More Vacation Photos

Even with the time spent in Las Vegas and Disneyland, we were still able to to a lot of other things on vacation.

On the way from Vegas to Southern California, we crossed paths with my parents who were returning from Southern California. It was nice to see them, especially since it was not planned. We had similar fortune in Disneyland when we ran into our old friends Tori and Dave who just happened to be vacationing in Disneyland on some of the days we were!

Part of our time in Southern California was spent at Newport Beach in a timeshare Lisa's parents are part of. The property is just off the Pacific Ocean. It was a beautiful place and had a great view.

We took the opportunity to go to Newport Beach and the pier one Morning. We saw dolphins swimming just off the pier. The water was pretty calm but surfers were still trying to get up.

Later we went to Balboa Island. Lisa is a big fan of Arrested Development so we had to search out the banana stand. No signs of Mr. Banana Grabber though.

Another day we went to Laguna Beach and hiked down to a rockier portion of the beach.

Lisa's dad Rick, brother Chris, Lisa and I also took the chance to see the Anaheim Ducks play. This was our first NHL game. They played the Washington Capitals so we were able to see Alex Ovechkin play. Despite what some of our Penguin fan friends might say, Ovechkin is the best player in the NHL. He didn't disappoint either, scoring 2 goals. In fact, the game was very high scoring. The Capitals won 7-6.

We did get the Mighty Duck mask. Rick decided not to wear the mask. Maybe he knew his photo would show up on a blog somewhere if he did.

We have a picture of Chris in the mask too, but it covers up his lovely hockey growth. In fact, Chris' appearance made a quick decline throughout the evening.

It was nice to see the desert again too. We had forgotten how much space there is out West.

Since we flew out of Vegas, we took the slight detour to the Hoover Dam on our way back from California. The bridge is complete now. Between the bridge and the dam, the structures are quite impressive. We did make the all obligatory jokes about taking the dam drive to get the dam pictures and see the dam bridge.

There is a walkway on the bridge which lets you get some pretty good views of the bridge, dam, and surrounding canyons.

Overall the trip was excellent. It was nice to see so much of the family. We had a great time.