Leaving Las Vegas!

This morning we slept in and then went to the breakfast buffet at the hotel. The kids were in heaven! Not only did they gorge themselves on pancakes and french toast, but they had a full dessert bar for breakfast. The kids thought it was so cool that they had "ice cream for breakfast in Las Vegas!" After breakfast, we checked out and headed towards Zion National Park. Our goal was to get close to the Grand Canyon today so that we can go early in the morning while it's still "cool."

The road leaving Las Vegas looks like this...

I have only ever flown into and out of Las Vegas so I thought it was neat to see what it looked like driving in and out. Pretty desolate. Hard to believe anyone drove through here and decided to build anything much less a hotel/casino! It pretty much looked like this until we got to Utah. Finally, something to look at! It is very, very pretty here. Scott wanted to stop in St. George. He had visited here several years ago when he lived in California. It was so pretty. A great place to come for a weekend. Lots of bed and breakfasts. We stopped in an old candy shop/soda fountain that we all just loved. The kids each had ice cream and I had a coke..in a bottle!! Then we all picked us out some penny candies to eat on the road.

After St. George the mountains, mesa's and cliffs just kept getting bigger and redder. Just before we got to Zion National Park, we drove through Rockville. I love towns like this one. Classic "real" America. It's a two lane highway through here and the road through town was lined with American flags. We stopped at a couple of different places here. The first was a market that sold all fresh fruit and baked goods. Neat little place with picnic tables on their lawn and porch so you could picnic right there. The kids played soccer while Scott and I shopped in the store.



The market was nestled at the base of some of the most beautiful mountains.
The other place we stopped was at a roadside store that sold nothing but rocks. This was the cause of some great excitement. When we pulled off the road and Thomas saw why Scott was stopping he said,"Whoa," Mandy says, "Whoa" and Grace who was in the back says, in this total Forest Gump voice,"Look at those rocks." They beat it out of the car like you wouldn't believe and spent a good 20 minutes examining the rocks. We have purchased rocks at every attraction we've been to since leaving Rockwall. I'm not sure what all the big fuss is about rocks lately. I'm hoping it's just a phase. I blame this on my mom who gave Thomas the rock collection she hauled around 30 years worth of classrooms for the geology unit she taught once a year. Rocks add up you know. In addition to all the other junk we've packed we now have 10 lbs. of rocks to haul around.

Shortly after leaving this quaint little town, we entered the Zion National Park. The highway cuts through the park. Once more we were driving on these winding, curvy roads built literally on the side of a cliff. One poorly timed glance at your cell phone and your toast out here! Sheer drop off. We pulled over to take a picture and I noticed this tiny concrete looking hole at the top of one of the mountains. I asked Scott what it was and he informed me that it was a tunnel that the highway went through. Sure enough a few miles later there we were. The tunnel was built in 1930 when cars weren't near as big as our Tahoe. So, they have park rangers at each end of the tunnel and only allow one way traffic. There is NO light at all in the tunnel. You have only your headlights and every so often one of these windows they've cut out so you can see that you are completely on the side of a very, very tall drop off. Let me just say that while all this is breathtakingly beautiful and I wouldn't trade the opportunity to see it, ....I really hate heights! I really don't like the feeling that we could all plummet to our deaths and nobody would find the car for days. Not comforting for me....similar to my anxiety over flying. Now would be a good time to mention that Scott really wanted to get out and "hike" for a bit. With all three kids. And me. So, at the end of the first tunnel there is a parking lot and a trail that leads up to a scenic overlook. He parks and we all get out. About 2 minutes up the side of this mountain it becomes so steep that I'm afraid to go up any further in the really cute black and silver sequined sandals that I was wearing (did I mention that Scott forgot to mention this hiking thing when we got dressed this morning???). Anyway, I take Mandy and go back down to wait in the car. Apparently, just after Mandy and I turned around it got so steep and narrow that Scott was afraid to take the kids up any further. He told them they had to stop and go back down and Thomas fell apart. He wanted to keep going!


A few miles later Scott decides to try again and this one was more kid friendly. Even Mandy got to go!

After our "hike" we came on into Kanab for the night. There is not a single chain hotel here so after researching TripAdvisor.com, we are at the Aiken's Lodge. It's another one of those old fashioned motor lodges from the 1950's. It's rated the #1 place to stay in Kanab, Utah. Hey, it's family owned, immaculate and has wireless internet. What more do you want???! When we checked in Scott asked where we should eat dinner. She sent us to a great little local place just up the street. After we ate, we ordered a slice of banana cream pie to share. It was the best banana cream pie I've ever eaten. It was so good that Scott decided that if the banana was that good, he couldn't NOT try the chocolate, so we had another slice. I swear, I think the kids have had nothing but sugar to eat today! From the pancakes and ice cream for breakfast to the ice cream and candy store, to the pie at dinner! It'll take forever for them to go to sleep tonight!

Thomas's Top Five for June 14, 2007:

1. "Hiking"

2. "All the desserts!"
3. "That candy shop."
4. "I liked finding that snail." The market we stopped at had this little bridge that they discovered had snails living under it. They spent the better part of their time here hanging over looking for them!
5. "Taking a picture by the Utah sign."

Grace's Top Five for June 14, 2007:

1. "Hiking."

2. "Looking down off the cliffs"

3. "Candy shop."

4. "I liked the banana pie!"

5. "I liked kicking that soccer ball over that bridge."

Our goal is to leave Kanab by 7 am. The North rim entrance to the Grand Canyon is about 75 miles from here. I feel just like the Griswolds in our campy little motel, with all our c-rap strapped on the "family wagon" headed off the see the Grand Canyon!!

Blessings,
Leslie