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Sunday, September 16, 2018

An amazing trip!

I'm back from my break and have to tell you all about the wonderful vacation we've been on.  Those who I'm friends with on Facebook have seen some of my photos and I'm sorry for the repeats that will be showing up here!  I took so many photos and trying to pick just a few is very hard.   I'll be sharing for several days, so that you don't have to deal with a never ending post!
A week ago Thursday, Bob and I left for a vacation with my sister Cheri and her husband Mark.  We had been planning this vacation for some time.  We were going to stay in Utah and see several National Parks, flying home 9 days later.
We flew out of Grand Rapids Thursday afternoon at 2pm. It was a beautiful day and we were excited to start the trip.

Before long we were in the air, and enjoying the sights from above. We were supposed to fly into Dallas/Fort Worth airport and then into LasVegas to spend the night before driving to Utah.


After some calm flight time, we flew into a storm.  Shortly before we were supposed to land, the pilot came on and said there were such bad storms over Dallas that we had to circle until we were allowed to land.  After circling for some time, we were told we had to divert to Austin or we would not have enough gas.  However, after starting for Austin, the pilot came back on and said we were going to Longwood, TX.  We landed in Longwood, which was a very tiny airport and weren't allowed to get off the plane.  We got gas and then had to sit on the tarmac for about 45 minutes, at which time we were cleared to go back to Dallas.  When we got back to Dallas, we had to circle again for some time before we could land and once we landed we couldn't taxi to the airport because they were so busy.  Apparently the storm had prevented any activity for 6 hours.  In the meantime, our flight to Las Vegas had also been delayed, which we were thankful for or we would have missed it.  It meant a dash through the airport and immediate boarding onto that plane, as it was leaving 30 minutes after we landed.
Soon we were back in the air and had an uneventful flight to Las Vegas.

Here we are approaching the city.  We landed and had to wait some time for our shuttle to the hotel.  It was 11:30pm there, 2:30 am in our time.  We were tired, hungry (Hadn't eaten anything but airplane pretzels since lunch time!) but glad to arrive!

The next morning, we picked up our rental car and headed for Utah!
We made a detour to Hoover Dam along the way.

 It's enormous and can't be captured in a photo!



 This is the river side of the dam.



Here is the reservoir side. It was an amazing thing to see.


We also stopped at Lake Mead.

 The colors in the rock and the blue lake behind it were so pretty!



 We were amazed by the size of the boulders in the area.



Another lovely place, and this was just the beginning!

21 comments:

Joyful said...

What an adventure to begin with during the flights. While you started off in stormy weather it appears you had wonderful sunny weather in Utah. Beautiful scenery.

Linda said...

Beautiful!!!!! Can't wait to hear more. smiles

Ramblings of a Retired Lady said...

What an exciting trip you had and cant wait to see all the pictures. I think anything west of the Mississippi River is amazing and so different from where I am. Hope you enjoyed every single day and saw lots of new sights.

Sandi said...

Our world is amazing!

Jennifer Hays said...

Welcome back! Your photos are beautiful. I look forward to seeing more!

Changes in the wind said...

You were visiting my stomping ground:) Nice to see it through new eyes.

Arlene G said...


we visited friends in Las Vegas several years ago...I loved that area. You are right about Hoover Dam...quite the spectacle. Looking forward to hearing more about your trip.

Sally said...

Welcome home, Mari! Sure have missed you, but happy to know you had such a fabulous time. Love the pics, and can't wait for more. :)

xoxo

Vicki said...

Glad you got there safely. Beautiful photos, must have been amazing in person!

Kerin said...

Wow.. your vacation certainly started off in an adventurous way. I really cringe at airline issues.

I love seeing your pictures and I am so looking forward to seeing all about your trip!
(Of course, I might be playing favourites because I love our Utah state so much ~~**smile**)


Have a happy week.
~K.

Terri D said...

I did follow you on Facebook but can't wait to see your photos here. The vastness and the beauty are breathtaking in the photos and I can only imagine how amazing it is in person. It seems you had a great vacation!

Dianna said...

I've been looking forward to you coming back from break because I thought maybe you were away on vacation and would have amazing pictures to share! I was not disappointed! Just gorgeous...and I loved the pics you took while you were in the air. I love to fly...not the airport parts, but in the air!

Jenny said...

Spectacular photos. I can't wait to see the rest. I know you had a wonderful time and made so many great memories. What a beautiful country is ours. xoxo

Jean said...

So BEAUTIFUL!!! I guess I break all the blogging etiquette on my blog - I post the same pics I did on FB and I have never-ending posts, haha! But that works for me. I'm eager to read all about your trip!

Jean said...

And wow, needing to land somewhere before running out of gas!! I don’t think I would have wanted to know that! Now I gotta look at a map to see exactly where you were.

Hootin Anni said...

With my experience, I'd prefer Austin to Dallas...but then your flight to Vegas would've been botched.

Can't wait for more. It's been years since I've been to Vegas ... and Hoover dam!

Glad you're back, and safely home.

Michelle said...

Looking forward to hearing/seeing more of your adventures.

Arlene G said...

Mari..you asked about self rising flour...it has salt and baking powder in it...no adding leavening.

Doris said...

Your pictures are beautiful! Circling is no fun, the comment about running out of gas....Lord Jesus, help!! 😲

LL Cool Joe said...

Wow that sounds like an eventual journey! I'm glad to say I've never been diverted anywhere whilst on a plane. Famous last words!

Of course a great many of the places you are showing I've been to as well, which is bringing back nice memories!

Laura said...

Wow! Not the best plane ride, but I'm glad you finally made it there!