Nevada and Utah: done!

It was Saturday afternoon when we officially saw California disappear behind us in the rear view mirror. Sigh....

Later that afternoon we arrived in Las Vegas, NV. The boys were mesmerized as we drove the strip. The weather was hot (mid-90s) but we enjoyed walking around, and since the kids had taken naps in the car earlier, we agreed to stay out late so we could enjoy the fountain shows at the Bellagio. Wow! The kids loved it! 

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On Sunday morning we were up in good time and drove through Nevada, clipped the corner of Arizona, and arrived at Zion National Park in Utah by early afternoon. Given our later-in-the-day arrival plus the boys being young, we couldn't take advantage of much of what the park has to offer—but we sure would love to come back in 5+ years! We took the shuttle right to the heart of the park and walked the level, 2-mile round trip River Trail (carrying William for the start of it as he fell asleep on the shuttle!).

Waking up.

The special stone Josiah insisted on carrying for the hike.  

We then drove on through Zion (a drive that rivals the Big Sur coast on Highway 1 for utter, breathtaking awesomeness!!) to Bryce Canyon.

You can see the road winding through the mountains. It was like this for miles—tight twists and turns in, around, and even through (yes, a tunnel that had the boys squealing for ages and begging us to turn around) the mountains. The walls of stone seemed to just explode out of the ground, shooting far up into the sky on every side.

William was so utterly past it by the time we arrived in Bryce that he wouldn't even get out of the car, so Jesse and I took running out to observation decks in turns as we drove to a few key lookout spots. It was chilly (low 50s) and mostly overcast (one quick break of some rays shown below!) but still spectacular.


By the time we exited Bryce we were all exhausted, and two rather late hours later we limped into Richfield, UT for the night. We skipped dinner since everything was closed and we were too weary and desperate to get to the hotel anyway. Another day sustained by trail mix, apples, and other sundry snacks from the car...THANK YOU Melissa Mann!  :)