of cool shops but nothing that we could ever spend from. Places like Tiffinay's, Hugo Boss, Michael Kors, Armani, etc. But it was fun to look.

There was a car show in the Imperial Palace that had alot of cool classic cars in it, and this one i really liked. It was pink all over!

In the M&M World. I'd heard of the wall of all different color's of m&m's. Well, here it is! Very cool to look at, but it was expensive, like $10/lb or something crazy.

WE did love our hotel though! We stayed at Trump Tower hotel (which didn't have a casino in it, bonus). We got a good deal through hotwire.com. It was a fabulous room. they just opened up this last April, so it still had the feeling of newness. Good times!