The West is Wild- and Hot

So, we finally have reliable internet so I can update our journey. This morning we are in Sedona, AZ. We have covered a lot of miles in the last several days. After we left Colorado and its ridiculous weather (meaning cool and breezy), we arrived in Utah. Utah is easily the prettiest place we have seen on this trip. However, to get to the pretty stuff, you basically drive through nothing but desert to get there. As we made our way along the interstate, speed limit of 80, the sign literally said, next services 110 miles. 110 miles! Seriously? As I pointed out to my friend Julie, it's fairly disconcerting to know that if you broke down out there, you could seriously be in trouble because you are in the middle of the desert!!! However, once you get over your fear of death, the beauty of the place really strikes you.

I made the decision to stay in Moab, UT, mostly because I didn't think I could drive all the way to the next city, but mostly because it is where Arches National Park is located. We loved Arches. So pretty, so many spots to stop and explore. As a matter of fact, we did that so much that we only actually saw one or two arches, because it got dark before we could me it all the way into the back end of the park where the majority of the arches are. However, we really loved that whole area!

The next day we drove further into Utah to explore Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park. Wow is all I can say! Bryce was spectacular for the incredible views from the rim of the canyon. It was an easy one to explore because you drive the length of it, with lots of scenic overlooks. There were many hiking trails but we stuck mostly to the drive because we wanted to have time to see Zion before dark.
As an aside, Utah's countryside is amazing. It looks like a desert most of the time, but when we finally found areas of green, lust vegetation along the banks of the Virgin River, there were sod farms everywhere. Even though most of Utah is a desert, they grow grass for other places!
Zion was everything we hoped for and more! We climbed, looked at Western Big Horn Sheep, and marveled at the scale of the mountains. We felt a little like Lightning McQueen as we emerged from the tunnel that cuts 1.5 miles through the park- Wow!

As evening approached, the boys played in the Virgin River- the clearest, prettiest river I have seen- and I watched the sun cast its reflection on the sides of the mountains and was amazed at the majesty of this place. God is so creative! What a beautiful place he created for us to enjoy!
We enjoyed the park so much, we opted to return in the morning before we headed toward Vegas. What a contrast!

Vegas is really not my scene. It is a sight to see, for sure, but honestly not something I need to see again. I am glad we went so I could see it first-hand, though. Vegas is trying to reimagine their image and trying to bill themselves as fun for the whole family. I disagree. First of all, the pool at our hotel (Excalibur) was only open from 10-6. I don't know about anyone else, but my kids mostly just want to swim in a pool on vacation. I can only assume it closes so you will go to a show or spend money elsewhere in the resort, but that was a big let down for us. Secondly, you can't turn around without seeing something you don't want your kids, especially young men, to see. Signs, billboards, showgirls on the street, it's everywhere. Even the privacy door hanger was unnecessary. It read, "Damsel in Undress." Why?? Try explaining that to a somewhat naive 11 year old.

Leaving Vegas, we headed to the Hoover Dam. It was amazing. Pictures don't do it justice, especially as you hear the story of how it was built and the scale of the project almost 90 years ago. Very impressive. Lake Mead, the man-made lake that the dam created, is some of the prettiest water I've ever seen! Green and clear, so awesome to see!

Our intent was to travel into California after the Hoover Dam, mostly to say that we had and partly so we could find the Joshua trees that are native to the area. Well, after about 10 miles of desert and wind-blown sand covering the highway, we decided that we had seen enough of Cali and turned around without seeing the first Joshua tree. As we re-entered Nevada, we saw a sign naming the road Joshua Tree Highway. Seriously?? They were everywhere. As we pulled in to our hotel for the night, incidentally on Route 66, there was a Joshua tree in the parking lot. Joke was on us, I guess.
Yesterday, we finally got to see the Grand Canyon. Massive, beautiful, striking! Words are insufficient to describe it and pictures fail to capture it. The boys had a blast hiking- and crawling- to some of the rocky outcrops. I think they loved it!

So here we are in Sedona. I picked a hotel online that was a little pricier than I normally would so that we would be sure to have a nice pool and reliable wifi- important, first-world issues for my kids. Well, this place is a full-on golf resort where they try to get you to sit through a presentation with the promise of a "free" vacation. Guess who went for it? The precious girl gifted us a free Pink Jeep ride through the wilderness out here in exchange for my agreeing to get the "free" vacation. Good deal? We'll see. This place is amazing! Too bad it's out of my price range, but I can see why anyone would want to have a time-share place in this resort. Tonight we head to Gallup, NM for no good reason except we get to pass through Winslow, AZ, and stand on a corner. We will be in San Antonio by Wednesday to enjoy a couple of days at a water park. Downhill side of vacay starts now!

Kanorado

Another day, another state. This morning we awoke to a cool breeze and a gentle rain. For this dyed in the wool Southerner, it sure was chilly! Honestly, I was pretty excited. The idea of a day in July when I don't work up a sweat is every Mississippian's dream! Kansas to the west was fairly similar to the rest of Kansas- wheat. Interestingly, there are sunflowers on every highway sign, yet there was nary a one on the highway. Disappointed...

Crossing into Colorado, I naively expected to immediately see mountains. Wrong. It just looked like an extension of Kansas. Eventually we took the road the "the Springs," a two-lane highway through a whole lot of pasture land. Seemed a little strange to me that the fastest route to CS was a two-land road. Anyhoo...we headed straight to the US Olympic Training Center. Wow! I consider myself a little bit obsessed with the Olympics so this was just the place for me! Just the preview movie had me tearing up. Between Kerry Strug, Eric Jantzen and the Miracle on Ice, I was in heaven!

We watched a preview movie showing a little bit of the facility. After the movie, we were given a tour of the facility. It was awe inspiring. We saw the pool where Michael Phelps trains...yeah, that's what I said. Cool! Our guide showed us the catwalk over the lanes where the coaches walk while they are working out. He told us they love to throw a rope down to the swimmers, have them climb up the rope, do pull-ups on the catwalk, drop back into the water, and finish their laps. Who does that??? They also have belts they wear tied to rope with weights attached that pull on them as they swim. The tour guide said he has seen them pull up to 90 pounds while swimming! We went to the training gym next where the basketball, trampoline, volleyball and men's gymnastics train. The ceilings are 42 feet high- required for both volleyball and trampoline. I asked if the pros practice basketball there. He said they do, sometimes. Again, cool! He also said that the reason the female gymnasts don't train there is because most of them are under 16, which is the minimum age for residents at the facility. We saw the wresting facility, dormitory, shooting facility and the weight room. I loved it! Did I mention the weather??? Seventy-five degrees and breezy! So nice! 

After we were done, we made our way to the hotel- complete with sleep number beds, a game room, pool and hot tub! After settling in, we headed back out for dinner. Jack made the call and we found an Italian restaurant that we all loved. Now we are about to head to the pool. Early and big day tomorrow- a train ride up to Pikes Peak, a hike through Garden of the Gods and then a baseball game! Of course, the weather will be insane...lows in the 50's and highs in the 70's! Cool!

Cowboys and Thunder

So today we arrive in Kansas. To be honest, it's a little anti-climactic after our visit to OKC. Here's how that went:
We arrived on Thursday, June 30 in OKC to have lunch with an original Okie, Carol, an LSU friend. She lives outside the city and gave me lots of good info as we prepared to travel to her city. After a delicious Mexican lunch, we checked in to our hotel and then headed to the National Museum of Cowboy and Western Heritage. I have always loved and appreciated the romance of the cowboy and his mystique. The museum only added to that! The paintings were so beautiful, though the boys weren't all that interested. Jack and Joshua really liked the recreated Old West town inside the museum, with the livery stable, post office, and jail. The museum covered so many interesting aspects of cowboys, from rodeo to cowboys in the movies. That's when I got excited. I absolutely love John Wayne...can you really trust anyone who doesn't? They had a huge display on his Westerns, even mentioning the importance of his WWII movies, too. The lady in the gift shop told me that the family is a big supporter of the museum and visit often. They have donated many of the items in the museum. Outside the museum, there is a very peaceful grove where several well-known rodeo horses and bulls are buried. To put it succinctly, we loved the museum.
After we left the museum, we headed downtown to the Oklahoma City National Memorial. Originally, we intended to see it at dusk. However, timing was tricky, especially with an 11 year old anxious to have enough time to swim in the hotel pool before bedtime. Even in the afternoon heat, this was a place to see. The intimacy of the memorial, despite its size, was overwhelming. It was very sobering, very solemn. A place to whisper. The symbolism was mesmerizing. The ends of the memorial have matching walls with two times on them, 9:01 and 9:03. 9:01 represents the city and its innocence before the bombing. 9:03 is symbolic of the change in the city after the bombing. The chairs representing the victims hurt my heart, especially the little ones representing the children. However, there is hope shown in the Survivors Tree and the Rescuer Orchard. Beautiful! What a day!
This morning, we headed back to downtown OKC to eat at KD's restaurant and see where the Thunder play. The downtown area known as Bricktown is so nice! Clean, well-planned and easy to navigate, we all agreed that we would stay there if we ever return.
Tonight we are in Hays, KS. I picked it because it was on the way to our next stop. Turns out I picked a good one.  http://haysusa.net/  Because I love history, I read a little bit about this town. Turns out Calamity Jane and Buffalo Bill Cody spent some time here, along with General Custer. This was the "end of the line" back in the day. It just so happens that this weekend in the Wild West Festival. We originally planned to visit their downtown Bricks in the morning, so we'll see what we find now that there is a festival going on. Who knew?
So far, this trip has exceeded my expectations. Can't wait to see what's next!