April 12-29, 2019 we took an epic road trip through the United States. It started and ended in Las Vegas and we visited the four corner states in between. We traveled for 18 days and 17 nights, stayed in 8 different places (5 home and 3 hotels). We visited seven National Parks and Monuments and many other great state parks and attractions. We drove over 2,500 miles (around 43 hours of car time) and we walked or hiked 78 miles (for an average of 4.35 miles a day). Ben's parents joined us for 4 nights and 5 days and we visited our dear friends the Leonards for 4 nights over Easter weekend. We had an absolute blast and are already mentally planning our next road trip!
First leg: direct flight from Monterrey to Las Vegas...life is so wonderfully easy without a layover and it was a great travel day. This was our first time to Vegas and it was a fun city to in which to begin a vacation. It definitely has an exciting vibe and we all enjoyed our first drive down the strip. Ben was super thrilled, because the full-sized SUV that he booked through a questionable Mexican website actually worked and we were driving a nice Chevy Suburban that would be our traveling home for the next two and a half weeks.
We didn't initially plan to stay in Vegas the first night, but damage to a road in Zion National Park was going to take an additional 2.5 hours to drive from our AirBnB; thankfully we were able to make an itinerary change to save us a lot of driving. We found a last minute deal through our Chase reward points to stay in the Venetian and that was amazing! (Vegas tip: a king bed suite in the Venetian was plenty of room for our family of five because there was a pull out double as well as a small couch).
The boys were thrilled to swim even though it was pretty chilly!
We headed out to see the sights at dusk.
Joshy taking in the lights of the city.
We staked out a good position for the 8 pm Mirage Volcano show (tip: watch it from across the street as it is loud, very warm from the fire, and you can also get sprayed with water if you are next to it)
Heading back to the hotel: sweet Joshy with his newly lost front tooth.
A couple more photos from the inside of the Venetian at we walked home for the night.
The next morning we met Ben's parents and gladly put our children into their car for the 2.5 hour car ride to Zion National Park. Ben and I thoroughly enjoyed the uninterrupted conversations, peace, quiet and spectacular views of our drive. We did not know that there was so much beauty in southern Utah!
Ben and I were absolutely blown away by our first view of the town of St. George. We'd love to return to Zion and stay in this beautiful town!
We arrived in Zion, grabbed a bite to eat from our cooler in the back of the car, and prepared to go hiking and exploring. You have to take a shuttle bus throughout Zion National Park, so we grabbed one and took it all the way to the end of the canyon so that we could do the Riverside Walk. (This is the beginning of the trail of "the narrows" where you actually walk in the water; however you cannot do that at this time of the year as the water is too high. We'd love to return in a few years when the boys are bigger and do this!)
We were all amazed by the red rock cliffs surrounding us.
Check out the size of the boys compared to the walls!
And the creek in the middle just makes it beautiful.
I also loved being there in the newness of spring, with the bright lime-colored leaves just emerging against the red walls and blue sky. It was gorgeous.
Thus began the obsession with rock climbing for all the boys.
We made sure to spend lots of time exploring and rock throwing.
You're in for some real treats with pictures this trip...gone are the days of the boys complying for picture time.
All smiling after I threatened them within an inch of their life (or said "no dessert if you keep that up!")
A view down into "the narrows"
We found our own little piece of heaven along the creek, took off our shoes on our trail weary feet, and dipped them into the icy cold snow runoff creek. The kids dug, dammed, and played while we soaked in fresh air and sunshine.
Starting to unwind from the grind of city life.
A little real life for you: family picture taking love...
One big happy family
With everyone (yes, this is the best we could get).
On the walk back
I love the contrast of colors in this photo.
Waterfall at Temple of Sinawava
Majestic Cliffs: the color was just amazing
Spot the moon in this picture.
We ended a pretty wonderful day eating at a Mexican restaurant we spotted on the drive to the park called Rosita's Sante Fe Kitchen. It looked like a peaceful place with a beautiful view. I ended up talking to one of the workers, asking the story behind the restaurant (because I could tell that it was legit Mexican food) and come to find out, it is land, a house, and a business owned by Paul Allen. All the food on the menu were his favorite Mexican dishes. It was great food to go along with the great story.
After dinner, all the boys headed to our house for the next three nights in Alton, Utah while Diane and I took the other car to stop by a store and get the rest of our groceries for our trip. We didn't get to the home until well after dark. Diane drove a pretty crazy, windy mountain rode in the pitch dark! This house was our favorite: it was isolated up in the hills and even had some snow leftover for the boys to play in, which they did every morning. It was nice to see them enjoying the freedom of some land.
Can you spot the boys and the red sled?
We didn't get to church on Palm Sunday, so "Humprey's Palm Sunday," was second best. Staying in a home together meant great time as a family!
Our mountain rental in Alton, Utah.
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