A Drive Through The Clouds

Yesterday we drove to Vega State Park in Colorado. It was a beautiful drive as we watched the landscape change. On long trips, we usually don’t stay at state parks because they don’t always have water and electric. We had a great site across from the lake with views of the surrounding mountains. 

This morning Ted went fishing (he never gets a chance to go by himself) and the kids and I hung around the campsite. Chris worked on writing a story (it might be more like a book… he’s on page 10 typed) and the girls “helped” him.

We spent the day driving to Denver through the Rocky Mountains and the clouds. Our RV is getting a much deserved rest tonight. Hopefully, tomorrow we’ll still have brakes and a transmission left.

Up the mountain... Now Down the mountain... Now up...
Wheeeeee!

The Arches

Yesterday we spent the day at Arches National Park in Utah; truly amazing. We walked some of the trails (o.k. well not the long ones :o)). There was one called “The Fiery Furnace” and you needed a permit to hike it. We skipped that one. My favorite was the trail to the Sand Dune Arch. You had to walk through these massive rock formations and it was like you entered a secret courtyard. If I had my beach chair, a book, (and minus a couple of kids), it would have been perfect. ;0) Speaking of kids… the kids earned their Junior Ranger badges from The Arches. Now all they want to do is to go to places where they can earn badges. There are over 300 places in the U.S. where kids can earn Junior Ranger badges.

After the park, Ted went to the grocery store and I went to the laundry room with the kids. The kids were really excited because there was a game room next door with air hockey, pool table, chess, and video games.

After our busy day yesterday, we decided to slow down a little today. We went to “A Hole in the Wall”. It is a 5,000 square foot house inside of a “rock” that took 20 years to build. They don’t allow photography so I only have a picture of the outside. It’s only a 12 minute tour, but Ted says it was the longest 12 minutes of his life. 

The Sunset Grill  - High Above Moab, UT

The sun sets over Moab and The Arches

We then went back to the campground to swim and ended our day at The Sunset Grill in Moab - Breathtaking sunset over the rock formations and really good food.















Learn more about:
The Arches: http://www.nps.gov/arch/index.htm
The Hole: http://theholeintherock.com/house.html
The very interesting history behind
The Sunset Grill: http://www.sunsetgrillmoab.com/history.html

ALSO, Be Sure to Check out The Photo Gallery #2 for more Arches photos as well as updates for Grand Canyon and Monument Valley.
(Our blog technical team has acquired the latest MiFi technology so campground WiFi issues will hopefully be a thing of the past!)

Leaving Arizona

We have no wifi here so I'm using the ipad which means no pictures. Sorry...Yesterday we spent our second day at The Grand Canyon. We went on a geological walk with a park ranger and the kids completed their junior ranger badges. We also drove along the desert view route and explored different parts of the rim. We finished our day at The Arizona Room Restaurant and were able to eat dinner and watch the sun set on The Grand Canyon. A perfect ending to our Grand Canyon Adventure. Today we left Arizona and drove to Moab, Utah. The drive was amazing. We saw part of The Painted Forest and drove through Monument Valley. I took tons of pictures so as soon as we get wifi we'll upload them. I don't know why Utah isn't more populated. It's gorgeous! Tomorrow we are going to Arches National Park in Moab. The kids are really excited because they can earn another badge.

Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon is all of the adjectives people use to describe it. It really is breathtaking. But it’s not what I thought it would be. I expected to crest a hill and there it would be. I expected to stand there and commune with nature and hear the wind whistling through the canyon, the birds chirping, and maybe even a little silence.

Five million people visit The Grand Canyon every year. And they were all there today :O). The pictures that I took today, really do not do it justice, and we only saw a fraction of the canyon. The kids worked on their junior ranger badges for The Grand Canyon. They will probably finish them tomorrow.

One of our favorite parts of the day was seeing the elk. We saw at least 20. Most of them we saw in the park, but our favorite ones were the three we saw in town outside of the Mexican restaurant we had dinner at. They have such sweet brown eyes. Traffic was stopped, and everyone was taking pictures.

Tomorrow we plan on seeing some ranger programs and some more of the canyon. We saw a movie today about the canyon and now Katie and Chelsea want to ride the rapids :O). I’ll keep you posted.

Learn more about:
Grand Canyon NP: www.nps.gov/grca
The Arizona Elk: http://www.arizona-leisure.com/arizona-elk.html

Change in Plans

Junior Rangers!

Our original plan was to drive straight to the Grand Canyon. However, after looking through our guidebooks again, I convinced Ted that we couldn’t miss The Painted Desert and The Petrified Forest. So last night we stayed in Holbrook, Arizona and went to The Petrified Wood Company. Although it was a store, it really was more like a museum. They had the most amazing examples of petrified wood (taken from private lands) and lots of rocks, minerals, and fossils. I could have happily spent several hours there (I have a thing about rocks).

The Painted Desert

After seeing all of the petrified wood at the store last night, we were really excited to go to The Petrified Forest. For those of you who may not know what petrified wood is, it is wood that has turned to stone. Really, how cool is that? (I’m sure Ted will put a link for you to learn more about the process). The colors are just amazing. Also inside The Petrified Forest is part of The Painted Desert with beautiful multicolored rock formations. 

Petrified Logs - Everywhere!

We also saw remains of an ancient pueblo from 600-800 years ago and some petroglyphs (ancient drawings on stone).There were also two museums with very helpful rangers. 

Ancient Petroglyphs

Speaking of rangers, the kids completed the national park book for The Petrified Forest and earned their Petrified Forest Badge and were sworn in as junior rangers today.

After we spent the morning at the park, we headed to Grand Canyon Village.

Learn More:

Petrified Forest: http://www.nps.gov/pefo/index.htm

Petrified Wood: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrified_wood

Leslie's Favorite Store: http://www.petrifiedwoodco.com/