Day 7 - Sedona and Meteor Crater

Today we decided to backtrack a little and go to Sedona since we ran out of time yesterday. Before that, we stopped at the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, AZ. It's along historic Route 66 and some of the ideas from the movie Cars came from this motel (or the one in Rialto, CA).

Me with the teepees and the classic cars (including our Prius - it'll be a classic one day!)

Is this the inspiration for Mater from the movie Cars? Maybe a combo of both?
Historic Route 66

Then we were off to Sedona. Our first stop was the Sedona Visitor's Center. I highly recommend stopping at the Visitor Center if you're unsure of what you want to do in the area you're at. We knew we wanted to see certain rock formations, we just didn't know how to get there. The helpful folks at the Visitor Center gave us a map and directions to where we wanted to go. Jenn wanted to see Snoopy Rock. The guide at the Visitor Center told us to turn around and look out the window. There it was! Pretty funny!

Jenn with Snoopy Rock - can you guess which one it is? Hint: it's one of the smaller formations

Next was the Chapel of the Holy Cross, a chapel built into the surrounding rocks. Quite impressive!

On the way to our next stop, I spotted this local:

And these crazy creatures:

Actually, it was the Ye Olde UFO Store, a museum/shop in Sedona. We did a quick walk through and saw some interesting things!

Then it was off to the Meteor Crater, a 50,000 year old impact crater in the middle of the Arizona desert. It's a National Monument but since it's privately owned, the admission was $15 each! But we really wanted to see it so we paid and took in the views.

Jenn walked all the way down into the crater. I said no way, I'm staying at the top!
Just kidding! This is a photo taken with a backdrop at the museum.

Day 6 - Grand Canyon

I woke up today feeling a little weird. Not sick, something just didn't feel right. I think it might have been that we had stayed overnight at nearly 7000 feet and the altitude got to me a bit. But as the day went on, I began to feel better, so I was able to enjoy the canyon.

When we got to the Grand Canyon parking area, the skies darkened and it started to drizzle. By the time we got to see the canyon, here's the view we had:


So we spent a lot of time checking out the visitor's center and the bookstore, while using the restroom hand dryers to dry ourselves off in between. But as the day went on, the rain moved on and the blue sky and sun came out. We checked out a few spots, like the Yavapai Observation Station, then we transfered to the Hermit's Rest route, where we checked out Mohave Point:

Then we went to see the Abyss:


Nearby I saw this cactus flower:

And of course, here's a view of straight downnnnnnn.....

Only saw two animals all day, a squirrel and this raven chick:

We thought we'd have enough time to visit Sedona but we spent so much time at the Grand Canyon, we didn't have enough time. So, a change of plans for tomorrow. Instead of heading off to New Mexico, we decided to go back to Sedona and see the red rock country.

Day 5 - Driving to the Grand Canyon

Not much to report today. Did a bit of gambling (lost a little of course), then headed out to Arizona. Drove over the Hoover Dam, then straight to Tusayan, where we're staying for the night before catching a shuttle to the Grand Canyon South Rim tomorrow.

Welcome to Arizona!

Day 4 - Hoover Dam and the Strip

Today we drove over to the Hoover Dam from Vegas. We didn't do any of the tours, just bought tickets so we could go through the visitor's center, mainly displays about the history of the dam and a higher observation deck. We also walked across the dam and looked way downnnnn....

Dave and Jenn at the Hoover Dam (I wish when strangers took your photo they'd take less of you and more of the attraction)

Here's a better photo (taken by Jenn)

Even though the dam was impressive, I thought this was cooler. A gigantic bridge being built to alleviate traffic over the dam.

On the way back to Vegas, we stopped at Boulder City for a few virtual caches. Here's the first virtual, the first cache found of our road trip!

Later that night, we drove down to the Bellagio to check out the conservatory and the fountain show. Every trip to Vegas, this is the one hotel we have to stop by, not to gamble, but to check out what's new.

Jenn underneath water at the Bellagio Conservatory

A very old ferris wheel at the Conservatory

Jenn with her favorite glass sculptures near the Bellagio front desk

Fountain display at the Bellagio (song was Viva Las Vegas by Elvis)

Tomorrow, off to the Grand Canyon.

Day 3 - Disneyland and Vegas, Baby!

Our day started with repacking all of our stuff, checking out and jumping on the Candy Cane Inn shuttle to Disneyland.

We started at DCA, where Jenn got to ride her favorite ride, Tower of Terror. Then after riding Monster's Inc, we were off to Disneyland, where we noticed it wasn't as packed as the previous day. We think it's because half of LA was at the Lakers victory party.

We were a bit hungry so we enjoyed a yummy hand-dipped corn dog for a snack. Stood in line for a while to ride Peter Pan, then one last ride on Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters. And finally, our last ride for a while was of course, Pirates of the Caribbean. Then one last stroll along Main Street before heading back to the hotel and taking off for Vegas.

Main Entrance

Enchanted Tiki Room

For all you geocachers, doesn't this look like a giant nano?

Drove up 15, through Barstow, then past Primm, and finally into Vegas. After checking in at the Main Street Station (free room, yeah!), we went straight to Market Street Cafe at the Cal for miso butterfish, fruit punch, and guava juice, yum! Gambled a bit, actully ended up $2.50! Off to Hoover Dam tomorrow.

Welcome to Nevada!

Vegas through the raindrops

Day 2 - Disneyland

Our first full day at Disneyland and man were the parks packed! We didn't get to ride as many rides as we wanted to because the lines were just too long for us! We started at California Adventure, riding Toy Story Midway Mania:


Then we watched "It's Tough To Be a Bug":


After riding a couple of other rides at DCA, it was off to Disneyland but not before visiting our Brick in the plaza between the parks.

Main Street was packed!

Then after a break, it was back to DCA to play Midway Mania again. We did better this time, pretty decent scores:


The Paradise Pier construction is going well, with the Mickey's Fun Wheel redesign and the new World of Color fountain show being built.


Then we watched our favorite parade of all time, Disney's Electrical Parade:


Then back over to Disneyland to ride Haunted Mansion, and Buzz Lightyear:

Here's something I saw in one of the windows along Main Street that I thought was sort of funny:

Dave and Jenn's Road Trip - Day 1

Today was the day we moved out of our apartment, packed everything we owned (except for stuff we shipped back to Maui) into the Prius, and hit the road. We thought we were going to leave around 9:30am but of course that didn't happen. First, Jenn made a short trip to the dentist, then we underestimated how long it'd take to clean the apartment, pack everything up, and load the car. We ended up leaving around 1:45pm.

The Prius loaded up

We dropped some stuff at my brother's office, then started down to SoCal. We also stopped at our favorite rest stop before the Grapevine. Why is it our favorite? I have no idea!


A few hours later, we were at our first stop, Disneyland! By the time we got to the park, it was just enough time to eat a nice fried chicken dinner at Plaza Inn, while watching the fireworks show. Then off to Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, then Buzz Lightyear. Then back to the hotel to get a good night sleep after a long day one.

Sleeping Beauty's Castle lighted in LA Lakers colors

Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters

Waiting for the Candy Cane Inn shuttle