No Longer Seven K Stephanie

So, I may have miscalculated my mileage slightly...we've passed the 7.000 mile mark, and are only as far as Boulder, Colorado.  Oh well, I only teach math to young children after all.

Apologies for my long absence. It's been partially lack of reliable internet and partially spending time with sisters.  Here's the skinny on what we've been up to.

Los Angeles:  We stayed just down the street from my amazing sister Lahle and her wonderful family.  We visited her walled paradise with its citrus trees, beautiful flowers, and astounding lavender and rosemary bushes, and spent time catching up.  The day after our arrival, we took one niece and one nephew to Disneyland for the day. We enjoyed their company as they are very pleasant for teenagers, and returned home in time for one more dinner with sister and company.

On a boat ride at Disneyland

Legoland and Coronado Island: From LA, we headed out to Legoland to meet my other sister, Jessica, and her family for the day. Miniland was the highlight of the day: Lego recreations of famous American cities as well as scenes from Star Wars.  We had a delightful picnic on Coronado Island while listening to some live salsa music, then walked on the beach and watched the sunset as dolphins frolicked in the waves.

Lego DC

Las Vegas:  The whirlwind continued as the very next day we departed for Las Vegas.  We stayed at the Bellagio, by far the most extravagant lodgings of our trip.  We'd tell you what happened, but you know what they say. What happens in Vegas...suffice to say that the Wynn lives up to its reputation for having the best buffet in town, we both learned that slots can be addictive, and New York, New York's roller coaster is either amazing or terrifying depending on which of us you ask.

One of the views from our hotel room at the Bellagio...we were in a corner room, with floor to ceiling windows

In front of the Bellagio

New York, New York

The Strip

Arizona and Utah: We hit the road in late afternoon, and ended up sleeping in our car in a national forest near the Grand Canyon. From the ritziness of the Bellagio to struggling to find a comfortable position in the front seat of a Honda CR-V was quite a transition.  We woke on the tail end of dawn and hightailed it to the Canyon to catch some beautiful views, make some breakfast, and take some pictures along the canyon. The Grand Canyon was beautiful, and awe-inspiring, but not all that exciting in terms of things to do unless you are prepared to hike down into the canyon.  So we made our way out to Zion National Park in Utah, making it there by mid afternoon.  Now there's some serious natural beauty.  I haven't counted up how many pictures I took there, but probably hundreds.  We made camp and headed out for a couple of hikes.

Grand Canyon, just after dawn

The Watchtower at the Grand Canyon

Zion

View from our campsite

And then...this morning we broke camp and drove eleven hours to Boulder, where we are currently located.  Tomorrow we will do some hiking and some touring of Boulder.

More photos here and here. Enjoy!