VACATION!

Wow. Time does move faster as you age! I JUST got back from vacation, and yet, it’s a month later! We flew to Las Vegas in late February, and from there drove to:

(Links take you to my photo albums.)

Hoover Dam— JUST amazing. To think of the time it was built, and to see the scale of everything….
The Grand Canyon —We overdid on superlatives these few days. By going in the winter, we were able to get a room at one of the lodges, approximately a 90 SECOND walk to the Canyon’s edge.
Bedrock City —Yes, Fred and Wilma’s place.
Pima Air and Space Museum —This one was for Timmy, but I had fun, too.
Slide Rock State Park—Driving by, down toward Sedona, and we decided to stop. Glad we did.
Gold King Mine in the ghost town of Jerome Arizona. HAS to be seen to be believed.
Rooster Cogburn’s Ostrich Ranch—Toss up time. Do we drive south to Tombstone? Or back to that odd little roadside attraction?
Picacho State Park, AZ. For sunset, I wanted something dramatic. I think saguaro silhouettes gave me what I wanted.
And, back to Vegas! An adult Disneyland is all I’ve got. It was wet. And sparkly… I’d go back, certainly, but I don’t need to go back. We had fun, though!

Plans to spend my 50th birthday walking some of the trails at Red Rock Canyon were squelched by the appearance of an errant ice storm, but by continuing to follow the 13 mile trail, we managed to out-drive the storm for a while, and see some Joshua trees. The little black cloud caught back up with us in Boulder City. My wonderful daughter gave us tickets to Mystere, one of the older Cirque du Soliel shows, which, as always was fabulous! (They were in a one ring Big Top tent on the edge of Battery City, NYC the first time I saw them perform!) Photos of us, of funny signs, and of everyone’s favorite pal WALDO are here.

Yes, it was another “If it’s Tuesday this must be Belgium” trip…. (What can I say, we want to practice before we take THAT trip!)

The only regret I have? We didn’t go back to this rock shop. I took a few minutes walk through the yard. I was sure we would see more rock shops along the road over the course of the week, and we wanted to be back at the canyon for sunset. LOOK at the size of it! It’s right next to the Grand Canyon Inn on 180 in Williams, AZ. If you found this post and are planning a trip, don’t miss it. (I probably would have had an over-weight charge at the airport is all I’m saying.) And, be pleasantly surprised by the friendly people and good food at the Bedrock City ‘diner’ tucked away in the back corner of a curiosity shop that has every random kitch for sale…Plus, it has Fred and Wilma, Barney and Betty, Pebbles and BamBam, AND Dino!

Ok. It wasn’t the ONLY regret. I would have loved to have stayed EVERYWHERE longer. I would have loved to have stopped at The Poisoned Pen bookstore in Scottsdale. I would have LOVED to have had a chance to spend a few days exploring Sedona, not just driving through trying to beat a storm cloud. Of getting to spend a bit more time with my brother, or of detouring just a wee bit further and convincing my other brother to drive up from San Diego. But the best part of vacation is spending time and making memories with my hunny, and that we certainly did!

IF YOU follow my Facebook page or this blog, (and WHY don’t you??) you may have seen SOME of these photo albums, but not all. The last few weeks I have posted a few blogs pulling out some of the albums) ENJOY!!!

My Photography website. All images available for purchase.

Follow me on Facebook.

On Twitter, I am@rteest42 .

My Etsy shop! –Photos, jewelry