We rose early on June 20 and started snaking our way back east and north through Southern California, Nevada, and lots and lots of Utah.

We took a quick zip through Las Vegas, with emphasis neither on the work quick, or zip.  It had changed remarkably since my last visit 18 years ago, and it was every bit as congested as you can imagine.  While I had thought it would be fun to show the kids the colossal hotels with vivid theming, we were all hard pressed to actually even see the monstrous hotels.  Two decades ago, these resorts stood deep off the strip with lots of room take in the opulence.  Now, the once-open spaces before the hotels were jam-packed with every business imaginable and entertained all the traffic that would go along with that.

We found some snacks near the north end of the old strip, filled up with gas, and moved on through the endless dessert.

You may not believe my van could actually move that quickly…

We finally arrived to the south west region of the Great Salt Lake, and found ourselves a Dickey’s BBQ Pit that had NOT run out of food. 

We ate every morsel.  Well, maybe not the nasty “ice cream” that they offer.

We checked into the Staybridge Suites with an indoor playground and made the most of it.  The water was too cold, and the hot tub was too hot.  The kids enjoyed it.