Adventures

It has been a long time between posts, but that is because we have been busy with our cross-country adventure. We are home now, but it was a great trip. There is really no way to capture all of the things that we saw and did. When we left Minnesota we headed through Denver to Arches. After a night there, we went through Monument Valley on our way to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. After a couple of nights there, we doubled back into Utah to Zion. We spent three nights there (way too short) before heading to Las Vegas and finally to San Diego for a week. From San Diego, we finally made our way home. Here is just a taste of Emily's adventures:

At Arches

We only had about four hours to explore Arches. That was definite not enough time, but we made the most of it. Frankly, it is an awesome park, but it was also only a warm up in terms of what was to come on our trip.

Grand Canyon

I don't think that Emily was a huge fan of the Grand Canyon. The fact that we were on the South Rim may have played a role - the views are incredible, but what are views to a seven year old?

A rest in the Narrows

Now, hiking the Narrows in Zion, which is mostly a hike through the water, was right up Emily's alley. It turns out that she loves anything that involves water. This was a really big day for all of us. We started out early in the morning, before the crowds, and ended up with a really great hike. All told, we went almost eight miles round trip and Emily was a trooper through all of it. She finally hit a wall at one point, though, and as I looked at her, her lips were turning blue and she was shivering. Despite the summer temperatures, hypothermia is still a risk, so we turned around and got her into a sunny spot. After warming up a bit, she was good to go. The next day, we hiked Emerald Pools, which is a more strenuous hike, and has waterfalls and pools of water, but no water to walk in. She was OK with this, but nothing beats the Narrows.

A San Diego beach

Finally, on to the place of her birth, which she was really excited to get back to. We drove past our old house, and went to many of our favorite places. I am not quite sure what she is so excited about in this photo, but maybe it is just general love of the ocean. At one point, however, she was on a boogy board and ended up with a big mouth full of sea water. She was so offended! :) Other than that, though, the sea treated her well. We brought home some shells and some sand (from a few of the places that we visited).

As we all were, Emily was happy to be home. She had almost a week back in her own place before her new school started (today). I'll have to fill you in on the new school year, but that will be for another post . . .