North America · Nevada & Arizona · August 2026

Las Vegas & Grand Canyon

August 2026, with Kayden: from the neon of the Las Vegas Strip, past the Hoover Dam, to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Layered red rock cliffs of the Grand Canyon at golden hour, fading into purple haze — The South Rim, Grand Canyon National Park

The journal

Some trips are about one thing, and this one was about the range of it — the same week holding a glowing sphere in the desert night and a mile-deep crack in the earth at dusk.

August 2026, with Kayden: the Las Vegas Strip and a robot fight club, the Hoover Dam bypass, the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, and the red rock of Sedona on the way home.

August 2026 · Las Vegas

The Sphere, and a fight club for robots

The Las Vegas Strip & the BattleBots arena

Las Vegas at night is a single idea turned up loud: light, everywhere, for no practical reason. The Sphere was doing its jungle thing — birds and flowers climbing a globe the size of a block — and we stood on the strip and let it wash over us before worrying about the rest.

The next day was Kayden's pick. The BattleBots Destruct-A-Thon is exactly what it sounds like: two robots, one arena, a lot of sparks behind scratched glass. Kayden knew the names of every machine. We sat ringside, the whole family, and watched steel get flung across the floor between rounds while a crew swept up the wreckage.

It is loud and dumb and perfect, and the kind of thing a grandson will remember longer than anything on the strip.

The Sphere in Las Vegas at night, lit with a jungle of birds and flowers — The Sphere, after dark

The BattleBots arena building under a blue sky — BattleBots Destruct-A-Thon

Kayden smiling in front of the BattleBots backdrop — Kayden at the entrance wall

The family watching the arena from ringside seats in blue and pink light — Ringside, waiting for the next match

Two robots fighting inside the scratched arena glass — Sparks behind the glass

A match, start to finish

Crew clearing debris from the arena floor between matches — Clearing the floor between rounds

August 2026 · East of Las Vegas

Under the bypass bridge, into the pines

Hoover Dam & the road toward the canyon

Out of the city, the Hoover Dam bypass bridge arches over the highway in a single pale curve — you drive under it and feel very small for a moment, then the country opens up and the air thins.

We stopped at Tusayan as the light went soft, and elk walked out into the road like they owned it, which, for the moment, they did. Kayden wanted to stay and watch. The canyon could wait.

The Hoover Dam bypass bridge arching over the highway — Under the bypass bridge

Elk standing in the road at dusk in a small town — Elk in the road, Tusayan

August 2026 · Grand Canyon

The South Rim at dusk

Grand Canyon National Park

There is no photograph that holds it. The South Rim at dusk is a mile of rock laid open in bands of red and grey, with cloud shadow moving across it slower than you can follow. We got there as the light went blue and stayed at the railing until it was hard to see the other side.

Kayden and I leaned on the rail together, and then Becky pulled the whole family in for one photograph — me, the tricycle, Kayden, all of us with the canyon behind. It is the picture I will keep from this stretch of road.

Wide view of the Grand Canyon at dusk under heavy cloud — The South Rim at dusk

Ken and Kayden at the canyon rim railing — Kayden and me at the railing

The whole family together at the canyon rim with the tricycle — All of us, rim and tricycle

August 2026 · Sedona

Red rock, and ice cream on a terrace

Sedona, on the way home

Sedona was the unhurried part. The red rock comes right down to the road, and we pulled off at every fence line that had a view worth a photograph. Kayden climbed the step stool at the viewing scope and lined it up on the spires, very seriously, for a long time.

We finished on a terrace with the whole formation in front of us, chocolate ice cream for Kayden, the whole crew together for the last picture of the trip. A good way to end a road that started with neon and ended in stone.

Red sandstone ridge under a blue sky with white clouds — Red rock along the road

The same red rock ridge seen from the roadside fence — A pull-off worth stopping for

Kayden on a step stool looking through a viewing scope at the red rocks — Kayden at the viewing scope

A terrace with tables looking out at Sedona's red rock formations — The terrace view

Kayden eating chocolate ice cream at a terrace table — Chocolate ice cream, earned

The family posing together on the terrace with red rocks behind — The whole crew, Sedona

Highlights

The Sphere

A glowing globe the size of a city block, doing its jungle thing after dark.

BattleBots Destruct-A-Thon

Sparks behind scratched glass — the kind of loud, dumb fun a grandson remembers.

Hoover Dam bypass bridge

A pale concrete arch you drive under and feel very small beneath.

Grand Canyon, South Rim

A mile of rock at dusk — the photograph never holds it, but you try anyway.

Sedona red rock

Pull-offs at every fence, a viewing scope, and chocolate ice cream on a terrace.

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