And thats, that. Fun facts about my last 3 weeks.

The last few weeks have gone by so fast. I haven’t had the opportunity to write much because I’ve was sitting behind a wheel for 4,000 miles seeing the sights of the U.S.

Now I am sitting on a comfy carpet next to my bed at Ray’s, drinkin my coffee, and thinking about my trip.

I wish I could write about spotting a UFO (cause Lord knows I looked) but I can’t so…

Here is a summary of what has happened. 

Viva Las Vegas.

We were able to find a place outside of Vegas in Henderson NV.  Beautiful resort.  Two Pools and on Lake Las Vegas. We had so much fun just playing in the pools and hanging out at the hotel that we only went into Vegas one day.

I was pretty excited to show the boys Vegas Architecture. We drove through (twice) and looked at all the cool buildings. We saw where they film “Pawn Stars” and we watched the water show at the Caesar’s Palace.

It was sooo hot, so we dipped into a buffet for lunch. Then we headed to Circus Circus for playtime.

In the evening we headed to Old Vegas to catch the Fremont Experience… it was pretty cool.

I think our experience in Vegas was the most relaxing time I’ve had this entire summer. I really enjoyed the sun and the fun and I would definitely do it again.

Interesting facts about Vegas, the entertainment capital of the world:

Over 60,000 pounds of shrimps are consumed in Las Vegas every day, almost as much as in the whole United States.

The world’s biggest mechanical neon sign is that of the cowboy in Las Vegas.

They say it is so big that it can be seen from outer space.

Elvis Presley performed in 837 consecutive sold out shows in Vegas (and he’s not dead).

Flagstaff, AZ

I love driving through the country. I love the land,  the climate changes, the colors, and just the time spent listening to music and chatting.  We left Vegas and headed to Flagstaff to stay the night.  The countryside was so interesting with the huge rocks and hot weather and then dramatically shifting to tall trees and rain.  If you didn’t know you were in AZ you would think you were in WA.   We enjoyed the cool weather and stayed in a comfortable hotel where there was a Mexican wedding going on… how fitting J

We got up early and ate in a really cute diner on Route 66, then headed to the Grand Canyon south rim.

We stopped at “Flintstones Land” and had a blast running around all the stone houses and the awesome theater where they show Flintstones re-runs.  Then after the lightning and rain showers started we decided to head out.

Disclaimer: the last time I went to the Grand Canyon, I was supremely disappointed. Nick and I ventured to the North Rim and it looked so much like Washington I cried, literally sobbed, because it wasn’t what I expected. This time, I was happy.

Despite the massive lightning storms and clouds we were able to see how grand the canyon was.  It was beautiful … and grand.

We took quite a few photos, trying to snap the perfect one of the lightning bolts, but alas, they were too quick for us.

We continued on to Monument Valley.

Fun facts about AZ:

Arizona has 3.928 mountain peaks and summits.. more mountains than any one of the other mountain states.

Yuma is the country’s highest producer of lettuce

Out of all the states in the U.S., AZ has the largest percentage of its land designated as Indian Land.

Billy the kid killed his first man, Windy Cahill, in Bonita, AZ.

Mexican Hat Rock, UT.

Yeah. We did it. We stayed at a town called “Mexican Hat Rock:” A town smaller than Mossyrock and named for an actual rock that looks like a sombrero.   The hotel we stayed at was nice and situated along the river, although we didn’t really spend much time there.

We headed out to see Monument Valley.  I loved it, we spent a few hours driving around the self guided tour where you could gawk at “monumental” size rock formations in the shapes of everything from Russian guards to waving hands.  The colors were amazing, bright reds and oranges and the weather held out staying at around 97 degrees until the storm came.

Also, I happened to stop along a long stretch of hiway to snap a photo… the one that is my background photo on FB right now, and randomly Justin and I noticed a sign to the right.  “Forrest Gump ended his trip here” it said. Amazing!! We stopped at the same point as Forrest.  It was pretty exciting so we took some photos and went on our way.

One thing I forgot to mention was the crazy lightning and hail storm that we drove through out of AZ to UT. Seriously, I don’t think I have ever been this scared in a storm in my life. Huge balls of hail smashed down on our jeep from every direction and cars were strayed all over the road.  The lightning would light up the cloud that surrounded us every 3 minutes or so and I was terrified, although I managed to capture some video. Never again do I want to experience this type of weather.

Kanab, UT

After leaving Monument Valley, we drove back up to UT toward Zion National Park.  We passed through a small town and it was getting late so we decided to grab a cheap motel and squat.  The town was named Kanab and it was a good thing we stopped cause the hail and lightning returned almost immediately after receiving our keys.

The kids were dying for some microwavable food (I don’t know) so we grabbed some hot pockets and some microwavable cauliflower and sat on our beds and watched the Olympics.  This ended up being our every night activity. Olympics and food. J

**Kanab is known as Utah's Little Hollywood because of the large number of motion pictures that are filmed in the area.

Zion National Park, UT

If you know me, you know that I have wanted to go to Zion for so long, even planning the trip to Utah based around it.

The park was beautiful, complete with a mile long tunnel through the mountain. It was soooo hot outside and packed with people that we opted out of the mountain bus tour. We pulled on the side of the road somewhere and treaded our own path down the canyon. We stumbled upon an area that is usually underwater, where the stones are smooth and curvy and there is mud below your feet that is in the shape of waves. It was beautiful. I could have walked forever, but the yearn for a bathroom and some non muddy shoes was stronger. 

We didn’t stay long because we knew we had one more park to see before heading to Salt Lake, and that’s a lot to do in one day!

Bryce Canyon, UT

Geez.  The weather was not on our side. The lightning storms were strong and almost stopped us from going to my other fascination, Bryce Canyon.

There was a small town on the way up the hiway to Bryce and I can’t remember the name but the town couldn’t have been more than a mile long. Within this mile was three separate Rock Shops. Utah likes their rocks and I like their rock shops. We stopped into one that was shaped like a giant rock, chatted with the crazy shop keeper and ate some soft-serve.  Maybe Utah really likes the Flintstones too because they had a replica of a yabba dabba doo car in the front. In any case, it was a much needed stop before continuing on to Bryce.

Bryce was the quickest stop we made to a National Park.  We entered the park and went straight to the canyon. The clouds were ominous and grey but beautifully covered Bryce’s long, tall, skinny red rocks.   I noticed as we walked out to the viewing point that all the women that were standing outside had hair that was sticking straight up. It dawned on me that the lightning  storm that was on its way was causing so much static electricity that your hair stood on end.  It wasn’t safe to stay long, so we jumped back in the car and headed for Salt Lake.

Salt Lake City, UT.

We made it and we were staying for a few days. It was nice to get a small break from driving. I really loved Salt Lake.

The most amazing sunset presented itself as we drove into town, the thick sticky kind with pinks, reds, blues, purples, clouds, sun, sunrays, mountains and water. The most beautiful I’ve ever seen.

In Salt Lake, we relaxed and did some shopping, bowling, mini-golf, eating, reading, and tanning. It was hot, again, but I loved it.  We went to a dollar theater and watched “The Hunger Games,” (sorry Macy) and watched more Olympics in our hotel. 

I think the best part of Salt Lake City was when we went to see Journey and Pat Benetar. Seriously, the kids and Justin were soooo excited. And, Journey killed it. Phenomenal show.

Justin and I decided that instead of paying for another hotel, we would just drive all night to Idaho. So we did.

Fun facts about Utah:

Levan, is "navel" spelled backwards. It is so named because it is in the middle of Utah.

The Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City took 40 years to complete. The Mormon temples in St. George, Manti and Logan Utah were completed before the Salt Lake Temple.

State symbol: The Beehive symbolizes thrift and industry. (and its on every sign)

Beaver is the birthplace of two very famous individuals of the past, Philo T. Farnsworth, the inventor of television and Butch Cassidy, the notorious western outlaw.

Coerdelaine, Cordalane, Coeur D’Alene

First of all, I can’t tell you how much trouble we had spelling the name of this town. Second, everyone and their cousin were here. Its like they followed us from Salt Lake to Idaho just so we had nowhere to stay.  We were so tired after the long drive through the night. We stopped in Montana for some chow and gas  then made it into Idaho and relaxed all morning in a park. In Coeur D’Alene there was a festival going on, which was awesome, it gave us all something fun and cheap to do. We ate and played soccer in the park. It was a really relaxing day.

Our purpose of going to northern Idaho was to go to Silverwood theme park. Oh man, it was fun. We spent two glorious fun filled days there riding rollercoasters (which Parker hated) and jumping in waves in the wave pool (which Parker loved). We had so much fun I would like to make it a regular family vacation, probably  with camping next time.

Northern Idaho is beautiful, covered in lush green forest and blue rivers, the sun was out and the temperature was perfect. We were pretty happy up there.

Fun Facts about Idaho:

Idaho is the 13th Largest State in the U.S.

The deepest river gorge in the North American Continent is Idaho's Hells Canyon - 7,900 feet deep. Yes, it's deeper than the Grand Canyon.

One of the largest diamonds ever found in the United States, nearly 20 carats, was discovered near McCall, Idaho.

A person may not be seen in public without a smile on their face in Pocatello, Idaho.

A treasure is said to be hidden in Beaver Canyon near Spencer, that has never been located. The buried cache is said to be that of the Montana sheriff turned outlaw, Henry Plummer's.

Heading Home. 

On the way to ‘home’ we stopped at two other ‘homes.’ The town of Union Gap where my father grew up and Mossyrock where I grew up.

It was really fun showing the boys the places that I hold so many memories. We ate burgers at Minors in Union Gap and I took them to the “G” theatre in Mossyrock and down Baker Drive.  Parker was so interested in knowing every detail of my childhood there.

Getting home was interesting. Its strange to be away, seeing new faces every day and having new adventures, and then just coming ‘home.’

What a long and wonderful trip. Filled with new people and places and memories. I will place them in a box and keep them forever. But now, here I am.

The saying “home is where the heart is” rings true for me because even though I consider Washington my residence, Im not sure it feels like home. Home is inside of me. Home is what I make it, its my children and its my art. Home is my spirit and my laughter. Home is not a physical place for me any longer, I think I lost home when my father died. Now, home is here, wherever I am, and you are invited over for coffee anytime.

Below I am posting what home is to me. Home.