Zion National Park was our hands-down favourite! Zion Canyon is 15 miles long with reddish walls that rise dramatically 2500' above the valley floor, it's breathtaking. We stayed just south of the park and came in Friday to hike Angel's Landing and Saturday to hike The Narrows. Sara's parents Sue and Rex drove out to join us and were staying at the Zion NP Lodge, so we got some good hang-out time with them too.
Lake Powell is a Colorado River reservoir held back by the Glen Canyon Dam. It's a figurative sea of cool water in a very hot desert, and we needed a break from all the heat! Wednesday we rented a 44' pontoon boat and spent the day exploring the bays and canyons, plus jumping off the boat and swimming of course. Thursday we hiked to see some dinosaur tracks and a set of amazing sandstone caves before driving into Zion.
The Grand Canyon is one of the most iconic National Parks in America. Photos don't work, it's too big, too colourful, too stunning. Monday we hiked a short section of Bright Angel trail and some of the South Rim Trail, but the kids got hot and upset so we ended up chilling out at the RV park. Tuesday we rode mules along another section of the Rim Trail, then drove to Lake Powell.
Days 1-2 were all about getting started: we flew into Pheonix, met up with the Sheffields, picked up our RVs, provisioned, and drove to Sedona AZ for our first night. The next day we hiked the Devil's Bridge Trail, visited Flagstaff, and drove to our next stop at the Grand Canyon.
Harriet just graduated 4th grade, which means we can see "America's natural wonders and historic sites" for free with the Every Kid Outdoors pass!
We rented a 30' RV and spent two wonderful weeks driving the Grand Circle loop and hiking national parks with our family friends the Sheffields. Couldn't have done it with anyone else.
We packed up the kids and took Carnival Glory to the Eastern Caribbean, stopping at Nassau (Bahamas), St. Thomas (US Virgin Islands, where Joe and Sarah were married), San Juan (Puerto Rico), and the Grand Turk (Turks and Caicos).
My folks rented a country farmhouse in Southern France, near Perpignan. Extended family gathered. A good time was had by all.
Babymoon! Sara and I found the time and money for two amazing weeks in Spain and France. The first few days of our trip we chilled out in Barcelona. What a fantastic city! We found an amazing hotel right in the Barri Gotic just next to the Placa de Catalunya, the transportation center of the downtown region.
I had an unexpected free day during a business trip to Vienna, and rather than working (which I do enough on the weekends), I rented a motorcycle and explored the Wienerwald, the "Vienna Woods" at the top end of the Alps.
It's a lovely rural area with all of the beautiful mountain scenery you would expect from Austria. Rolling green hills, soaring rocky peaks, stone castles, tiny towns, and small narrow twisty roads. Perfect! With road elevations below 3000ft and unseasonably warm weather, I didn't have to worry about snow.
My family has suddenly discovered that vacations are fun. It all started with a two week vacation in Italy for John's 60th in April 2008. I met Bekks and John in Brussels on business in September, then Ben + Allison and Joe flew out to California for Christmas and New Years. Who knew traveling was so cool?
