Arches and on to Kearney

Friday we visited Arches National Park. Again more southern Utah grandeur.

Then we headed east, through the Rockies in Colorado.

We spent the night in eastern Colorado and got to Kearney just after noon on Saturday. Here's the entrance into Nebraska, showing not only the Welcome sign but also the plastic barrels and pylons that decorate most of I80 here.

Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef National Parks

Thursday morning we returned to Bryce Canyon, early enough to spot a mule deer.

Later we also saw a raven.
And we also looked at rocks and hoodoos.

Next we drove, mostly through the Dixie National Forest (but it has no trees)
to the Capitol Reef National Park.
It, too, has many beautiful rock formations, but the one that it's named for supposedly looks like the Capitol dome.

And it also has some petroglyphs, estimated to be 10,000 years old.

Utah, Day 1

On Wednesday we left Las Vegas and headed to Utah.

The first stop was Zion National Park (I know it says leaving, but the other side was in the shade).

Mr. Toad was very happy that he wouldn't have an escort.

In Zion we saw Bighorn Sheep

and lots of impressive rock formations.

The Dixie National Forest encompassed Zion, Bryce Canyon, and a bunch of other stuff,

including a couple tunnels that Mr. Toad enjoyed.

Last stop for the day was Bryce Canyon. We did a quick survey and got a motel for the night. More on it with the next post.

Next stop: Vegas

We got up early Tuesday a.m. to resume our journey. This is the view across Mission Bay as the sun was rising, in contrast to the bay at sunset several days ago.

The 4F Group.

Somewhere in California. A hotbed of Scrabble playing?

At the Nevada state line, the clean desert suddenly becomes:

Before going to Vegas, we visited the new bridge over the Hoover Dam, the Mike O'Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. From below:

and Hoover Dam from the bridge. Note the bridge's shadow on the dam and the rock.

A couple Las Vegas night shots to close with:

Last Day Sightseeing

Today was our last in San Diego. We met Rana, a friend that we hadn't seen for 25 years or so, for lunch in Del Mar, right next to the race track. We stayed there talking for over three hours.

They both had fish tacos. I didn't, but I should have; they were very good.

Next was Torrey Pines State Reserve. We hiked for a bit and were amazed at the scenery.

Our last stop was La Jolla cove, where we watched the seals

and the sunset.

Brunch

There was a brunch on Sunday morning at Robin & Ben's house.

I took pictures of the kids because they were more fun than the adults.

After the brunch we drove out to Lemon Grove to visit Aurora's grandfather Joe. After watching some football with him we all had dinner at a Chinese restaurant.