800 miles

Thanksgiving with Holly's family was really nice. It was a full house and a huge meal. We have a pretty small family, so it was kinda weird, yet nice to be in such a hectic environment. It was awesome to spend time with Bucky. I'm so glad we are able to hang out more. Yay he and Holly are coming up for Christmas!

I left out this morning to start the trip home. There is not a direct way to Portland from Tucson, but I decided to go the wiggly way so I could go some places I had always wanted to see.

I went to the Little Colorado Canyon and the Grand Canyon and took a nice little hike (I was assured that it had been to cold, so the rattlesnakes were in until spring). When you pass through the indian reservation on the way to the Grand Canyon, there are lots of roadside vendors - I can only image what it is like in the summer! I stopped and bought some jewelry. Afterwards I passed through the Painted Desert... which in my opinion was not as cool as the Painted Hills in Oregon... sorry kids. I also went to Zion UT. I wanted to go to Brice Canyon, but it had gotten too dark at that point. Holy crap it was COLD.

Well I did not mean to do quite that much today, but the traffic was so thin I felt I should take advantage of it. Of course once I was ready to stop I had a hard time finding a hotel with interior corridors. I have a thing against them. I found a seemingly okay place earlier, but there were 5 or 6 semi trucks parked out front and a bunch of guys standing outside smoking so I went on. I finally stopped in Payton UT at a nice hotel.... well nice for Payton I guess.