***overlook any spelling and grammar errors. I’ll edit in the morning, after sleep and coffee***

We woke up this morning in St. George, Utah and headed to Zion National Park. Good thing mom actually had the archaic things called maps (thanks Utah Tourism Department) because the cell coverage in the desert was zero to none…

We arrived at our hotel faster that expected but thankfully our room was ready! So we unloaded, packed sandwiches and snacks and headed out for day one in Zion.

Springdale, Utah is the small town that has grown up around Zion with plenty of hotels, restaurants and anything you could need, including one of the most efficient shuttle systems I’ve ever seen… only Disney could rival these shuttles… and I’m not sure these guys aren’t better.😳

So we hopped on the Springdale shuttle, which makes 9 stops in Springdale. There is a shuttle stop within 50 yards of our hotel,

and we rode directly into the Park. We purchased an Annual Pass to the National Parks for $80 so all our parks through July of 2020 are covered.

On to Zion, WOW! The views! The history! I have to take a moment and acknowledge President Theodore Roosevelt for creating our National Parks System. These places are gorgeous! I can’t get over that we have these breathtaking areas reserved in our country, and that people come to visit and don’t litter, or destroy by taking advantage of it.

We talked to the Park Ranger and since there is a chance of thunderstorms tomorrow, we decided to get some of our big hikes in today. So off we went to hike the Narrows!

Along the way, we had a picnic and fought off some overfriendly and chunky squirrels not a bad view for lunchThis place is little boy heaven, and a parent’s nightmare! The boys wanted to climb everything, and normally, I’m the go-ahead-climb-it parent, and Mike is the worrier but here… with these sheer rocks and dangerous drop-offs and edges – whew! I’m giving Mike a run for his money for most nervous parent 😀We finally found some common ground and they climbed and climbed… not until their hearts were content, but as much as our nerves would stand 😬

Maybe some yoga will help my nerves 🤣

We hiked through about half the Narrows – just like it sounds, they are narrow passages between the giant mountains. Very cool and a little intimidating. The water was fast moving and the rocks were slick so it was slow going at times. There was also a dark cloud with thunder booms nearby. The Rangers warned about flash flooding, and how quickly it could happen, so we were proceeding with cautious excitement 😊

Michael slipped at one point and lost his slide (shoe) then when he went to grab it, and the current almost took his feet out from under him. There was definitely a moment of fear there for a second. I never believed it when people say 6 inches of water could knock a grown man off his feet, but I think we all do now. (Thankfully a kind man down the water caught Michael’s shoes for him 😊)

After we finished the Narrows or as far in as we wanted to go, we caught the shuttle to Weeping Rock. Water comes in on top of the mountains, and is absorbed. And then travels through all the rock, until it ultimately finds a way out… and when it does, it’s the Weeping Rock

Guess who got soaking wet?We then headed to the Lower Emerald Pools (the middle and upper level hikes were closed due to rock slides… and they’re also listed as strenuous hikes – but we were totally going to do the strenuous hikes if they weren’t closed (yea, right 🥵)). This was quite a hike itself so I can’t imagine what the other hikes entailed –

But the views were just amazing!

We skipped the visitors center, movie and museum for today – we can check those out tomorrow especially if it’s raining. We did get wet again while Leo practiced stone-skipping and Michael built the Brown Rock tower in the river.We calculated we hiked about 8 miles total today so we are wiped out – again.

We grabbed dinner at Jack’s Sports Grill near the hotel, and Michael decided to try something new – Bison Burger! It was delicious!!! It was so good that we’re thinking of going back tomorrow and have another one 🤪

I can’t imagine how you see all this and don’t believe that there is a God in Heaven and that he loves you very much. There is no way something this beautiful just “happened”.

The boys swam after dinner and to just put the perfect ending on today, we had a rainbow over the mountain ❤️

Tomorrow is supposed to be significantly cooler – high of only 80, and were headed out for horseback riding if it doesn’t storm. (Never thought I’d think 80° wasn’t hot, but then again the 95° today, compared to 114° yesterday, felt downright pleasant 🤪🤣🤪)

*apologies in advance for spelling and grammar mistakes… I’ll fix in the morning after some sleep and coffee 🤪*

Vacation is one of the few times in our lives, we are early and/or on time for anything. Plus, being on west coast time, means 8am here is really 11am to us. The Best Western in Boulder City was really nice. And the fact that it was a whopping $65 a night with breakfast was even better 😉

We packed up and headed out to the Hoover Dam. Apparently, this was a bucket list item for Mike. The drive and scenery were beautiful. The pictures really don’t do it justice. The Hoover Dam is HUGE! It is just hard to wrap your mind around how big this thing is.

The tour is worth every penny to see not just the Dam but the power plant portion. And the boys thoroughly enjoyed discussing “the Dam Tour” and “how awesome the Dam Tour is.” The guides told us “kids love coming on the Dam Tour” and even point out “the Dam bat” who lived in the Dam 🤣🤣I became hilariously obsessed with this guy who filmed EVERYTHING the guide said! Seriously, everything! I can’t imagine he is going to go home and sit and watch Ben, the tour guide’s speech on water distributions to the 7 states who have water rights at the Dam. We loved the tunnels and looking out of vent grate, that was just a little high 😳.

and watching Mike nervously cross a floor grate that was so deep you couldn’t see the bottom!

Leo found out they were serious that you should go to restroom before the tour starts because there is NO restroom on the Dam tour. The size of the generators inside the power plant were shocking. They alternate which generators run each day, and using the power of water, they generate enough power for a 1.5 million homes. They also have enough water in reserve for 20+ years, although they’ve been in “drought conditions” for the past 23 years.

The Visitors Center had great exhibits on the history of the Dam and how it was built. Turns out despite all the rumors there aren’t any bodies buried in the Hoover Dam… or so they want you to believe 🤨. There were also some “Tony Stark” style touchscreen exhibits that the boys loved.

And awesome views of the Dam.

We spent some time outside looking at the Dam…but OH MY WORD! It was so hot! 🥵 Not regular North Carolina hot. We’re talking surface of the sun hot! ☀️ It was a scorching 114° today 😳🥵 Granted little to no humidity but 114° is HOT!

We left the Hoover Dam and the Dam Tour, headed back Boulder City for lunch. This town was something out of a Hollywood set. Clearly they depend on tourism and they definitely keep everything clean and picturesque.

Lunch was the Southwest Diner recommended by the folks at Best Western. Everything was homemade and the burritos were awesome!We left Boulder City headed to Henderson, Nevada… home to the closest WalMart 🤪 but seriously, we wanted to get a cooler, drinks, sandwich stuff and snacks for the next 2 weeks. On the way we caught sights of a few dust devils.We also passed Nallis Air Force Base. The base is so large that it has it’s own zip code.

It is home to the largest number of squadrons of all US airbases, which the boys happily watched as we drove… including fighter jets!

In planning this trip, I read lots about the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, and it just happened to be only 25 miles off our route 😉

This is the most aptly named place I have ever seen, and as beautiful as the pictures are, they don’t come close to what it really looks like.

Fun fact: The Valley of Fire is the very first state park in Nevada

We hiked and climbed for hours!

you know it’s hot when even the Park Service says the heat is “extreme”

Mike and Michael spotted a long horn sheep

And then we found his girlfriend who held up traffic and refused to move for a while 😂

I hate to post purely landscape photos but the Valley of Fire was just that awesome We drove from one stop to the next, hiking as we wanted (or could stand in the heat… I have a new appreciation for the turkey on Thanksgiving!)

By the time we left the Valley of Fire, and the heat, we were wiped out! We headed on to Utah… said goodbye to Nevada, and hello Arizona – we only clipped the edge of it, but it counts and we’ll be back in a few days

The Terrain was become more mountainous and hilly and then we rolled right on into Utah…

From the cross-country travel, the hiking, the heat…We were wiped out! Monday night excitement was the The Meg on television and Dominoes delivery 🤪 it was perfect! And the snoring soon ensued 😴😴😴

We woke up bright and early in the metropolis of Climax, North Carolina and ended the day in the metropolis of Boulder City, Nevada… with a couple of stops in Chicago and Las Vegas along the way.

We started the day bright and early but so excited! Got the airport with plenty of time, and then received No worries. Remember, we delayed the second leg of our flight, so plenty of time to make our connection in Chicago. Moments, I mean moments, later, we receive a “Oops, our bad. You’re not really delayed” text from United airlines. But again no worries. Plenty of time…

The 1st leg of the flight was uneventful with 2 VERY excited boys and a happy mama and daddy.

Leo says the flying is one of the best parts of the vacation.

Michael really loved me taking his picture… over and over and over

(he loved it 🤪)

We had a 2+ hour layover in Chicago, and that really worked out because Chicago O’Hare is ginormous!!! It took us at least 30 minutes just to walk to our gate. God was looking out for us when He caused us to reschedule last night. Thankful for small mercies 😊

The extra time gave us time to explore…Eat…

Shoe shine – or pretend shoe shine…Self-playing-magic piano…and iPad

We had to rearrange a bit to get Leo and I beside each other. Shockingly the person in the middle seat didn’t object to switching with me to sit on the aisle 🤷🏻‍♀️ and on this flight, I stole kisses from Leo and from my big boy ahead of me

After a very bumpy descent and landing – We made it!Welcome to Vegas Baby 🎲🕺❤️

It took a while to get the rental car and get on the road, but we worked our way to the Strip. The boys love NewYork, NewYork, the Luxor and Paris

They just couldn’t understand why we wanted to wait 20 minutes to see the fountains at the Bellagio… until they started…(and as a side note, I will never be wearing this dress again… I always thought it made me look cute and/or thin… oh no, no, no, instead i can choose between fat and/or pregnant. Um, Nope.)

LoL 😂 their faces with some of the “sights and sounds” of Vegas. Leo said this town was scary, with way too many signs about Hot Babes! Michael want to know why do the women all get their pictures made in either bra or shirtless! 🤦🏻‍♀️ all valid observations, and I can’t wait to remind them of these when they’re a teenagers 🤣🤣🤣

We explored the Shops on the Miracle Mile, especially the Nestle Tollhouse store and the Sugar Factory. Anyone for a GIANT Jawbreaker? A quick stop on the “streets of Paris”

And we were off, and headed to Boulder City, Nevada. The landscape was unreal compared to North Carolina Boulder City is like a little piece of Radiator Springs (remember from Disney’s Cars). It is a really cute town built around Hoover Dam.

We are staying at Best Western which is the only chain hotel in town. Mike is considering this as a camping because as close to camping as he gets is a hotel that’s doors open to the outside. Guess what? The doors here open to the outside 🤣🤪. It’s not fancy, but it’s clean and beds are comfy so perfect for us!

We grabbed dinner at a local joint, Fox Smokehouse BBQ. Surprise we found barbecue 🐖🐖🐖 it was literally at the end of a strip mall off a side road but it was awesome! Brisket, ribs, pulled pork, fries, fried okra, bacon beans (that’s not a typo, it’s not baked beans, it’s bacon baked beans), and mac&cheese!

And yes, they are as tired as they look! They voluntarily skipped the pool tonight and said they thought they’d just go to bed! 😳

We finished dinner and we’re back in the car by 7:45, and it was still just a little warm outside

So the party-down Browns were back at the hotel by 8, all showered and in bed by 8:30… and all but me were snoring before 9pm (but that is midnight EST).

Hoover Dam is on the itinerary tomorrow and it’s also the supposed to be the hottest day of our trip 🥵😬 Pray for shade and cool tempers 😉

Tomorrow is the big day – again! We are heading out for another cross-country adventure and checking 5 states off our goal of 50! This trip will put us to 21 states visited… (and we’re considering counting Illinois since we have an unscheduled 4-hour lay-over tomorrow in Chicago).

I spent the day:

picking Michael up from camp ❤️;getting Sampson settled; visiting the pigs; and packing. CMT put me in a perfect vacation mood by playing Vacation

United Airlines, on the other hand, tried to give me a heart attack.

Originally, we were to leave Greensboro at 7:30am, arriving in Chicago at 8:40am, and departing for Las Vegas at 10:30am with a 12:45pm arrival time. At 7:53pm, we get the following text from UnitedNow I’m not sure how they know 11 hours ahead of time that someone else’s delay will cause my delay but whatever. So now the question is will we make our connection? Um, have you been to O’Hare? 10 minutes probably not enough time to get the 4 of us and our luggage across that massive airport. So we call United, made arrangements, get on a later flight, notify the car rental peeps… all’s well with the world. It’s 8:54pm now. And then we get another text: This text should have just said: “Our bad, we’re not real delayed, just a little delayed. Oops.” 🤦🏻‍♀️ I. Just. Can’t.

If you’ve traveled with me, you have had the joy (horror) of relishing (enduring) my over-preparedness (obsessive compulsion) of details. There are folders and itineraries. BUT I am nothing if not flexible (insert laughter) so if this is as bad as it gets, it’s no big deal.

So Whew! We’re packed, and everyone but me is asleep. Honestly, I’m afraid I’m going to be up all night checking my phone for another text. This one will probably say “never mind, we can’t read a radar, so everything is back to original time.” 😬🤪