Craig's blog

Today was a day of contrasts. I woke up before everyone else this morning in beautiful Zion park. I sat outside (it was 73 degrees) reading for awhile and then went for a bike ride. I rode the shuttle route up to the end of the canyon (at least of the road). It was a gorgeous ride and also great because cars are not allowed on the road (just the shuttles). It was a 16 mile round trip that was a total pleasure.

When I got back I made pancakes and eggs for everyone and then we packed off and headed off for Las Vegas. Well actually I dropped Patty and the kids at the visitor’s center and went to the dump station. The kids got their junior ranger badges for Zion.

The drive to Las Vegas was incredible. We drove into a driving head wind and the temperature ranged between 106 and 112. The Suburban was really working to keep everything cool, but turned out to be totally capable of it. I was impressed.

Here in Las Vegas we are staying at the Golden Nugget because the pool sounded exciting. There is a water slide that goes through a huge saltwater tank that has sharks in it. It’s an interesting gimmick, but other than that the pool is pretty ordinary and the kids were sort of disappointed. After swimming we had a good dinner in the hotel and then drove to the strip (which is about 5 miles away). About 10:15 the kids were really running out of gas so I hustled back and got the car and we came back. It’s a late night for them as we gained an hour today. What a difference from this morning riding my bike through Zion to tonight driving down the Las Vegas strip. It’ll be nice to get back to camping tomorrow. We’re off to June Lake (assuming we can find a camping spot without a reservation).