6/29 The Long Road Home

This morning we got up at 4:30. Steve was in kind of a hurry to get going and since we had not even unhooked the trailer things went fairly fast in the morning. We stopped thinking we could get breakfast in --------- but there was nothing so we asked at a gas station and they told us there was a cafe at the auction yard. It was what you would expect in a tiny, desert ranch town auction yard but the food was good! It was funny to feel like the strangers in town when we walked in the door and all the heads turned to see who we were! The air everywhere is so smokey from the California fires. We got back on the road and drove straight through to Oakridge where an ice cream was called for and then home. We arrived home, extremely tired, at about 2:00. We frantically unloaded the trailer and said hello to Figaro, Thistle, and Luna. Hugs and the hugest thank you to N for watching the house. Vacation over. We had a great time.

6/28 Las Vegas to Reno

6/27 Hoover Dam/Las Vegas

Hoover Dam
Swimming
Las Vegas
Dinner at Toby Keith's
Water Show Bellagio

6/26 From Williams to Las Vegas

Circus Circus KOA
Broadway Burger in New York New York

Grand Canyon 6/25

IMAX theatre
Grand Canyon
Bedrock

From Glendale, Utah to Williams, AZ - 6/24

Kelsie's 13th Birthday
Moqui Cave
Page, Utah - Lunch
Dam
Laundry

NIGHTMARE - 6/23

After leaving Zion we finally arrived at our trailer at about 10:30 p.m. We were all very tired after a full day. We unlocked the trailer lock and went to unlock the second lock and the key would not go in. We tried for about 15 minutes, both keys. We were locked out of the trailer in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night, with no phone service. We decided to drive as far as necessary to get phone service to call roadside assistance, not knowing if that would do any good or not considering where we were. We had to drive about 20 minutes to get any signal at all. We finally got through to roadside assistance and she said she would try to get someone out to us. The phone kept cutting out so we had to keep calling her back and her calls were not getting through to us. Finally we drove further up the mountain and got back ahold of her and she said she was not having any luck getting anyone out to us because everyone told her we would need a locksmith and the nearest was about an hour away. We told her we might try to get a motel, at least then we would have a land line to talk to her on. It was now after midnight. We drove about 50 minutes, the other direction, to a Best Western we had seen earlier and stood and rang the night buzzer for about 15 minutes. No one was going to answer so we decided our only option was to go back to the KOA and sleep in the truck until we could use their phone in the morning. We decided to park in front of the office instead of at the trailer so we did not disturb the neighbors and because we all needed to use the restroom! We of course are well out of cell phone range so we really do not know what is going on with RA. At about 3 a.m. I am still awake and notice headlights turning down another entrance towards our trailer. I walked out to investigate and there is a car parked in front of our trailer, I high tailed it to the truck and told Steve I thought the locksmith was there. HURRAY! We were finally in our trailer and going to bed at 3:30 a.m. We could not believe that roadside assistance could get someone there, from an hour away, after 3:00 a.m. We decided to sleep in on Tuesday! ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL!!!!!!!
(I shouldn't even mention that the KOA manager told us the next morning there was a courtesy phone in the laundry room, which was unlocked, at this KOA.)

Bryce Canyon/Zion - 6/23

Driving from Holden to Glendale last night was beautiful, the land and the rock formations here are beautiful. Then this morning driving through Red Canyon on the way to Bryce Canyon we are excited at how beautiful all this is. Red Canyon in itself is beautiful. There are two rock formations that the road goes through and that was fun for the girls.
Bryce Canyon - I don't think there are really any words that can describe Bryce Canyon. We started at the end of the canyon road and worked our way along the viewpoints. It is indescribable how beautiful this is, then you come to the Bryce Overlook and it is overwhelming. The rock formations and the awesomeness is breathtaking. We spend about 6 hours looking at the Canyon from the viewpoints.
After that we decided to wait dinner and drive directly to Zion.
Zion - We were so glad we did not miss Zion. It is such a different experience from Bryce. At Bryce you are looking at the canyon from the top and from Zion you are in the Canyon looking up at it. The formations are so different and the hugeness of it really hits you. In Zion you ride a shuttle bus and get off at viewpoints along the way to hike or take pictures. We did not hike at either Bryce or Zion as we did not come prepared for hiking. We arrived at Zion at 6:00 p.m. just as the visitor's center and museum were closed. We rode the shuttle and took pictures until about 9 then headed to find a place for dinner. We drove to Springdale, a little town at the opposite end of Zion, and had a nice dinner at Wildcat Willie's. We were looking for a burger place and when we went in found it to be a saloon and grill that specialized in steaks. We finally found menu items for each of us for under $15 each!
After dinner we headed back to Glendale. You can not imagine how the sky and the stars looked driving back through Zion at 10:00 at night. We stopped along the way and turned off the trucks lights. You could actually see the Milky Way. It was amazing, we were wishing Nikki could see this.
One thing that needs mentioning is the 1 1/2 mile tunnel through the mountain to Zion. This is a very dark narrow tunnel with curves inside the mountain. The tunnel is not open to trailers, campers, etc. This is monitored and pilot cars are used during the hours the park is open but at night it is a little spooky not knowing what you are going to encounter when you see lights coming around one of those corners inside the tunnel.

Holden, Utah 6/22

Today was wonderful. Nikki called us at about 5 a.m. and said Tara had phone service for the next half hour so I frantically made a call to Africa. This is the first time I've gotten to talk with her since her 3 minute phone call in Johannesburg. After getting off the phone we got ready and headed to Holden, Utah to visit with Dad. I thought the highway we were traveling went along The Great Salt Lake and through Salt Lake City so I kept telling the girls what they would see and by the time we got to dad's they no longer believed anything I said! We did see a part of Salt Lake known as Willard Bay. We arrived at Dad and Jolynn's about noon and they had planned a barbeque for us for lunch. They barbecued steaks from one of the calves dad raised. They were the best steaks I have ever tasted. We had a nice tour of dad's house, the tractors and the chickens and walked down to see his calves. We had such a nice visit, we wish we were closer to visit more often. We got to meet Jolynn's son, Jeff, and he gave us some suggestions for routes to take to Bryce Canyon and things to see along the way. His wife Lindsey and their boy Kyle, I'm hoping I spelled them close, also came over and we got to meet them. It is so nice to now have faces to put with names. We left there about 4:30 and headed to the KOA in Glendale, Utah. There is not much in Glendale, Utah! There was a field of horses next to the RV space so the girls enjoyed them, I thought K might be a little scared of them but she wasn't. We will stay here two nights. Already the days are not long enough so a quick dinner, a wash of the feet and to bed. Tomorrow Bryce Canyon. We've not had anymore trouble with the truck since we filled up with premium gas.

Vacation Friday/Saturday - The Beginning

Friday we finally got out of town about 1. We drove straight throught to Burns,OR. That is absolutely beautiful country. We had a nice dinner, I got laughed at for bringing roast and all the fixins for gravy! It was an early night so it was nice. We are RVing, not camping, this trip! We sat and played Scrabble for awhile and went to bed by 9:30. Nice day.
Saturday we were up early, K and I up at 5:30 of course. Had showers and a quick breakfast and got ready to go. This was a long day as it was 8 hours in the pickup and the weather is hot. Idaho does have some very nice rest areas though and we stopped at a beautiful one for lunch. We are staying the night in the KOA in Brigham City, Utah. We were a little worried because three bus loads of 6th and 8th graders pulled in after us. They took over the pool and bathrooms but they got them rounded up early and it has been pretty quiet. We put cheap gas, the regular in Idaho and Utah is only 85 octane, in the truck at a gas station earlier and it decided to act up a little but we're hoping that's all it is and it will be happier now with the premium stuff! It has a hard job to do! Well I'm getting the it's time for bed looks so tomorrow will be more eventful than riding in the truck.

Here We Go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are entering the world of the internet blog!
Tomorrow we leave for vacation. We will be taking the trailer and traveling for 10 days with our main destination being the Grand Canyon. We are all very excited. We were told we should create a blog to track our adventures so here we go...................