Friday 6/18/2010

Life on the Road

Okay…so…life on the road can be a little difficult at times. Wednesday and Thursday were pretty rough. Wednesday we left Las Vegas and drove through Death Valley on our way to Sequoia National Park. It may have been the fact that I was tired from staying up too late every night in the city that never sleeps, or it could have been the fact that when air blew in our windows in Death Valley it felt like someone turned the heater on…high, or it might have been the fact that living in such a confined space day and night highlights every difference in opinion that Jeremy and I have, or it could just be that I am even more anal than I realized and without a predictable schedule of events each day I turn into a crazy lady! Whatever the case may be, I was not the easiest to live with for about two days there. It's okay though. When things seem to be at their worst, there is always some breathtaking mountain vista around the next curve, or a fantastic rushing river, or a forest with trees so big that they look like they belong in 'Honey I Shrunk the Kids'.

All that being said, I really should back up a bit, even before our mini vacation in Vegas with the roomies (including Bryson – who might as well live at our house).

This past weekend we were in Zion National Park in Utah. Did we already mention how beautiful Zion is? Amazing! I would definitely go back. It would be a fantastic place to vacation with a family even for a whole week. Who knew that Utah is so amazing? Anyway, Saturday we got a call from Terry and Kay (Jeremy's uncle and aunt) saying that they were going to be in Zion on Sunday. They had been vacationing with their family in Sedona, AZ and are taking the long route home in their little convertible! We decided that we would try to meet with them for lunch at Zion. They treated us to burgers and fries at the Zion Lodge about halfway up Zion Canyon. It was really nice. What fun to see familiar faces along the way! I just wish we could take the top down on our van sometimes to take in the scenery.

After leaving Zion, we headed strait for Vegas. Yeah, yeah…we have been there quite a bit over the past several years, it just keeps sucking us in. Usually it's the pull of the cheap airfare or extremely cheap or free hotel rooms. This time, it seemed to be an easy meeting point for a mini "family" vacation. Yep, that's right, the ShueMoorLLiamSons taking Vegas by storm. Unfortunately, we did not win any money this time! Well, I guess I did take the Bellagio for $2. We had a really fun time together and it was nice to see our roomies. After just a few weeks on the road it already felt like we hadn't seen them in a long time.

After a few days in Vegas, we started making our way here…Sequoia National Park via Death Valley. Like I mentioned before…it was hot. Real hot. I pretty much hated that place, but Jeremy seemed to be able to appreciate the beauty of it. For me, it is an amazing landscape, but I don't find it particularly awe inspiring. This is me…roasting my tail off.

All I could think about this pile of dirt was….mmmm….ice cream with chocolate on top.

The Giant Forest on the other hand makes you feel quite insignificant in the grand scheme. What an amazing place this is! We did a little bit of hiking here and quite a lot of reading. Our second day in the park we hiked to Moro Rock. You could see forever from up there! Amazing!

We even go to see two bears! Don't worry…I have a bear whistle handy to scare them off!

I love it here, but I will be ready to move on to Yosemite tomorrow. I have high hopes for that place. When my dad was young he and a friend spent a lot of time traveling the west (in their own little hippy vanJ) and he says that Yosemite was probably his favorite place to visit. If it's as amazing as every other stop we've made, I won't be let down!

-L