February Trip to Southwest

The whole family traveled to Las Vegas to watch Jack's team play in a baseball tournament, and then we had another five days afterwards to explore around. Here is our "Top Ten List" of fun things we did on the trip. Our photo album with our top 40 photos from the trip is here.

1. Red Rocks Canyon
Our first day in Nevada we went about 15 miles west of Las Vegas to explore a beautiful canyon of red rocks:

2. Hoover Dam
The next day we drove a half hour east to walk across the Hoover Dam.

3. Watching Jack play baseball
The games were all very one-sided but still fun to get to know the kids and his new team. Plus they have three snazzy uniforms - here's Jack up at bat in his blue shirt, and then a later game in his camo:

4. Valley of Fire State Park
Certainly one of the prettiest state parks we've ever seen. We did a great hike there over sand and through red rocks.

5. "The Las Vegas Strip"
That night we took the kids onto the strip to see the lights and action. And there was a big chocolate shop with every imagine-able shade of M&M.

6. Death Valley National Park
Somewhat surprisingly, this was one of the prettiest national parks we've visited. We got to hike to the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere, and see some amazing rock formations and colors. This hike had an amazing view point at the end:

7. Gourmet Meals
We usually like to go out to some nice dinners while on vacations. Not so much this trip. We did get to an Olive Garden (always a big hit!) and a very nice pizza place in Utah, but sometimes because we were trying to fit in dinner between baseball games, and sometimes because we were too tired from all our activities, we ate more fast food than usual. In-N-Out is a family favorite - and not available in the Northwest, just in California and the southwest.

8. Boat Ride on Lake Mead
We rented a pontoon boat and drove it for three hours around Lake Mead - the lake formed by the Hoover Dam blocking the Colorado River. More beautiful rocks surround it, and you can also get a different view of the Hoover Dam.

9. Swimming in the hotel pool
We stayed in two hotels - one in Nevada for five nights, and one in Utah for our final two nights. Both had hotel pools, and it became a favorite end-of-day activity, especially for Henry and Jack, to go swimming.

10. Skiing in Utah
We've hardly had any snow at the ski resorts in Washington - many of them threw in the towel and closed in mid-February. So we decided to drive three hours up from Vegas up to Utah and go skiing for a day at Brian Head resort. It was a little icy, but overall great skiing - and, of course, beautiful.