Sedona

Entrance to our condo at the Junipine Resort near Sedona

View from our deck

Ben and Adam enjoying the hot tub

Adam fishing at the Trout Farm

One of five fish Ben caught at the Trout Farm

Coffee Pot Rock in Sedona

Ship Rock

Ben by Oak Creek

On our way from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to Sedona, we were on a desolate stretch of road with huge red mesas. All of a sudden, a roadside café appeared in a town (that is truly a euphemism) called Cliff Dwellers. We decided to stop for lunch without high expectations. Amazingly enough, Mom had the best salad of her life and ate it in peace as Adam and Ben killed flies with a flyswatter provided by the waitress. Right next door was a group of Native American women selling exquisite jewelry and arrowheads made from native regional stones. It was quite an unexpected little detour.

We arrived in Oak Canyon which is just before Sedona and stayed at the Junipine Resort. I had just booked this reservation 4 days ago and got an incredible deal on a two bedroom condo with our own hot tub and view of the creek and surrounding hills. After five days of cabins, Mom and the boys were thrilled to be in such a beautiful space. The boys have enjoyed watching TV as they have had no TV or DVD’s for FIVE DAYS and were going through withdrawal. We have also been enjoying the surrounding area. Ben and Adam spent time fishing yet again at a nearby trout farm. Ben caught 5 big fish which Mom gladly paid the trout farm to clean and put on ice. Not only that, but she gave 4 of them to the chef at the resort restaurant and he deboned, beheaded and prepared the 5th one so all she had to do was cook it in butter. Ben ate his own fish within hours of catching it and said it was the best fish he ever ate. Sedona is famous for it's red rock formations as you can see from the pictures above. The boys really liked Snoopy which looks exactly like him lying on his back. All in all we had a very relaxing time in this beautiful place.

The Grand Canyon

Our cabin at the North Rim Lodge. The Lodge was built in 1928 by the same man who designed the Ahwahnee and the Lodge at Bryce Canyon. The original Lodge burned down and was rebuilt in 1934.

Hiking the Final Trail

Looking for bugs

Nearly full moon over Grand Canyon

We arrived at the Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim just in time for the Fourth of July water gun parade. Ben got right into the action as people on the floats shot water at the spectators and vice versa. Adam also got into the swing of things and had some two handed shooting. We had a lovely meal at the Lodge with a table right by the window. The boys fearlessly went out on trails holding Mom’s hand to make sure she didn’t fall off. Our cabin skirted the path right on the edge of the canyon rim. As cabins go, it was lovely with two Queen beds, fireplace, bathroom with tub and shower, and a porch with two rocking chairs. We hiked on the Final Trail, attended the Grand Canyon Cookout Experience and as usual made new friends.

Bryce Canyon

Today we made the 1 1/2 hour drive to Bryce Canyon through the incredible Red Rock Canyon. Bryce is absolutely amazing with these "hoodoos" that are intricate spires and formations formed over millions of years. From the viewpoints, you actually look down on all the formations and then hike down into the floor of the canyon to be amidst the hoodoos. This is when Mom's adventuresome spirit took pause and my fear of heights took over. The paths are steep and narrow with sheer drops and no railing. Oh, and did I mention the thunderstorms and lightening? Plus there are signs at each vantage point reminding you to hold onto your children and watch the loose rock. That did it for me. Once my heart rate returned to normal, I told the boys they could come back and do this when they are older - around 30. We still enjoyed the panoramic views and ended the day by seeing Ice Age 3. Tomorrow we are headed to two nights at the Lodge at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Great way to the spend the 4th!

Cedar City and Zion National Park

Ben and Adam in front of a one-room cabin in Grafton Ghost Town

Ben in front of the school at the Grafton Ghost Town

Ben and Dustin studying rocks

After three days in Las Vegas, we were ready to get back to nature. We decided to stay in a cabin at the #1 rated KOA Kampground in Utah in Cedar City. Boy was Mom glad she chose the cabin over the tent site as a huge thunderstorm hit just as we finished unpacking the car. Putting up the tent in the rain is not my idea of fun. We chose Cedar City because of its proximity to Zion and Bryce National Parks and also because it tends to be 20 degrees cooler than areas around Zion. You know we’ve been camping in some remote spots when Adam was in awe of the bathrooms at the KOA. Thank God we didn’t start out here, or I never would have gotten them to rough it in the wilderness.

Our first day in Cedar City we visited Zion National Park. I splurged so the boys and I could go on the Zion Outback Safari. It was a 3 hour guided tour with Dustin our driver. We visited the ghost town of Grafton and went on the back roads to the top of Gooseberry Mesa. As we had the tour to ourselves, Dustin kindly stopped so the boys could throw rocks off the cliffs, pick Juniper berries, hunt for lizards and wander as close to the cliff edge as possible. I am also convinced that he chose the roughest part of the road to increase the bumpy ride. For the boys, this was the highlight of the trip to Zion and worth every penny.

Viva la Vida in Las Vegas

View from our room at the MGM Grand

After close to two weeks of camping and being in nature (and with all the great deals in Vegas), we decided to live the high life at the MGM Grand. This included room service, pillow forts, gambling (Adam made $5 before Mom found out that 5 year olds can’t play the slot machines), and arcades. We also had a super time in the fake river complete with current that winds around the MGM pools. You can rent inner tubes and circle endlessly around the river including waterfalls. Mom had so much fun she couldn’t take any pictures (for fear of getting the camera wet while watching her two boys go off downstream). We also made a joint decision to forgo the craziness at Circus Circus and instead visit the Lieds Children Discovery Museum. It was loads of fun for both boys and more relaxing. Overall, we had a great time but unanimously agreed we would not want to live in Las Vegas. Next time the boys want to stay at The Luxor which is probably as close to Egypt as they are going to get anytime soon.

Death Valley

We were originally going to travel from Mammoth Lakes to Las Vegas in one day, but we thought it was too long of a trip. Ben also really wanted to see Death Valley. One of the guide books had a warning about travelling there in the summer, but we decided to brave the elements and go anyway. On the drive down Highway 395, we were able to see Mt. Whitney which is the tallest mountain in the contiguous US (Mt. McKinley in Alaska is the tallest overall) at 14,505 feet. We hit Death Valley late in the afternoon and were stunned by the beauty of this National Park. We had expected just desert terrains and were in awe of the majestic mountains, huge sand dunes and volcanic rock. My pictures don't do the area justice because of the vastness of the landscape. We had no idea that the height from the tallest peak in Death Valley (11,049 ft) to the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere – Badwater Basin at -282 feet below sea level - is twice the depth of the Grand Canyon. The temperature was only 118 degrees which was a blessing as the second highest temperature ever recorded was 134 degrees in Death Valley.

We spent the night at the Furnace Creek Ranch which included a warm spring-fed swimming pool. Mom really enjoyed this as she was getting very tired of cold alpine lakes, cold camping water and cold swimming pools! We visited the Death Valley Museum before we left and Ben and Adam became Death Valley Junior Rangers. We topped it all off by having lunch in a Western saloon where Ben and Mom lived dangerously and had Shirley Temples

Gondola Ride to the Top

In addition to all our camping adventures, we also had fun exploring Mammoth Lakes. We took a gondola ride to the top of Mammoth Mountain at 11,053 feet. The boys had fun playing in the snow while Mom made sure they didn't get too close to the edge! We also visited the Mammoth Museum and Adam obviously had fun eating ribs despite his hand injury from falling on a log. Just one of the many hazards of camping. Fortunately, we did not meet up with any bears which was truly amazing as a bear had just been in our campground two nights before we arrived. It had also been snowing in June and was below freezing until a few nights before our arrival. We, however, were blessed with beautiful weather.