UTAH Part 2

I shouldn't have left so much time between these points, I'm subject to forget everything that I did from last week. I could blame it on old age (yes, I'm almost 40 now), but I think since I'm a couple days shy... that wouldn't be fair now would it.

Back to our Utah trip, On Monday and Tuesday we enjoyed all that the Moab area had to offer.  Except some serious Jeep rides (it was Jeep week in Moab) which we decided probably wasn't for us after all.  We spent a lot of time riding around, snapping pictures and borrowing cactus.  Uncle Dave has a bit of a cactus fetish, so we were on the hunt for the greatest cactus we could find.

Chris and I were lucky enough one day to do a ranger guided walk through the Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park.  The reason you must have a ranger is that it is incredibly easy to get lost.  You can see some of the beautiful pictures below.

Here is the cactus we were hunting for some time.  We finally found it in the right size and with an easy getaway spot.

We also got to enjoy the amazing petroglyphs (Indian/Native American writing).  This batch was right off a fairly travelled road outside of Moab.  In fact, rock climbers climb just 100 ft or so away from this.  Interesting that it is not something that is preserved and just out there for all to enjoy.

Spring Break 2014 - Utah

We had a fantastic 9 days of Spring Break enjoying just some of what Utah has to offer.  If you haven't seen the recent Utah travel commercials... I'm going to give you one in the next five posts or so.  We had a fantastic time enjoying our new digs in Park City, but we also got to go down to Moab and enjoy Southern Utah and a couple National Parks.  The added bonus, Uncle Dave & Aunt Venita (aka Neenee) also came with us.  We had a really fantastic time with them.  Lily was definitely in heaven.

After arriving in Park City on Saturday, we settled into our new condo in Park City.  The new condo is great, but we headed right out early on Sunday to take the 4 hour drive to Moab.  We took the scenic route over the mountains past Heber City, Strawberry Reservoir and then dropped down to Price before heading out to Moab.  The terrain is varied and interesting to say the least.  Our first animal spotting was antelope.

On Sunday we went right into Canyonlands National Park and hit Dead Horse Point State Park.  Hope you enjoy the pictures maybe even a fraction of what we enjoyed the views in person.

The Colorado River cuts through both Canyonlands and the Grand Canyon.  While the Grand Canyon is indeed beautiful, Canyonlands is much less touristy and seems to go on forever.

Chris and I drove this rode below the last time we were at Canyonlands (some 13 years ago).  At which time we got a flat tire with no AAA around to speak of.  Dave wasn't up for driving it this time around.  Can't say I really blame him.

San Diego...

On Saturday, we made the journey to San Diego.  We started with an excellent breakfast at the Sugar Shack Cafe in Huntington.  Can I just say the most yummy avocado, bacon & cheese omelette ever.  I think the thing had an entire avocado on it.  Then we journey'd down the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) until we couldn't go much further.  Finally we arrived in San Diego and spent the entire day at Balboa park.  While I have been to the San Diego Zoo in the past, I had not seen the rest of the park which turned out to be the highlight for me.  We started by meeting up with our friend Dan who works as the Volunteer Coordinator for the NAT museum.  Then we were off to the zoo for most of the day.  And no, we didn't see everything.  The zoo is huge and even at our pace we missed a few things.  After the zoo we met back up with Dan and got to hear some of the history of Balboa park and its beautiful buildings.  Then we finished up the evening with dinner at the Prado in the park.  Dinner and dessert were absolutely wonderful.  Even Lily enjoyed some new vittles.  What a perfect way to spend a Saturday.

Huntington Beach at Sunset

I must admit that Huntington Beach at sunset is truly a beautiful thing.  We were lucky enough to have a great dinner at Dukes right on the beach next to the Huntington pier.  After a great meal we walked back to our hotel at sunset.  On Huntington they have over 500 fire pits so people can just come and have beach fires.  On a Friday night, there were lots of them.  The amount of public parking (for free) is also amazing.  The vibe around Huntington is definitely one of a surfers paradise.  Little kids with bicycles outfitted to carry their surf boards.  Pretty cool.  

After returning to our hotel, we also got to enjoy smores over the open fire pits they had at the hotel.  What a great place.  If you ever need a recommendation for an excellent beach resort... this is it.

Disneyland

On Friday of our quick California trip we made it to Disneyland.  The weather was very pleasant and the lines were unseasonably short.  No complaints from me since we were at Disney World earlier this year on the busiest day of the year.  This time, we got straight on some rides.  What a novelty that was. Lily had a great time and insisted on wearing her new minnie ears every day since then.

Huntington Beach, California...

This last weekend (ok extended weekend) Lily and I had a chance to join Chris in California.  Unfortunately Chris had to work, so Lily and I took full advantage of the awesome hotel he was staying in (complete with about a dozen pools and spas, including water slides).  Lily was in heaven.  On our first day, Thursday, we hit the beach, toured around downtown Huntington, watched the volleyball players (who all looked like professionals), hit the beach again, made some friends, joined the friends at the kids pool at the hotel for an afternoon of fun.  Then once Chris returned we started all over again, back to the pool, back to the beach, back to Huntington pier and finally to bed.  Yes, I think we were in bed at 6:30 pm.  What a full day.

Fountains in front of our hotel looking out to Huntington Beach

One long line of life guard stands

Never knew they had pelicans on the West Coast

Huntington Beach - surfing capital of the U.S.

Lily enjoying digging holes on the beach

And making friends

Water slides with Dad

Palm trees... and more palm trees