Cross Country Road Trip

Favorite Vacation Moment

Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

by jonesy127 March 12, 2008

Yellowston National Park

All we could think about was the not-so steady decline of the airplane from our altitude of 3,000 feet or more. The plane blew an engine and we had to make a "precautionary" landing in Omaha, Nebraska. Hardly the prefect start to what would turn out to be the perfect vacation. We did eventually make it to Denver, Colorado, then to our first location, the Stanley Hotel, known for being the basis for Stephen King's, The Shining. That was where our road trip really began. We drove though Rocky Mountain National Park and had a run-in with a coyote. The Rocky Mountains were liike nothing I had ever seen before, much bigger and, well, rockier than the Appalachain Mountains. In Wyoming, we got into the spirit of the "wild, wild, west" and bought some cowboy get-up. We wore it to the rodeo and got in to the cow roping action. We almost got it, but some little kid took the prize. Though people to think of the west to be rural, with the exception of some of California, they obviously haven't been in the Black Hills and the Badlands during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Some 5,000 cyclists were "put-putting" along down the streets and packing into all the resturaunts. That was when we hit Yellwstone National Park. You haven't seen a lot of bisen until you've been to Yellowstone, there are so many, you'd think they were tourists too. The beautiful Sulfur formations were the best part. They ranged from what looked like bubbling clay to what looks like a mountain of colorful ice, deadly, but taunting. Also at Yellowstone was the infamous Old Faithful Inn. Of course, we stayed there. We watched Old Faithful, who is getting to be less faithful, erupt and went to Morning Glory pool. Morning Glory's name suites it well! It is blue, like a swimming pool, but in no way does it resemble one. It's blue, green and yellow hues are gorgeous and it just makes you think about how beautiful the world is and how terrible it is that people are destroying it. On the way to the Grand Canyon, we passed through Bryce Canyon. I have never seen so much orange without it hurting my eyes, but this was pretty. It may even have been nicer than the Grand Canyon itself. Also before the Grand Canyon, we found ourselves on the set of the Disney Channel origonal movie High School Musical 2. We were there the day after it premiered and were sorry we missed it, but that was even better. After Bryce, I was difficult to impress, but the Grand Canyon came pretty close. Our next stop was Los Vegas, Nevada. I loved 'Vegas. The bright lights dazzled and danced across my face while "Luck be a Lady" played for the water show in front of the Bellagio. The hotels there were fantastic! After Los Vegas, we headed for Los Angeles, but stopped for one night in Palm Springs in between. In Palm Springs we stayed in an AMAZING resort with an incredible pool in the back. The pool was equipped with waterfalls, sprinklers, and TWO hot tubs. We didn't do any sight-seeing there, so it was a great place just to kick back and relax. The next morning, we headed off for three days in LA. That was a blast! We went to Kodak Theater, where they have the Oscars, the Chinese Theater, saw the footprints, walked the walk of fame, and, as embarassing as it is, my family did a tour of the stars' houses. I'm a very theatrical person and do a lot of work with theaters, so the movie business really intrests me and the whole Hollywood experience was great. We even got reservations at The Ivy. They give HUGE servings there. One day, we went to Universal Studios. Being the theme-park people we are, we did all of the rides, saw Waterworks, and did the Studio Tour. One person even swore they saw Jim Carey in the Back Lot. We also visited the one and only Rodeo Drive while they were filming a new reality TV show. The pier in Santa Monica was like the piers at Rehoboth Beach, which reminded me of home and how we were finally ending our road trip. After the night at the pier and an In-N-Out Burger, we did head home and when I was actually sitting on the beach at Rehoboth later that summer, I thought about that trip. It was great for the family. Even though we argued, after all, we were squished in a mini-van for 21 days, it was good family time. I'm sure it is a vacation we will all remember for the rest of our lives.