We're in KS...

The National Park part of our trip is officially over.  Now we are in KS for a family reunion for a few days before heading to OK to see my family.  While much of KS is flat and boring the Flint Hills are beautiful.

You know you're from SoCal when...

• You have such a moderate temperature comfort-zone that anything cooler than 60 or hotter than 85 and everyone complains about the "miserable weather!"
• Your children who have largely grown-up in SoCal are terrified of "evil-blood-sucking-bugs"...things like mosquitos scare the pedudy (pe-doo'-dee) out of one of our children in particular.
• You are essentially urbanized to such an extent that things like natural stream-water are perceived as disgusting and unnatural (as compared to say, Dasani).

Day Five - Rocky Mountain National Park

I think this was our favorite day so far.  We drove up to RMNP and spent the day hiking, playing in the meadows, and driving across the tundra.  It was truly amazing.

The highlight was spending a few hours splashing and dam building in the Colorado River.  We've been following the Colorado River since near Las Vegas a few days ago.  It flows through or beside Zion, Bryce, and Arches NP.  We'll see it again in a couple of weeks at the Grand Canyon and, of course, it is the border between CA and AZ.

What a perfect day. 

Highlights from Day Four

 

Winter Park, CO is officially the bomb.  It's so relaxing here.  Right now I'm in the resort library working on photos, Michelle is napping, the kids are relaxing with books and Sponge Bob and we're just having a terrific time.  We went for a long hike this morning and had a fun picnic for lunch.  The weather and sights are amazing.  We're really enjoying it.  In fact, it is so nice...we decided to stay here a few days and not go to South Dakota and Mt. Rushmore. 

We will stay here at least another day, and maybe more.  Then head on to KS from here.  The weather in SD is supposed to be HOT this week and we already want to do a Yellowstone trip in a couple of years.  So, we'll just do Yellowstone/Mt. Rushmore the same year.  This year, we'll just relax in CO for a few days before heading to that Mecca of family entertainment...Lawrence, KS.

Technorati Tags: Vacation, Photos

Highlights from Day Three

We were in Moab, UT today.  It was stinkin' HOT!  We drove through Arches National Park to take in some amazing scenery.  One of the highlights was the drive out of the park and towards CO.  We took a local highway that ran along the Colorado River for about 30 miles.  It was amazing.  We drove through another thunderstorm in Western CO.  We finally checked into the Winter Park Resort at about midnight.   It seems like a nice place.

Flickr Tags: Photos, Vacation

Highlights from Day Two

From 2007-Q3-Zion ...

We started the morning with a drive to Zion from St. George. Along the way we saw this terrific old ghost town playland (photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/m5williams/865604776/). Then on to Zion. We rode the Zion Shuttle for about two hours taking in all the beautiful scenery. The kids took hundreds of photos of the Canyon (check the flickr site, or my Picasaweb site for them).

Zion was so beautiful! It's like the Grand Canyon on a small scale with easier access. Bryce was AMAZING! The Hoodoo were so incredible. Unfortunately, we only spent about one hour there because it was raining. Also, the temperature lowered dramatically! It was 114 degrees in St. George, UT and 58 at Bryce Canyon (about 2.5 hours away).

One of the highlights for everyone was the rain. We haven't seen a real rainstorm in a couple of years (we've had about three inches of rain in LA in the past 13 months).

After Bryce it was a long drive to Moab. We slept in today and are en route Arches National Park and to Winter Park, CO tonight then on to Rocky Mountain National Park tomorrow.

Highlights of Day One

Lots of memories today. We crossed through four states (CA, NV, AZ, UT) and are in St. George, Utah at the Holiday Inn tonight. We spent a few hours in Vegas and walked through the Venetian and Ceasar's Palace and drove down the strip to see NY, NY, the Luxor, and Excalibur. Lots of fun for all of us. I think the highlights would be...

• Matthew - 2.5 hours of DS without interruption
• Madison - swimming at the hotel pool
• Marcus - The living statue at Ceasar's Palace
• Michelle - Dinner at Cracker Barrel (they don't exist in LA)
• Me - Nothing going wrong all day!

From now on, I'll just post up-to-the-minute photos at Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/m5williams/) rather than here. You can see best shots there throughout the day or here at night if I have time.