Back from vacation!!

I just got back from an awesome vacation out in the desert! I took my wife Holly and 2 of my sons, Brett and Jeremy to Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell and Zion Canyon. There wasn't much for the kids to do in Vegas so we took them out into the desert for some exploring and climbing. About 40 minutes from Vegas is a State Park called Valley of Fire and it looks like a martian landscape. It was really different and the kids had a great time climbing around on the rocks. It wasn't too good on my nerves though:)











We left Las Vegas and went to the Grand Canyon for some serious hiking and we weren't disappointed. We got up early and hiked about 2 1/2 hours down into the canyon and it took another 3 1/2 hours to get out. We took lots of water but clearly weren't prepared as we ran out with two hours left to climb. I could barely walk when we got out and rested a lot the next day by Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon dam.

The next day we rested up and I took this self portrait on the edges of Lake Powell. I am glad my camera has a self timer on it because a lot of the places we went in the desert........no one else was there. The last place we went was Zion Canyon in Utah and I think it the most beautiful place I have ever been! Every time you turned a corner there was just one amazing view after another. We hiked 1 1/2 hours to Angels Landing where the last half mile was so narrow and dangerous the park service put pipes in the stone and draped chains between them for you to hold onto. Some sections were only a foot wide and it was a 1200 foot drop straight down right next to your feet. This is my youngest son Jeremy sitting near "chicken-out" point near the top of Angels Landing. The narrow ridge on the left is the last half mile of terror to the top!

As you can see by the next couple of images Zion is one amazing, beautiful place and I feel blessed to have been able to take my family there and share it with them.












Well, I'm glad I got the travel bug out of my system because I have a full year of weddings ahead of me with some of the coolest brides and grooms on the planet!!