Tuesday, Aug 11 - UT, AZ, NV, CA

Bryn: We started the day viewing the beautiful red rocks of Utah. We are so close to so many National Parks, and I want to go see them. However, we're so close to home, and Randy wants to go there. We'll have to do a southern Utah trip in the future with Cedar Breaks, Zion, Bryce Canyon, and more. On to Interstate 15 and out of Utah, through the northwest corner of Arizona, and into Nevada. We made a stop at the Moapa Paiute Travel Plaza, a place we've visited before. While the boys oogled the fireworks for sale, I liked looking at the baskets.
Next stop, fabulous Las Vegas. Randy keyed up the MP-3 player and we listened to Tommy by the Who, and repeated Pinball Wizard a couple of times. Last year we visited the best thing in Las Vegas, the Atomic Testing Museum. Randy's cousin Vanya used to work there, but she has relocated to the east coast. Anyway, we non-gamblers found another super fun thing to do in town - the Pinball Hall of Fame! http://www.pinballmuseum.org/ We took all of our extra laundry quarters and had a great time spending them here. Bret and Reed were excited to actually win stuffed animals on the 1950s claw game. Randy showed the boys a few of his old favorites like Star Trek, and I taught them Tetris. All of the vintage games work, the Hall of Fame is a non-profit, and the money goes to charity. Definitely a good use for those quarters!
After Vegas, we drove through Baker, CA, home of the world's tallest thermometer , and got some A & W Root Beer. I guess we've finished with the nice weather, we're back to California's HOT and DRY. Although we hadn't intended on getting home today, the boys had a semi-mutiny and so we just drove home, stopping for dinner in Littlerock.

In a couple of days we hope to put up a few more photos and also give some trip statistics.

Would I do it again? In a heartbeat! In fact, I'd be happy to change out the clothes in the suitcases and take off again tomorrow. After a thorough car wash. I really enjoy the suspended reality associated with vacations. Coming home to the piles of bills, a dead lawn, work commitments, and the never-ending "to do" list is tough for me, so I think I'll be having a few days of post-vacation depression. And then I'll start planning the next trip!