Rocky Gap

Marie and Antoine came to visit with their kids in April. I think it was their spring break, but I can't remember for sure. Anyway, the adults (none of the kids were interested) decided to do the Rocky Gap Jeep trail here in Vegas, which goes through the Spring Mountains, and comes into the Red Rock Canyon from the back (which gets you in without paying a fee). Joe and his friend Kevin had already done this trail several times, but the rest of us hadn't, and this was the first time Antoine drove one of Joe's Jeeps the whole way on a trail. It was chilly up in the mountains, so I packed some hot chocolate in a thermos, and we headed out. It was a long and beautiful drive.

Once we reached Red Rock Canyon, while the guys aired up the tires on the Jeep's, Marie and I went on a little stroll to see some petroglyphs.

We had some really good food that weeked too.

It's always a good time when the Fews come.

The West Rim

Joseph was really super bummed that he missed our trip to the Grand Canyon. Understandably so. So I told him that I'd come up with a day trip that he and I could go on together. I had no idea that the Grand Canyon had a West side - did you? Well, it does, and it's only 2 1/2 hours from Vegas. That sealed the deal.

Grand Canyon West is actually on a Native American reservation (I can't believe the government actually let them have this land, but yay!). The Hualapai (pronounced Wal-lah-pie) tribe has had this land since 1883. They don't recieve any federal funding or assistance. The tourism at Grand Canyon West sustains the Hualapai communities, so I was happy to spend some money there. They also have a bus route, but only a few stops. The views were incredible.

At the first stop they have the Skywalk, which is a horseshoe-shaped glass bridge extending 70 feet out over the rim of the Grand Canyon. I am not usually scared of heights, but looking down to the canyon floor which is 4,000 feet below you is a bit disconserting. I mean, when you're seeing birds flying around thousands of feet below you, it really makes you think, "What in the actual hell?!" It really took me by surprise, and is not for the faint of heart.

Joseph stayed out there on a lot longer than I did. There was a small replica of a village that we explored, we had a nice lunch, and we learned a lot about the area and the Hualapai tribe. It was a great little day trip, and I would definitely go back. One thing that we accidently discovered on the way there was the Grapevine Mesa Joshua Tree Forest. It might not be as grand as the Joshua Tree National Park, but it was still pretty cool.

I'm really glad I got that one-on-one time with Joseph. He is a great travel buddy.

Open Houses

After a lengthy 4 year renovation, the Manti temple finally opened back up in April, and we went to the open house at the end of March.

While the Saint George temple got a 2 months open house, the Manti temple only got a 3 week open house, and they decided to have people get reservations for specific times. We had been planning this for quite some time, so I got tickets as soon as I could, and I got extra just in case. Now, Joe's father was on the open house committee, and he told us that they had NOT expected as many people to come as actually came. Whether people had a reservation or not, THEY CAME! That first weekend was nuts. They had has many people without reservations as with them, but they weren't organized in such a way that they had two separate lines for these two different groups. As a result, the wait lines got up to 4 hours long, and that was with or without a reservation. Luckily they had things better organized by the second weekend, when we went, so we only ended up waiting about 1/2 hour I think, and we are easily entertained, so it wasn't bad.

Our niece, Anna, was also working for Snow College at the time, and wanted us to come and do a tour while we were there. As a Snow alumni, I couldn't say no. I got to sign the alumni board, I got a free T-shirt, we got to ride around campus in golf carts, and we got free popcorn and ice cream sandwiches.

Good times were had by all.

The Bee's Knees

After the Grand Canyon, we all drove to Flagstaff to stay the night. We walked around the older downtown area in the morning, and then went to lunch together before we parted ways with Marie's family. Flagstaff is a fun little town, and I think it would be fun to explore more if we'd had more time...and didn't have kids. But we did manage to see a few things. The Weatherford Hotel (notable guests were William Randolph Hearst and President Theodore Roosevelt).

The Orpheum Theatre (stage, movie screen, hardwood dance floor).

Babbitt Brother's building (mercantile and trade).

Hotel Monte Vista (had an infamous speakeasy during prohibition, said to be haunted).

I loved all the murals and just the overall feel of the place.

We had lunch at Salsa Brava, because it was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, and it was delicious.

The funny thing was, when we walked in, the hostess asked us if we had heard of the restaurant from Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives OR from Sister Wives. Marie was immediately like, "Oh my gosh, this is the restaurant from Sister Wives?" And I emphatically said, "We're NOT here because of Sister Wives!" However, I will admit that both Marie and I watch Sister Wives (hangs head in shame), and discuss it at length. But still, that's not why we went there. Just to be clear. Hahahaha. At this point, we continued on to Texas, while Marie's family headed back home to Utah. We stayed the night in Albequerque, and then finally arrived to Wichita Falls, TX. Bert and Adreann moved here in the summer after having done three consecutive overseas assignments (England, Korea, and England again). We have done the drive So many times through New Mexico and Texas, but it's been quite a while. You know immediately when you're in Texas, and it just kind of felt like going home in a way. There's not much to do in Wichita Falls, but we were there to see family, and not the sights. We talked, and laughed, and ate, and played games, and watched movies, and just had a really good time together. Bert started his own beehive when they moved there, so we went out to see that.

And we also got a good Texas BBQ fix while we were there.

On our way home we were going to stop for the night in Albuquerque again, but when we got there Joe wanted to keep going. And then he wanted to keep going, and keep going, and keep going. Through Arizona it was SNOWING like crazy. I thought we should stop. Joe said he still had more gas in his tank. So we kept driving until we were only TWO hours away from home, at which point Joe said maybe we should stop. I was like, no way in hell are we paying for a hotel two hours away from home! A 15 1/2 hour drive is no joke you guys. I don't know how we did it, but we got home. Never again though! You know, when we lived in Texas, we used to do the 17 hour drive to Utah straight through all the time (which was usually 20 hours with young kids and many stops for peeing and eating). We were young. We had the energy back then. Not any more. We are old. We are tired. We can afford hotels, even when we can't.

A Grand Spring Break

For Spring Break this year I had two goals - go to the Grand Canyon, and visit Bert and Adreann in Texas. We wanted Cora and Andrew to come with us, but their schedules dictated otherwise, and then neither Joseph nor May could get work off (boooooo), so it ended up being just me, Joe and Alex. However, Marie and Antoine decided to meet up with us for our day at the Grand Canyon, so yay! We stayed together in an Airbnb in Williams, AZ. A very nice double wide trailer out in the middle of nowhere, but perfect for our needs. First thing in the morning we actually went to Bearizona, which none of us had ever heard of, but we drove by it and figured we need to go.

Bearizona is a 160 acre wildlife park. In one part of the park is a 3 mile drive through a pine forest where you get to see wolves, bison, reindeer, bears, and other animals.

The other part of the park is set up more like a zoo. We only walked through a small part of this because we needed to get to the Grand Canyon, but the bears here were by far the most entertaining thing we saw all day.

Then came the star of the show. I've been to the Grand Canyon before, but it was when I was very young, and I really don't remember much. Let me just say, the Grand Canyon is aptly named. It be Grand ya'll. I think there are about 10 stops on the bus route, and each one is amazing. Do the pictures do it justice? No. Am I about to post a bunch of pictures of it? Yes.

We had a delicious lunch mid day, and I had me a gigantic Navaho Taco, which they called a Native Taco.

By the end of the day it was getting chilly, and people were getting tired. Marie and I were determined to stay until Sunset. At the last bus stop, Hermit's rest, they have a little shop, so we went inside thinking we could wait it out somewhere warm. (Hermit's rest was built in 1914 as a rest stop for horse-drawn carriage tours. It's supposed to resemble an old miner's cabin with native stonework, a giant alcove fireplace, and front porch.)

The thing is, this wasn't the stop where we thought we'd get the best view of the sunset. So we braved the cold once more and took the bus back a couple of stops. Alas, while we were on the bus, some of our group decided that it was too long of a wait for anyone other than the truly didicated, which they were not. So those people stayed on the bus and said goodbye, while me and Marie waved goodbye, and then huddled together trying to stay warm. Guess what? It was worth it.

This post is getting a bit long, so I'll put the rest of our spring break adventures on another post.