Road Trip - Days 7-8 - Idaho and Nevada

Days 7-8  (Oct 7-8)

We spent most of the day exploring the area around Twin Falls, ID

We started with a visit to Shoshone Falls. Because of the time of year and lack of rain, the falls didn't have a lot of  water.

From there we headed to Twin Falls where we saw the Perrine Memorial Bridge,

Saw Evel Knievel memorabilia near the Evel Knievel jump site (across the Snake River)

Picture taken from bridge - left bank is where he landed and right bank is where he jumped from.

We also stopped to explore the Twin Falls

And happened to find this park that was FULL of cats!

We returned to Hagerman and visited Thousand Springs State Park and the downtown area.

Before dinner, we headed back to the hot springs. And then eventually returned to the motel for our final night in ID.

The next morning, we started our drive home. We stopped at the Hagerman Fossil Beds to see the remnants of the Oregon Trail. 

Luckily we didn't die of dysentery 

As we entered Nevada, we had a bit of rain and even saw some snow falling in the distance.

Our initial plan was to stop outside of Las Vegas or in Laughlin NV for the night, but we had fewer stops along the way (because of the weather) and decided to drive all the way home.

Las Vegas High Roller

I went to Las Vegas for a work event. One evening, colleagues and I checked out the High Roller at the LINQ hotel before going to dinner. It provided great views at night.

Let's go to Vegas!

 This morning, my husband said, "Let's go to Vegas!" 

This is what he meant....

Drive-past the strip ...

Pick up Jeep parts ...

Spend the night in Laughlin before driving home.

Vegas and Death Valley (March 12-15, 2017)

Because all of the girls had spring break at the same time, we decided to take a quick road trip. We rented a condo on the strip in Las Vegas and used that as a base for day trips.

To break up the drive, the first stop was at Grapevine Canyon, near Laughlin. 

We saw lots of petroglyphs, a snake, and Steve and the girls had fun climbing the rocks (I didn't trust my new knees with scrambling over the boulders).

After we checked into our condo, we headed to Fremont

 Street,

We watched a street magician

Checked out the light shows

And the girls were entertained by the other street performers.

Days 3-4 - Las Vegas

Day 3 - (March 14) Valley of Fire State Park

Today, we drove about an hour outside of Las Vegas to visit the Valley of Fire State Park.

We had a fun day hiking and playing on rocks at Valley of Fire State Park, outside of Las Vegas.

Later that night, we wandered around the strip, checking out the different casinos' attractions.

Day 4 - (March 15) Leaving Las Vegas

Today we left Las Vegas and headed home. On the way, we stopped in Henderson to see the cactus garden and visit Ethel M's chocolate factory.

Road trip to Reno (July 2-9, 2012)

 I planned to attend a convention in Reno where I was going to teach a hula hoop course. I asked Steve if he and the girls wanted to join me on a road trip. He thought that sounded like a fun idea, so we all crammed into my car and loaded up the hoops.

To break up the trip, we decided that we would drive to Las Vegas and spend the night, before going to rest of the way to Reno.

We arrived in Vegas and checked into our hotel, then later walked a bit down the strip to check out some of the evening attractions, including Treasure Island and the volcano at the Mirage.

The next morning, we went to see attractions at the Flamingo 

And wandered through the gardens at the Bellagio before getting back on the road to Reno.

On the drive to Reno, we passed a house in Goldfield Nevada with a creepy doll in the window.

Once we got to Reno, we checked into our hotel - Circus Circus, which was also the site of the convention.

We wandered around Reno near the hotel. Steve and I pretended like the purpose of the trip was to get married, just to freak the girls out a little bit. 

July 4

Since the convention didn't start until this evening, we decided to head to Lake Tahoe for the day.

The girls were excited to be able to go to California, since they had never been.

The girls tried swimming, but the lake water was a little too cold, so they mostly played on the beach.

Once we were back in Reno, 

We went back to the hotel, received our convention materials, watched some of the circus attractions

and then saw fireworks from our hotel window.

July 5-8

For the next few days, we attended the convention. There was special programming for the kids, where they got to play games, make slime, do crafts, and see a birds of prey demonstration.

The convention ended late morning (July 8) so we packed up and headed back to Las Vegas for the night. We stopped in Goldfield to check out an old firehouse (and the creepy doll!!)

It was dark by the time we arrived in Las Vegas, so after checking into our hotel, we walked along the Strip, checking out some of the attractions, like the fountains at Bellagio.

The next morning, we got an early start to head home. We stopped at the Hoover Dam.

 And then finished the drive back home.