I still don't really feel like I'm back yet because we've just been traveling, traveling since the time we stepped back in the states! It's been awesome :) After mom's graduation in Phoenix, we drove up to Sedona, Arizona. Sedona is a very, very cool city! There are gorgeous, massive red rock mountains and we spent a good part of the morning hiking on one of the trails there which is just surrounded by the most beautiful scenery! And we had a lovely picnic lunch at the top of the mountain under a big tree :) Check out the photos! Then we walked around downtown which has tons of locally run shops. My mom bought me some sunglasses at a little boutique called 'Daughling! It's You!' ;) Funny.
The next stop was the Grand Canyon! I must admit that before I visited the Grand Canyon, I had never seen any pictures of it, so I just made up some imaginary photos in my mind of what I thought it would look like. I figured 'canyon' is a hole in the earth; 'grand canyon' must just be one big giant circular hole in the earth, right? WRONG! The Grand Canyon is so massive, with so many different dimensions of formations inside of it that it's impossible to truly describe. We visited the south rim of the canyon, and surprisingly they have an extremely organized free shuttle system that can take you from one overlook to the next (probably over 30 different stops). But the really cool thing is that you can hike from one stop to the next also, or mix it up and hike some and then hop on a bus to another point, then hike some more... whatever you want! It was so easy to navigate! So we did just that; we hiked to different points, then we shuttled it to others... and we had a fabulous time! Each of the overlook spots on the rim of the Grand Canyon provides a completely unique and awe-inspiring view. By the end of the day my sisters, mother, and I pretty much agreed that we were overwhelmed by the Grand Canyon itself; it's QUITE the sight to be seen! I would LOVE to go back in the future for a longer period of time and actually hike down into the bottom of the canyon and camp. But to do that you really need at least a week and half... but it would be a week and a half WELL SPENT! I can't even imagine what the view is from inside the canyon. We were only up on the rim and it was amazing...
The next day after the Grand Canyon we headed to the Hoover Dam, which is only about 30 miles outside of Las Vegas. Another confession: The Hoover Dam was never on my radar of places I had the desire to visit, but it's sooooooo cool! There's so much history behind it too! For instance, it took a team of thousands of men 5 years, working 7 days per week, 363 days of the year to build The Hoover Dam during the Great Depression, AND it was completed 2 years ahead of schedule! It supplies to water to 7 states, and sits right on the border of Arizona and Nevada. We took a tour down inside the foundation of the dam and it's MASSIVE! So, so cool... if you are out that way, definitely make the stop!
That evening, we drove the short rest of the distance to Las Vegas and Taylor (our reservation specialist extraordinare!) booked us a room for 2 nights at the MGM Grand which is like a small city in and of itself. In the actual hotel (yes! inside of it!) there are probably 30+ full-size restaurants (I'm talking HUGE restaurants, like the Rainforest Cafe), a GIANT casino (our first night there Taylor won $220 on a penny machine in the casino!), a food court (or two?), a full theatre (where we watched a Cirque du Soleil show for my birthday that was incredible!!! Thanks mom, Tay, and Pear!), tons of over mini theaters, a real lion's den with actual lions, a spa, a gazillion rooms, waterfalls... who knows all what else was in there! We got lost our first afternoon there just trying to GET OUT of the hotel! It's like as big as the Grand Canyon.
We spent all day Thursday walking down the entire main strip in Vegas, going in and out of different shops, casinos, hotels... there's a lot going on in Vegas people! A LOT!!! But they do say, 'whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas' for a reason... we had to navigate ourselves past all the people on the streets clicking tickets to buy hookers/strippers just non-stop. There's a little bit TOO MUCH going on in Vegas for me. Like I said, we spent a full day and 2 nights there and I felt like my brain might explode from all the lights and advertisements by the time we left on Friday afternoon. It was definitely interesting to see and experience once (and yes, it's JUST like the movies!), but I don't think I'll be jumping to go back anytime soon...lol. All in all, it was a very fun once in a lifetime experience.
Then Friday afternoon mom, Taylor, and I said bye to Paris (she stayed in Vegas a few more days to visit friends) and drove 6 hours back to Phoenix, Arizona just in time to deposit our pretty little red rental car and hop on our flights back to the east coast :) I'm tired! Lol.
Alright folks. I think that's about it for my traveling adventures and blogging for the time being. I hope you've enjoyed reading my stories, and I can't wait to hear what exciting plans are on the horizon for you as well!
Keep me posted! :)
