One of the things Sera loved the most about her grandpa's house was all the wildlife we saw from the porch. She especially loved the chipmunks.
On Saturday and Sunday afternoons, we had some strong thunderstorms roll in. They didn't last long. It was beautiful watching the lightning strike. Jim got a picture of the storm clouds rolling in.
And then we were treated to the most amazing sight. A full double rainbow was visible from the side of their house. My camera didn't have a wide-angle lens, so Jim tried to get pictures of each part. The second rainbow is only visible in the third picture, but we could see it all the way across in person.
We left Monday morning for Vegas. I had called the Excalibur hotel on Sunday afternoon and made a reservation. I also made reservations for the dinner show. No one in their right mind goes to Vegas in July. Our hotel room cost $59.00. It was the bargain of our vacation. Sera loves horses so much we thought she'd really enjoy the dinner show at the hotel.
And now we're in Vegas. We arrived around 1 pm. We headed to the Hilton for the Star Trek Experience. Jim and I had gone to it five years earlier when we'd visited Vegas for another quick visit. He'd heard they had a new show and wanted to check it out. Sera was too young and too small for the ride. She and I headed to Quark's Bar for a "snack." She loves the word snack and was saying it over and over. She and I shared a chocolate milk shake and a child's order of chicken fingers. I think they called them Tribble fingers. They served the shake with two straws. She thought it was great fun and insisted that we drink at the same time for each sip.
We were sitting at our table playing. I was telling her which pieces of chicken I was planning to eat next. This would make her giggle and steal my chicken. I then acted outraged at her audacity. All of a sudden, she froze. Her eyes got really big and she was staring over my shoulder. I turned around to see a 7 ft Klingon. In his deep Klingon voice he asked, "Is she mocking me, or is she laughing at you?" She scrambled into my lap so quickly that I'm surprised she didn't draw blood. She never cried though she did keep a close eye on him until he was well out of sight. She was not impressed with the Vulcan woman who came to check on her shortly afterwards either. She cuddled on my lap until she saw her daddy. He had come to check on us in between his two shows.
We headed to our hotel, checked in, picked up our dinner tickets, and had about 30 minutes to get ready for dinner. We then headed downstairs for the show. The entrance was in the arcade. The Excalibur is definitely showing its age. The rooms are very plain, but clean and large. It's definitely, however, the location for families. The place was crawling with kids. The arcade was packed. Jim did the ring toss game and then we got in line. Sera started fading in line. I had bought tickets for the earliest show, 6 pm, but I was starting to worry. She perked up a bit when we got to our seats. Then the show started. She was enthralled. She ate only a few bites and just stared. I was worried that she wasn't enjoying it because she was stone-faced. The loud noises and fire didn't faze her because of her love for fireworks. When the show had only about a half hour left, she started cheering, clapping, and huzzahing with the best of them.
We went back to our room after the show where I tried to calm the now overly excited and hungry toddler. I fed her from the food supplies we had with us while Jim headed back out to try his luck. He returned with several trophies for his little girl. He'd gone back to the arcade and won a giant pillow, a jester's hat, and two stuffed flowers. She loved them all.
We went to Vegas with two goals: see the new Star Trek show and see the Excalibur dinner show. We met those goals and decided Vegas was too hot to stay. We had breakfast at the hotel and headed back to Utah. We discovered an In & Out Burger place near the hotel and stopped even though we'd just eaten breakfast. We hadn't had one since our trip to San Francisco years ago. Jim got a burger and fries and I got a Dr. Pepper for the road.
We briefly entertained the idea of driving over to LA and going to Disneyland, but the projected 125 temp across the desert did not sound fun at all. We decided to pass.
Panguitch to Vegas - 236.06 miles
On Saturday and Sunday afternoons, we had some strong thunderstorms roll in. They didn't last long. It was beautiful watching the lightning strike. Jim got a picture of the storm clouds rolling in.
And then we were treated to the most amazing sight. A full double rainbow was visible from the side of their house. My camera didn't have a wide-angle lens, so Jim tried to get pictures of each part. The second rainbow is only visible in the third picture, but we could see it all the way across in person.
We left Monday morning for Vegas. I had called the Excalibur hotel on Sunday afternoon and made a reservation. I also made reservations for the dinner show. No one in their right mind goes to Vegas in July. Our hotel room cost $59.00. It was the bargain of our vacation. Sera loves horses so much we thought she'd really enjoy the dinner show at the hotel.
The following pictures are of the ride to Cedar City. We headed there for breakfast before going on to Vegas.
And now we're in Vegas. We arrived around 1 pm. We headed to the Hilton for the Star Trek Experience. Jim and I had gone to it five years earlier when we'd visited Vegas for another quick visit. He'd heard they had a new show and wanted to check it out. Sera was too young and too small for the ride. She and I headed to Quark's Bar for a "snack." She loves the word snack and was saying it over and over. She and I shared a chocolate milk shake and a child's order of chicken fingers. I think they called them Tribble fingers. They served the shake with two straws. She thought it was great fun and insisted that we drink at the same time for each sip.
We were sitting at our table playing. I was telling her which pieces of chicken I was planning to eat next. This would make her giggle and steal my chicken. I then acted outraged at her audacity. All of a sudden, she froze. Her eyes got really big and she was staring over my shoulder. I turned around to see a 7 ft Klingon. In his deep Klingon voice he asked, "Is she mocking me, or is she laughing at you?" She scrambled into my lap so quickly that I'm surprised she didn't draw blood. She never cried though she did keep a close eye on him until he was well out of sight. She was not impressed with the Vulcan woman who came to check on her shortly afterwards either. She cuddled on my lap until she saw her daddy. He had come to check on us in between his two shows.
We headed to our hotel, checked in, picked up our dinner tickets, and had about 30 minutes to get ready for dinner. We then headed downstairs for the show. The entrance was in the arcade. The Excalibur is definitely showing its age. The rooms are very plain, but clean and large. It's definitely, however, the location for families. The place was crawling with kids. The arcade was packed. Jim did the ring toss game and then we got in line. Sera started fading in line. I had bought tickets for the earliest show, 6 pm, but I was starting to worry. She perked up a bit when we got to our seats. Then the show started. She was enthralled. She ate only a few bites and just stared. I was worried that she wasn't enjoying it because she was stone-faced. The loud noises and fire didn't faze her because of her love for fireworks. When the show had only about a half hour left, she started cheering, clapping, and huzzahing with the best of them.
We went back to our room after the show where I tried to calm the now overly excited and hungry toddler. I fed her from the food supplies we had with us while Jim headed back out to try his luck. He returned with several trophies for his little girl. He'd gone back to the arcade and won a giant pillow, a jester's hat, and two stuffed flowers. She loved them all.
We went to Vegas with two goals: see the new Star Trek show and see the Excalibur dinner show. We met those goals and decided Vegas was too hot to stay. We had breakfast at the hotel and headed back to Utah. We discovered an In & Out Burger place near the hotel and stopped even though we'd just eaten breakfast. We hadn't had one since our trip to San Francisco years ago. Jim got a burger and fries and I got a Dr. Pepper for the road.
We briefly entertained the idea of driving over to LA and going to Disneyland, but the projected 125 temp across the desert did not sound fun at all. We decided to pass.
Panguitch to Vegas - 236.06 miles
and back - 236.06 miles
Labels: vacation
3 Comments:
Wow, what a great trip! I can't believe how grown-up Sera looks these days. However did you keep her entertained in the car that long? I am contemplating a 4 hour car ride and already wondering how smart that is!
Glad you guys had a good time, what a wonderful experience.
Cheers, Kiy
Backseat DVD players help a lot. She also had a Magnadoodle and a ViewMaster.
When I was up there with Dad, Grandpa took me down to a wooded area where the turkeys supposedly lived. I still have a turkey feather I picked up from that place on my bulletin board. :) It's so beautiful up there!
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