Day 6: The Extraordinary, Phenomenal, Amazing, Fabulous, and Brilliant Arches!

7/14/13

Arches was really, really fun. It was probably my favorite national park so far. Everywhere in Arches there were arches. They were arches made out of rock. They were really, really cool. One of the first ones we went to was the landscape arch. It was the third longest arch in the world. The landscape arch was really, really long. The scary part was that it was very thin too, so it looked like it was about the collapse. It was really amazing. There was also a “Double O” too. There was a hole through the middle of the rock, and when I looked closely, I saw another little hole through the rock next to it! I of course had never seen anything like it before. It was pretty amazing.

The fun part of the day was when we climbed the Sand Dune Arch. The arch was located between two big walls of rock, so it was all shaded which was nice. And the ground was completely covered in sand! I took off my shoes and ran around, finally glad to get away from the heat, and see something completely new. As we walked, there were random piles of rock on the side of the “trail”. Jasmine just had to climb onto them, so I decided to follow her. Surprisingly, climbing these rocks wasn’t so hard, but it was pretty fun! And then we saw the arch.

It was different from the Landscape Arch. This arch was thicker and a lot sturdier. We also had clear access to it… which meant I could climb it! So without giving myself a chance to back out, I followed Jasmine up the rock. The climb itself wasn’t hard, and standing on top of the arch wasn’t scary either. It was kind of like standing on a bridge. There was a small breeze, and everyone standing on the ground looked really small. It was great being high up there.

The next arches we went to were beautiful. It was the North and South Window; two arches next to each other. When we got there, it was already getting dark and the sun was setting so it was cooler. Only my mom went up with me, so it was a lot more peaceful. Standing under the North window, I could see really far. The ground was really far below, and there were little bushes everywhere. We had to back up a lot to see both the North and South Window at the same time. We had to walk all the way back into we were standing next to the Turret.

The Turret was a big hole next to a really tiny hole. It was really easy to climb up, so of course I had to. The sun was slipping down into the rock, casting orange and pink light over the clouds. The sky was a color palette of pink, orange, red, and gold. It was really beautiful. I sat on the high rock watching the sun slowly sink down, until all I could see were rays of golden light. Then even that disappeared, and I was left with darkness.

It was a really wonderful day, one of my favorites on our vacation. 

Day 5: Nothing Much, Just Driving

7/13/13

Today we were leaving for Arches! It was a long, boring drive.

Day 4: Bryce, Home of the Flaming Rocks

7/12/13

Today was Bryce National Park. My mom said that it would be even prettier than Zion. Zion was already pretty amazing… As soon as we got there, I knew that it was even more amazing. The rocks were all bright red, and in the sun, it looked like they were mountains of fire. Unfortunately, the mountains of fire seemed to be giving off waves of heat. It was really too hot to walk on any trails, although we had to. After a long time in the sun, I swear I was fried. Fortunately, the little kids found a rock in the shade to climb on. It was way cooler there. 

Looking down on Bryce.

We took a long walk down a small canyon. Surrounding us were magnificent red rocks. Dotting the red slopes were scarce green trees. It was quite a contrast. All the weird rock formations were different, and it all looked really cool. Everywhere I looked I saw something different. Unfortunately, the weather was hot and the road was long so I couldn't enjoy the scenery as much as I hoped.

The next day, we were going to Arches, so I was super excited!

Day 3: Visiting Zion... in The Rain

7/11/13

Zion National Park was beautiful especially in the rain. Zion was full of tall mountains dotted with green pine trees. In the morning, the skies were all gray and clouded. At first I was afraid it was going to rain, but as then rain started coming down slowly, I didn’t mind.

The rain slid off the sides of the mountains, making the mountainsides all shimmery. And as we drove down into the valley, the rain came down harder. Soon, waterfalls formed on the edges of the mountains. There were some small ones by the side of the road, but it was really beautiful to spot those big ones. The water started to accumulate on the road, and it was pouring. It was really, really amazing. I couldn’t keep my eyes away from the window as we drove.

Finally the rain got so heavy that we stopped in a parking lot to wait for the rain to pass. When the rain finally became a drizzle, we left to take a trail into a canyon. The happy surprise I got when we got to the end was a little stream. There were little pebbles, and the walls of the canyon were close on my sides. It was just a narrow stream, but really pretty. The air wasn’t warm either; it was just a bit moist from the rain.

The walk was very peaceful. On one side there was rock, and on the other there were trees. I could smell the grass and the rain, and it was just like Massachusetts. It was a soothing walk. There were even squirrels that would stop and stare at us! They weren’t afraid at all, which was a little worrying though. The walk wasn’t tiring, and we got back right away. I was starting to get a little tired as we boarded the shuttle to leave.

We saw elk! There were two big ones grazing by the side of the road, and one had antlers! His antlers were all velvety, and they looked so fuzzy! Neither of the elks seemed bothered by the cars going by and people pulling out cameras, even though we got really close. It was really cool. The elk and rain were the highlights of the day.

Day 2: Bye Vegas, Hello Utah!

7/9/13

Today we were driving to the Hoover Dam! It was the biggest dam in the U.S. so I was really excited to see how big that was. We were stopping by it on our way to Zion National Park. But as soon as we got out of the car, I felt like dying. The sun was giving off extreme heat, and by the time we walked down some stairs I was panting like a dog. Already I had a bad feeling that this trip wouldn’t be as good as I had hoped. It was really, really hot.

The dam itself was big. On one side the water was really, really low. We walked along the top of dam, and I occasionally had to stop in bathrooms with air conditioning-but not for going to the bathroom, just for cooling off. Massachusetts had never been this hot before. I could barely take it. Even worse, everyone was walking slowly. So on the way back I ran ahead of the group to get to the car first. But, when I got to the end of the dam, I realized I didn’t have car keys! This meant I’d have to wait in the heat for my parents to catch up. It was awful.

Finally we left Hoover Dam, escaping the heat. The dam was pretty cool but it just wasn’t worth it to stand in the heat looking at a block of cement… but now we were on our way to Zion!

Day 1: Enjoying the Thrills Las Vegas!

Las Vegas was a really fun start to our vacation. All the buildings I had seen were huge and covered with flashing neon lights. Our hotel fit right in to the rest of Las Vegas, towering with reflective gold windows. Everything inside was shinier, cleaner, and bigger than what I was used to. The best part was that there were three big swimming pools.

Jasmine and my cousin playing in the waves.

I really liked the biggest pool. It was just like a beach: there were waves, there was sand, and the sun was really, really hot. But it was pool water, so it was even better than a beach! It was fun just to jump when the wave came, or go under the wave. Jasmine, my cousin and I played in the pool until it was in the afternoon yet we still didn’t want to get out. But when my mom said we were going to watch a show, the Cirque du Soleil, well, none of us wanted to stay in the pool anymore.

A fancy hotel with a casino in it.

Before the show, we walked around in Vegas for a while. The weather was really hot. We also went to some casinos in hotels, which were much cooler. Unfortunately we were walking in the heat for most of the time, without even knowing how far we’d walk.

Finally, when I was just about to collapse, we got to ANOTHER casino. By this time, they weren’t even interesting to me anymore. I was just wondering when I’d be able to sit down. And I was also dreading the walk back. But thankfully, we were at the casino where the show was. I was really excited, because I had heard from multiple people that this was really fun. As we went in the room and sat down to take our seats, the show began.

There was a well-dressed man walking through the audience and playing with a bucket of popcorn. He put the bucket of popcorn on a man’s head. I wasn’t sure what he was doing, but then he tipped the popcorn right into the man’s lap! It was funny, since I was expecting it, and neither was the man covered in popcorn, waiting for the “clown’s” next prank.

He looked around behind him for something… and pulled out a huge bowl of popcorn. All of a sudden, I knew what he was going to do, and I couldn’t wait to see him do it. Unfortunately, another man came out from the shadow and grabbed the “clown’s” collar. He started to drag the clown out. I was disappointed that he didn’t get to spill the big bucket of popcorn… but then he started tipping some into the audience! As they walked along to the stage, he was dropping popcorn everywhere! As they disappeared backstage, I knew I was definitely going to enjoy it.

The show itself was just absolutely amazing. There were so many acts with trapezes, trampolines, and some with just bare hands and feet. All of it was just breathtaking, and all of the performers were extremely talented. The show was not low on humor and entertainment either. It was full of laughs and soon I was laughing along with everyone else. The performers poked and teased at the audience, and it was hilarious.

The flying trapezes were really cool, but I found the trampolines more exciting to watch. The people on the trampolines looked so happy that I wished that I could go on and bounce on them too. But the tricks that they did I would never be capable of. Everything was just wonderful. I never once got bored during the whole show, and I was disappointed when it ended. I really wished that it hadn’t ended so quickly. But I told myself that one day, I’d come back to watch again.

After the show I was still bubbling with excitement. We took a cab back to our hotel, and by then I was ready to collapse. It had been a wonderful day, and I just knew the rest of our vacation was going to be fabulous!

Vacation!!!

Okay, so my vacation posts have officially started! I'm uploading them day by day so... may take a while. :)