Big Horn Sheep & Other Stuff

Vacations are the best thing ever.  And you know it is road trip time when mom brings home a can of cheese from the grocery store.  Ha, ha!

It has been a really long time since we have been on a family vacation.  Not even for an extended weekend really.  But finally we got to go on one and I am awfully glad we did.

It is hard for me to spend the money on vacations and extras when I have debt I am trying to pay off.  But, sometimes you just have to take a break and get away.  Especially when you have family you haven't seen for a long time.

We headed down to Phoenix for the week of Thanksgiving and broke it up a bit by staying at a hotel on the way down and again on the way back.  It makes it nicer for us when we don't have to drive it all in one day.  Plus, by doing so, sometimes you get some nice surprises.

After breakfast Sunday morning I told the girls I wanted to stop by the park near our hotel and take a picture of Lake Mead.  I wasn’t expecting to see a herd of Big Horn Sheep when I got there…

 …let along a second herd right smack in the middle of the park. 

Lake Mead

The lake was pretty too. 

We went to the visitor's center and my oldest, who turned sixteen that day had a nice time doing a crayon rubbing of a turtle proving you are never too old to play with crayons.

It was beginning to rain so we didn't stay too long and headed off to our destination.  We took our time, ate cheese and crackers en route and tried not to get run off the road by the big Walmart truck who ran out of lane and had know where to go.  After my heart attack we continued on and managed to get there in one piece.

Wednesday we all had lunch at Cooperstown (Alice Cooper's restaurant) and it was a lot of fun.  The food was really good and I was happy to discover they have a really nice porter.  Alice wasn’t there and I think my aunt was a bit disappointed.  My girls thought it was pretty neat too and enjoyed looking at all the memorabilia up on the walls.  It is even in the bathrooms.

My youngest had her thirteenth birthday that day and she got a complimentary sundae.

My aunt doesn't cook anymore (and she means it) so we all went to Black Angus for Thanksgiving dinner and had prime rib.  It was delicious and, since I'm not one who has to have a big turkey dinner or its not Thanksgiving, this worked out just fine.

We left dark and early Friday morning to start heading home.  The black Friday shoppers were at the mall and we managed to get out of Phoenix ahead of the rush hour traffic.  We stopped in Wikieup for breakfast and the girls ended up in jail.  It happens every time.

The traffic remained light as we made our way to Ely, Nevada and spent the night at the hotel.  We were pretty tuckered out (and vacationed out) by this stage.  After checking in we headed straight for the grocery store to pick up stuff for dinner than back to the hotel to shower and crash.

Our drive home was uneventful and we were thrilled to cross the Idaho border headed for home.  Even the blackened skies were somehow welcoming.  It is always nice to get away, but even better when you make it back home.