Utah

On Wednesday 5/13, we set out again

 

 

 

 

 

This time to Salt Lake City, Utah.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We just had a quick overnight stay in Salt Lake City,

 

and our hotel was close to the Salt Lake City Aquarium.  I know that it’s not on the Salt Lake City’s Must See List,

 

but being  Pisces, Traci and I both love sea life and aquariums, so we went for a quick visit – well worth it!

 

 

 

 

 And the very best of all

---

Idaho

After Traci’s sales call the next morning we headed to Idaho – Boise to be precise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Traci and I did some geocaching in a lovely, nearby park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Friday, Traci showed her wares to Care (Carolyn) Anderson – a Boise customer, and then she caught a flight to KC to spend a long weekend with her hubby, Danny.

Tom and I were left on our own to explore, so Care graciously played tour guide taking us to Idaho City, an old mining town in the mountains.

We strolled around taking in the sights,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought this was so cool – must be the teacher in me

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a bit we stopped by the ice cream parlor. I’ve never heard of Marion berries, but damn they make delicious ice cream – YUUUM!

We also visited The Trading Post and spent some time perusing the goods and chuckling over the plaques they had for sale.

 

 

Good times.

 

 

 

On the way back from Idaho City, Care treated us to a relaxing stop at The Springs. I know that it looks like an ordinary swimming pool, but it is actually lovely, warm hot springs water. We soaked in the warm mineral waters,

 

and sipped wine, enjoying the atmosphere of the quiet, regal mountains surrounding us. A wonderful end to a lovely and relaxing day. Thanks, Care. You’re the best!

 

Monday, May 12th was our last day in Las Vegas, so we spent the day wandering around and taking in the sights.

There isn’t much commentary that I can add. A picture’s worth a thousand words, so I’m told, so here are my thousands of words:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And so we bid a fond farewell to Las Vegas. It has been a memorable and wonderful visit.

I know that it is very surprising and frankly sad that we have seen so much of the world but have been so negligent about seeing or own national wonders. Today we finally experienced a national treasure that has been on our Bucket List for some time – the awe inspiring Grand Canyon!  

After a very long drive (4 1/2 hours from Las Vegas), we arrived at the park early afternoon and were greeted at the entrance by an elk.  They wandered freely around the park and didn’t seem mind the humans at all.

 

A short stop at the Visitors Center for an awesome video and a look at the map and other very interesting information –

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

then on to the real thing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our first real glimpse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a very long day but soooo worth the effort. What an Incredible place! What an amazing work of art!

 

 

 

From Grand Junction, Colorado to St. George Utah

On Monday we took it a little more leisurely time in route to St. George, Utah

Doing a little geocaching along the way.

* I have had some queries about geocaching such as, ” What the heck is geocaching?” So let me explain.

Geocaching is, basically, a worldwide scavenger hunt. People all over the world hide geocache containers and then post the GPS coordinates on the geocaching website. When you are geocaching, you have a phone app or hand held GPS that tells you the coordinates of the geocaches in the area in which you are located. Often, there are also hints. When you find one, you add your “name/handle” and the date to the list contained in the cache and then replace the cache where you found it for the next geocacher to find. You then log your find and comments on Geocache.com. Very fun and you get to see areas that you might otherwise miss. Plus it gave us an excuse to get out of the car and stretch.

The first one we searched for involved a pretty strenuous climb and quite a bit of time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We did see some spectacular landscapes and some very pretty cactus flowers during our quest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finally gave up and went for lunch – we’d earned it!

Later we tried another one which turned out to be quite easy.

 

We spent the night in St. George where Traci had a couple of calls the next morning, then it was –

On to Las Vegas!

for a long weekend.

Our first outing was to Red Rock Canyon for some sightseeing and hiking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took a pretty easy trail to what was purported to be a lovely waterfall, but as another hiker aptly stated, it was a “Water trickle.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nonetheless, it was good exercise on a beautiful day, in a gorgeous setting with people I love. In other words, it was perfect!