Notable Travel Trivial Facts:
- Highest elevation, Vail Pass, 10,662 ft
- Lowest elevation, Venice Beach, 0 ft
- Total miles: 3340 round trip
- States: 7, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and California.
- National Parks: 3; Arches, Bryce Canyon, Zion
- Other notable places: Hoover Dam, St. George Temple, Venice Beach, Disneyland, Palm Beach
- Best moment: Ben and Sunshine's wedding
- Worst moment: Our auto-burglary in Riverton.
Our first day of driving took us from Grand Island through Colorado and stopping in Moab. We had a quick and difficult sleep in the hotel as we all adjusted to sleeping together in the same room with a 2 yr old active little boy. Luckily, it got easier over time.
In our travel magazine, the hike to Delicate Arch was listed as 1.5 miles one way. So, we decided to make the hike. We were lucky in a few things. First, it was an early morning of late fall, so we had great temperatures. Second, we did not know beforehand that it was listed as a strenuous hike. So, half way up, while wondering if it was worth it, we decided since we were already so far up, let's keep going.
Quote of the day from Meile
"If we had known how hard it was going to be, we probably would not have gone. But I am glad we didn't know."
You can just make out Becky and the kids at the right base.
Totally worth the hike.
Bryce Canyon
After hiking to Delicate Arch, we were running out of morning and had a timeline to keep if we were to make Las Vegas by nighttime. So, we hurried ourselves out of the Arches Park and through southern Utah to Bryce Canyon National Park. Along the way we saw some of the most beautiful landscape in all our years of traveling. I am sad to say that a lifetime in Utah and I never spent enough time in the southern part of the state.
Panoramic Photos
Zion National Park
After rushing out of Bryce Canyon, we hurried along the road to Zion National Park. We entered the park at dusk so our time to enjoy the scenery was quite limited. But, we did get a wonderful drive through the park and saw what a wonderous place it was.
After Zion, we drove down into St. George and visited the temple there and had a quick bite to eat before leaving for our hotel in Henderson, NV.
Hoover Dam
Waking up on day three, we left Henderson and made the quick drive east to Hoover Dam. Like all of our trip, we were in a bit of a hurry, so we declined the expensive and time consuming tour and simply drove to a park and click area for a photo. With all the traffic, construction, and security in the area, getting a good vantage point was difficult, but we were all impressed by this feat of modern engineering.
Venice Beach
Ben's workplace is only two blocks from Venice Beach, so we drove directly there and met up with Bryan and Tricia Madsen and their family. After visiting with Ben in his office, he took us for a walk along the Venice Beach boardwalk and we saw all the iconic sights, vendors, t-shirts, muscle beach, and street performers. Then, we took our chance to play in the Pacific Ocean and had a great time.
Disneyland
We stayed in a hotel right off of Disneyland and woke up bright and early to get to the park. We quickly met up with Bryan and Tricia Madsen and spent the day running from ride to ride.
Palm Springs and the Wedding
The families all stayed in the same hotel together in Palm Springs and spent many hours swimming in the pool, eating great meals provided by hotel staff (and Grandpa Roger) and playing in the game room down in the basement.
The wedding was held in a beautiful resort hotel in Palm Springs. All the young nieces from both sides were flower girls and sang "Beautiful Savior." Then, all the children gathered up front to sing "Families Can Be Together Forever." Sunshine's father, a stake president in Mesa, AZ, performed the ceremony. It was a beautiful ceremony and was followed by a wonderful dance, reception and party.
See them take their first dance at the video below.
The day after the wedding, we rushed through California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah to stay with my folks in Riverton, UT. We emptied most of our stuff into the house, but woke the next morning to see our front passenger window broken and a number of bags missing. Among the losses were our video camera, digital camera (with all of our photos from Palm Beach), and Becky's tote bag with her journal for the past 13 years, as well as various books and CDs. We reported it to the police, had the window repaired, and spent an hour searching dumpsters and garbage cans in the neighborhood hoping that they had discarded the journal. All to no avail.
We were fortunate that more was not stolen, and that we had downloaded all the video from the wedding the night before so that was not lost. But, the journal was the most bitter loss. It held some of Becky's entries from our most important moments since our engangement and we were simply heartsick that it was now gone.
Then, the evening after we arrived home I answered the phone and a woman asked if I knew a Becky Rosenlund. I replied that she was my wife. This woman then said,"Well, I have her journal here." She and a friend were on their evening walk through their neighborhood about a mile from my folks house and saw the totebag tossed in a ditch. They recovered almost all of our missing property (except the cameras) and were able to get it to my parents to mail to us. It was truly an answer to prayer.
In all, it was a wonderful trip and made us all the more excited to travel to Florida this winter. I was very impressed with the patience and long-suffering exhibited by the kids through five days of solid drive time. Years of practice has helped us to endure these long trips and make them a part of our fun.
Our best wishes and congratulations go out to Ben and Sunshine, who have recently returned from their honeymoon in Thailand. Love to all!
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