3000 miles, 3 kids, and too many photos to count! FINAL UPDATE 7/11
- Thread starter mom2rtk
- Start date
Gianna'sPapa
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2008
The old axiom, "Sometimes its better to be lucky than good!"
mom2rtk
Invented the term "Characterpalooza"
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2008
Thank you! Those were probably my 2 favorites from the Disney part of the trip too!
Hey, I'll take it any way I can get it!
mom2rtk
Invented the term "Characterpalooza"
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2008
That nighttime/blue shot of the Grand Canyon is stunning. Fabulous job. Take some credit... you knew enough to keep shooting even after the sun set.
Thanks!
I have to say that before hanging out here soaking up everyone's photographic skills...... I would have put everything up as soon as the sun set figuring it was too dark. It would not have occurred to me to try a long exposure on a tripod.
mom2rtk
Invented the term "Characterpalooza"
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2008
Now back to the story.......
I was ALMOST asleep in one room. Everyone else was in the other room with their nice pizza, planning a late night of just hanging out. (They couldn't believe we were staying somewhere without TV's. Thank HEAVEN for handheld game systems I guess.......) Just as everyone got settled, I heard a shriek. It seems Mickey Mouse had enjoyed having us at HIS home so much that he decided to come visit US!!! He had popped up out of a fairly large hole in the corner of the room and run back down again. Drew called mousekeeping....... oops....... wrong resort........ He called the front desk. They offered to have maintenance come set a trap, but we didn't really want to hear the trap snap in the middle of the night, so they opted instead to just stuff a towel down the hole and hope for the best. The worst part is that we made them get rid of the pizza and any open food!
Thankfully, I was able to get back to sleep fairly quickly..... after all I DID have my alarm set for 4:30! Arizona does not participate in daylight savings time, so it was going to be quite early. It's so easy to get mixed up on time down in the 4 corners area. Between the time zone changes and the in and out of Arizona with no DST, it's easy to lose track. Thankfully the cell phones now update automatically!
I dragged myself out of the room, and headed for the Lodge lobby. I wanted a few shots with no people in them.
And here is the viewing room full of comfy sofas with a view of the canyon. The 2 porch areas are off to either side of this area.
I hadn't been sure if anyone else would be up, but the building seemed completely empty. It was cool because they have old fashioned radios in a few spots around the lobby. We had seen them the day before but didn't take much notice. What got my attention that morning was that they seem to be motion activated. As I walked past them, I would hear old time radio shows quietly start playing. Very cool.......
I wasn't sure exactly where I wanted to take my sunrise photos. I had a general idea of where to expect it to peek up, based on where it set the night before. But I still wasn't sure where the best shot would be. I tried setting up on the porch and taking a few shots, but they didn't grab me at all. So I packed it all up and headed for Bright Angel Point again. It had a viewing spot that jutted out into the canyon quite a ways, so maybe that would be better.
Still, would the best shots be just before sunrise, during sunrise, right after sunrise? I hadn't a clue. There was one person out there already who seemed to know what he was doing, so I picked his brain a bit while we waited. He seemed to know what he was doing with his camera, but didn't seem to know where the best shots would be either.
As it turns out, my favorite sunset shots were right after the sun went down. For sunrise, the time right before sunrise and during the sunrise didn't do a thing for me. Too light to be a dark shot, not light enough to be a light shot. Just kind of shadowed looking. But once the sun started HITTING the peaks, the place came alive. I loved it. I took a bunch of shots at Bright Angel Point then stopped at countless spots as I went back down the trail. It was vastly better than the day before, when we were viewing the canyon in mid-afternoon haze. It was really COLD and windy out there, but thankfully I had a jacket and was so wrapped up in the scenery I didn't care.
I'll start with my favorite. I'd still like to do a little more with the sky in Lightroom, but need to figure out how to edit just portions of the photo. I know I saw that somewhere in the tutorial.......
On the way back, I got this shot of the lodge in the distance:
I loved that I could take my time, stop wherever I wanted, and no one was pushing me to hurry along........ but eventually even I hit Grand Canyon overload. After a while, it DID all start to look alike. I headed back to the room, ready for us to check out and be on our way.
It was VASTLY better to have stayed there at the Lodge than to view the canyon the way we had in 05. Since we were limited by the railway's timetable, we only got to see it in the afternoon haze of summer. No sunrise, no sunset. I'm glad we gave it a second try.
The rest of the troops were not as excited about it as I was. Turns out they weren't really happy about spending the night with Mickey. They also weren't real happy about having to ditch the food so early in the evening!
I did ask for one family photo on the porch overlooking the canyon before heading out:
On the way out of the park, I stopped for a shot of the countless trees charred from forest fire:
With all that we had seen, can you believe my favorite scenery of the entire trip was still ahead of us?
I was ALMOST asleep in one room. Everyone else was in the other room with their nice pizza, planning a late night of just hanging out. (They couldn't believe we were staying somewhere without TV's. Thank HEAVEN for handheld game systems I guess.......) Just as everyone got settled, I heard a shriek. It seems Mickey Mouse had enjoyed having us at HIS home so much that he decided to come visit US!!! He had popped up out of a fairly large hole in the corner of the room and run back down again. Drew called mousekeeping....... oops....... wrong resort........ He called the front desk. They offered to have maintenance come set a trap, but we didn't really want to hear the trap snap in the middle of the night, so they opted instead to just stuff a towel down the hole and hope for the best. The worst part is that we made them get rid of the pizza and any open food!
Thankfully, I was able to get back to sleep fairly quickly..... after all I DID have my alarm set for 4:30! Arizona does not participate in daylight savings time, so it was going to be quite early. It's so easy to get mixed up on time down in the 4 corners area. Between the time zone changes and the in and out of Arizona with no DST, it's easy to lose track. Thankfully the cell phones now update automatically!
I dragged myself out of the room, and headed for the Lodge lobby. I wanted a few shots with no people in them.
And here is the viewing room full of comfy sofas with a view of the canyon. The 2 porch areas are off to either side of this area.
I hadn't been sure if anyone else would be up, but the building seemed completely empty. It was cool because they have old fashioned radios in a few spots around the lobby. We had seen them the day before but didn't take much notice. What got my attention that morning was that they seem to be motion activated. As I walked past them, I would hear old time radio shows quietly start playing. Very cool.......
I wasn't sure exactly where I wanted to take my sunrise photos. I had a general idea of where to expect it to peek up, based on where it set the night before. But I still wasn't sure where the best shot would be. I tried setting up on the porch and taking a few shots, but they didn't grab me at all. So I packed it all up and headed for Bright Angel Point again. It had a viewing spot that jutted out into the canyon quite a ways, so maybe that would be better.
Still, would the best shots be just before sunrise, during sunrise, right after sunrise? I hadn't a clue. There was one person out there already who seemed to know what he was doing, so I picked his brain a bit while we waited. He seemed to know what he was doing with his camera, but didn't seem to know where the best shots would be either.
As it turns out, my favorite sunset shots were right after the sun went down. For sunrise, the time right before sunrise and during the sunrise didn't do a thing for me. Too light to be a dark shot, not light enough to be a light shot. Just kind of shadowed looking. But once the sun started HITTING the peaks, the place came alive. I loved it. I took a bunch of shots at Bright Angel Point then stopped at countless spots as I went back down the trail. It was vastly better than the day before, when we were viewing the canyon in mid-afternoon haze. It was really COLD and windy out there, but thankfully I had a jacket and was so wrapped up in the scenery I didn't care.
I'll start with my favorite. I'd still like to do a little more with the sky in Lightroom, but need to figure out how to edit just portions of the photo. I know I saw that somewhere in the tutorial.......
On the way back, I got this shot of the lodge in the distance:
I loved that I could take my time, stop wherever I wanted, and no one was pushing me to hurry along........ but eventually even I hit Grand Canyon overload. After a while, it DID all start to look alike. I headed back to the room, ready for us to check out and be on our way.
It was VASTLY better to have stayed there at the Lodge than to view the canyon the way we had in 05. Since we were limited by the railway's timetable, we only got to see it in the afternoon haze of summer. No sunrise, no sunset. I'm glad we gave it a second try.
The rest of the troops were not as excited about it as I was. Turns out they weren't really happy about spending the night with Mickey. They also weren't real happy about having to ditch the food so early in the evening!
I did ask for one family photo on the porch overlooking the canyon before heading out:
On the way out of the park, I stopped for a shot of the countless trees charred from forest fire:
With all that we had seen, can you believe my favorite scenery of the entire trip was still ahead of us?
mom2rtk
Invented the term "Characterpalooza"
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2008
One of the things I like best about our trips through the southwest has been the little surprises along the way. We go in with a list of major sights we want to see, but continue to be amazed at all the "little" things we find along the way.
I remember on our trip in 07 driving through an area that really grabbed my attention. It wasn't marked as an amazing sight. It wasn't a national park. It wasn't even a state park. I commented to Drew that if we had it back in Missouri, it would most certainly be a big state or national park. Then we stopped at our hotel and picked up one of those little travel brochures in the area. It started out by saying "In any other state, this area would be a state park." It really sums up for me the multitude of amazing sights in the area.
As we drove in that direction, we came up to what I now know is the Vermillion Cliffs. More red rocks.......... then we drove across an incredible little bridge. We looked down and there was the Colorado River below us, gorgeous in its brilliant turquoise color. It is one of only 7 land crossings over the Colorado for 750 miles. We had just crossed the historic Navajo Bridge at Lee's Ferry.
We were heading back toward Moab. Before the trip, I had been looking at all the remarkable photos on Flickr from this area. I stumbled across a picture of Horseshoe Bend and immediately asked Drew if we were going to be near Page, AZ. When he said we were, I immediately added this sight to the itinerary. The little detail I had missed though was that it required a 1 3/4 mile round trip hike to see it. I SWEAR that photo on Flickr said it was "right" off the highway........ my feet were still screaming at me from our Disney days, but I hadn't come all that way to get THAT close and not see it. No one in the car wanted to go. In fact, everyone was hoping for a bathroom break long about then....... Robbie, Katie, Drew and I ended up going.
The hike started at the bottom of a short hill. No way to tell how taxing it looked. So I went up to take a peek. YIKES! I could see people all along the path, getting smaller and smaller..... Oh.... and the hike was mostly through loose red sand. We talked it over and decided to give it a go. I"m SO glad we did. And I've never been so happy to have a wide angle lens!
My vote for the best sight of the entire trip:
Here's a look at the terrain:
Wow. Absolutely an amazing sight. Pictures can't even do it justice. I had to drag my self away. Of course the fact that we all had to use the bathroom, and that we still had to hike back through all that sand kind of got me moving.........
As we headed back out to the highway, I was hoping we'd find something close. Waiting to turn onto the highway, a huge Jack-In-the-Box semi whizzed by in front of us. HUH???? Was it some sort of cruel mirage????? We were in the middle of nowhere. (OK, so Drew probably knew Page, AZ was right up the way. But I didn't have a clue how close we were and how big the town was.) But those giant smoothies on the side of the truck were calling my name.... Did I mention Jack-in-the-Box is our family's favorite fast food place? Did I mention that we perhaps plan some of our stops to be in towns that have a jack-in-the-Box???? We don't have them in KC, and we all love their tacos. So I did what any self-respecting parent of a hungry family in need of a bathroom would do..... I FOLLOWED THAT TRUCK!
We didn't have to go far. It was right up the road. YEAH! (OK... I probably should have taken a picture of the truck to insert here, but you get the idea.....)
Page, AZ is home to Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell recreation area. Did someone say Dam????? After missing Hoover Dam on every single trip west so far, I wasn't about to miss this one! Of course, no one else wanted to go, so it's not like we took a tour or anything. Still, it was an amazing sight. I walked out across the bridge for a photo. At first I thought the chain link fence might do me in, but found that there were a handful of holes built into the fence at camera height, I imagine just for me.
So on we went. We were going to be near Monument Valley, location of many John Wayne movies. We didn't have time for the tour I am longing to take, but we did stop by the visitor center overlook for a view of the famous "Mittens":
If you look closely, you can see one vehicle along that road. It gives you an idea of the sheer size of those formations.
Next we passed through a small town called Mexican Hat, UT. You had to know there was a reason for the town name, right???? Here it is:
We also noticed that Goosenecks State Park was not far off our path. Amazingly enough, this view was RIGHT off the road. Just park, step out and voila:
It's a more involved river path than Horseshoe Bend, but this one is in the San Juan River, which lacks the brilliant turquoise water and deeper red rocks. It was also hard to photograph, even with a wide angle.
We had called early in the day for a reservation in Moab that night, but they were booked solid. So we ended the day in Blanding, UT, about an hour out of town.
I remember on our trip in 07 driving through an area that really grabbed my attention. It wasn't marked as an amazing sight. It wasn't a national park. It wasn't even a state park. I commented to Drew that if we had it back in Missouri, it would most certainly be a big state or national park. Then we stopped at our hotel and picked up one of those little travel brochures in the area. It started out by saying "In any other state, this area would be a state park." It really sums up for me the multitude of amazing sights in the area.
As we drove in that direction, we came up to what I now know is the Vermillion Cliffs. More red rocks.......... then we drove across an incredible little bridge. We looked down and there was the Colorado River below us, gorgeous in its brilliant turquoise color. It is one of only 7 land crossings over the Colorado for 750 miles. We had just crossed the historic Navajo Bridge at Lee's Ferry.
We were heading back toward Moab. Before the trip, I had been looking at all the remarkable photos on Flickr from this area. I stumbled across a picture of Horseshoe Bend and immediately asked Drew if we were going to be near Page, AZ. When he said we were, I immediately added this sight to the itinerary. The little detail I had missed though was that it required a 1 3/4 mile round trip hike to see it. I SWEAR that photo on Flickr said it was "right" off the highway........ my feet were still screaming at me from our Disney days, but I hadn't come all that way to get THAT close and not see it. No one in the car wanted to go. In fact, everyone was hoping for a bathroom break long about then....... Robbie, Katie, Drew and I ended up going.
The hike started at the bottom of a short hill. No way to tell how taxing it looked. So I went up to take a peek. YIKES! I could see people all along the path, getting smaller and smaller..... Oh.... and the hike was mostly through loose red sand. We talked it over and decided to give it a go. I"m SO glad we did. And I've never been so happy to have a wide angle lens!
My vote for the best sight of the entire trip:
Here's a look at the terrain:
Wow. Absolutely an amazing sight. Pictures can't even do it justice. I had to drag my self away. Of course the fact that we all had to use the bathroom, and that we still had to hike back through all that sand kind of got me moving.........
As we headed back out to the highway, I was hoping we'd find something close. Waiting to turn onto the highway, a huge Jack-In-the-Box semi whizzed by in front of us. HUH???? Was it some sort of cruel mirage????? We were in the middle of nowhere. (OK, so Drew probably knew Page, AZ was right up the way. But I didn't have a clue how close we were and how big the town was.) But those giant smoothies on the side of the truck were calling my name.... Did I mention Jack-in-the-Box is our family's favorite fast food place? Did I mention that we perhaps plan some of our stops to be in towns that have a jack-in-the-Box???? We don't have them in KC, and we all love their tacos. So I did what any self-respecting parent of a hungry family in need of a bathroom would do..... I FOLLOWED THAT TRUCK!
We didn't have to go far. It was right up the road. YEAH! (OK... I probably should have taken a picture of the truck to insert here, but you get the idea.....)Page, AZ is home to Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell recreation area. Did someone say Dam????? After missing Hoover Dam on every single trip west so far, I wasn't about to miss this one! Of course, no one else wanted to go, so it's not like we took a tour or anything. Still, it was an amazing sight. I walked out across the bridge for a photo. At first I thought the chain link fence might do me in, but found that there were a handful of holes built into the fence at camera height, I imagine just for me.
So on we went. We were going to be near Monument Valley, location of many John Wayne movies. We didn't have time for the tour I am longing to take, but we did stop by the visitor center overlook for a view of the famous "Mittens":
If you look closely, you can see one vehicle along that road. It gives you an idea of the sheer size of those formations.
Next we passed through a small town called Mexican Hat, UT. You had to know there was a reason for the town name, right???? Here it is:
We also noticed that Goosenecks State Park was not far off our path. Amazingly enough, this view was RIGHT off the road. Just park, step out and voila:
It's a more involved river path than Horseshoe Bend, but this one is in the San Juan River, which lacks the brilliant turquoise water and deeper red rocks. It was also hard to photograph, even with a wide angle.
We had called early in the day for a reservation in Moab that night, but they were booked solid. So we ended the day in Blanding, UT, about an hour out of town.
YodasMom
Dis Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 12, 1999
Really enjoying our trip report, Janet!!
You like to travel like I do. A lot of times people I'm with just have no idea what treasures are further along a path with just a short 1 to 2 mile walk, compared to what can be seen along the road!
I'm especially enjoying your photos of the national parks and scenery to and from your DLR journey. I'm missing my annual National Parks trips that have more recently been replaced with 3 WDW trips each year!!
You like to travel like I do. A lot of times people I'm with just have no idea what treasures are further along a path with just a short 1 to 2 mile walk, compared to what can be seen along the road!
I'm especially enjoying your photos of the national parks and scenery to and from your DLR journey. I'm missing my annual National Parks trips that have more recently been replaced with 3 WDW trips each year!!
mom2rtk
Invented the term "Characterpalooza"
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2008
Thanks for following along Karen! It's nice to see you over here. And I think I'd take that deal.... 3 Disney trips a year would probably be just enough for me!
It still frustrates me every time I get home and think of everything I missed! Thankfully Katie and I are headed for the World in December!Thanks neighbor! I bet you're getting excited about your upcoming trip. Glad I could show what you've been flying over. I hope you get a chance to see it yourself one day. I'm not sure how old your kids are, but after doing it 4 times now, I highly recommend sooner rather than later... you know.... when the kids legs are all longer! It's been the same mini-van each time... and it seems to shrink with each trip!
terminator2
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2010
You have 3 very cute kids.
mom2rtk
Invented the term "Characterpalooza"
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2008
Gosh, I didn't even know my kids were registered users on the DIS!!!
Which one of you is this???Just kidding. Thank you!
kaoden39
<font color=peach>Prayers and pixie dust from your
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2006
I just sat and read your entire trip report. I have really enjoyed your trip report. I don't know how I missed your trip report before now except I was busy planning our trip. My DH is not a real Disney fan like I am but I think if I scheduled a vacation like you did where we could do both vacations he might like it better. I love your pictures and I really get a kick out of how you dress your daughter. Thank you for sharing.
mom2rtk
Invented the term "Characterpalooza"
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2008
Hi! I'm glad you're along! Our trips west have been my favorite simply because they combine so many interesting discoveries along the way, and then Disney is waiting for us at the other end. It just seems to be the best of both worlds. We have also taken road trips to Florida since the kids will tell you their favorite vacation spot is Sanibel Island, FL. Honestly though, the drive from KCMO to Florida is AWFUL. Next to nothing interesting to look at and break up the journey. Just not the same!
I hope you have a great trip too! And thanks for the kind comment on my daughter. We have had tons of fun with the costumes through the years.
kaoden39
<font color=peach>Prayers and pixie dust from your
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2006
Thanks we have been and are back. I think maybe you started writing this to begin with while I was gone. We went from 6/13-6/19. We are looking at camping next year for a family trip with a trip for me with my bff to Disneyland. It will be odd for sure.
mom2rtk
Invented the term "Characterpalooza"
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2008
Yep. We got back home on the 13th, and I've been working on the TR since then.
Actually your plans for next year sound great! Nothing like a lot of variety to keep things fun. I hope you had a great trip this year!
We especially love Disneyland in the summer. I don't tolerate the heat well, so WDW isn't a great option for us then. The weather in California does get hot, but the mornings and evenings are cooler and they don't get the humidity like Orlando.
kaoden39
<font color=peach>Prayers and pixie dust from your
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2006
I am from the San Francisco bay area so I am pretty familiar with the weather. I hear about the weather in Orlando and I am glad that I live here. We had a great trip, it was a little on the busy with the grand opening of WoC just having started. Honestly had I known about WoC I would never had planned it for that time period. From reading about your experience with the GAD fast passes I am glad I didn't go for them. The kids didn't want to stick around long enough to get them so I got the pins. Which for an annual passholder is really nice. I think we will camp up in Burney Falls near Mt Shasta CA next summer.
mom2rtk
Invented the term "Characterpalooza"
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2008
I really wish we could have seen WOC, but I just don't like huge crowds...... my family is amused that I like Disney in light of that fact...... Our days did end up being really busy because they were days not blocked to AP's. I just couldn't decide if it was better to be there on a blocked AP day, or on the opening of WOC that was blocked.
In the end, the GAD FP's are what really saved us. It took a bit to get it all straightened out, but I'm still glad we used that option. I lost track of how many times we got to do Space Mountain, and we were able to do a ton of headliners in record time. So I still recommend it, in spite of the runaround....
Did you end up seeing WOC?
MissJanice
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2010
I just got my first dSLR (yesterday!) 
and I have been lurking the photography board and read your trip report. I love your pics, and trust me, you are so much more advanced than I am! AND as a mom of a two year old little girl, I am in awe of your outfits for Katie! 
and I have been lurking the photography board and read your trip report. I love your pics, and trust me, you are so much more advanced than I am! AND as a mom of a two year old little girl, I am in awe of your outfits for Katie!
kaoden39
<font color=peach>Prayers and pixie dust from your
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2006
No, we did not see World of Chaos. People were lining up at 5 am to get wrist bands to get their fps. I just wasn't feeling it. It's a great excuse to go back after it slows down. I dubbed this the no stress trip and that is exactly what we did. No stress at all.
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