Monday, July 23, 2007
Vacation Day by Day
I haven't had the time I expected to detail out the trip, so before I forget here are notes on our daily activities while on our recent vacation (kind of long, but more for my benefit than yours anyway!).
One item of note - we decided to collect smashed pennies wherever we could (those machines that smash the penny and impress a design of some sort).
I'll try and add pictures and links in future posts.
Friday, July 6th
The biggest challenge of the day was figuring out how to attach the cargo bag to the top of the Suburban. Once we had that figured out, we headed out. We drove from home to Salina, Utah in about 9 hours. Crossing the desert was VERY hot. We saw a high temperature of 119 around Las Vegas.
Through the course of the day, we were in 4 US states: California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah.
The girls and I got to swim in the pool at the hotel, but otherwise it was an uneventful day.
Saturday, July 7th
We drove the rest of the way to Colorado Springs (a little under 9 hours). Along the way, we stopped at a number of scenic view points in Utah and Colorado (our 5th US state of the trip). We saw a low temperature of 51 degrees while crossing the Rocky Mountains - a major change from yesterday!
As we approached Colorado Springs, we met up with my brother and his family (a.k.a, the Colorado George Family) for dinner. They were just getting home from vacation in Oregon. We also got to stop by and see their house for the first time.
Sunday, July 8th
- Air Force Academy - smashed our first pennies.
- Garden of the Gods trip 1 - more penny smashing (Trading Post).
- Played card game "Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot" with the Colorado Georges.
Monday, July 9th
- Garden of the Gods trip 2 - still more penny smashing (Visitors Center).
- Geocaching (we found one and attempted, but failed, on a second).
- Movie: Ratatouille with Colorado Georges.
Tuesday, July 10th
- Pikes Peak via Cog Railway (penny smashing again).
- Manitou Springs old time family photo with Colorado Georges.
- Manitou Springs Melodrama Theater.
Wednesday, July 11th
- White Water Rafting with Colorado Georges (the most popular family activity this trip). Celeste wanted to keep going!
- Train Ride through the bottom of Royal Gorge.
- HUGE afternoon thunderstorm prevented visiting the Royal Gorge bridge at the top of the Royal Gorge.
- Several hours of laundry for Celeste & I, everyone else got to swim.
Thursday, July 12th
- 12+ hour drive from Colorado Springs to Springdale, Utah.
- Penny smashing at Red Rock Amphitheatre.
- Photos of Eagle Scout Andrew in Eagle, Colorado. Good fudge at the visitor's center!
- Arrive in Springdale, UT well after dark. Hotel lobby was closed, but they left us a note for our room number. Key was in the door waiting for us.
Suburban oil light came intermittently towards the end of the drive.
Friday, July 13th
Zion National Park
- Rode tram to Zion Lodge.
- Penny smashing at Zion Lodge.
- Escaped heat in hotel room.
- Found out that the Suburban needed 3 quarts of oil (a mystery since we had an oil change days before leaving and had no problems crossing the Rocky Mtns twice!).
- Beth/Rob evening hikes to Weeping Rock and the Riverwalk in Zion (including a small portion of the river hike towards the Narrows).
Saturday, July 14th
- Beth/Rob hike to Emerald Pools in Zion.
- 3 hour drive to Las Vegas. Stopped for buffet lunch in Mesquite, Nevada. Girls play Keno for the first time ever (ok, technically to give us numbers to play Keno). I think we started a gambling addiction.
- Check in at Excalibur.
- Drive to Circus Circus AdventureDome. Play games (Hayley won a stuffed dog), smashed more pennies.
- Noted a trip-high temperature of 127 when we got back to the car in the parking garage at Circus Circus!
- Return to hotel and drove the strip after dark to let kids see the lights.
- Rob/Beth walk to M&M World on strip for M&M purchasing and more penny smashing.
- Rob/Beth/Drew walk to Houdini's Magic Shop (Drew's company) at New York, New York hotel.
- Rob/Beth/Drew walk to Luxor to see the inside of the pyramid and find out that cool Egyptian-themed chips are no longer sold (they are ditching that theme, kind of odd for a pyramid shaped hotel?).
Sunday, July 15th
- Breakfast in the Excalibur Coffee Shop. The girls wanted their last chance to play Keno. We had a net loss of $2 from our entire Keno play.
- Ethel M Chocolate Factory tour. We did our last penny smashing of the trip, got some chocolate, took a few pictures in the cactus garden, then headed home.
The 5 hour drive home was fairly uneventful and safe, but hot.
One item of note - we decided to collect smashed pennies wherever we could (those machines that smash the penny and impress a design of some sort).
I'll try and add pictures and links in future posts.
Friday, July 6th
The biggest challenge of the day was figuring out how to attach the cargo bag to the top of the Suburban. Once we had that figured out, we headed out. We drove from home to Salina, Utah in about 9 hours. Crossing the desert was VERY hot. We saw a high temperature of 119 around Las Vegas.
Through the course of the day, we were in 4 US states: California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah.
The girls and I got to swim in the pool at the hotel, but otherwise it was an uneventful day.
Saturday, July 7th
We drove the rest of the way to Colorado Springs (a little under 9 hours). Along the way, we stopped at a number of scenic view points in Utah and Colorado (our 5th US state of the trip). We saw a low temperature of 51 degrees while crossing the Rocky Mountains - a major change from yesterday!
As we approached Colorado Springs, we met up with my brother and his family (a.k.a, the Colorado George Family) for dinner. They were just getting home from vacation in Oregon. We also got to stop by and see their house for the first time.
Sunday, July 8th
- Air Force Academy - smashed our first pennies.
- Garden of the Gods trip 1 - more penny smashing (Trading Post).
- Played card game "Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot" with the Colorado Georges.
Monday, July 9th
- Garden of the Gods trip 2 - still more penny smashing (Visitors Center).
- Geocaching (we found one and attempted, but failed, on a second).
- Movie: Ratatouille with Colorado Georges.
Tuesday, July 10th
- Pikes Peak via Cog Railway (penny smashing again).
- Manitou Springs old time family photo with Colorado Georges.
- Manitou Springs Melodrama Theater.
Wednesday, July 11th
- White Water Rafting with Colorado Georges (the most popular family activity this trip). Celeste wanted to keep going!
- Train Ride through the bottom of Royal Gorge.
- HUGE afternoon thunderstorm prevented visiting the Royal Gorge bridge at the top of the Royal Gorge.
- Several hours of laundry for Celeste & I, everyone else got to swim.
Thursday, July 12th
- 12+ hour drive from Colorado Springs to Springdale, Utah.
- Penny smashing at Red Rock Amphitheatre.
- Photos of Eagle Scout Andrew in Eagle, Colorado. Good fudge at the visitor's center!
- Arrive in Springdale, UT well after dark. Hotel lobby was closed, but they left us a note for our room number. Key was in the door waiting for us.
Suburban oil light came intermittently towards the end of the drive.
Friday, July 13th
Zion National Park
- Rode tram to Zion Lodge.
- Penny smashing at Zion Lodge.
- Escaped heat in hotel room.
- Found out that the Suburban needed 3 quarts of oil (a mystery since we had an oil change days before leaving and had no problems crossing the Rocky Mtns twice!).
- Beth/Rob evening hikes to Weeping Rock and the Riverwalk in Zion (including a small portion of the river hike towards the Narrows).
Saturday, July 14th
- Beth/Rob hike to Emerald Pools in Zion.
- 3 hour drive to Las Vegas. Stopped for buffet lunch in Mesquite, Nevada. Girls play Keno for the first time ever (ok, technically to give us numbers to play Keno). I think we started a gambling addiction.
- Check in at Excalibur.
- Drive to Circus Circus AdventureDome. Play games (Hayley won a stuffed dog), smashed more pennies.
- Noted a trip-high temperature of 127 when we got back to the car in the parking garage at Circus Circus!
- Return to hotel and drove the strip after dark to let kids see the lights.
- Rob/Beth walk to M&M World on strip for M&M purchasing and more penny smashing.
- Rob/Beth/Drew walk to Houdini's Magic Shop (Drew's company) at New York, New York hotel.
- Rob/Beth/Drew walk to Luxor to see the inside of the pyramid and find out that cool Egyptian-themed chips are no longer sold (they are ditching that theme, kind of odd for a pyramid shaped hotel?).
Sunday, July 15th
- Breakfast in the Excalibur Coffee Shop. The girls wanted their last chance to play Keno. We had a net loss of $2 from our entire Keno play.
- Ethel M Chocolate Factory tour. We did our last penny smashing of the trip, got some chocolate, took a few pictures in the cactus garden, then headed home.
The 5 hour drive home was fairly uneventful and safe, but hot.
Labels: Penny Smashing, Vacation
# posted by - Rob @ 1:24 PM 
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Wow - fun trip!
I like how you ended on the Ethel M factory trip. Lee & I did that on our honeymoon. I registered with them, and for a few years I'd get a free chocolate certificate for my birthday. The trouble was finding an Ethel M store! There was one in Torrance at that massive mall - Delamo Fashion Center. Apparently no longer there (Ethel M's website only gives Illinois & Nevada addresses for locations). And just totally off the topic - Trevor shoplifted a yellow ball there when he was a baby. The one & only trip there, he was in a baby backpack, and after 3 hours of walking thru the mall (and getting my chocolate) we got back to the car & he had a ball with him - no clue where he picked it up!
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I like how you ended on the Ethel M factory trip. Lee & I did that on our honeymoon. I registered with them, and for a few years I'd get a free chocolate certificate for my birthday. The trouble was finding an Ethel M store! There was one in Torrance at that massive mall - Delamo Fashion Center. Apparently no longer there (Ethel M's website only gives Illinois & Nevada addresses for locations). And just totally off the topic - Trevor shoplifted a yellow ball there when he was a baby. The one & only trip there, he was in a baby backpack, and after 3 hours of walking thru the mall (and getting my chocolate) we got back to the car & he had a ball with him - no clue where he picked it up!
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