Our House - Before and After

Utah Vacation - Day 4: Zion to Vegas to Seattle

Our last vacation day - starting it off right with Hotel Breakfast followed by more pool time as really - what could be a better way to start the day?

 

We packed up and headed back to Vegas and left ourselves a little time to peek at a couple sites in town. We parked at Planet Hollywood and walked through the Miracle Mile Mall (which impressed the kids with things like this outside-inside design). Then we were out on the bustling strip and walked over to the Bellagio Fountains. The fountains were totally worth seeing and having just a tiny peek at Vegas was about right for us. We had a wonderful vacation despite how short it was. And we were all ready to go home Sunday evening!

Utah Vacation - Day 3: Angel's Landing and More Zion

We woke up early and the kids got their favorite thing: Hotel Breakfast! We were inside Zion and waiting to catch the first shuttle bus at 7:00 AM. Parking is tight and there are a lot of people adventuring, so it was nice to get an early start to the day. Woot woot!

 

The rock behind the kids is what we will climb for the Angel's Landing hike. The stats on the screen shot are from halfway - so we went 6.6 miles and gained over 3000' which is a big achievement for the kids. We were hiking around 7:30 AM and finished by 10:30 AM. Not too shabby! We'd set aside all day for it, so we got to relax afterwards most of the day.

The saddle in this picture has switchbacks going up it and then after the saddle, the trail goes straight up into a narrow canyon.

In the canyon - it was sandstone and eroded in really cool patterns.

Climbing out of the canyon in the "Walter's Wiggles" section of tight and numerous switchbacks.

Then hiked out to a ridge and resting point. 

The hike continues straight along the narrow ridge up to the top with chain handrails assisting the way. 

We made it!!! The 360 degree views were really awesome!

Big Bend

Heading  back down Walter's Wiggles.

Looking south down the Zion Valley.

The cottonwoods were bright chartreuse and seemed to glow when the sunlight hit them right.

We celebrated with pretzels at Zion Lodge!

And we stopped at Court of the Patriarchs on the way down canyon, where Edison had a close encounter with this cactus.

Done with hiking - now it is time for relaxing! We finished up with swimming, hot tub, playing Farkle by the fire table, and another WWII: The Sound of Music, which the kids really enjoyed. It was a great day!