Vacation Time in the Southwest, USA...

Dear Family and Friends,

Every year about this time we take our son, Matt, on a vacation.  This year we decided on touring the beauty of the southwest USA.  

We started our trip by flying from Pasco, Washington to Las Vegas, Nevada. The flights were so reasonable in price, it was much easier than driving.  This saved us several days travel time.

Here is Matt and Chuck, in the waiting area at the airport in Pasco.  

To get from Pasco to Las Vegas we had to land for a connecting flight in Salt Lake City.  As we were landing, I got a great shot of the Great Salt Lake.  I asked the Salt Lake based flight attendant if people still swim in the lake.  She said that you can, but not a popular thing to do anymore because it is so briny.

After arriving in Las Vegas, we rented a car, drove to Henderson and stayed the night.  The next day we went to Lake Mead and toured Hoover Dam.

The following day, we headed started towards the Grand Canyon.  We stopped at the new bridge, that bypasses the damn, and walked out for a great view.

We stayed just outside the Grand Canyon National Park.  We took a shuttle bus to view the sights inside in the park.  We had beautiful weather for viewing.  

Matt took his share of photos also of the majestic beauty.

Here are some brave souls playing out on a ledge overhanging the canyon.

We encountered a young elk, who was separated from his mother.  They were soon rejoined.  The young elk was somewhat frightened by us people between him and his mother.

We got up early the following morning so that we could see the mules that were going to take people to the bottom on the canyon.  Matt is greeting one here.  

After viewing the Grand Canyon we headed northeast to Monument Valley.  I will share about that on our next post.

Love,
Nancy

P.S.  I appreciate and love you all.  Thanks for traveling with us.