The day after 4th of July, Daddy Brad drove the boys and I to Buffalo Airport for our flight to Salt Lake City, Utah. This was the beginning of our summer world schooling adventures, and first Mom-Sons Westward road trip. We were embarking on a journey that would first take us to Salt Lake City, UT to visit friends, then a weekend in Zion National Park, an over-nighter in Las Vegas, and on to Southern CA where we planned to spend the entire month of July (and 1st week of August) for some summer Cali time with family and friends. Brad stayed behind in WNY to finish some house projects, enjoy golfing and boating while we were visiting family. It occurred to me that we have spent the last SIX summers in Western New York, and I really wanted the boys to experience the SoCal beach summer I grew up with. The bonus was that Chloe was off of school for the summer, and many of our friends would be available to hang out and make memories with. Its been so difficult to squeeze in West Coast time each year, so beginning our year of travel and adventures on the West visiting family and friends was a nice way to kick off our adventurous year!
The West Coast road trip began in Salt Lake City, Utah where we drove with Emily to Zion and spent a couple days there, then she took us to pick up rental car where we then continued West, ended up Southern CA middle of the next week. We drove through 4 states (Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and CA) within a 24 hour time period (stopping off in Vegas) and then dropping off our rental car in Irvine (that cost around $100/day bc drop-off was in a different state). Phew! This was seriously a much easier road trip and drive compared to the 6 hour drive to NYC from Bemus.
At Atlanta Airport PF Chang dinner- sending daddy photos before
we boarded our plane to Salt Lake City
Our West Coast Road Trip:
EXPERIENCE: Ninja warrior course at Snowbird, UT- Zion National Park river hiking at the Narrows, Las Vegas sights and lights, roadtrippin' in the car
LEARN: Dinosaur Discovery center in Utah, facts/ info on gems, rocks. and minerals, history of red rock and Zion, Magic store in Vegas, learning about climate, weather, various geographical features (mountains and desert)
BOND: Reconnecting with old friends in Utah, Vegas, mom-sons bonding, brother bonding
The many goofy airplane selfies I find on my phone! This was when we were redirected to fly to Atlanta due to severe thunderstorms, making it to Salt Lake City 2 hours later and relieved we didn't have to spend the night at an airport.
Snowbird Mountain, Utah
Ninja course. Jax is quite the warrior! He may be scrawny but he's strong, fast, and fierce!
Hiking and gondola ride with our friend Mr. Chris, who graciously took the day off of work and took us around this beautiful mountain ski resort just up the hill from their house. We met our friends Chris and Emily when they were living in Bemus, and about 2 years ago they moved to Salt Lake City, Utah and are loving the nature and vibe of the city. We were so happy to visit them! (Brad visited in the Winter earlier this year, and had the pleasure of snowboarding these mountains with Chris and other buddies.)
We found bits of snow, in the middle of summer!!
The ride down the chair lift was thrilling! It was like being in the Austrian Alps again. The beauty! Poor Mr. Chris was nervous of heights and wasn't that fond of Jax yelling out "Snap!" every time we passed a chair lift tower!
Sushi time!!! My boys and I LOVE sushi, especially with fun friends and at fun sushi restaurants.
After a full day exploring the beautiful mountains of SLC, Emily, the boys and I drive about 4 hours south to Zion National Park. We stayed at Sand Hollow Condo Resort for 2 nights and had such a nice time taking in all the wonderful red rock nature. It was breathtaking! The boys couldn't believe how red and picturesque the mountains looked and they were enamored with their first desert landscape.
River hiking the famous Narrows! This was not planned but boys were excited to keep hiking especially in the water because it was so hot. The weather was over 100 degrees so walking/ swimming in the river cooled us down. What a wet n' wild experience!
Lots of incredible gems for the boys to explore and marvel at! Zion was truly a magical place for these gem and mineral loving Science boys!
A well-deserved delicious Mexican dinner and margaritas after a whole day of hiking!
St. George Dinosaur Discovery Center, where real dinosaur tracks were discovered what once used to be a prehistoric lake but has since dried up. We watched real paleontologists at work in their lab dusting off fossils.
Viva Las Vegas!!! We arrived and went straight to the sign! Believe it or not, this was my first time seeing the famous Vegas sign.... and I didn't even jump into the picture! Next time for sure, when Daddy Brad is with us!
We check in at the LINQ hotel and casino, and got ready to drive up to our friend Justin and Sabina's house for dinner. These were our friends that also lived in CDM, CA with us and after their destination Mexico wedding (that we attended with the boys in 2014) they moved to Las Vegas for work opportunity, cheaper housing, and to be closer to Sabina's brother. They have one daughter - Minka, and another girl on the way! We met Minka for the first time and boys gifted her this hot pink plush dino they picked out at the Dinosaur Discovery Center. We enjoyed catching up, seeing their amazingly designed house (she's a designer), the boys took a dip in their pool, and we feasted on great Mediterranean food.
We got back to the Vegas Strip by 9pm and ventured out to explore some more Vegas glitz and sparkle, it is a city that never sleeps so we made a plan to see the Mirage volcano erupt, the pirate ships of Treasure Island, and ducked into the Venetian Hotel canals just in time as a massive desert thunderstorm rolled through the city. Taj couldn't believe how many people he saw smoking and this bothered him. Both boys were fascinated about Vegas not having any clocks- a fact we learned from Mr. Chris and sure thing he was right! Vegas with kids is an entirely different animal and experience than before kids (or my crazy college party days). Not to say it isn't fun, bu its a different kind of fun, because Vegas has a ton of action and entertainment even for families. The boys would definitely be up for visiting again and seeing a cool show (like a Cirque Solei) and I wouldn't mind staying at our favorite Mandalay Bay Resort where we can enjoy the pools and the aquarium.
We checked out a magic store at the Venetian, where Zoltar (the mechanical fortune teller) gave us a very accurate fortune! We ate gelato at the canal shoppes, and then braved the flooded rainy streets of Vegas as we made our way back to our hotel. I told the boys they experienced their first Vegas shower! LOL
The next morning we feasted at a highly reviewed breakfast restaurant, that was featured on a food network. We filled up our bellies, packed up, and hit the road. SoCal or BUST!
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