Canyon club

Before leaving Bluff, we tried to find some ancient ruins. There are a bunch in this area but not easy to find and most require  some  off-road driving. We searched for an hour or so, but the internet failed us on this one. 

The drive to the Grand Canyon was beautiful. Lots of steep grades up and down but we made it. 

We did stop for a photo where Forrest Gunp stopped running. 

Stopped for lunch in Cameron which turned out to be one of the best decisions we could have made. Apparently a hail storm went through the Grand Canyon as we were eating lunch. The storm Never hit Cameron though which is only 30 miles or so away. Beautiful weather once we arrived. 

Our kids definitely should have slept on the way to the Grand Canyon but they were too excited. Now they all want to jump off the rim of the Canyon. I wish they wouldn’t keep trying :). We did a short hike and took in a ranger program about stars. Lots of stars here but not as many as some other places we have been (Glacier). 

There are way too many cool pictures to post here, and really pictures don’t do it justice. 

We did a hike down 800 ft into the Canyon. That is 800 down and of course 800 back up! The actual hike was more like 2 miles with 800 in elevation change. The kids did really well which is good cause there was nothing stopping someone from falling a couple of thousand ft. 

We also visited a couple of visitors centers and museums. We did find the ruins here (they are very well marked). The last thing we did was visit the village and take a bus ride to a place to watch the perfect sunset.  

So far the kids have followed the rules. First rule of Canyon club, don’t fall in the Canyon. Second rule- I am not going home with a cast or a casket so pay attention and follow directions. 

We are happy we could celebrate the parks 100th birthday with them :)

Turning Mormon

So today we converted to being Mormon. 

We started off heading south down to Bluff Utah. 

First we stopped to see some petroglyphs 

Then we stopped to visit a museum and some Navajo ruins. 

The. After checking hi to our campground, we visited the “fort” in Bluff. This was basically a colony of LDS people. We learned all about their six month journey traveling here.  It was very interesting. Mary has suggested we become Mormon and practice polygamy. 

We panned for gold and though we did not actually convert our religion we did purchase some souvenirs. Kind of a big deal for us. They are all hand made on site and pretty cool.  

Finally we had supper and headed out again. Mary’s sense of adventure led us to more steep hills, petroglyphs, canyons and beautiful scenery. Sunset at “Valley of the gods” was well worth it. 

Finally, we are having our first campfire of the trip. On a clear, calm night we can see an amazing amount of stars. 

Candyland

Today we visited Candyland or... Canyonlands national park and dead horse state park. The views are amazing. Not too much to say just some pictures. Here goes it: 

Memorial Day at Arches.

After a breakfast of sausage and pancakes, we headed out to see the rest of what Arches has to offer. There are so many different sceneries in the park and of course most of the hikes ended with.... an arch. Nothing too difficult today but we did a few hikes and the kids recurved their junior ranger badges. We were cut a little short by some storms but we did most of what we intended. 

At the visitors center



These kids keep climbing.... everything!





Sand dune arch

Following the mighty Colorado

Yesterday we started our trek south into Utah. For the most part we followed the Colorado river from a fast moving large stream to a waterway with enough force to cut through rock. 

We went to church in Rifle, CO and then took the interstate... so driving was pretty easy.... they is until we took what I am told is “One if the most scenic roads in America”. For thise interested, it mostly looks like asphalt with a white line on either side and two yellow lines in the middle. Occasionally one must ignore those lines so as to not either - hit a large rock formation that is too close to the road or - tumble off a cliff into the Co River. 

We did make a couple of stops along the way.  It is an amazing change of scenery from the mountains of Colorado and the plains of Wyoming. 

After 1,263 miles Judy was happy to finally get Edith off her back. She is always holding Judy back. 

After finding our campsite we headed to Arches National Park. We didn’t have much time befor sunset but we did take the 3 mile (all uphill) hike to the most famous arch; delicate arch. 
Today we are on to Canyonlands national park. The weather is expected to change and get colder and even some snow at higher elections. We are currently around 5.000 ft Msl. 

Dinosaurs

Not too far from wheee we stayed last night was dinosaur National Monument. Lots of fossils to see. Today was much less driving. We had a good time learning about dinosaurs and how these fossils became so concentrated. It was a good history lesson. Then we drove to meeker Co. relaxing night. The boys did some fishing and we played at the park. 

Meet Judy and Ethel

The kids last day of school was Thursday.  We loaded up and were on the road by 6:45 that evening. Judy pulled Ethel pretty well. 

 Made it to bowman and slept at the truck stop. Friday we were on the road by 6:30 am (centra).  We pretty much drove all day. A quick roadside attraction or two but mostly drive, drive, drive. Independence rock was one of the places we stopped. 16 hours or so  later we are in Colorado. We had some headwinds along the way. 45-50 mph around Casper wy. Judy wasn’t scared just a little hungry. Today we are going to see some dinosaur fossils. At Dinosaur national park.