May 31 to June 8, 2007

Sim and I flew into Las Vegas on May 30 and then hit the road the next morning in our rented PT Cruiser convertible to do a good chunk of The Grand Circle. First stop... Hoover Dam, then on to Sedona AZ for two glorious days of hiking the red rocks. On June 3 we drove north to the Grand Canyon, stopping to visit Sunset Crater Volcano and Wupatki on the way. We hiked the Bright Angel Trail down to Indian Gardens and back the next day. All we could manage for dinner was picking up a take-out pizza after that grueling 8-hour ordeal! Our original plan was to stay two nights in Tusayan, but we decided to move on and visit Bryce Canyon on June 5. As we were eating breakfast it started to snow. We decided to drive to the canyon anyway; fortunately, the day cleared up and stayed cool and crisp--perfect hiking weather. With a promise to come back and spend more time at Bryce, we headed for Zion on June 6. Driving into the park from the north was the most spectacular roadside scenery you could ever imagine. We hiked four trails on June 7--our only full day at Zion. We just had to do one more--a beautiful trek up Watchman--on the morning of June 8 before driving back to Las Vegas to visit with my brother's family. After a wonderful dinner in their backyard we flew home on June 9th. What an amazing trip!