The Dry Heat Expedition (Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Disneyland)--UPDATE 6/12 (KSC and DTD)

[Captain_Oblivious]

So, I may have missed an update while I was in Williamsburg - the one place your kids HAVENT visited.

We'll get there...someday.

OMG - that red rock is gorgeous. BEAUTIFUL scenery! LOVE it! That Christmas card photo was SO close!

Don't worry. We keep trying just hoping we get one that works.

Leave it to you to come in below budget for dinner. Hmmmmm- I wonder why I just got the worst craving for soft serve.

Take pictures if you use Scotty's technique!

So I gotta go back and see if I missed something else, but right now I've got to go to marching band practice because, you know, its 92 degrees outside. Fun stuff!

Yeah, that sounds...great...

So you did get a Christmas card photo at the Hoover dam. You didn't need the Red Rocks Zion National park picture after all.

But there are more candidates to come!

Poor baby Drew all passed out like that? I guess just another family member tired of your dam jokes.

Or just dam tired!

On a serious note - the Hoover dam tour sounds interesting. I am sure the actual dam tour was wonderful. All this education and engineering halfway across the country and you STILL haven't been to Williamsburg yet?

It was really cool! Williamsburg doesn't have anything on this scale.

Awesome pictures of the dam via the aerial view from your hike! Very cool. I am going to show Denny all your pics cause he really wants to go there. I guess we might have to!

Being an engineer, I'm sure Denny will appreciate it.

A national park pass is $80? That seems like a lot, but I'm sure it paid for itself easily. Did I mention you can use that at the Yorktown battlefield - which is near Williamsburg. In case you were wondering!

One reason we haven't been to Williamsburg yet is because younger children can find the Revolutionary War period a little...how can I put this delicately?...Dry.

Heck, I struggle mightly with house tours too. There are only so many old houses I can walk through and say, "Yup, there's a kitchen. Yup, there's a bedroom." Etc, etc.

Battlefields? Now we're talking.

Oops! Sorry I forgot to edit my sentence, so that just looks rude. I meant to say, "Was wondering when someone would bring this up! That was so shocking and sad"

I actually encourage unsavory topics

Yeah, I got a dose of that with your description of DL visitors.

Hey Mark! I forgot to ask this in my previous post. Did you mean to title this TR like an episode of the Big Bang Theory or is that just my imagination?

Sadly, no.

Confession: I've never seen a single episode of Big Bang Theory.

 

[Steppesister]

HERE!!!!

I'm leaving my mark so your thread shows up in my UserCP. I'll be back to read when I'm not exhausted.

Why do visions of dogs and fire hydrants come to my mind's eye?? (Hi Tim!)

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

KC BBQ

Arthur Bryant's is great and is a classic but my favorite in town is Oklahoma Joe's BBQ although they are renaming themselves Joe's KC BBQ. Go to the original location in the gas station in Mission, KS. You'll wait in line but it is fantastic! Now I just drooled a little.

Jill in CO

BBQ in a gas station? That sounds awesome! I'll have to put this on the list.

No worries! I'm tough to offend.

Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!

Another great update. Love all that scenery! Utah is really beautiful. Way back when, when I had a National Park Pass (that I thought was $50, so a long time ago!), I remember being blown away by the parks in Utah. Such breathtaking scenery all around you.

I agree! Utah is amazing. There are still several parks on the eastern side of the state we need to check out as well.

Good for Sarah for saving up for her own iPod! I didn't really think that much of selfies until recently, traveling alone with a toddler. It suddenly becomes necessary if you want any pictures, especially of their reactions (given I'm often holding her). So, serves some purpose, at least! And, of course, the "I was there!" is covered too.

Well, you could just give the toddler the camera.

We had a Dickey's BBQ here for a while (I think it closed?) We went once and enjoyed it. Not a bad option, especially when all the top options are closed. And a great deal for you too!

Finding food that is both cheap and good is the holy grail of family road trips.

Seeing Julie's cone-filling skills reminds me of the semester I spent working in food service at college. One of the rotations was to run the soft-serve machine. Nobody trained me on it, so I just figured I'd make the cones like I would want them...as big as possible! After a while, I started noticing that people would come in, see me, and decide they were having ice cream - guess I was more generous than the other workers. It was fun, though!

Looking forward to more!

I remember going to a certain McDonald's repeatedly because they had the Wonderful French Fry Lady, who would over-stuff the fry boxes with my meals. So much better than the Drive-Thru Guy, who never failed to give me a half-full box.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Heck, now there’s even a thriving (and might I add soul crushing) market for restaurant reservations.
Given that, I doubt there’s anything that someone wouldn’t exploit for a profit.

By the way, did I mention this TR is now pay-per-view?

Nope. That’s why no one bothered with it when I foolishly went into detail on the subject in an older TR.
Now the follow up entry on Dragon’s Berth was more of a hit, but I digress.

People were more interested in roller coasters? What is this world coming to?

Well now you just have to go back and correct that egregious error.

Sigh. Twist my arm.

Wisdom…
Oh, is that what it is then?

Well, what would you call it? And keep it family-friendly.

Very true, but it’s also more easily done wrong.
As such, gambling on pulled pork tends to be a better bet than gambling on “smoked brisket”; especially as that’s gotten to be quite the fashion. I mean, even Arby’s pushing the stuff now.

Scary…

True. But I'd rather have Arby's trying it than McDonald's.

Setting the bar a might low there aren’t ya’?

I wanted to give my kids a reachable goal.

Why yes. Yes, I did make it here to harass you- hopefully more than once. So far, so funny. And excellent fodder for taking a walk down Memory Lane for me. So many familiar places.

Yay! Liesa's here!



And harass away. You'll fit right in with everyone else.

Seeing the pix of the Hoover made my stomach do a little flip-flop- at least I remember my tummy doing that standing a zillion feet up? It was scary!

And awesome!

And the red rock country is so beautiful!! I don't think it's even possible to take a bad picture. Well, unless you put baby photobombers in them. (Which was cute, don't get me wrong.) Or the sun is shining like it tends to do there... and you put people in them. But hey, you got some sweet Christmas card fodder, right?

Is that a challenge? I bet we can take a bad picture anywhere!

Once we sent out a "fake" Christmas card with some of the worst pictures we could find--kids freaking out, looking grumpy, etc. We amuse ourselves, at least.

OK and I forgot to put in my two cents regarding the National Park Pass. I'm sure that you are going to make out with the overall pass. The number of parks that you plan on visiting it's a no brainer!

I may or may not have done the math ahead of time.

Why do visions of dogs and fire hydrants come to my mind's eye?? (Hi Tim!)

My thoughts exactly! And guess who has to clean up all that mess.

 

[glennbo123]

Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!

Help, help, I'm bein' repressed!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Help, help, I'm bein' repressed!

+1

I fart in your general direction!

 

[franandaj]

Sadly, no.

Confession: I've never seen a single episode of Big Bang Theory.

I had not either until we moved into our new house and had an empty DVR during the off season for network TV. Since then we recorded the syndicated episodes off of TBS sort of binge fashion. It's a rather funny show but rather inappropriate for most of your family.

Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!

Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I had not either until we moved into our new house and had an empty DVR during the off season for network TV. Since then we recorded the syndicated episodes off of TBS sort of binge fashion. It's a rather funny show but rather inappropriate for most of your family.

I've heard great things about it, but never taken the time to watch. I can only keep up with so many shows. Lately, we've been obsessed with Justified, Breaking Bad, and Sherlock. Although we are caught up with all of them.

Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!

+1

 

[glennbo123]

+1

I fart in your general direction!

Is there someone else up there we can talk to?

 

[Cinderella's Fella]

Confession: I've never seen a single episode of Big Bang Theory.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Is there someone else up there we can talk to?

No! Now go away, or I shall taunt you for a second time.

Only so many hours in the day, dude.

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

No! Now go away, or I shall taunt you for a second time.

What a strange person.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

What a strange person.

Let's not go to Camelot. It is a silly place.

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

Let's not go to Camelot. It is a silly place.

It’s only a model...

 

[Cinderella's Fella]

Only so many hours in the day, dude.

For this, you make time.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Captain’s Log: Monday, 21 July 2014.

1:24 a.m.—Baby Drew has been fussy in the pop-up tent from the beginning. It took him an hour to get to sleep in it. Now he’s fussing again. After nursing him, we give up and put him in his car seat.

4:18 a.m.—Wow! Three straight hours of sleep before he’s fussing again.

5:32 a.m.—Well, I guess we’re up for the day. Yay!

7:27 a.m.—Had a nice breakfast at the hotel. It was a standard hotel breakfast made immeasurably better when they brought out the huge tray of donuts halfway through our meal. Now we’re on the road with a full day ahead of us. We’re headed east out of Cedar City and into the mountains on Route 14.

Disney Parks veterans are well aware of the Rope Drop Strategy—i.e. the Get Your Butt Out Of Bed Early And Beat Everyone Else To The Parks So You Can Ride The Popular Rides Before The Lines Get Long And The Kids Start Whining And Driving You Crazy strategy. We’ve found that the concept of Rope Drop works pretty much everywhere you go. If you’re willing to get up early, you can see even the most popular places before they are overcome with crowds. And even if you’re not willing to get up early but have a baby who refuses to sleep, the concept still works.

Route 14 is a beautiful drive, continually climbing the mountains in the Dixie National Forest. Yesterday, temperatures were over 100 degrees. This morning, at the higher elevations, they’re hovering in the 50’s. We actually have to break out our sweatshirts. We also have our first wildlife sighting—a marmot that I nearly flatten as he shuffles off the road.

8:30 a.m.—We’ve reached our first stop: Cedar Breaks National Monument.

You’ve probably heard of Bryce Canyon National Park. It happens to be our next destination, and is famous for its unique rock structures formed by erosion and the elements. Cedar Breaks, although less well knows, is basically a mini-Bryce Canyon. It consists of an amphitheater facing west, with exposed red rock that through exposure to wind, rain, and the pressures of time has formed unique structures called “hoodoos”.

I’m not quite sure where that term came from, but my best guess is that early explorers and settlers needed a word to describe these formations, and “whatsit” and “thingamajiggy” were already being used somewhere else.

8:37 a.m.—After Dave’s first bathroom break of the day, we walk up the short trail to see that the visitor center isn’t open yet. We head on towards the overlook and discover that we are over 10,000 feet in elevation for the first time since…last summer’s ascent of Mt. Haleakala on Maui.

8:43 a.m.—The weather is cool and windy, but we forget about all that as we soak in the views of the Cedar Breaks amphitheater.

Sarah’s panoramic:

It’s fun to watch the kids run up to the fence, get their first glimpse, and say, “Whoa….”

Meanwhile, I’m not sure where Scotty’s Inspector Clouseau mustache came from.

8:53 a.m.—the visitor center still isn’t open. This is going to make it tough to get our coveted stamp in our National Park passport.

9:00 a.m.—The park ranger shows up and opens the visitor center. We get to see her raise the flag.

The park entrance fee is $4/adult, but we show our Super-Secret Stonecutters Card to add another $8 to our tally of savings. Got our stamp, too.

9:15 a.m.—We’re on our way to Bryce Canyon. Along the way, there’s an overlook for Navajo Lake.

As you can see, it’s a gorgeous drive. Many Wilderness Lodge-style log cabins dot the area.

10:12 a.m.—We were moving along fine until we hit a portion of U.S. 89 that’s closed down to 1 lane due to construction. Stupid highway engineers. How dare you maintain the nation’s infrastructure! At least our travel buddy is doing ok.

Why is he so happy? Because he no longer has to do a #2. It’s all over his shorts, instead. I’ll blame the crappy diapers. You can decide if that’s figurative or literal.

10:30 a.m.—Baby shorts hastily changed, we’ve turned onto Route 12, which takes us through lovely Red Canyon. You get to go through a few awesome rock tunnels on the way, because highway engineers are amazingly cool people.

10:45 a.m.—We made it!

Bryce Canyon National Park was formed in 1928. The rock formations here face to the east, and again are shaped by the elements into imposing towers and rock walls. It was named after a Mormon settler named Ebenezer Bryce, who, when asked about his impression of the geological wonders of the area, demonstrated a keen understanding of the majesty and grandeur of the region, saying, “Well…it’s a hell of a place to lose a cow.”

“Bryce Canyon” is actually a misnomer. It’s not a canyon. There’s no river carving rock walls through a valley. But tourists don’t come all this way to see Bryce Regional Erosion, so the canyon name stuck to entice visitors. Judging from the fact that they now have a shuttle bus system to help ferry people around the park, I’d say it has worked.

10:53 a.m.—Our first stop is the visitor center, where we get our second passport stamp of the day and use our Get Out Of Jail Free card to avoid paying the $25 entrance fee. Our entrance fee tally is now at $68 saved, and we’re only 3 days into the trip! I had to rush in ahead of everyone to accompany Dave, who announced as we drove into the park that he really, really needed to go.

We’ve learned the root cause of the problem. When we first talked about going to the desert, Julie stressed the importance of proper hydration to the kids. Stressed, emphasized, threatened with bodily harm—you get the picture. So for the last 3 days, Dave has been draining water bottle after water bottle in the back seat of the van. But hey, at least he’s hydrated. And he listens to his Mommy.

We also wandered the gift shop. Just to see if anything caught our eye.

11:20 a.m.—We get on the road to see the sights. The road to the end of the park is 18 miles long, and it’s suggested that you drive all the way to the end first and then work your way back. This is due to the fact that the entrances to the overlooks are all off of the northbound side of the road, so it’s easier to make right turns in and out. So we head on down the road to Rainbow Point, the last stop in Bryce Canyon.

11:43 a.m.—Welcome to Rainbow Point.

The views here are stunning. You can see for miles in the clear mountain air. When you live in a flat state like Delaware, where the highest point is measured by whoever can stand tallest in the tailgate of a pickup truck, this kind of panorama just does not grow old.

What does Baby Drew think?

We look down the way to our left and see another observation point. The kids head down while Julie and I stay back to try and get a cool picture of them. As we wait, we get a rare wildlife sighting. I present to you Touristus Idiotia, seen here in their native habitat:

See that metal fence below? No way it’s wide enough to catch them if they fall. All it would take is one gust of wind. The guy on the end actually tightroped his way along the top beam to get there.

Panoramic:

12:00 p.m.—In keeping with tradition, this looks like a great place for a PB&J sandwich.

And I just included this picture because it reminds me that no matter how much noise we made, Drew was utterly fascinated with the sign.

Coming Up Next: Hoodoos! Saying that doesn't get old, either. And if we get far enough into the day, maybe some pie.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

Now he’s fussing again. After nursing him, we give up and put him in his car seat.

4:18 a.m.—Wow! Three straight hours of sleep before he’s fussing again.

Do what you gotta do.

We also have our first wildlife sighting—a marmot that I nearly flatten as he shuffles off the road.

If you would have sighted him a little sooner, it wouldn't have been such a close call.

Sarah’s panoramic:

Is she charging you a licensing fee to use these pictures?
Wait, does she even know what a licensing fee is? I think I need to have a talk with her...

Why is he so happy? Because he no longer has to do a #2. It’s all over his shorts, instead. I’ll blame the crappy diapers. You can decide if that’s figurative or literal.

10:30 a.m.—Baby shorts hastily changed,

Admit it - you thought about just leaving the shorts on the side of the road because you didn't want them in the car. It's Ok, we've all done it.

We’ve learned the root cause of the problem. When we first talked about going to the desert, Julie stressed the importance of proper hydration to the kids. Stressed, emphasized, threatened with bodily harm—you get the picture. So for the last 3 days, Dave has been draining water bottle after water bottle in the back seat of the van.

By that account, you must have several empty bottles in the back of the car, just laying around.

Empty.

Sooooo......

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

By that account, you must have several empty bottles in the back of the car, just laying around.

Empty.

Sooooo......

 

[Steppesister]

Dang tooty, I'm on a roll! I done gone and read an update before it has been up for like 3 months.

Nice pictures, idiot tourists, and a shout out to your own profession. Good work! Oh, and baby poop jokes. That just puts it all in the outstanding TR'ing category.

 

[franandaj]

5:32 a.m.—Well, I guess we’re up for the day. Yay!

Yikes! Having babies is not for the faint of heart!

7:27 a.m.—Had a nice breakfast at the hotel. It was a standard hotel breakfast made immeasurably better when they brought out the huge tray of donuts halfway through our meal. Now we’re on the road with a full day ahead of us. We’re headed east out of Cedar City and into the mountains on Route 14.

Mmmmmm donuts!

8:30 a.m.—We’ve reached our first stop: Cedar Breaks National Monument.

Hey! I'm so happy that you posted these pictures! I always thought that years ago we pulled off the I-15 and visited Bryce Canyon's first stop, but after going to Bryce I realized that was way too far off the road for a "stop in". Now I know this was the park that we went to instead!

You’ve probably heard of Bryce Canyon National Park. It happens to be our next destination, and is famous for its unique rock structures formed by erosion and the elements. Cedar Breaks, although less well knows, is basically a mini-Bryce Canyon. It consists of an amphitheater facing west, with exposed red rock that through exposure to wind, rain, and the pressures of time has formed unique structures called “hoodoos”.

I’m not quite sure where that term came from, but my best guess is that early explorers and settlers needed a word to describe these formations, and “whatsit” and “thingamajiggy” were already being used somewhere else.

I couldn't resist especially when Google is my friend. There is a lot of erroneous information out there, but this is the best that I came up with.

"American aboriginal peoples of the northwest picked up the word hoodoo from English-speaking fur trappers and, like them, used hoodoo to refer to any malignant creature or evil supernatural force. That's how it came to be applied to the curious columns of earth or rock. "

“Bryce Canyon” is actually a misnomer. It’s not a canyon. There’s no river carving rock walls through a valley. But tourists don’t come all this way to see Bryce Regional Erosion, so the canyon name stuck to entice visitors.

Thanks for the informative tidbit!

11:43 a.m.—Welcome to Rainbow Point.

Very nice!

We look down the way to our left and see another observation point. The kids head down while Julie and I stay back to try and get a cool picture of them. As we wait, we get a rare wildlife sighting. I present to you Touristus Idiotia, seen here in their native habitat:

See that metal fence below? No way it’s wide enough to catch them if they fall. All it would take is one gust of wind. The guy on the end actually tightroped his way along the top beam to get there.

People are such idiots!

For this, you make time.

I get the not enough time thing. There are multiple programs that I would like to watch, but just can't because I have too much important stuff to do, but this one you make time, after the kids have gone to bed. You wouldn't want your kids to pick up certain words from Sheldon's vocabulary!