AZ to Nevada

Woke up this morning in a hotel just outside of Zion National Park. The air was crisp and smelled of dry mountains. It was a unique experience stepping out of the room as the sun peaked over massive rusty colored cliffs. Taking a deep breath I was glad for the trip. Our path towards the Grand Canyon took us back through Zion for another amazing scenic view. We discovered that the crazy long tunnel carved directly through a massive mountain was made in the 1930s. This may be my new favorite park! While I drove Emily read about the park and revealed that the high mountains of Colorado drain water and wind which created Zion that led to the Arizona deserts which culminated in the Grand Canyon. So after Zion we found ourselves in 100° weather flying through Arizona desert. By chance, we came upon horseshoe bend which was also a sight to behold. I did see kayakers and if it wasn’t for the heat I would love to kayak the Colorado river. All of these places have such spectacular viewpoints. Finally after what seemed like an eternity of driving we arrived at the Grand Canyon. It was so massive that it looked fake. A canyon as far as the eye could see that stretched in every direction. It was so deep that we could barely see the bottom. In fact, as I was leaning over a large stone slab at waste height to peer of the vertigo inducing precipitous drop off my future Darwin Award winning mut leaped up onto the slab to see what I was viewing. I could see it in his eyes the instant his gaze cleared the slab to see the 1000’ drop in the other side. It was a mixture of, “oh $hit” and “dad save me!!”  Luckily I had a hint he may do something that foolish so I snagged him back. But to Emily it appeared that we almost lost our dog in the Grand Canyon... after the heart attacks settled we continued our way around the south rim. I would love to come back and hike down and train/donkey back up. It was beautiful there. At this point after 9 hours of driving Emily took over for our drive to Vegas. The sun set over the desert as we drove and planned our next attack. I was starting to get exhausted grumpy which happens to me later in the evenings without rest. We made it to Las Vegas and cruised the strip at night which was a different kind of amazing. We saw the great glittering pyramid, Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, Bellagio fountains, and much more before arriving at our hotel and collapsing in exhaustion. What a day!