Monday, September 6, 2010

Home Again - Sunday, August 29, 2010





End of the three week road trip. Randy argues that the trip actually ended on Saturday, as we had left on a Sunday. Bryn likes to stretch vacations out as long as possible, so she argues that since we left just before lunch on a Sunday, the actual trip end is also on Sunday. It's a debate that will never be resolved, as Randy's logic and Bryn's will don't always reach the same conclusion. ;-)

Bret was happy to re-visit his favorite Valley Hungarian Sausage Company in Littlerock for the famous ham and cheese sandwich. As we drove the familiar route home, we took some photos of Vasquez Rocks through the window. Definitely more dramatic than yesterday's Mormon Rocks.

We got home late afternoon, then went to Bryn's parents house for dinner, and the boys had fun playing with 5 little furballs. One of the neighborhood feral cats had kittens again, but her parents were able to tame them. There is a long story that goes with catching, fixing, and finding homes for kittens, but
that's not for this blog. Anyway, these are 2 of the little cuties; 3 of the 5 have been adopted already.

When we got home, our cat were happy to see us. Storm liked cuddling up with some stuffed animals on the couch.

Everyone was happy to be home, except for Bryn. I would much rather be out exploring, visiting friends, museums, and other interesting sights and attractions instead of returning to work and school schedules, multiple scout meetings, housework, museum projects, etc. Although I do like having more options on what I can wear! As you can tell from the photos, we packed lightly which meant lots of fashion repeats (if you can call our wardrobe of t-shirts "fashion!").

I hope to get the boys to sit down and write some of their highpoints of the trip, so there could be another post....

Aug 28, Sat - boys' favorites, pinball & fireworks





We said good-bye to the red rocks of Utah as we exited that state
and took a quick trip through the northwest corner of Arizona. The
Virgin River Gorge was beautiful, quite a bit of water still flowing in
it, but no spot to pull over to get a proper photo. Just past it we found
these mountains with fine visible stratigraphy and a scattering of Joshua
trees in the foreground (top photo). In Nevada, we had a planned stop at the Moapa Paiute Travel Center. If you go, the gas is a tad more expensive than in Las Vegas, but they make homemade potato chips in their cafe and they make the stop worthwhile. Plus the boys get to salivate over fireworks, and
Bryn gets to admire the baskets and other artworks in the shop.

Our one and only Las Vegas stop was the Pinball Hall of Fame.
They've relocated since last year, and are much easier to get to.
Take the exit near Excalibur and drive east to 610 E. Tropicana.
The place is filled with vintage and new games, most are 25 cents,
and all of the profits go to charity. Like last year, we had fun using up
all of our extra laundry quarters that we had saved up. http://www.pinballmuseum.org/

Late in the afternoon we left Vegas and headed up to the San
Gabriel Mountains. The 3rd photo is of the Mormon Rocks near the
Cajon Pass, the eastern extension of Vasquez Rocks near Agua
Dulce. Mormon Rocks are more rounded, not quite as dramaticly
tall and tilted as Vasquez, but still nice to look at.

We stayed overnight in Wrightwood. The enthusiastic boys shot off
a small fountain firework in the fireplace. Very exciting, but it threw
off a lot of sparks despite it's tiny size, and that won't be happening again!