06/30/21 - 07/13/21

DAY 1

Day 1 - Our U.S. Southwest adventure started with an early morning direct flight from Boston to Denver. After picking up our luggage and rental car, we headed West for approximately 3 hours to Avon, CO for our first stop at the Ritz Carlton Bachelor Gulch. The Ritz is a beautiful mountain side resort in the middle of the Beaver Creek ski area. We spent the afternoon exploring the hotel. It was a beautiful bright Summer day with brilliant colors of green and blue! In the back of the hotel was direct access to a ski mountain with a large lawn, pool and bar. After a quick "welcome drink" out on the back patio, we ended the night with some games and a casual dinner at their hotel tavern. What a great start!

DAY 3

Day 3 - Today we headed about 20 minutes away to the beautiful town of Vail. Our first stop was a walk through of the Ford Park. Ford Park is a lovely botanical garden in memory of Betty Ford. It houses tons of flowers, greenery, little rivers and rock paths. After the garden, we headed to the top of Vail mountain via the chair lift for some more amazing mountain views. Michael & Dad did an alpine slide down a portion of the mountain, which was a lot of fun! After a short hike, we had a late lunch in the village of Vail and then headed back to the hotel. We finished our stay with some games on the lawn, a little room organization and some take out! In the AM, we head to our next stop, Moab, Utah!

DAY 5

Day 5 - Today, we started very early! We were dressed and on our way to Arches National Park by 5:30 AM. The sunrise was amazing. The temperature in Utah in July were reaching well over 100 degrees, so it was nice to walk around while it was still cool (in the 70s). The park is filled with natural rock formations and trails that you can explore on your own. The bright blue skies and sun shining on the red rocks is a photographers paradise! Plus, today was the 4th of July, so it was a special place to be for America's birthday! After a few hours in the park, we headed back to the hotel for lunch and some relaxing at the pool. We found a nice Italian place for dinner and settled in for the night.

DAY 7

Day 7 - We started the day with breakfast treats by the pool! Las Vegas was heating up quickly; it hit 100 degrees by 10:30 AM, so it was nice to be in the pool early! After a few hours by the pool, we decided to explore a few of the neighboring hotels including the Wynn, the Encore and the new Resorts World, where we had a late lunch. We then checked out "Omega Mart". This was something little Michael researched before the trip and was definitely an unique experience. It's even heard to describe! It was a combination art exhibit, mock grocery store and escape room, all in one! Once done, we returned to the hotel for a delicious Italian dinner at Canaletto and finished the night checking out the Mirage's Volcano show!

DAY 9

Day 9 - Today was a day to relax! After driving approximately 1,000 miles from Avon, Colorado to Huntington Beach, California, we took a car free day at the beach and pool. After a nice breakfast at the hotel, we set ourselves up at the main pool. We all enjoyed the pool's slide and waterfalls. Little Michael enjoyed the pool bars chicken fingers and strawberry smoothies too! After a few hours at the pool, we rented bicycles for a nice ride down the beach. The weather was very comfortable, which made for the perfect relaxing day! After a quick break in the room, we headed to dinner at one of the hotels signature restaurants and settled in for the night.

DAY 11

Day 11 - Last stop! We're going to Disneyland!! We packed up very early and headed in land for about 30 minutes to Anaheim, home of Disneyland. We were staying at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel, but being that it was only 7:00 AM, it was a little early to check in! The great thing about that hotel, though, is it has direct access to the park, so by 7:15 AM, we were in line to get into Disney's California Adventure Park. Very exciting! We headed to Cars Land first for some of the most popular rides and worked our way through the park all morning! After a quick stop for a late lunch, we headed to the pool for a little break! Later, we finalized check in, explored the hotel a bit and headed back into the park for dinner and few more rides!

DAY 2

Day 2 - It's July 1st! Karen's birthday! We started the day with a nice birthday breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast, we set out for a small hike up the mountain behind the hotel. It was another beautiful bright day! We originally set out to hike to the village, but after a few wrong turns, the city people decided to head back and drive to it! At the village, we enjoyed mini golf and a ski lift ride to the top of the mountain. Once at the top, we stopped for a drink and a snack and a few quick photos of the great view. Michael ended the stay at the village with some budgie jumping on trampolines! Fun! We headed back to the hotel for some relaxing by the pool, a few gifts with chocolate strawberries and wine and then a delicious dinner!

DAY 4

Day 4 - After a quick morning pack up and about a 4 hour drive, we made it to Utah! We decided to head straight into Canyonlands National Park. One tip, the national parks out West fill up quickly and in the Summer they can get extremely hot, so it's definitely best to visit them early. For Canyonlands, we were going to primarily drive through it with a few small walks and a visit to the welcome center, so we decided to venture in for some amazing views. The views resembled the Grand Canyon with various look out points throughout the park. After a few hours in the park, we headed to Moab Brewery for an early dinner, checked into our Hotel the Hyatt Place and ended the day by the pool!

DAY 6

Day 6 - Here we go again! We decided to return to Arches National Park very early again (approximately 5:30 AM), to head directly to the 3 mile loop to the Delicate Arch. This is the famous Arch you may have seen in movies or commercials. To view it up close, it requires a pretty intense hike up the mountain with many different types of rocky paths. It is definitely impressive when you finally arrive! After a few photos and a little water break, we headed back down the mountain. What an accomplishment! Now, it's time for a different type of "park"! Vegas, baby! Approximately 6 hours later, we were checking into and having an amazing dinner at the Venetian Resort on the famous Las Vegas Strip! Quite a change from Utah!

DAY 8

Day 8 - We started the day with another fun morning at the pool with our breakfast. After a few hours at the pool, it was time to pack up our room and sing "Leaving Las Vegas!", as we headed to our last destination, California. On the way, we drove over and stopped at the Hoover Dam. Another amazing site to see! It was extremely hot (110+), so we just took a quick peak and took a few photos. We even go to walk into Arizona for a photo of the welcome sign! A few hours later, we were checking into the Hyatt in Huntington Beach, CA. We had come to this hotel a few years ago, so it was nice to be at a familiar place. We spent the afternoon exploring the hotel & beach and of course having some pool time with a few delicious drinks and chips with guacamole.

DAY 10

Day 10 - Today was pretty low key, as well. We walked down to the little village at Huntington Beach for a nice outside breakfast. Strolled around a few stores and walked the beach back to the hotel. Another beautiful pool day, so we set ourselves up a new pool spot and enjoyed the pool and slide again! A few hours, drinks and snacks later, we were wrapping it up at the pool and heading back to the room. Tomorrow was going to be a big day, so we did a little room organization and went out to a local dinner to close our stay at Huntington Beach!

DAY 12

Day 12 - In our typical "rope drop" style, we were up early and at the gates of the original Disneyland Park by 7:30 AM. The sun was bright and everyone was looking forward to another fun filled day! Disneyland is much smaller in area then Disney World, but houses almost as many rides. It was so much fun! We spent the whole day being entertained by all the fun rides, shows and parades! At around 3 PM, we wrapped up and headed back to the hotel. Our trip was almost complete! We had a night "red eye" from LAX, so we spent the last few hours, packing up, grabbing something for dinner, returning the rental car and checking in at LAX. A busy day, helped all of us get some sleep on the trip back! Wake up you are back in Boston!

S O U T H W E S T

U. S. A.