Monday afternoon, Gwendolyn and Andy departed on their
honeymoon. Driving south along the coast on Highway 101, they visited Cannon
Beach (at right; one of the inspirations for Andy's
Bloodlines
D&D campaign), Newport, the Trees of Mystery (below left), Mendocino, and other
picturesque locations before arriving in San Francisco.
While
in the Bay Area, they visited the California branch of Andy's family (including
Ralph, Betsy, Dan, Kris, Darren, Payton, Eric, Erin, Claire, Madeline, and
Emily). No, none of them look like Paul Bunyan.
Next,
they were eastbound to Yosemite National Park, perhaps the most stunning of the
sites visited on the vacation. No bear sightings, but they think they heard a
bear roaming around outside their cabin during the night.
After
Yosemite, they headed south to Las Vegas, where they spent two nights at
Caesar's Palace. Fourth-row seats for Blue Man Group provided a great view of a
brilliantly inspired (and truly bizarre) show.
They departed Vegas for a two-day visit to the Grand Canyon--complete with beautiful clear skies and great vistas. But then, drawn by the lure of the bright lights (and late mornings), they returned to Vegas for another four days.
Highlights of the
second Vegas stay (at the Luxor and the Monte Carlo hotels) included the absolutely stunning "O" by Cirque du Soleil (front row
center, no less!). The show is at the Bellagio, easily the most elegant hotel in
the city (particularly when you include the spectacular fountains, seen recently
in Ocean's 11).
On Tuesday afternoon, just over two weeks after departing,
they set off on their return trip--a high-speed burn through Baker, Barstow, and
Bakersfield (to paraphrase Hunter S. Thompson) before turning north for a straight shot to home.