there and back again

Well, we're home, and I have far too many photos to share. But what good is a blog if it doesn't include a long drawn out vacation recap, right? I hope you don't mind.

First up, photos from the drive. Please try to contain your excitement. :)

Just north of Flagstaff, Arizona are the Sunset Crater Volcano and the Wupatki Pueblo. We took a 35 mile loop off of the 89 to see both sites (it added almost two hours to the drive, but was worth it!). The lava flows at the volcano were amazing and sort of creepy. And the pueblo, which is about 1000 years old, was really pretty. There is a half mile walk around the ruins, which is a nice change from sitting in the car.

After about 14 hours, we were so happy to arrive at my parents' pretty house on the mountain.

Skipping ahead a bit:

On the way home, we figured we might as well stop by California. But first we ate lunch at the cutest little car hop cafe in Fillmore, Utah (Cluff's Car Hop on Main St.). We are totally stopping there again next time (and every time). I'm still thinking about that burger.

We didn't want to get to California too late, so we spent the night in Las Vegas. We had a nice soak in the tub and watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics (hooray for the olympics!).

And then California. Oh, the air in California does a body good! As soon as we pulled up at my brother's house, my children disappeared and I didn't see them again for hours. Cousins are the best friends.

We made it home finally, late last night, despite having a passenger window that refused to roll up and heavy monsoon storms (we eventually rigged a blanket in place of the window, which made it much more bearable and quite a bit drier).

And now, laundry. Lots and lots of laundry.

It feels good to be home.