Pit Stops

I decided that we needed a break from driving so I looked on a map to see what was on our way and luckily, Arches National Park was a perfect stopping place. So we set up our tent late at night and hiked our hearts out the next day. We all loved it. I already knew I loved it, but the rest of the fam had never been, so I'm glad they agreed.

There's just nothing like scrambling up the sandstone to see how high you can go.

We met Brad and Melanie Chambers there for a hike--they were on the same Missouri to Utah drive as us.
I like how the kids are all right under the three towers of rock in the background.

Alex was in his realm and got pretty brave with how high he would go. We'd lose sight of him for 30 seconds and he'd already be at the top of a huge rock.

This proved to be problematic because we lost sight of him for significantly longer than 30 seconds and he scared the pants off of us. We had Matt, Brad, Melanie, and me all looking for him for at least half an hour; we were just hoping he was not hurt or kidnapped.
Unfortunately he was dressed to match the landscape. Here is a Where's Waldo game for you: find Alex. You can click the picture to make it bigger. Oh, and he's not the one in blue to the far right.
Brad found him eventually--he had taken a wrong turn. Thank goodness for Brad and for Alex being okay.

So after that scare we were done hiking. But it was near the end of the day anyway, so we ate, slept, and then packed up our stuff the next morning in the pouring rain. Yes, it is desert and it still drenched us so we could continue our legacy of camping in the rain. Wonderful.

Our next stop was Las Vegas--mostly because it was a convenient distance, but it is also cheap lodging. We walked the strip for entertainment and then regretted it because our kids really didn't need to see all the crap they advertise. Sin City is aptly named. But I'm sure it is fun if you find the right things to do and you don't have kids.

Okay, so the Belagio fountains were fun. The song we caught was a favorite of mine that I had choreographed and performed a ballet dance to a while back.

After Vegas we drove to Matt's grandparents house in L.A. We only had a couple hours with them, but it was a great couple hours. After lunch Grandpa scored some free medical advice and Grandma played us some songs. It was fun to hang out with just them for a change.