Road Trip!

After sending off Babcia and Dzia dzia on the Friday night after Thanksgiving, we piled into the van early Saturday and headed off to the Grand Canyon! We anticipated about a 4 hour drive, and it took us around 5 hours (plus pit stops). It took an hour less to get back home.

The shortest distance between Vegas and the Grand Canyon entails a trip across the Hoover Dam. Sarah jumped out to get a few pictures taken!


After way too many hours in the car, we finally made it! Aunt Jen met us in Tusayan and came with us for a short visit to the canyon.




We spent the night in Flagstaff and on our drive from the canyon to Flag, we passed a herd of elk along the road! It was so cool! Unfortunately, we didn't get any photos. Daddy, Sarah, and Aunt Jen went up to the Lowell Observatory for a little star gazing (Pluto was discovered here).

After breakfast at Cracker Barrel on Sunday morning (we don't have any in Vegas), a little reminscining around Flagstaff, and we headed back to Vegas. Along the way we stopped for lunch at Mr. D'z in Kingman, AZ. Mr. D'z harkens to Route 66's golden days and was most recently made "famous" on the Oprah show. We had the infamous Mr. D'z root beer and some delicious hamburgers. It was a fun stop along the way!





On the drive between Kingman and Vegas, we were lucky to spot a mountain goat/ram in the rocks near the Hoover Dam! I've driven over the dam many, many times always looking for a ram and I FINALLY SAW ONE! My Hoover Dam crossing life is complete.

It was a long, but fun weekend. Ella got a chance to spend more than 30 minutes in her car seat -- practicing for the 5 hour plane trip out east over Christmas. All I can say is PLEASE PRAY FOR US AND EVERYONE ON THAT PLANE! :-)

We're now busy planning our next expedition -- Lake Havasu, Zion National Park, Oatman, AZ and the San Diego Zoo are all on our "to see" lists! Now we just have to decide where to go next...