Since I posted a question or two way back when we were planning this trip, I thought I'd report in now that we're back. I will post some pics later. DH is still sorting through the thousands of photos he took!

Stop 1: Sedona. Oh, my. Loved it. Driving into town with the majestic red rocks everywhere, it was like we'd landed on another planet. Arriving in June, I was afraid it would be unbearably hot, but it wasn't. Our favorite activity -- something that we all enjoyed, from age 12 to 50 -- was the Pink Jeep Tour. Our guide was both informative and really fun. We just loved hiking and walking around, too. We stayed at the Enchantment Resort, which was fantastic. We were upgraded to an enormous suite -- basically our own little house -- with a huge living room, kitchen, dining area, deck, 3 bedrooms, and 3 bathrooms! I could have stayed all summer.

Stop 2: Grand Canyon. Well, El Tovar was a step down from our Sedona accommodations, but after reading mixed reviews, it was a lot better than I'd expected. I will say that the front desk staff was not very helpful or even friendly, which is too bad. Our rooms were not what we expected, but they couldn't care less. But the rooms in general were nice enough and the beds were comfortable (and really, for a trip like this, that's the priority!). We ate all our dinners there, and they were all quite good. As far as the GC itself... yes, it was amazing, but after one full day, I was ready to move on and so were the kids. DH, the photographer, was still enthralled on day two and three. We really did not need 3 nights there, though. We hiked partway down a popular trail that I can't remember the name of now, but it was very hot that day so we only made it maybe a mile down into the canyon. We also did a sunset bus tour that was pretty good.

Stop 3: Bryce Canyon. My favorite of the 3 parks we visited. What a crazy and beautiful place! We did a lot more hiking here, up and down a couple of times, and although it was hot and a little difficult at times, the scenery was so amazing I didn't care. We had only two days here. I could have stayed longer. We stayed at Bryce Canyon Lodge, which is right in the park. Compared to our earlier accommodations, this was like staying in a dorm room. Very basic (but spacious rooms), no AC, no TV. We were in the main building right over the front entry/porch down below, so there was some noise at night, but it was quiet for the most part by 10 pm. And of course we had to have our windows open because there was no AC! We ate all of our meals at the hotel, which were just OK.

Stop 4: Zion National Park. Another amazing place. I think by this time, we were a little overloaded and tired, so that may be partly why I wasn't as overwhelmed with the beauty here as I was with, say, Bryce. It was beautiful and amazing, though. We stayed at Zion Lodge, in the park. Great location. We were in newer buildings -- they also have smaller cottages that seemed more quaint but I think they were much older and worn out. From the outside of our building, I didn't expect much, but our rooms were beautiful! All Mission style quartersawn furniture, a huge sofa (pullout) in our suite, great bathrooms, and some interesting energy-saving devices -- for instance, you had to insert your room key in a slot for the lights to work. After the room key is removed, the lights turn out automatically in 30 seconds. So, if you leave the room -- taking your room key with you -- you can't leave the lights on. I thought that was pretty cool. We ate dinner at the hotel both nights and though the menu was basic, the food was pretty good. Fortunately we had both TV and wifi, because the kids were pretty exhausted by this stop. On the second morning, DH went out with his camera for an hour or two while the kids were comatose in front of the TV and I read my book on the balcony. By the time we left, we were ready for something different, and we got it!...

Stop 5: Vegas, baby! Now, I have never had any interest in going to Vegas and neither has DH. Just not our thing, really. But I figure, it seems like the sort of place you need to experience once in your life. And our flight was leaving out of Vegas at 9:30 am, so rather than have to leave Zion at 4 am, our travel agent suggested that we stay that last night in LV. We had wonderful, plush rooms at the Bellagio. The hotel itself is so huge it's overwhelming -- like an upscale mall, casino, and hotel all in one. Plus something like 10 restaurants! When we arrived, it was 117 degrees. Ack! We arrived around 4 pm, checked into our room, and went out from about 5 to 8, until we were all sweating through our clothes. We just walked around and saw the sights on the strip, including the very cool fountain/water show outside our hotel. We continued to watch the fountains from our air conditioned room later! Very neat. It was all very entertaining but I'm probably all set on Vegas now. We left at 6:30 the next morning...when it was already 100 degrees.

All in all a great, exhausting, beautiful trip. An 11-day trip pushes the limits of family togetherness a bit, especially when we are doing Everything Together. (We spend 3 weeks every summer at our own beach house, and we don't get sick of each other then because we all have our own spaces, and we can come and go separately to some extent.) My 17 yo DS was SO ready to come home! And I am enjoying my alone time this morning with my coffee while the kids sleep in and DH is at work!

I am happy to answer any questions if anyone is considering a trip to any of the above places. We had to plan the trip a year in advance because of the park hotels (they fill up so early), so planning was a fair amount of work -- though we have a great travel agent.