santa monica pier ..

we drove to the santa monica pier one morning .. 

ellie was a little disappointed ..

since this is where Route 66 ends i think we thought it would be lots bigger ..

they did have a zoltar though ..

we rode our bikes down the beach to venice beach ..

we watched the skate boarders do some pretty cool tricks ..

then it was back to the hotel ..

the kids wanted to hit the beach .. again ..

cars land ..

walt disney was so close we couldn't not go ..

especially since carsland was there 

look .. it's the wigwam motel

this was the coolest ride ever .. 

you raced around in a little race car thru what looked like the grand canyon and arches national park

this ride was not cool ..

ellie promised me that they would not go high and they would not go fast ..

she lied !

huntington beach ..

jeff has wanted to come to huntington beach for years ..

every christmas we would have the same discussion .. 

lets go to huntington beach this year he would say .. 

ok .. i would say ..

what are we going to do why we are there i would ask ..

the kids can play in the ocean he would say ..

in december ? really jeff 

so .. now during his year off .. 

we have finally been able to come to huntington beach so the kids could play in the ocean 

and jeff can stop saying .. lets go to huntington beach 

hoover dam ..

we stopped off in vegas only to see the hoover dam ..

not the "fancy girls" as cash calls them

the last time i was here is was 7 months pregnant with ellie

we took a tour thru the power plant and the dam ..

did you know that when the hoover dam was built they had intended it to be a tourist attraction 

this is a view from a little window about half way up ..

lake mead is on the other side of the dam ..

it is about 150 feet below what is has been in the past

next time you are in vegas you should drive out and see it 

you won't be disappointed 

zion national park

on our way from moab to vegas we stopped off at zion national park ..

so far this is my favorite .. 

everywhere i looked i was amazed ..

we were not able to hike or explore much thanks to the huge thunderstorm that rolled in ..

park rangers do not like lightning .. at all ..

they make everyone come inside and seek shelter ..

no fun at all

so we loaded back up into the car and continued onto vegas

biking moab ..

right outside of moab there are a ton of mountain biking trails ..

that is arches state park that you see in the background .. 

because we over did just a bit yesterday and slept in we took a short 8 mile loop called loop m ..

needless to say it was a perfect ride !

today we are saying goodbye to moab .. 

packing up and heading to henderson nevada ..

what's in henderson you ask ..

stay tuned !

arches park

just when i thought that nothing could top the grand canyon we drive into arches ..

if you didn't fall in love with geology while at the grand canyon then you would here ..

erosion .. weathering and plate tectonics sure can create some amazing structures

do you see cash in his red shirt ?

this is delicate arch .. to view it there are 2 options .. 

the easy walk and the more difficult path ..

we accidentally took the more difficult path ..

an hour and a half later we see it ..

i was the only one that walked over to see it up close ..

everyone one else was resting for the hike back ..

can you see ellie waving in her blue shirt ?

if you are ever close to moab, utah you should stop by ..

if you don't have 3 days to spend at least just drive thru ..

you will not be disappointed !

a little hike ..

we hiked 1 mile down into the grand canyon on the bright angel trail and up again ..

piece of cake they said .. 

lets go all the way down tomorrow mom ..

ok we can do that !

we did not .. 

we were all so sore from the 1 mile down and up that we could hardly walk ..

running a marathon is a piece of cake compared to hiking the grand canyon !