This morning, we said goodbye to our RV and returned her to Road Bear RV Rentals, which is staffed almost entirely by Germans, natch. From there, we shared a shuttle with a family from Peoria, who had been on a two-week trip to Yosemite and the Redwood Nationals Forest. Turns out the dad has a friend who lives a few miles from us in Davidson. Saying goodbye to our home for the last two weeks.
They were a very tall family with four teenage and college-age boys, and I asked how they all slept in the same size RV that we had. The 30-foot RV sleeps seven adults, but I was skeptical. They said they made it work, but it must’ve been a tight fit. One of those boys was 6’8”!
We had the shuttle drop us off at the MGM Grand and checked our 11 items (suitcases, backpacks and Ally’s stuffed animals) with the bell hop. We had a two-part plan for us to spend the day before our redeye home.
Ron and Casey got tickets for the NBA Summer League games for Casey’s birthday, and they headed there after lunch. The girls and I hit their amazing pool. (We intended to buy day passes but the computers were down so they just let us in. Score!) The hotel is ginormous, and we walked a lot. To the pool, to the frozen yogurt place, around the pool searching for lazy river inner tubes. Casey enjoying the NBA Summer League.
We whiled away about 3.5 hours at the pool in the 100+ heat before changing and taking the monorail down to the Strip where we walked more. Through the Flamingo, down to the High Roller Ferris wheel, back up to the stores, back to the monorail and back to MGM. The girls and I logged 6.5 miles of walking, mostly inside MGM. Does that count as hiking?? The real flamingoes at the Flamingo, which was named after the long legs of casino owner Bugsy Siegel’s girlfriend.
Back at MGM we killed even more time, walking around looking for non-casino places to sit, charge our devices and use their WiFi. The disappointment I felt when the outlet we found turned out to be not functional rivaled the feeling I got when I realized I had to wait almost a year until Dead to Me season 2 comes out.
At one point some alarm in the hotel went off and Ally and Mallory freaked out. I assumed it was a false alarm, Ally assumed it was a fire and wanted to get out of there, and Mallory assumed it was a shooter and demanded we leave. It’s quite a world we live in. A very nice hotel employee calmed them down by assuring them it was just a test.
We finally left for the airport and met Casey and Ron there. They watched eight hours of basketball, Casey got about a dozen autographs, and they saw even more NBA players, including Giannis, Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson, in the stands. His day was made.
- Pistons first round draft pick Sekou Doumbouya
- Hornets player Devonte Graham
- Sixers player Zharie Smith
Our flight took off this time without issue and landed in Charlotte at 6 a.m. We pulled into the driveway about 8 a.m. and realized we had a flat tire. Snap back to reality alright.
Our final tally was 1,388 miles, six national parks, two state parks, one national monument and one lost iPad. Not too shabby.
To take stock of the vacation, I had everyone fill out a questionnaire. Their results are here:
| Mallory | Casey | Ally | Cat | Ron | |
| Favorite national park | Zion | Grand Canyon | Grand Canyon & Zion | Bryce | Zion |
| Least favorite national park | Capitol Reef | Monument Valley | Monument Valley | Capitol Reef but I still loved it | None |
| Favorite campground | Zion | Bryce | Zion & Capitol Reef | Zion | Capitol Reef |
| Best meal | Torrey’s Grill & BBQ | Torrey’s Grill & BBQ | Pasta Jay’s in Moab | Quesadilla Mobilla in Moab | PB&J on hikes |
| Favorite activity | All besides hiking | Jet boat | Jet boat & UTV | Jet boat | The Narrows |
| Best thing about the RV | Space during drives | Lots of room and space to play cards | Rotating beds every night | Not having to pack up every night | No packing and unpacking |
| Worst thing about the RV | Being close to my siblings for so long | Too small when you’re driving | Where I stored my clothes | Loud when you drive | The noise from the rubber hose that broke off on Day 1 and made noise when we drove |
| Would you recommend this trip? | Yes, if they like their family | Yes | yes, especially my friend Reese | Yes | Yes |
| What tip would you give about the RV? | Stay away from your siblings | Things fall when you drive | Things fall when you drive | Don’t pack too much | Get a big RV |
| Favorite fact you learned | Night sky info | Rocks at Zion are made from lava/magma | It’s hotter at the bottom of the Grand Canyon | The Colorado River carved the Grand Canyon | How petrified wood is made |
| Best souvenir | Moab T-shirt | Moab Jet boat hat | Shelley the big horn sheep stuffed animal | My stickers | Memories |
| Favorite hike | The Narrows and hiking when canyoneering | Canyoneering hike at Zion | UTV ride hike in Moab | The Narrows in Zion | The Narrows in Zion |
| Least favorite hike | Bryce Canyon because it was long | The Narrows because the water was cold | Bryce Canyon | None | None |
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