Honeymoon: Vegas Excursion - Day 1

I have decided to check in during various parts of our experience and share in our adventure and the beginning of Kaley and I's life together! We are sitting in the JAX airport and Kaley is on facebook changing her name and relationship status and streaming through all of the pictures and posts people have tagged us in.

From the Photo Album:Vegas

So now that's its "Facebook official".... Hahaha!

I want to take a moment for a couple of things; first, for news we received this morning that a dear friend and man of God had passed away on our wedding day at 2pm. He was a man that ran the race well and with excellence. A man that I didn't get to know as well as I would have liked but that impacted my life both living and now after. Our prayers are with his family and friends during this season of mourning and I encourage you all to do the same - "Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn" Rom. 12:15

Second, I want to take the time to thank a number of people for the simply amazing day Kaley and I were blessed with. This is by no means an exhaustive list - just a preliminary one. First and always foremost is God, and for so many many things in life up to yesterday, yesterday, and for where He is taking Kaley and I together in life. Thank you for blessing us above and beyond what we deserve and could ever ask for. Thanks for knowing our needs and fulfilling them in and through our families, relationships, and now each other. We pray that we will be faithful and wise with what you have given us.

Next I want to thank my parents and my NEW parents - what an absolutely flooring weekend! From the ceremony rehearsal all the way to the honeymoon suite at the Renaissance... it was "legend- and I hope you're not lactose intolerant -dairy"! Thank you SO much, from the bottom of our hearts! Thank you for raising us to be God-fearing and God-loving individuals. People who love others and know who the leader of their lives are. You have done an exemplary job! Thank you!

I would like to thank my brothers next....I don't know if there are words to describe how flippin' - proud, ...I guess is the best way to describe it - I was of both of you yesterday and all weekend! Man! You all are crawsome! It hit me the hardest when you all were walking our new sister down the aisle during the ceremony.... our entire lives wrapped up in this one climactic picture. It was one that hit me as if by a physical blow with all the memories, adventures, and experiences we have had the last 20 years. I have been thoroughly blessed by your all's presence in my life and am just as thoroughly excited to see God working in your hearts and the places He is taking you all. You all, as well, are running the race in exemplary fashion. Keep it up! I love you all. I could not have asked for better men to be the epitome of someone's Best Men. Thank you!

I also wanted to briefly thank everyone who came from out of town to share in our joy (which I realize is Kaley's entire guest list, Haha)! It was a blessing and honor to have each and every one of you. To have people come from Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Colorado, Michigan, Indiana... it's a feeling filled with honor that is hard to describe. So thank you! It really means a lot to us!

Well with all that said, boarding is about to begin. Kaley and I super excited! Not just for this week but for the weeks after. For the new family and awesome relationships we will begin to foster.

Catch you all soon!

Honeymoon: Vegas Excursion - Day 4

I haven't checked in since the starting point of Kaley and I's journey but it has been for good cause. Besides the obvious obstacles of having an amazing wife and wanting to spend every second of every day with her, from sunup until way after sun down, there have been a ton of things to do in Vegas that simply leave Kaley and I exhausted at the end of the day.

Today marks the end of the second full day of our adventures out on the strip and we have yet to conquer all of it. We have only gotten as far north as the Wynn hotel (which is breathtaking - definitely in Kaley and I's top three) to see La Réve last night.

From photo album: Vegas

It was a jaw-dropping cirque du solei show that Kaley and I were blessed enough to sit in the second row of (called the "splash zone" apparently). But more on that in a sec.... let me walk you through where we left off previously.

The flight over was quite long. Five hours of cramped up, sky mall, old people downing alcohol, try and do 12 things to keep you sane awesomeness

that culminated in the overview of part of the Grand Canyon, the Hoover Dam (which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World fyi), and the safe landing at LAS airport where we were immediately greeted by slot machines.

We found a shuttle to our resort, checked in, and a short time later were in a heap on the master room bed. We stayed in and ordered pizza to our room.

The next day we had quite "the adventure"....Haha. this was the original plan for the day - go to macy's for some wedding gift card shopping, hit up In and Out Burger for lunch, and then Target to do some more gift card shopping for groceries and other essentials for the week. Our choice of transportation: the city bus.

In hindsight... I think this would have been a lot more successful excursion if I would have... asked someone... for directions. But how can you bring yourself to do that and retain your man card? Impossible. Or so I thought.

Long story short, we found ourselves trekking through the parts of Vegas they have never, and will never, show you in the movies, rode more than 7 different buses and walked 3+ miles... I am happy to report after all this, that I am still married and am all in one piece :-) ...I love you Kaley! Haha!

At the end of that day we vowed to never leave the strip so we jumped on the free shuttle at our resort and got off at New York New York.

And wow! were our senses hit hard during our first "Resort on Las Vegas strip" experience. And it was just that - an experience.

As soon as we got off the shuttle we ran inside to ride the enticing roller coaster that wraps itself around the resort. (New realization #2 about Kaley: she loves roller coasters :-) ). In order to do so we walked through a small city that held a casino, more than 15 different restaurants and shops, a full two-story arcade, and a wall with more than five stories of tvs just to watch sports on (we found this is commonplace in all the strip resorts). Simply mind-blowing. We rode the coaster three times, grabbed some Starbucks coffee downstairs, took our first Gorillapodded picture, visited the four levels of the M&M store,

had three Elvis sightings (count ongoing), rode the shuttle to walk through another small city in Mandalay Bay to go to the shark reef aquarium,

and went back to the resort to chillax and prepare for the night on the strip.

Since I failed to make dinner reservations early enough on valentines day to take Kaley out (and because we were too tired) I made reservations to eat at the Paris Eiffel Tower. This is a resort with a half scale replica of the Eiffel Tower that has a restaurant in the middle of the tower overlooking the Bellagio Fountains.

Simply jaw-dropping. Afterwards we walked all the way to the Wynn Resort to watch our first Las Vegas show (and Kaley's first Cirque show).

I don't even know if I can adequately describe the show except for the fact that it was almost entirely made up of seemingly superhuman feats and displays of acrobatics. Just AWEsome.

Today we slept in until 10am (seems like we're finally getting over our jet lag) and decided to venture a little more north on the strip. Our shuttle drops off at the Mirage and this resort ended up claiming most of our time.

They had an attraction called The Secret Garden where they have dolphins, white bengal tigers, lions, llamas, and panthers.

It was pretty awesome to say the least. One of the tigers even decided to get a little more personal than I would have liked. He walked all the way to us at the fence, turned around and lifted his tail to pee. At that exact moment the wind decided to gust and spray his pee all over my face (I got all this on video...below...).

Next we headed to treasure island, the palazzo, and the venetian. They are all amazing resorts that make it feel like there are small cities hidden inside them.

We had received some coupons earlier in the day for B. B. Kings at the Mirage. It was pretty awesome to eat there with a House of Blues type theme and atmosphere.

Honeymoon: Vegas Excursion - Day 7

So we are approaching the end of our trip and can't believe how fast it has flown by! The last two days have been filled with a series of adventures and today we spent our last hours hitting up a couple favs, snatching some looks at places we hadn't seen yet, having a special dinner, and grabbing one last show. But first for the last two days of adventures...

Thursday we picked up our car rental and headed to Mount Zion National Park in Utah. It was Fee-nom-inal!! If you are ever anywhere close to southern Utah I recommend you checking this out! I wish pictures/videos gave this place enough justice but they don't even come close unfortunately.

From photo album: Vegas

Kaley and I hiked for three hours and then headed back to Vegas. On our way back we saw signs for a dinosaur track farm and pulled off the exit. This proved to be a great find! The farm contained a museum with over 1000 uniquely preserved dinosaur tracks, tail drags, skin impressions, and a skeleton that is the first of its kind found in the world.

We headed home, picked up a redbox movie (Animated - "Alpha and Omega". The french-canadian goose was hilarious in the movie), and had pizza bites for dinner.

On Friday we woke up early and began our Hoover Dam/Route 66/Grand Canyon excursion. I think with yesterday and today, we found ourselves saying "WOW!" about every other word.

The dam was only 35 mins from the resort and we pulled in right before they opened. Man what a marvel! (Jacob Frye, we thought about you here, often - an inscription read "an engineering feat of the modern world". Kaley and I have a bet that you'll design something even more awesome someday!) We chose to do the $11 Power Plant tour and were delighted at the tour we got. We watched a 10 minute video on the history of the dam and then got on an elevator and plummeted more than 1000 feet down into the cave and tunnel system where the generators and spillways are located.

Afterwards we got back on the elevator to see what our guide described as "the best dam view" in the canyon from the observation deck.

Leaving the observation deck we then walked across the entire length of the dam and left shortly after to continue our journey. Next stop, Seligman, Arizona - the historic origin of Route 66.

When we finally reached Seligman, there wasn't much to see besides Roadkill Cafe (not making that up), the commemorative Route 66 sign,

and a tow truck someone had fixed up to look exactly like Mater from the Disney movie Cars. We (unintentionally) drove 17 more miles on Route 66 before getting back on the Interstate and on to the Grand Canyon.

A little over two hours later we arrived at Grand Canyon National Park: South Rim entrance. We drove 5 more miles once inside before we reached the first outlook at Matherly Point. Hoooolllyyy cow! If you want to feel small and have God slap you in the face with how big and awesome He is then visit the Grand Canyon. WOW! Again, I think Kaley and I were saying "Wow!" and sharing stunned silences for most of the trip.

We stayed until sunset, taking pictures and climbing down to a ledge off the beaten path overlooking the canyon before beginning our 5 hour journey back to Las Vegas.

We arrived in Las Vegas (after getting lost inside the Park for 30 minutes) 4 hours later after some of the most nail biting driving ever. When you see signs for "Possible crosswinds next ...miles" hold on to the steering wheel tight with both hands! Winding through mountains with 6% grades os ridiculous enough by itself, let alone at night and with killer wind gusts. We were also warned to be aware of some interesting animal crossings as well along the way back - Cougars, deer, elk, mountain goats, and bears - "oh my". Haha!

We only ran alongside some elk in the Park and got pretty up close and personal (like on the grill of our car personal) to a coyote.

Overall it was a day to remember forever. We had some harrowing adventures and a ton of awesome memories made.