Day 20

Last full day of vacation!  Tomorrow we head home.  It'll be a LONG drive (at least 9 hours), but I can't wait to see Hailey!  I really miss her!  Today John and I had a really nice day in Las Vegas.  I like the town much more during the day.  Too much smoke and drunk people at night!  LOL!  We went to the pawn shop that is in the TV show "Pawn Stars."  John loves that show, so he loved looking around the store.  After that we went to Fremont Street, because that's where Harley-Davidson is.  But we decided to look around.  It's old Vegas and new Vegas combined.  There are a lot of the older casinos there, so we decided to go in and play at the roulette table.  Cheaper tables and we actually won!  It's so much more fun to win!  We had nachos at this little diner (way cheaper than our hotel breakfast!), and John bought another Harley shirt.  We went to the mall (which is right next door to our hotel), because I needed a new phone cover.  I bought a new pair of Vans with my roulette winnings, and then we came back to the hotel to get ready for our Cirque du Soleil show, Mystere.  We had awesome seats (4 rows from the front), and the show was so exciting!  After the show, we lost a few bucks on the slot machines and now we're ready for bed!  It's been such a great vacation, but I'm ready to go home.

John in front of the pawn shop from
the TV show "Pawn Stars."

This item at the pawn shop
 was from Survivor season 3.

Fremont Street - old Vegas and new Vegas,
and a fun, cheap place to gamble!

Day 19

We decided to spend a little bit more time this morning at the Grand Canyon, one last view.  John wanted to show me the trail he hiked down and the trail he hiked back up with his friend, Jimmy, five years ago.  I was shocked!  No way could I ever do that hike!  We also did a little shopping, and I finally got the Pendleton blanket that I've always wanted!  I did most of the driving today, until it was so windy that my hands hurt from holding the steering wheel so tight.  Then John took over for the last hour to Las Vegas.  Once we got into Vegas, we realized that it was going to be hot . . . 103 degrees!!!  We are staying at Treasure Island and for just a little bit more we could get a mini-suite.  The room is amazing - two bathrooms, HUGE bathtub, a large room with lots of space, and a beautiful view of the strip!  We spent most of the time in our hotel, spent a little time gambling (John was once again the lucky one!), and ate at the buffet.  After dinner, we decided to walk it off by walking down the strip now that the evening was a little cooler.  We walked about 2 miles and are now in our beautiful hotel room resting for a big day in Vegas tomorrow!

And finally the last state before we get back to California!

Our hotel - Treasure Island. 

We just realized that we have two door to our mini-suite!

The day-time view from our hotel room.

The bathroom of my dreams - and one of two that we have in our room!

Our hotel room at Treasure Island.

Dessert at dinner time.

Night-view from our hotel room.

Paris, Las Vegas.

The fountain show at the Belagio.

The statue at Caesars. 

Day 18

Another long drive day, but we went and checked out a lot of random things off the freeway, so that made it longer.  It still only took us about 8 hours to drive from Santa Fe, NM, to Grand Canyon, AZ.  Our first stop was at the Continental Divide and we went into two little Indian stores there and purchased a few little souvenirs.  Then we saw signs for Meteor Canyon in Arizona, the best preserved site of a meteor crash, which happened about 50,000 years ago.  It was very cool to see it, and we were glad we got off the highway to check it out.  One more stop was a knife store, and we bought a few knives (including a nice kitchen set).  After that we arrived at our hotel near the Grand Canyon and checked in.  Then we drove into the Grand Canyon at the South Entrance.  John and I took what we thought was going to be a 0.7 mile hike around the rim of the Grand Canyon, but actually ended up being about 2 miles (got my exercise today!).  We walked back in time just to see the sun setting.  What a beautiful sight!  We took about 150 photos at the canyon, but I only uploaded a few!  Enjoy!

Our first stop at the Continental Divide.

The Continental Divide, New Mexico.

We arrived in Arizona!

Meteor Crater, Arizona.

John and I at the Meteor Crater.

Arizona - pretty darn flat!

We arrived at the Grand Canyon!

The Beautiful Grand Canyon.

Me at the Grand Canyon.

A photo just doesn't capture how amazing it is!

The Grand Canyon.

The trail that John and Jim hiked down to the bottom 5 years ago.

John at the Grand Canyon.

Me at the Grand Canyon.

On the way back from our hike, we turned the corner and
came face-to-face with this elk.

As the sun set, the colors of the canyon changed.

The sun setting at the Grand Canyon.

Grand Canyon sunset.

Day 17

Today wasn't a very exciting day other than driving through 4 states.  We left Kansas this morning, and right before leaving Kansas we saw a sign for Dorothy of Oz's house.  So we stopped at the little attraction and took pictures.  The governor of Kansas declared the gateway to Oz in Liberal, KS.  So, I'm pretty sure this is the real Dorothy Gale's house.  LOL!  After Kansas, we drove through Oklahoma, Texas, and into New Mexico.  Our final stop was Santa Fe, NM.  We asked the guy at our hotel for the best Mexican food around, and he told us to drive a few miles to Maria's, a Mexican restaurant where mostly locals go to eat, famous for their margaritas.  We shared chicken fajitas, and I do have to say that they had the best guacamole I've ever had!  Along with some pretty good margaritas, it was a fabulous dinner.  I'm going down to the hotel exercise room as soon as I upload these pictures!

John's a little tired of taking a car-load into and out of a hotel every day!

My turn to drive!

Last stop in Kansas - Dorothy of Oz's house.

In front of a statue of Dorothy Gale.

Dorothy Gale's House - Liberal, Kansas.

Left Kansas and into Oklahoma.

Third state of the day - Texas!

And after a long drive, we arrive in New Mexico.

We drove a little bit of the historic Route 66.

Beautiful New Mexico sky.

Day 16

We were so happy to have breakfast with John's sister and her family this morning and hang out with them one last time.  Sean made us a HUGE breakfast before we took off for Dodge City.  Of course since we were in Kansas, we had to make a detour to see the Oz Museum when we saw signs on the highway. I loved it!  I've always loved Wizard of Oz and the Museum had lots of really neat memorabilia.  We arrived in Dodge City and went to the Harley-Davidson store for John to get a shirt (I think number 5).  I also got a shirt, because #1 it was red (my favorite color), and #2 it said "Get the Hell of of Dodge."  Love that saying and I say it all the time, so I had to get a Harley shirt.  After we checked into our hotel, we went to historic Boot Hill and walked around some original buildings there and the cemetery, and watched the Boot Hill gun fight.  Dodge City is a little disappointing.  Not as great as we thought, but there is a casino right next to the hotel, so I think we're going to go check it out tonight!

The first highway in the US.

The Oz Museum in Kansas.

I loved this!  The death certificate
of the Wicked Witch!

I am the all-powerful Oz!

Me and the Tin Man.

Entrance to Dodge City.

Historic Boot Hill.

Boot Hill Cemetery.

Boot Hill Gunfight. 

Boot Hill Gunfight.