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Confused? The Arc de Triomphe in Paris Hotel, Las Vegas, NV

The Vegas from the top of the half sized Eiffel Tower at the Paris Hotel

Grand Canyon




Fishing in Williams, AZ







Williams, AZ BBQ dinner


Just completed 3 full days of emergency training for United. Glad that's done.

The photos are a bit random and out of order. Here's a few more details about our RV trip. The first day we drove a full 10 hours and spent the night in Lake Havasu, AZ. It was 117 degrees! Thankfully the RV park had a lovely, clean pool. We saw the London Bridge there, but I don't have any photos of it. We got out of there pretty quick the next day. It was just too hot.

Next stop was Williams, AZ. Only about a 3 hour drive and one hour south of the Grand Canyon. There aren't many RV sites at the Grand Canyon, so this was our best opportunity. We got a glimpse of how the RV folks travel from site to site. It's pretty cool. Full hook ups means electric, sewage and water. Many even have cable TV and free Wifi. You pretty much have it all. Even a swimming pool, laundry and convenience store.

The next day we finally made it to the Grand Canyon. It was pretty crowded, a Saturday in July. As you can see by our previous photos, it is pretty indescribable. (is that a word?) We hiked around for a few hours. The weather was cooler, about 85 degrees and a little muggy. We got back on the road and decided to stop by Las Vegas on the way home. I had read that there is a KOA RV site at Circus Circus Hotel. Took about 5 hours to get there, passing by the Hoover Dam.

We arrived in Vegas. There was a bit of excitement because we were in a big city, instead of the little towns we had been in previously. The boys were pretty excited to see Circus Circus because we told them that there was roller coasters in the hotel. We got settled in the RV park and were set to head out. As we closed up the RV, Shane was closing a side cargo (heavy) door and it slammed on his left thumb! I can still hear the painful scream. I knew right away it was bad. And it was. He actually went into shock from the pain. He got nauseous and almost passed out. Our evening was spent at Urgent Care. The Vegas will have to wait.

Poor Shaney! He was so brave and a trooper. The pain was outrageous at first and then he was able to calm down. They took X-rays, said there was no brake, no need for stitches and sent us on our way. We were relieved. At 10pm that night we found a pizza place for late night dinner inside the hotel and pretty much passed out from exhaustion.

After a good night's rest, we headed to the Paris Hotel for a breakfast buffet and made the journey to the half size scaled Eiffel Tower. That was cool, since we were just at the real one a few months ago.

We heard that there was a very cool shark exhibit at the Mandalay Hotel, so we headed there next. Vegas was super hot too, about 105! We cabbed it everywhere. It was kinda strange to be there with the kids. There's a lot for the kids to do and see, but it was weird with the slot machines everyone and such. Last and final stop was the indoor amusement park at Circus Circus. Two rides was our limit as it was very crowded. Bob and I couldn't wait to get out of there.

After a dip in the pool we finally got back on the road at about 4pm. We thought it'll be about 1 am when we would pull into Mission Springs, but with traffic and stops it was 3am. Bob did most of the driving and did very well. The boys fell asleep in the beds in the RV and woke up at 9 am the next morning in the RV on Freemy Circle. Us parents were exhausted, but of course the children were well rested! After a quick cleaning and unpacking we gladly returned the RV and were happy to be home and driving a regular sized car.

By the way, the next day I got a call from the Urgent Care in Vegas saying that the radiology report came back and Shane's thumb was broken after all. Ugggghh! Back to the Scotts Valley Urgent Care Clinic for splinting and the Burns' boys saga continues . . . . . Despite the injury, it was a trip to remember!