The Finale

Where did we end our trip through the Great Southwest?


On the strip!


Yes, a little odd ending up here after boondocking in nature for 2 weeks, but that's where our RV lives.

The kids enjoyed a circus.

A few M & Ms

They start 'em young in Vegas.


Hungry lions

at the MGM

Eiffel Tower

A swim.

Viva!

Onward home.

The End!

A visit to Death Valley

We were excited to get to Death Valley, a place unlike any other national park. Unique geologic formations, crazy heat, eerie feeling at times. Very...crusty and sandy. Drab in places, colorful in others. Interesting and stiffling. There's plenty of history and intrigue here.

We got a deathly warm welcome of 116 degrees!

What's the lowest elevation in the country?

Right here at Badwater Basin in Death Valley -- 282 ft. below sea level.

So now we've been on the lowest road and the highest road (Mt. Evans, CO at 14,260 ft) in the country.

Aren't these cool salt formations? Like the crystals just started protruding through the mud cracks they were inhabiting.

Can you envision it?


Dead mud -- nice mosaic!

This slug-like thing was the only living creature we could find in the briny solution at Badwater.


Therefore, we concluded it was, indeed, bad water. Very bad.


Devil's Golf Course


Salt formations--very hard and sharp! Just ask Jimmer. He cut his hand on these things.


Golden Canyon hike


The old borax works

Remember laundry-boosting borax? 20 mule team? As in, 40 mules pulling the wagons? This is where it started--

with these wagons.

Colorful mountains--green streaks, mustard colors, reds, greys--all providing a unique display of different minerals.



Don't the kids look like they're deathly thirsty looking for an oasis?


Nah, they were just running around having TONS of fun on the dunes!


Son's supine slide

Swirling second born


A brief sand blasting productive exfoliation of the legs.


You know you're having fun when your pigtails are flying!


Now leaving Death Valley and headed for life.

Viva!

A Visit to Zion

Exploring another beautiful national park in Utah.


Quite a contrast from the delicate hoodoos of Bryce to the rugged formations of Zion. Another contrast is the weather. Bryce is refreshingly cool (higher elevation), and Zion was still quite hot at times.


The reddish color is similar...or should I more accurately say that it's mostly burnt orange around there?

The T-shirts we purchased from Bryce and Zion were actually dyed using the natural stone coloring of the area--just like the big boulders in the picture above--and they match our Longhorn shirts pretty well, so... I'll just call it burnt orange. Hook 'em! =)


The roads are even the same color as the surrounding landscape of Mesozoic-aged layers.

Bighorn sheep

We went on a hike that was supposed to be an ambling little jaunt to Lower Emerald Pool.

taking a snack break

Bonus:
We ended up on a much more strenuous hike that led us to ALL of the 3 pools!


Mary Kate patiently waited to see if a little frog would hop onto her leaf at the Middle Emerald Pool.


Her virtue paid off.


A tiny little amphibian


Kids playing at the upper pool

Way down in the corner of the picture

Water and rocks are kid magnets.


Rocks that are IN water are just too much for any child to resist!

river at our campground

In the morning we hiked to the Narrows.


A chilly wade/swim jaunt.


Hiking back from the Narrows
it warmed up


Would you believe that, on a hike in Zion, I almost literally ran right into a grade school classmate I haven't seen since 5th grade? That would be...er, about 3 decades ago. It, indeed, happened!

She looked just like some recent photos she posted of herself on Facebook, so I blurted out, 'Anita!?'

Totally validates Facebook for me.

This weeping rock has some OLD tears.

O-L-D

Some of the water Jimmer collected in his hat and splashed over his head is said to be up to 800-1200 years old coming out of that rock.

Yep, kind of hard to believe.


Sandstone is like a big sponge...except it can't be squeezed, so the water S L O W W W W W L L L Y makes its way out when it finally hits harder stone, like granite.


We're not talking pioneer days old. This stuff is closer to biblical!

And it's on tap at the visitor center for free. There isn't plastic-bottled water for sale in this green-thinking park, so bring your own containers and fill 'er up. You'll need it!

Now leaving...and going down. Way down.

Bryce Canyon

Hoodoos


The bluest sky you'll ever see


A natural Wall Street


Enveloped

Resting


Reaching tree duo


Natural arch


Different jungle gym


The Marys


The monkeys


Colorfully geared

Ready to hike back up


Our crew near the bottom of the canyon

This is where we played a brief game of charades with a kind, foreign tourist who was willing to take our picture. (Four adults acting out, from afar, how to rotate a camera isn't as easy as it may seem!)




Thank you, children, for carrying my water in your CamelBaks.

Learning greater independence in packing and carrying your own gear because your mother rarely carries a purse has served you (and me) very well.

Thanks for the hand sanitizer, Kathleen.
Mary Kate, I thank you for carrying my chap stick.
Thank you, Mike, for the granola bars and trail mix.

Just remember when you hike at Bryce: It's easy going down, tougher comin' up!

On this day 09-16-09, our elevation here was about 9,169 ft.

...at least at some point during the day!

This day was also Grampy's birthday!


Showered with homemade cards


Treated to a rootbeer float.

Have you ever had a rootbeer float on a camping trip? Tastes better.

All food tastes so much better on a camping trip
(especially when enjoyed out of doors in a forest of Ponderosas).

Now leaving...