no. 1 : family vacation

I've been cold for about two weeks now, never really warming up from the deep chill acquired somewhere between Zion and Bryce.

Our road trip was really good. It was also really long and a lot of miles, but each of us are glad and have no regrets despite the fact that we planned a trip North in the winter. 

In hindsight, not the best idea. We couldn't hike, (ice on the trails makes that prohibitive), and in Bryce the weather was 11. That's eleven degrees friends,  at the warmest point of the day. When we left the next morning our car was covered in frost, the temperature was in the minus range, and 300 miles later, we arrived at the Grand Canyon only to be shut out by snow. 

Despite these setbacks, our trip had many highlights, of which I will list here, for the first of many lists in 2013.

1. We started our trip in Vegas.
2. I'd never been, which is sort of hard to believe.
3. Except it's not, because Vegas is not my kind of place.
4. At least the Vegas strip isn't. 
5. Downtown is pretty damn interesting however, and a place I'd like to see again.
6. We'd also like to see another Cirque du Soleil show. 
7. Beatles Love was amazing.
8. So was our Christmas Eve dinner here.
9. Zion National Park is probably one of my favorite places on earth. 
10. By far my favorite place we visited on this trip. 
11. Bryce was beautiful, but not really my thing. 
12. And we need to go back to the Grand Canyon.
13. But we'll plan that trip differently and when it's warmer. 
14. Phoenix was a lot of fun.
15. We drove there from the Grand Canyon, (really we drove there from Bryce), after we were turned away because of snow. 
16. It was nice to not have to drive for a few days. 
17. And the hotel was really nice.