Zion Day 3
adminOur last day in Zion the road to the northern part of the park was open again, so we managed to get a few different hikes in. It was a long day, but we saw some great views. And Katie, we made it to the entrance of The Narrows! 🙂
Zion Day 2
We decided to get away from Zion on our second day and check out some of the less touristy things in the area. We really got lucky with these 2 picks.
1) First up we drove a few miles into the desert on a little dirt road/trail and crossed the Arizona border to the “Little Black Mountain Petroglyph Site.” There was not a single person around and we hiked all over looking at 8000-year-old petroglyphs on the rock walls. You can just walk right up and touch them (don’t worry, we didn’t actually touch them). 
AMAZING!
2) Next was a 10-mile drive into the desert in another direction to see the “Warner Valley Dinosaur Tracks.”. It’s just a spot in the desert with nobody around where almost 400 fossilized dinosaur tracks were found. We walked all over the area exploring, and the scenery was beautiful. No park system, no rangers, no tourists. We had a blast!
Zion Day 1
We were not sure how this trip to Zion National Park was going to work out with the government shutdown. Fortunately, the park was open (and offering minimal services). It snowed the night before we arrived so on our first day here only some of the roads were passable. But it made for some great pictures and Kenzie loved playing in the snow.
Zion for Christmas
Yesterday we spent the night in Las Vegas before meeting up with the grandmas and heading to Zion National Park.
We stayed at Caesars Palace (thanks to hotel points) and after checking the place out, this was Kenzie’s review: “It’s OK, and the statues are pretty, but too many of them have their privates showing.”. Then she noticed the door handles we’re gold plated and proclaimed “this place is just too fancy for us.” She also thought the idea of a TV in the bathroom was “ridiculous.”
Yep, hard to disagree with any of that. I think maybe I’ll post her review to TripAdvisor.
Cornica’s first commercial flight!
112 for Kenzie! Since we were traveling on Christmas Eve and we’re only allowed to touch Cornica on this day, she got to go with us to Vegas. She was spotted by the flight attendant and got a quick trip to the cockpit with the pilots!
Alaska Cruise – Ketchikan (Day 6)
Ketchikan was a quick stop with just the morning to check things out. We took a ride out to a little inlet known for bears but unfortunately, we struck out this time. So we checked out the town, wandered the shops, and watched the salmon spawning up Creek Street. The seagulls were having a feast.
Great trip and it was so nice spending time with old friends. Thanks Nicole, Bryan, Brynn, and Noel!
Alaska Cruise – Glacier Bay (Day 5)
Glacier Bay was the highlight of the trip. It was an early day with the ship entering the national park about 7am. Park rangers board the ship for the day and provide presentations on the history of the park, how glaciers are formed and calve, and narrate along the way providing details on all the glaciers we saw. An amazing experience!
Alaska Cruise – Skagway and Dyea (Day 4)
Next stop was Skagway. We wandered the town for a little while, but then decided to hire a van that took out to an abandoned ghost town named “Dyea.” 150 years ago it was a booming port town and entryway for gold miners headed to the Klondike. Now, all that’s left are some trails that mark the original streets, a cemetery with the remains of a large group that was killed during an avalanche on the trail to the Klondike, the storefront from one of the original buildings, and lots of beautiful scenery. The only service in the area is a bed and breakfast where the driver dropped us off and we had lunch. From there we were on our own and headed out on the trials to explore.
Alaska Cruise – Juneau (Day 3)
Juneau was our first stop on the Inside Passage cruise. Instead of doing any sort of organized tour we decided to rent a car and explore on our own. We went to a salmon hatchery, Mendenhall Glacier, Eagle Beach, and of naturally, Tracy’s Crab Shack.
After a quick stop at the salmon hatchery, we went to the Mendenhall Glacier and hiked out to the falls. The falls were absolutely enormous, and you could walk right up to the base (if you didn’t mind getting wet). Along the way, we saw a porcupine, a crazy paddleboarder, but this time no bears.
Fortunately, at the next stop (Eagle Beach), we saw a bear along with lots and lots of eagles. We had the beach pretty much to ourselves and the kids had a great time running around.
Last stop was Tracy’s for crab bisque as well as some crab legs. It’s just as good as it was 10 years ago when we first found “the shack” here in Juneau.
