Utah to Costa Rica Road Trip

After lunch we headed toward Page, Arizona and stopped off at Lake Powell where we enjoyed the slickrock and blue water, while Greg did some cliff diving into freezing cold water (the outdoor temp was only 61 degrees!) then got back in the car and headed to the Southern Rim of the Grand Canyon.

We arrived later than we would have liked, and decided to get a hotel and check it out tomorrow. We stopped at a few lookouts on our way to Tusayan, and took some great pictures, but the temp was 41 degrees and it was cold and windy! I was still awestruck by the beauty and Grand-ness of the Grand Canyon- no wonder it is one of the seven wonders of the world, it was incredible! The pictures were taken along the Kaibab and Village Route.

After arriving in Tusayan, we couldn't find a single vacancy, so after a hurried stop at Wendy's (we attempted a sit down restaurant, but the kids were wired), we headed to Flagstaff where we arrived late and stopped for the night. We probably won't be heading back to the Grand Canyon tomorrow, so unfortunately that will be all we will get to see of it- this time.

There were a few frazzled nerves by the time we got here- it was a long day of driving, more than we would ideally like to do. If we had planned better, I think we would have stopped near Page and then visited the Grand Canyon tomorrow. It's rough on everyone getting in late, and makes the journey not as fun- and our purpose is to be happy and have fun. If we can do that, then we're doing well!

Livin' the Dream, Baby!

(Zoom in on today's posting to see our hotel room)

We are so excited- a few times we said to ourselves, "I can't believe we are really doing it, we're really moving to Costa Rica!" Unbelievable. It was a little sad saying goodbye to family, not knowing when we will see them again. (We hope that it will be when you come to visit us down south!)

We really feel passionate about this, and have high expectations for a wonderful future in beautiful Costa Rica (learn more about CR)- we are living our dreams and have so many plans of things that we want to do that will benefit us and the people of Costa Rica, and hopefully make a difference, however small. We really feel that this is a life changing experience- as Henry David Thoreau has said "I have learned, that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."

The journey was uneventful for the most part. The kids did fairly well, with a few "We've been driving forever!" "Are we going to get to Costa Rica today?" I'm grateful for technology and our new DVD player- that helps the time pass easier.

We relaxed in the hot tub when we arrived at our hotel, then went to go eat. We walked across the street to Cafe Rio, but it had closed 15 min. earlier (at 9:00 p.m.). So we walked down the street to the Mandarin Buffet (350 E. St. George Blvd.) which said they were open until 9:30, but they wouldn't let us in at 9:20, even when we were walking around town with four small hungry children. You can bet we'll never go there again. The only thing open was Nielsen's Frozen Custard, but we went back to the room and ordered Domino's instead.

Tomorrow we'll head to Zion National Park, and then maybe to the Grand Canyon.

(Zoom in all the way to today's posting to see our room)

So now we are just waiting for passports for Kyah, Parker, Kimball and Kevin (Greg's brother who is traveling with us). Greg, Aaliyah and I expedited ours, so we have received them already. There was an influx of passport applications this last month because it's now necessary to have a passport to travel to Mexico and Canada. So, we wait. Until then we're enjoying life.

We'll be in touch. Hope all is well with all of you.

(Zoom in all the way on today's entry and you can see Sue's house)