4-15-17
It was a pleasant Saturday morning. We had a long journey ahead of us the next two weeks, but we decided not to rush. We left around 10 am but had to make a return trip to the house to grab forgotten chargers and CDs. We eventually made it out to Holbrook, AZ where we made our first stop for lunch at Taco Bell. Then we headed south, stopping in Fountain Hills to see its legendary fountain and grab some geocaches. Were we ever disappointed to see that the fountain wasn’t running! Luckily, we discovered a sign that said it only runs at the top of the hour, so our disappointment lessened…until we reached 5 pm and nothing happened! Well, regardless, we were having fun walking around the lovely park, enjoying the lake, and admiring the waterfowl. There were a ton of coots, one of my favorites! We played in the playground, performed music in the musical garden, and found every geocache for which we searched! We slowly made our way back to the car around 6 when it finally happened: the fountain erupted!! The blast reached hundreds of feet in the air – the sign said it can reach up to 500 feet! It was spectacular! I’m so glad we didn’t miss out.
Once we’d had our fill, we drove over to our hotel for the next two nights: The Squaw Peak Hilton Resort! What a complex! It was huge! We checked into our suite and hurried over to the waterpark where we floated around the lazy river twice. Then we made our way to the large pool with the waterfall where they were setting up a movie screen. We were treated to the movie “Hop,” in honor of Easter, which would be tomorrow. We sat close to the screen, in between one to three feet of water, and shivered our way through the movie. Hyla showed off her confidence in the water, venturing off away from us, closer to the screen, since she could still touch the bottom. She enjoyed making wet handprints on the sidewalk next to the pool. I was so glad to see how much fun she was having.
Once we got back to the room, I was still incredibly cold, so I wound up taking a shower to warm up. It took me 30 minutes to stop shivering! I think I may have used up all of Arizona’s water. Oops. Once out, Nate ran off to get Chic Fil A for dinner while Hyla and I stayed in and watched Doc McStuffins. What a fun day!
4-16-17
We got up early and headed to the waterpark again. I decided to just take pictures instead of swim, and it worked out well because, unbeknownst to us, they were having an Easter Egg hunt for kids 3 and under (and later older kids) about 10 minutes after we arrived. We were given a plastic bag, and Hyla and I went into the daycare area and joined the rest of the kids her age to grab eggs. I was worried she might not get many, but she hung out under the play structure and could take as many as she wanted since no one else was nearby! We got a bunch, thanked the Easter Bunny, and were on our way. She and Nate then went off to do two laps on the lazy river. I watched them and chatted with staff as well as a random lady who lives in town and stays here on occasion. She had lots of info on the park and surrounding area. In particular she swore that the lazy river runs much slower than it used to. Too bad! Nate tried out the waterslide twice before they swam a bit in the waterfall pool. Finally, we headed out to round up some lunch.
We hoped to do Portillo’s, but they were closed because of Easter. Then we tried Scottsdale Brewing Co., since Google said they’d be open, but they weren’t. So we wound up at Foosia, a new (to us) Asian food restaurant which was ok, but salty. So salty.
From here, we headed to the Musical Instrument Museum, which was awesome! I wish we’d have had more time there, but it was really difficult with Hyla. She would get so bored and want to wander off or sleep on the benches. Nate was such a trooper, carrying her all over. He must have been exhausted. We perused hall upon hall of instruments of every kind from around the world, and we even got to listen to various genres through our headphones at many of the displays. It was fascinating! The biggest hit, of course, was the room in which you could play the instruments yourself! Hyla had the best time here, and so did we! Eventually, though, she’d had quite enough, and we headed back to the car. She was so exhausted she fell asleep on the drive. Nate and I tried to wake her when we got to a Dairy Queen, but it was no use. We enjoyed our treats ourselves, anyway.
Once we got back to the resort, we had a cranky kid on our hands. It’s not easy to have parents who tend to marathon through their vacations. She cheered up when she got some Dippin’ Dots, though. Then we headed back over to the waterpark to continue our fun. We attempted 7 holes on the mini golf course before Hyla had enough and wanted to swim. So we returned our clubs with the intent of finishing the course later. This time, I joined them in the water…I was just so self-conscious in my pregnancy swim bikini! I was glad to be in the water and not wandering around in my suit on the surface. We did the lazy river once, and then we headed over to the sports pool where we played with a tiny beach ball, shot some hoops, and practiced holding breath under water. Eventually we were joined by another young girl who wanted to play some volleyball with us. She couldn’t even touch the bottom of the pool, but she tried so hard to play anyway! I was impressed!
Eventually we had to head out. Hyla had been wanting to see “Boss Baby” for quite some time, and we were happy to discover it was playing at the huge 9-screen drive-in theater in Glendale. We stopped for gas and to clean off our buggy windshield, and we headed over. Hyla was cranky, but we made it through without too many annoyances, though I don’t think she was as happy about it as she would have thought. She was really upset by the end, so after throwing out all our trash (we got popcorn, pizza, a hot dog, and a pretzel), we hit the road with a grumpy kid.
We returned to the room where I wrote out a postcard. Meanwhile, Hyla REALLY wanted to swim in the hotel pool down in the courtyard (different from the waterpark area). I walked them down, mailed my mail at the front desk, and came back to the pool to see an upset kid who thought the water was too cold. She and Nate waded for a bit, but they came back to the room with me. Once back in the room, Hyla was quick for sleep. It had been an exhausting trip so far, and we hadn’t even done that much yet!
4-17-17
We slept in a little bit, showered and packed before heading down to the waterpark again. I decided to not swim (though I sort of regretted it once I got there – it was so hot!), but we finished up our mini golf game, sort of out of order since the holes were set up confusingly. I couldn’t get over all the lizards at the top of the hill! It brought back memories of my days mini golfing in Florida, where I'd rather chase lizards than play the game. Nate and Hyla played in the shallow waterfall pool and the sports pool while I tried to get pictures of a lizard, but it was much harder to find one now. Eventually, one showed up, thankfully. Then I watched Nate and Hyla in the sports pool – the girl and her family from volleyball yesterday showed up, too. It was a nice, relaxing morning.
From here, we headed out to the Arizona Science Center, which was great! There were so many neat exhibits including a ball game that runs on brain waves, a stomach you can slide through, a 3-d open heart surgery experience, a dissection demonstration, an extreme weather exhibit that actually rains on you, a bed of nails on which we could lay, iron shavings that dance to music, and so many other neat things. We spent several hours there and still wished we had more time.
We then walked several blocks to the nearby brew pub Mother Bunch. The food was ok – they liked to add weird sweet pickle garnishes to everything. I love most pickles, but not so much the sweet ones. I got the French dip which I shared with Hyla, and Nate had a burger with pork. I will say their pineapple gose beer was delicious! After our meal, we grabbed a geocache on the parking structure right where we’d parked. Then we tried going to Encanto Park for the Enchanted Island amusement park, but it was closed, so instead Hyla and I played at the playground, dodging maniacal kids on swings while Nate looked for 2 geocaches, but couldn’t find them. It was a nice park, and I would have liked to have more time to explore it. Sadly, time was not on our side, so we shortly hit the road and drove out to Blythe, CA for the night. We arrived after dark and stayed at the Red Roof Inn. Hyla fell asleep just before we got there, but woke up as soon as we did, and we wound up watching cartoons for the rest of the evening. Good times!
4-18-17
We slept in a bit, and headed out around 10, spotting a coyote on the way. Our goal was to see the Blythe Intaglios, a series of huge figures incised on the ground by ancient civilizations for reasons unknown. We saw 3 sites of intaglios, including 2 human (or alien) figures and one animal. It was interesting and even a bit eerie. Once we were done, we grabbed a geocache at the marker.
From here, we drove to the General Patton Museum and looked around. The tanks were really cool, but Hyla enjoyed playing in the dirt and with the seeds and sticks instead. We spent a while there enjoying what shade we could, too. The outdoor chapel surrounded by tanks felt rather surreal, but it made for good photos. It was an interesting location worth a quick stop.
We continued westward to the Living Desert Zoo in Palm Desert, CA. On our way through the parking lot, we were surprised by a woman who mentioned the giraffes…what giraffes?! We assumed this would be much like the other Living Desert Zoos we’d visited in Carlsbad, NM and Tucson, AZ, featuring only local critters. Turns out this one isn’t like the other Living Deserts we are used to. It was quite a bit larger and had animals from all over the world. We spent 2 hours there, until they closed, and saw all the neat exhibits. I think I even heard a wild rattlesnake at one point. Yikes! We rode the carousel, petted goats, saw huge African ankole cattle, got a tour of the veterinary facility, and noticed they did camel rides. Fun times. Poor Nate, though. He had to carry Hyla everywhere. It was so hot, too. Luckily, we found shade in which to park. Once back at the car, I grabbed a geocache just outside the gate. While I was searching, another car pulled up and asked if I worked there. Some people had brought in a baby bird for rehab. I directed them to the front gate, hoping they hadn’t closed for the day yet.
From here, we went to check in at our hotel, a Red Lion just outside Palm Springs. We grabbed dinner at The Fishermans Restaurant and Bar, a lovely place where Nate and I shared the salmon feast – a four course meal! I forgot that my stomach had limited room with the baby and all... Our meal started with a bucket of clams, then soup, then salad, then our salmon with a side. It was so good! But I got so full, though. After dinner, we drove into Palm Springs to try to find the walk of fame, but it was getting dark, and we couldn’t really see much. We got ice cream at McDonalds before heading back to our hotel. Once back, Nate and Hyla went swimming – she was cranky and had to be exhausted. It was so good to finally stop for the night.
4-19-17
We got a somewhat early start due to the heat of the day, grabbed a decent breakfast downstairs, and then went to downtown Palm Springs to see the walk of fame. It was fun seeing some of the more obscure names of famous people who had some link to the town over the years.
Next, we took the rotating tram up to the top of the mountain, delighting in 360 degree views of Palm Springs and the surrounding desert. The air at the top was so refreshingly cool…much better than the oppressive heat below. We hiked all around, enjoying the trees, playing in the creek, geocaching, and enjoying the views and actual snow. We even saw one of my favorite North American birds, a Stellar’s jay. Beautiful. Poor Nate carried Hyla almost everywhere, as it was often the only way we could get our group moving. He is amazing. Once we’d had enough, we rode the tram back down and headed out of town, stopping at the Cabazon Dinosaurs attraction for a geocache and to see the huge sauropod and t-rex. Hyla slept through that and missed it, sadly.
We then made the long drive toward Bakersfield stopping at McDonalds in Palmdale for dinner so Hyla could get her Smurf Happy Meal. Nate and I also reminisced about the old show “The Greatest American Hero,” and how Ralph found the alien suit somewhere near Palmdale. We didn’t see anything cool like that, though. From there, we made sure to stop outside of Lancaster and drive on their musical highway so we could see how it compares to the one near our house. This one was better in some ways, mostly because the rumble strip crossed the entire road, so you don’t have to struggle to get your tire on the right spot like you do with ours. Unfortunately, the tune wasn’t so great. It claims to be the finale to the William Tell Overture, but it didn’t sound recognizable. From what I understand, the original musical strip was placed closer to some residences, and when the residents complained about the noise, they hurriedly moved it further away. In their haste, the job was done rather sloppily, so it didn’t come out quite right. Oh well, it was fun to experience, nonetheless.
We continued on to Bakersfield where we stayed at a Red Lion Inn again. Good times. We didn’t swim, due to cold water, but at least the air temperature was a bit more bearable up here. After many cartoons, we finally got some sleep.
4-20-17
I woke up early and showered. I saw a roach in the bathroom and some nasty stuff in the drain. Ugh. This wasn’t really the best motel, to say the least. Once everyone else was up, we headed down to have breakfast with vouchers at the diner downstairs. We had a choice of 1 of 6 items each. Hyla and Nate had pancakes, and I had a fruit bowl and toast. It was actually pretty good. Then we headed back to finish packing, stopping in the courtyard to admire and smell the roses.
We hit the road and drove a long way through some amazing wine country on our way to Hearst Castle. I’d love to spend more time out here when I can actually sample some wines. Hearst Castle itself was magnificent, as one would expect. – we did the Grand Rooms Tour which included visiting a dining hall that was inspiration for the one at Hogwarts in Harry Potter. Hyla needed the potty, so we even got to see a special washroom that most don’t ever visit – it was just as splendid as the rest of the castle. After our tour, we were able to stroll the grounds and saw some great views of the ocean and surrounding countryside. One day we’ll have to come back and see more, as I’m sure we’ve only just scratched the surface. One of the things I really wanted to see were the zebras that roam the grounds. I was driving and missed them, but Nate said he saw them a bit off the road.
Once we’d viewed the film at the visitor center and seen all we could, we headed out and attempted the beach, but the wind and cold were intense, so we bailed after a few minutes. We drove back through the beautiful wine country again, just solidifying our sentiment that we want to return to try some of the neat restaurants and tastings someday. We ate dinner at Firestone Walker Brew Pub and shared a pretzel, Nate had a salad, and I had excellent French onion soup. Nate did a beer sampler and got a Luponic Distortion collectors glass to take home from drinking a larger beer. Hyla slept on the way here and was so grumpy, but was worse before her nap. She snapped out of it eventually, thankfully. After dinner, we drove 2 more hours up to Salinas and got a room at the Laurel Inn, which was nice. I did some walking around the motel to get my steps in, and we took it easy, otherwise. Monterey tomorrow!
4-21-17
I slept in until about 8, showered, packed, and went down to the breakfast at Laurel Inn. It was a really clean motel, and the breakfast was nice, too (they even had cookies in the lobby the night before). I was quite happy there and would happily stay again. Then we hit the road for Monterey. We parked by the Wharf and walked the mile or so down to the aquarium. On the way, we stopped on the beach to dig in the sand. We went down to the water at one point, and a big wave came and splashed Hyla and me while Nate was taking our picture. She was not happy but it was pretty funny.
Next we explored the aquarium which was packed! It was a nice aquarium, as expected, but the crowds detracted from it. I expected more from the sea otter exhibit which seemed small and plain, but loved a lot of the other aquarium exhibits. They had a great collection of sea jellies, a neat anchovy exhibit, lots of interactive stuff for kids, and beautiful display aquariums throughout. Eventually, we just had to escape the crowds, so we walked back to the wharf and had lunch at the Crab House. We were seated at a window upstairs and were the only people in sight. We had a relaxing and delicious meal. I wish I could indulge in seafood all the time! Hyla did drop her corn dog on the floor, which made for a bit of a tantrum, but it is what it is. Overall, it was a nice time.
After eating, we walked back to the car to add time to our meter, and walked over to the Dennis the Menace playground, but it was closed for construction. It looked really neat, though, and we hope to check it out another time. At the same park, we saw a very bold vole who didn’t seem at all disturbed by our presence. We watched it for a while, and it got within a foot of our feet! Hyla also wanted to toss seeds and leaves into the pond for a bit. Then we went back to the car and drove up to Santa Cruz for the evening.
We got our room at the Breeze Inn, a ma and pa motel across from the Boardwalk. It was pleasant enough, but the parking in front was a bit harrowing. It was super cramped and the spaces were narrow. I don’t claim to be a confident driver, so I had Nate do the parking for me. Some jerk stopped to watch the ordeal and actually shook his head at us. Hey, thanks for being so helpful. At least we didn’t hit any cars, buddy. Ah, people. We settled into our room, and then walked over to the Boardwalk.
Ever since I first visited Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk back in 2004, I knew it was something special. My friend Sharon and I were on our third major roller coaster trip, and once we hit this region, we wound up returning to the park THREE times in as many days! It’s got an old-fashioned feel with some unique and rare rides, all crammed together. It packs a lot into a small area. I knew then that I’d have to come back…I didn’t expect it to be 13 years later, though! Nor did I expect to be pregnant and unable to ride most of the attractions.
Nate and Hyla started off riding the ghost shoot-em-up ride, which scared Hyla a bit. Then we all rode the cave adventure dark ride. We spent the rest of our ticket points on the old 1911 Looff Carousel with a ring machine, and kiddie rides for Hyla. They have a new (to me) roller coaster that replaced the Windstar, but it wasn’t running, so I didn’t feel so bad about missing it. The wonderful Giant Dipper was running, though – I can’t wait to ride it again one day! It’s the best wooden coaster in California, after all. We also visited the beach itself a few times and walked to an overlook where we could watch people down on the beach and their bonfires. I also had my first Dole Whip, which hit the spot, and we tried chocolate covered bacon since it originated on this very pier. Hyla went nuts for that. Haha! I thought it was…ok. Maybe if the bacon had been more tender I would have enjoyed it more, but I think it came close to hurting my teeth. We then wound up getting fried shrimp and chips and nachos for dinner at one of the many vendors along the strip – luckily they stayed open well past the rides. Finally we made it back to the room where I gave Hyla a much needed bath. What a busy day it had been!
4-22-17
Got up early and headed out to grab 3 geocaches, one of which brought me to the end of the nearly deserted Santa Cruz Wharf. I was treated to the sight of a number of pinnipeds barking and swimming about. It was a lovely walk, and I was in good spirits. On the walk back, I saw a woman trying to bring her bike up the last of about 7 steps from the beach to the sidewalk. I thought about helping her, but just smiled at her because she only had one step to go, she seemed to have it under control, and I was massively pregnant and probably not much help anyway. Then I hear her yell, ‘You’re not getting anything!” There really wasn’t anyone else around, so I turned around and pointed at myself, puzzled, thinking maybe I was dressed so poorly in my comfortable travel wear that she thought I was looking for a handout or something. She said, “Yeah, you!” really angrily. “You’re not getting anything with regard to creation!” Holy wow. Thanks lady. I expect that from drugged out nut jobs (which she may well be), but she was a well-dressed, upper middle-aged woman. I’m not religious in the least, and even if I were, I wouldn’t expect to get “anything,” but I try to be a good person, and I really don’t think I deserved that. That was a great start to my day. I let it stay with me, probably more so because of hormones, I’m sure. Way to eff up my pleasant and positive morning, lady. Grrrrrr!
Once back at the room I finished packing, and Nate drove us out to Gilroy Gardens, formerly Bonfante Gardens a food-themed amusement park. Our route took us through some really neat winding and wooded roads. The park seemed a lot more remote than it did back in 2004, but I suspect we’d taken a different route. Once there, we discovered our $20 off brochure was for last year, so we had to buy discounted tickets online which worked, luckily, thanks to Nate’s new phone. We went in and rode the carousel (I even got to ride!), then Hyla and I did the strawberry sundae ride, and then we all rode the train. The lines would take forever for no obvious reason today. Frustrating. We rode most of the rides (even though I couldn't ride many things) and Nate did some on his own that Hyla couldn’t, like the spinning garlic and roller coaster. We enjoyed the circus trees (living works of art – trees that were grafted together into unique patterns and shapes), waterfalls, and gardens. We had a lunch of pbj and a turkey sandwich, followed by a funnel cake that took FOREVER to get. As in, 45 minutes or so! No wonder we didn’t get to ride everything at that rate. We saved a bee while waiting for that. The table near us was freaking out about a sweet, dying bee that was just struggling to move, so I went right over, scooped her up (with a leaf, I think), and moved her when they threatened to stomp her. People are really something. Hopefully they could see she was nothing to freak out over.
Hyla started to get cranky and eventually fell and hit her head, apparently on purpose, while in line for the 1920s cars. She and Nate went to the car and I did the boat ride with a father and daughter who kindly let me join their boat to save precious time. We enjoyed an abundance of topiary on the way. Then I headed out of the park through a final garden 15 minutes after the park closed. I was exhausted, and I’m sure Nate and Hyla were too.
Nate drove us way up to Santa Rosa – Hyla slept until almost Oakland where she woke up crying profusely. We finally realized she had an accident, and that was what made her so upset. We couldn’t really stop until we were over the toll bridge, but we did as soon as we could. She screamed the whole time. Then, once changed and back on the road she cried again because she had to use potty. To make matters worse, the interior windshield was blurry from outgassing of the dashboard, making it almost impossible to see through the shine of oncoming headlights, so we stopped at a gas station to take care of everything. Pro tip: newspaper is great at removing that greasy windshield residue – I’ve tried everything else in the book, but newspaper actually works.
Eventually we were back on the road. We made it to our Santa Rosa Motel 6 pretty late. We discovered our “non-smoking” room smelled like smoke covered up by perfume. Gag. It was too late to do anything about that now, though. We went out to get Hyla a happy meal (she calls them the “happy kids meal”) with hopes of getting another Smurf toy (got a “Yawn” emoji character instead), and we tried some In N Out Burger which was ok, but nothing special. Then came back to the room and ate and watched Disney shows. It was a rough day, and sleep was most welcome.
4-23-17
Lots of driving. That was today. We headed out around 10 and drove up the 101. We got about 50 miles past a detour sign we'd missed and had to turn back due to a road closure with no alternate means to pass. We did see some elk and displaying turkeys, though! Drove back through Nice, CA and ate at Romi’s Brew and BBQ, right on the shores of Clear Lake. Meh. We really don’t like bbq, but at least Nate got to try some local beer. We walked up to the waterfront and enjoyed the view. Sadly, though, algal blooms were occurring and signs were posted warning against coming in contact with the water. So much for that!
We continued on and finally got back to I-5. We drove up to Redding and tried to visit two parks for Hyla. First, we attempted Enterprise Park, which was touted to have a pretty cool playground called Kids Kingdom, but sadly it was under construction, so we tried to find another one. We wound up at Caldwell Park, a huge, leafy park on the Sacramento River. Hyla was able to play in the playground while Nate and I took turns geocaching. We also read some books from the little free library including one about a spider and a turtle, and one about Cherilee the My Little Pony. I really had to use the restroom, but they were so disgusting – we’re talking poop smeared on the seats disgusting. I thought I was going to die, I had to go so bad!! So we stopped for gas as soon as we left the park, and those bathrooms were closed, too. The clerk told me that they had been continually trashed as well – it would seem the people of Redding need some review in bathroom etiquette. Yikes.
We continued down to Douglas City where we finally found a rest area, much to my joy. I did have to dodge a man who was coming out of the ladies room, though. Then we drove on to Arcata. The winding roads were mountainous and beautiful. On the way, we encountered an overturned truck and 2 mudslides, but we got through, thankfully. It would seem Arcata and environs can be difficult to access, thanks to all the crazy road closures and natural disasters. Poor Nate had a migraine, but we finally made it to our hotel a bit before 9 and checked into the Ramada. Hyla showed off her skills with her spelling of the ladies and mens rooms, impressing the desk clerk. We then went out for McDonalds AGAIN as there wasn’t much else around. We got back to our room and watched Mulan, one of Hyla’s favorites. Hyla said she was sore, probably from all the driving. What should have taken 5 hours took at least 10 today. We sincerely hoped tomorrow would be better.
4-24-17
I woke up before 6 after a night of musical beds. Exhausting! Our room was so nice that I booked a second night, but that was before I discovered the shower situation. They looked ok, but the knob fell into pieces in my hand! I had to rig it to turn. The water was slow to drain, too. Oh well, at least it was clean. We headed over to the breakfast and ate up before hitting the road to Redwoods.
It was a wet, cool day, but it was so beautiful out here that we didn’t care! The temperature was just right, and the day was full of positivity. We stopped at the Lady Bird Johnson site, the Elk Meadow site, did a coastal drive, and hiked a different Elk site to a waterfall. We saw a total of 5 banana slugs, but sadly no salamanders. We definitely need more time for that! We saw elk and deer, too! We hiked for miles and miles. Hyla even walked on her own a lot and wanted to stop at every redwood with a hole big enough to enter. She sang as we walked, too. I felt such joy on our hikes! This is what life is all about. Enjoying nature and family. It was easily the highlight of our trip.
Eventually, having spent most of the day exploring Redwood National Park (which wasn’t nearly enough), it was getting late, and we needed to eat. We drove to Lost Coast Brewery in Eureka and had a nice dinner consisting of a huge Santa Fe salad for Nate, chicken tenders for Hyla, and a turkey grinder with delicious clam chowder for me. Nate had the 10-beer sampler – I tried all but one, just barely. You wouldn’t think you could sip so little, but I did. There were some good fruit beers I would have loved to truly try. More reason to go back! From there, we stopped at an overpriced Safeway to replenish supplies, and then we came back to the hotel. Nate headed out to do laundry somewhere in town while Hyla and I watched TV and recuperated from our marvelous and eventful day.
4-25-17
I slept until 8:30, and hurried to get up and get breakfast. We had a lot of ground to cover today, and we weren’t sure how long it would take to get through the mountains again. We packed the car and headed to Humboldt University to grab 3 geocaches. It’s always fun to visit a new campus, and this one, though small, was lovely with its massive trees and topography. The hills made accessing some of the geocaches a bit trickier than expected, but at least we were able to grab a few. Then we hurried to get back to car because our meter ran out – they only allow for a half hour at a time! I found the campus pretty and fairly modern, compared to the old universities I’m used to back east.
Once done at the school, we went to Holly Yashi, a local jewelry store, to see their unique wares. From there, we headed out. We got stuck on the dreaded 299 because of construction, including man-made rock slides, for about an hour. Finally made it through, and stopped for Taco Bell in Redding. Again, the bathrooms were unusable! People of Redding have no bathroom sense! What’s the deal?!
We continued east through some beautiful mountains. There was lots of land for sale – I can wish!! We also passed near Lassen Nat’l Park, which wouldn’t be open for a while. Apparently, it has the shortest operating season of any national park in the country due to such heavy snow. A trip for another time. We passed Honey (dry) Lake which was anything BUT dry – a huge lake, at least for now!! Lots of melting snow everywhere made for flooded out areas all along the sides of the road. It was beautiful, though…and there was still a lot of snow left to melt! On the way, we also listened to a large collection of CDs, the best of which was Spice Girls. Hyla wanted me to sing “Wannabe” as the characters from “Inside Out.” It was a challenge, but super fun.
We made it to Reno about 7 and checked into Circus Circus – I’d never stayed at a casino before, so this was exciting! We got our room on the 16th floor, and then we explored the trio of connected casinos including the Silver Legacy and Eldorado. Circus Circus was a good choice, though, as it had a kid-friendly arcade with actual carnival games. After touring the three casinos, we came back and played some of them, winning some tickets in the process. One couple gave us their unwanted tickets, too! We watched a trapeze performance and then played some camel racing, the clown balloon pop, a fishing game, and a lot of arcade stuff. When we turned in our tickets, we had 300 – enough for Hyla to get one blue and one purple horse. We also won a pink seal and a green alligator. So fun. Then we had dinner at a Kanpai Sushi, in the casino complex, followed by ice cream. Nate went to get our bags, and we settled in for a relaxing night.
4-26-17
We checked out of our surprisingly nice Circus Circus room and drove over to the National Automobile Museum. We were greeted to room upon room of cars spanning all the decades. It was good, but Hyla wasn’t happy, and Nate carried her almost the entire time. She did enjoy dressing up and getting her picture taken in the old-time car, though.
From here, we walked along the Riverwalk and saw how high the water was! It was overflowing the banks and even creeping up the stairs. The flow would have challenged any whitewater rafter. River access was obviously prohibited. Then we had a nice lunch at the Wild River Café where I enjoyed a delicious French onion soup and a strawberry and apple salad, and Nate had a grilled cheese. Hyla, on the other hand, slept most of the time we were there. She obviously needed it, and it looked like she may be coming down with something at this point. While there was a bit more we could have seen in town, we decided it best to hit the road for Tonopah, NV. We considered staying at the famous clown motel in town, but it was still early by the time we arrived, so we just took some pictures instead, making a mental note to try again some other time.
Instead, we headed down to Vegas to stay at the other clown motel: their Circus Circus. At this point, Hyla had developed a fever and was so tired, poor thing. We made it to Circus Circus around 10:30 but the check in line took about 45 minutes! I was so worried about our girl. We FINALLY got our room which was nowhere near as nice as the one in Reno. Can’t win ‘em all, I guess. I stayed in the room with Hyla while Nate went out to explore the Strip. We were still debating about going straight home tomorrow or taking one more day through St. George and Page – it all depended on how Hyla was feeling, poor girl. Regardless, we’d had a full trip so far!
4-27-17
We slept in a bit, and doing so seemed to make quite a bit of difference for Hyla. She was feeling better and no longer feverish, thank goodness. We went down to breakfast at Circus Circus’s buffet. It was ok. They had some lunch food, too, but none of that was so great. Then we walked around Circus Circus a bit before returning to our room, packing the car, and hitting the Strip. We crossed the street and walked down to the Encore and Wynn and then down to the Venetian, continuing on to the Linq and Flamingo where we rode the High Roller. At the time, it was the largest Ferris wheel in operation in the world! Very cool. We were able to bring drinks on board, so we settled for a Pepsi. On top of that, we had our own private pod, so we could walk around freely and take in the sights. The trip around took about a half hour, and we were treated to some great views of Las Vegas. It was a bit pricey, but I’m glad we did it.
Once down, we walked through Flamingo’s water gardens and saw ducks, koi, pelicans, and sturgeon. We then crossed back over to Cesar’s Palace and wandered through, trying to get out the backway to get to a geocache near the Mirage but had to backtrack quite a bit. We finally made it through to the Mirage and got caught up there, too. Tired, we opted to stop for yogurt. One good thing about Vegas is it’ll get you all your Fitbit steps easily!
Once we finished eating, we tried to see dolphins to no avail. I seem to recall a time when you could go back and see the animals free of charge, but I guess that’s no longer the case. I can’t imagine Vegas is a great place for the animals anyway – maybe they’ll realize this and bring the animals somewhere more suitable.
We finally made it to the parking garage where the geocache was at this point. Luckily it was a quick, easy find. Then we headed back to Circus Circus to check out the midway and saw a silk acrobatic performance on the way. I’m always amazed at those – they make silk acrobatics look so easy. I’d love to try it out one day myself. Then we went to the Adventuredome where we took in the rides and got Hyla a wristband. She could ride 4 rides alone and did all of them at least twice (including the kiddie roller coaster 3 times!) She also did the Frog Hopper, helicopter, and bus ride. We did encounter annoying cutting kids – I told her to stick up for herself, but as we all know it’s easier said than done. She looked like she was having such fun, especially on the roller coaster (Miner Mike) and Frog Hopper – she said she was scared on the coaster but was smiling for my pictures. So sweet. And she did want to ride it again and again. She rode in the front, back, and 2nd seat. She also rode one of those little coin op carousels and had to ride the green one because it was the only one whose handles didn’t spin. Too cute. We wound up leaving a little before 5 and headed out of the mess that is Las Vegas.
We eventually made it to St. George, UT where we found my old apartment just as darkness began to settle. It appears to be on the market! They can have it! Then we ate at an old fashioned fast food joint, Iceberg Drive-In. I was really looking forward to having an authentic Utah Oreo shake, since that’s basically what I lived on when I was out there. Well, we had combo meals, which we thought included the smallest size shakes, but they were inedibly huge. On top of that, there was so little Oreo in my cookies and cream shake that it was disappointing to eat. Nate’s licorice shake tasted just like it should, but he agreed it was a bit much. And not only did I eat my own burger, I wound up eating most of Hyla’s food, too…waaaay too much to eat for one day. But it was exciting to get Utah’s famous fry sauce once again!
By this point, it was really dark out. In some ways, I would have liked to have stayed in St. George and explored more in the morning, but we really needed to be home soon. We continued on to Kanab for the night, staying at the Quality Inn. I swear there was poop on our curtains. Always something!
4-28-17
Got up forgetting about the time difference and missed breakfast, but no biggie. Especially at a place with poop curtains. We packed up and I ran down to the nearby billboard to grab a geocache. Then we headed east to Page, AZ. We thought about touring Antelope Canyon, but it was super expensive and time consuming, so we just stopped at the Glen Canyon Dam and then did a couple hikes around Page including the Hanging Gardens and an overlook which had a geocache. We ate at Paco’s Tacos before driving intensively through the Navajo Reservation. I was so tired, but I made it about 3.5 hours before switching drivers at the border of NM. We stopped at yet another McDonalds. Ugh, I can go years without eating at one, and now I ate a lifetime’s worth in one trip! Once in NM we were greeted to snow, luckily none of which was sticking to the roads. We finally got home a little before 10 and the house was still there! Ultimately, I could have kept going indefinitely, but it was nice to be back in the comforts of home.
