The Great West Coast Tour - Days Ten and Eleven - Zion and Bryce

Yessa headed off to Bryce Canyon with cousins for a wonderful outing.

Shots of her day:

It was a really hot day. She had a headache and had to really push herself. Her grandmother was a tremendous supporter and stayed with her even when she felt laggy. Yessa was quick to tell me how grateful she was for that kindness when she got home.

The rest of our 4 of 5 headed to explore the glory of Zion.

It was hot here, too.

We hiked a couple different trails and explored the gift shops looking for a shirt for Yessa or a hat that would fit Buster.

After we were done melting in the park, we rode the shuttle back into town to a stop by a Thai restaurant. We were so grateful to have a cool place to sit and cold drinks to savor.

And the view out the window was still fantastic.

We headed back to the house for some pool time.

Seeing those two playing in the pool always brings up such lovely memories for me.

Saturday was a relaxed day for our family. One of the other families had to leave, and that always changes the tenor of things. We were sorry to see them head off.

We worked on laundry, packing up, got in a final workout, played games and laughed.

Some folks headed over for more axe throwing:

Sprinkled throughout the days were family discussions about the next Gem-Fest and Gem-Fests in the future, cards, movies, laughter, runs, workouts, swims, and video games.

It was another year of memory gems.

Next up: We head to California!!