Adventures in Utah

This past weekend we headed to Utah for Dada's half ironman. He had signed up for this race months ago and trained pretty hard. Unfortunately, it was also the weekend of Taco's memorial service and we had to make a very difficult decision of going to the race and missing the service. In the end, we listened to everyone's advice and did what Taco would have wanted us to do.  We altered our plans and left Thursday night after the viewing so at least we got to say goodbye to Taco. Dada also decided to dedicate his race to Taco and our friend Chelsea made him an awesome shirt to run in!

tri-ing for Taco

Thursday night we headed to Vegas. We didn't get there until 1:00 AM (and of course there was a line to check in...only in Vegas)! Luckily Clarita fell asleep around 9:00 and slept the rest of the drive. She woke up when we got her out of the car at the hotel and the first thing she saw was a Ferris wheel with colorful lights. She became extremely excited and declared it to be "Clara's rainbow." She was excited about the hotel, but very tired so she did not protest when we got her ready for bed. I didn't have any books with me so she happily read the coupon book we got and we made it into a story about all of the things to do in Vegas! Needless to say, we were all exhausted and went right to sleep.

mmmm Chipotle

Bedtime stories

Unfortunately, Clarita did not get the memo about sleeping in and woke up by 7:00. I put her in bed and she laid there quietly while Dada went back to sleep. It was obvious neither Clara or I were going to sleep more so we took a shower and got ready while Dada got a little more sleep to prepare him for his big race. We headed to Circus Circus for breakfast and to check out the attractions. Clara was very impressed by the rides and content to sit in a little garbage truck ride and pretend to drive.

We headed out around 11:00 and Clara and I took naps in the car. We got to St. George, Utah around 3:00, checked into our room (Clara was excited that it had a "little kitchen" aka fridge and microwave) and headed out to pick up Dada's race packet and set up his stuff. Clara was impressed with the little water play area at the park and I had to bribe her with a smoothie to get her away from it. We picked up a pizza for dinner and took it back to the hotel to eat. Clara thought this was super fun! We went to bed early Friday night since we were all exhausted and Dada had a big day ahead of him. Clara woke us up crying a couple of times at night yelling "no no," but was asleep when we checked on her so we figured she must be dreaming.

She was obsessed with the pink bota

pretending to sleep

Luckily Dada found someone to give him a ride to the race on Saturday so Clarita and I could sleep until 6:30. We got breakfast (and made friends with the hotel workers who heard us speaking Spanish and loved Clara) and headed to the swim. We got there late, but managed to see Dada as he came out of the water (Clara didn't actually see him in the water and swears that he did not swim). He swam the 1.2 miles in just under 31 minutes which was pretty impressive considering he has only swam four times since December! We saw him leave on the bike and then drove to another location to see him pass by. It was perfect timing and we got there right before he biked by! We then headed to the park where he would finish the bike and run.

I had promised Clarita that she could play in the water and she did not forget this. She talked about it all morning and was very excited to put her swimsuit on and splash around. It was perfect as it was super hot and a great way to keep her occupied. I finally convinced her to get out after an hour and we headed to the bike finish to look for Dada. I was receiving updates on my phone and had an idea of when he would arrive. However, I was talking to a lady and missed him finish the bike and start the run. I didn't realize until I got the update on my phone. Clarita had fallen asleep at that point so I looked at the run map and decided we should head to mile six, seven, and eight which were all pretty close to each other so we could see him a lot. We saw him a lot, but it turned out to be quite the trek to get there. It was very hot and I ended up pushing the stroller at least five miles including up a hill! I got a workout in too! Clarita woke up right as we got there and was excited to see Dada pass by a few minutes later. I have no idea how all the athletes managed to run in the heat as I nearly died just walking! We managed to get back to the finish (down the steepest hill in the world) and saw Dada right before he finished. He was still going strong and ended up getting a 5 hour 57 minute time! It was a very difficult hilly course and he did better than he had hoped. We are proud of him, but still think he's crazy for exercising for nearly six hours!

D for Dada

Almost done!

Clarita got to play in the water again while we waited for Dada to get ready (he even joined her to cool off right after the race). We headed back to the hotel and then out to dinner at Cracker Barrel since we don't have them in California and absolutely love their breakfasts. Clara ate french fries and bacon, dinner of champions, and we called it a night.

On Sunday we headed to Zion National Park which was only a half hour away. It was absolutely beautiful with breathtaking views of colorful cliffs and rock formations. Clarita was the most impressed by the bus we got to ride on (she insisted she wanted to ride a train so we called it a bus train), the squirrels that she nearly touched, and the sandy beach. We didn't get there until 10:00 and by the time we were done with our little two and a half mile hike she was spent and falling asleep in Dada's arms. We did not plan well and did not bring the hiking backpack so we just went on a couple short hikes and headed back to the car. Clara fell asleep immediately and we decided to let her sleep while we drove through the park and hiked up to the scenic overlook. We took turns hiking the approximately two mile round trip and Dada left the radio on while he waited for me. About 15 minutes after he left for his turn, Clara woke up and the radio went off (she was very concerned about the music leaving as was I for a different reason). I tried to start the car with no luck and realized that the battery had most likely died. Dada got back and got the people who had just arrived (and had also competed in the half ironman) to jump us and the car started right up! We learned our lesson about leaving the radio and lights on!

Venado

And she's out

Breathtaking

We left Zion and headed to Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. Clarita decided that she was done being in the car a little before we got there and threw a fit screaming bloody murder. She finally calmed down when I promised her she could have donuts (what she had been requesting) if she stopped screaming (turns out I negotiate with terrorists). We stopped in what we assumed would be a po-dunk town in the middle of nowhere, and it turned out to be the nicest tiny town we have ever seen. It was like we stepped into the twilight zone and was not at all what we were expecting with huge houses everywhere. It may have had something to do with the three Mormon churches we saw in a town of maybe 3,500 people...the second we left the city limits we were surrounded with houses/scenery more in line with what I had pictured!

Donuts!

Valley of Fire was awesome! We weren't sure what to expect but were met with bright red rock formations mixed with white formations. We even saw a herd of mountain goats playing on the rocks! We also saw hieroglyphics and Clara climbed the entire giant staircase to see them. It was pretty awesome and we left when it got dark.

We drove to Vegas where we ate around 9:00 (Clarita got papas fritas as requested). She managed to stay awake long enough to see "Clara's rainbow" (aka Ferris wheel) and then fell asleep. We decided to stop in the tiny town of Jean where we stayed at the awesome Gold Strike Hotel (picture super long hallways like in The Shining). We were happy to go to sleep as it had been another long day. We woke up around 7:00 the next morning, got ready, and headed down to the buffet. Clara ate bacon, sausage, and watermelon and was very excited to get milk in a Pepsi cup that she declared was soda. We headed out and decided to stop in the Calico Ghost Town about halfway home to check it out and let Clara run around (we also wanted a break from "Clara's musica" aka Raffi, which she insisted we listen to or she cried).

Apart from a school field trip, I think we were the only non foreigners there! It was certainly a tourist trap, but interesting too. We went on a tour of the mine where they extracted millions of dollars of silver and Clarita loved the little train that we got to ride. She requested pizza for lunch and then we headed out. She immediately fell asleep as did I! After Clara woke up we decided to make a stop in the very exciting town of Delano to get some ice cream. Turns out Clara prefers maraschino cherries over ice cream and ate a million She also befriended a stray dog (yes we let our daughter play with stray dogs) and ran around like a loquita. We finally made it home and were all happy to get out of the car!

Train!

Bottle building

Our rode trip was a success, and although Clarita had a few meltdowns, I'd say she did pretty good for a two-year-old who was stuck in a car seat for hours on end. It helped that we finally turned her car seat forward facing so she could see us and the scenery. The kid's music, annoying as it was, also helped. The unfortunate thing is that Clara now demands Clara's musica every time we are in the car!