Vegas Vacation Part 1- Cross Country Trek.

Okay, I realize Christmas and this trip were like a month ago but this blog is also my journal so I'm justifying such late posts for posterity's sake or at least my own lousy memories' sake.

So here's some memories from our Vegas Vacation starting with our cross-country drive.

I've lived in Vegas most my life (besides a short stint in Chicago while I was very young). Vacations were to Utah, California, and Arizona. So I'm a very southwest kinda gal and our move to the south was a big deal in my little world. So driving across the south (Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas) was a cultural experience for me. We knew we were entering real southern country when we entered a convenience store and found these treasures proudly displayed for sale:

Day 1- The first day of our trek we drove 12 hours to Dallas and stayed at my brother, Jesse's house. We left our house about 4 am so we could get in a few hours of driving while the kids slept. about halfway to Dallas we found this park in Clinton, Mississippi (I got directions online before we left-google maps is our friend). It was a very unique park that provided good wiggle time for the kids and sanity for the parents. We stayed the night at Jesse's. We had to leave early the next morning but promised the kids we'd stay longer on the way home.

Day 2 (Dallas to Albuquerque)- drove through a bunch of dinky towns in Texas and every one had a big Dairy Queen. Apparently them Texans like their ice creams or sumpin'. Clarendon, TX had a "Nuttin Fancy Cafe" and a "It'll Do Motel" to remind us we were still in the south. I laughed when we went through Childress, Texas and pointed out to Jamie that the Detention Center was the nicest building in town. We stayed the night at a hotel Jamie got a great deal on Priceline for that turned out to be pretty nice. It had a heated indoor pool and jacuzzi so when the little boys crashed right away, Emma and I snuck down and took a dip. Emma was all excited to be "sneaking" out late, just her and mom.

Day 3 (Albuquerque to Vegas)- We woke up and got ready for church, ate the complimentary hotel breakfast, hopped in the car and drove four hours to make a 10:00 sacrament meeting in Flagstaff. After sacrament meeting we girls changed in the bathroom and the kids got to check out the snow. The boys were disappointed to find out how wet and cold it was and were done after a couple minutes. Emma, the only one who would leave her mittens on, made and threw some snowballs. The first one landed on her own shoe-hmm looks like she needs to practice more. Flagstaff was a nice change from the flatlands and dead grass we'd been driving through. It was fun to see snow-covered mountains especially since the weather was sunny and beautiful.

Still Day 3- Dam bypass project. For some time now they've been working on a bridge bypass to keep the traffic off the Hoover Dam. This causes delays in addition to the security check point line. I was surprised to see how high this bridge is. You have to consider that this is after the dam so the water level is a whole lot lower. Kinda scary! I've never been so excited to cross Hoover and enter Nevada, knowing how close we were to home and family! We felt safe and secure as we entered the valley and had the strong mountains surrounding us and giving us reference points. I love being able to look across the valley and seeing the city, just being able to see where you are and what's around you without the suffocating trees towering over you and surrounding you. I love the greeness and beauty of Georgia, but it's not what I know, not what I'm comfortable with. I know a lot of people hate the desert but I love knowing where I am and seeing where I'm headed. There's a much clearer vision here even in it's plainess and neutral colors.

"Home means Nevada. Home means the hills."