Road Trip Recap with Pictures - enjoy!

If you want to read details, go back to the previous posts. Here are highlights and photos for each day! Enjoy the pics!

Remember - Click on the pictures to make them full size. Some of them look much better that way! Especially the panoramics!

DAY 1 - Drive to Co. Springs

• Driving across Kansas. (After driving through the true desert, I really appreciate driving through Kansas now!)
  
  This photo was taken at a rest area on I-70.
  
  
• This is a photo of our first night's campsite. We had to leave the next day. I did not sleep a wink due to a stabbing or shooting that happened just a few blocks away. But, we didn't know that when we set up our tent.
  
  
• That night we ventured to Garden of the Gods.
  
  
  
  
• We also ventured in the dark to Seven Falls with it's colored light display at night.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

DAY 2 - Still in Colorado Springs - Pikes Peak and new campground!

• Here are some pictures from Pikes Peak
  
  On the Cog Railway
  
  
  View of the Peak from the Rail Train
  
  
  A herd of Elk running across the peak. Poor quality, too much zoom.
  
  
  BIG HORN SHEEP! Very exciting! Lots of zoom, not the best picture.
  
  
  At the top!
  
  
  I MADE IT! (love that train!)
  
  
  At the photo - op sign.
  
  
  Panoramic view looking west
  
  
  Panoramic view looking north east
  
  
• Our campground for this night was in a better area! (TRUST THE KOA NAME!)
  
  
• Jordan playing solitaire and Steven writing a postcard.
  
  

DAY 3 - DRIVING / MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK

• As we packed up and drove away from Co. Springs we saw the balloons we had seen on postcards. Apparently Co. Springs is a big ballooning area.
  
  
  
• We drove south on I-25 and turned west on US Hwy 160. We drove through a lot of desert, but also a pass called Wolf Creek Pass. We crossed the Continental Divide for the first of many times, but were in a tunnel at the crossing!
  
  Traffic Jam as we wait for the right to travel the One-Lane road.
  
  View of the valley from Wolf Creek Pass. Looking at Pagosa Springs CO.
  
  Wolf Creek Pass Views
  
  Wolf Creek Pass Views with a map of the valley
  
  
• Mesa Verde Pictures:
  The view from the entrance station to the park.
  
  Spruce Tree House
  
  Cliff Palace - looking down at the tour group ahead of us
  
  On the Cliff Palace Tour
  
  
• Our campground in Cortez Colorado. We were so tired from walking around Mesa Verde we spent $15 to upgrade to a cabin.
  
  
  
  
  Panoramic View from our campground, looking back east. All of those hills are part of Mesa Verde.
  
  

DAY 4 - DESERT DRIVING

• Cortez Colorado Visitor Center.
  
  
• Four Corners Natl Monument
  
  
  
• Desert driving, crazy rocks, the Elephant Feet formation, right off the highway
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  WE ARE HERE!!!! (I think)
  
  
• Continuing the drive we crossed the Colorado River at Marble Canyon, via the Navajo Bridge. IT WAS HOT HOT HOT
  
  
  
  
  
  Panoramic view of the Colorado River and the Vermillion Cliffs on the left - from the middle of the historic bridge
  
  
  
• ESCAPE FROM THE DESERT - We arrived at the Kaibab Plateau. At 8800 feet elevation it was a lovely forested area with gorgeous meadows here and there. This was also near where the "Warm Fire" had burned around 50,000 acres. We didn't see that until day 5 however.
  
  Here are some pictures from the campground we stayed at, "Kaibab Camper Village".
  
  
  Steve twirling the tent pole.
  
  A visitor (chipmunk)
  
  This was the view from our tent. A beautiful horse meadow with a pond. "Jacobs Lake".
  
  There was thunder and plenty of lightening to the east of us. We just got a few sprinkles overnight.
  
  This is the house by the horse pasture.
  
  Inside the tent. We played some cards, watched a movie.
  
  Steven chopping wood.
  
  Catching up on current events.
  
  Ahh. Fire feels good! It was a little chilly at 8800 feet!
  
  
  

DAY 5 - GRAND CANYON

• First thing in the morning we broke camp and headed the short 45 mile drive down Hwy 67 to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We had reserved a cabin for the night, but were so lucky there was a cabin available when we arrived at 7:30 am, even though check in wasn't until 4pm.
  
  Pictures frome the drive. A little of the burned area, and some wildlife.
  
  
  
  Can you see the mule deer running into the trees?
  
  
  We stopped at a little gas station on the way to the North Rim. Steve saw this little guy in a trap. I guess the store has been torn up by these little chipmunks. They trap them, then release them about a mile or two away.
  
  
  Just waiting for them to open the store. We were up VERY early this day!
  
  
  
  
• After we got checked in, we gals took a shower first and then while Steve stayed in the cabin we walked down to the lodge for our first view of the Grand Canyon.
  
  We were able to get a cell phone signal at the very edge of the North Rim, but not in our cabin.
  
  
  
  
  Here are some pictures of the lodge and cabins
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Here is our first view
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Later on that morning we hiked the trail to Bright Angel point. Lovely scenery.
  
  The back of the Grand Canyon Lodge
  
  
  
  On the trail
  
  
  Steven - fearless leader!
  
  
  Me? At the Grand Canyon? No way!
  
  
  Almost to Bright Angel Point
  
  
  Indian Paintbrush with Grand Canyon as a backdrop.
  
  
  Panoramic morning view
  
  
  
• In the afternoon we attended a couple of ranger programs. One on the California Condor, one on "Why is the Grand Canyon here and no place else?". They were very interesting. We went back to get some pictures of the canyon as the sun was setting.
  
  
  
  
  Evening panoramic view.
  
  
  

DAY 6 - LEAVING KAIBAB, ZION NATIONAL PARK

• The night brought some loud thunderstorms but we were pretty comfy in our cabin. Steve wasn't seen much without his Game Boy.
  
  
  
• The drive off the plateau was very fun. I stopped and took a lot of pictures of flowers and such. We also saw more mule deer in a burned part of the forest. I was wondering why they were there in that spot, but they must have been on their way to an un-burned part.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• We arrived in Utah, after some steep drops in elevation, down to about 5000. We arrived at Zion Natl Park and spent from about 10am to 2pm walking two different hiking trails. It was so hot and dry, but inside this little canyon (the Virgin River flows through) the walls seeped water and you would see little ferns and plants growing right out of the rock.
  
  The first trail was the Riverside Walk. Here are some pictures.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The second was the Emerald Pool trail. Can you see the water coming over the edge of the cliff? The trail went right under/behind the water. It felt like being misted it was soooo nice on this hot day! I understand that in the spring it becomes quite a torrent.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• After our hiking we were able to get a cell signal and called John from the Visitor Center. Unfortunately we were so hot we just forgot to go IN the visitor center. Boy do I feel dumb!
  
• We continued driving north on I-15 and finally arrived at Fillmore Utah KOA. With thunderstorms threatening we upgraded to a cabin again!
  
  
  
  
  
  Panoramic view looking east from the Fillmore KOA
  
  
  

DAY 7 - PROVO / SALT LAKE CITY UTAH

• Our original plan was to stay in Provo UT overnight, but since we were planning to pick up John at the Salt Lake City airport the next day, we just booked a room at a hotel by the airport. We did drive through Provo, stopped at the library and visitor center.
  
  We then proceeded to Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon. It was very, very pretty. People were splashing around at the bottom of it in their swimsuits. It looked like a lot of fun. Great place to have a picnic on a hot day!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• After we got checked into our hotel and relaxed for awhile, we made the short 10 mile drive over to the Great Salt Lake. Here are some pictures of the "Great Salt Lake State Marina". Kind of a run down place. The flies and birds were quite entertaining. The smell was disgusting. Yuck.
  
  Can you see the flies? They were just sitting on this log, and when we got close they swarmed! We didn't even realize they were there until then.
  
  
  Gull chasing the swarm we stirred up.
  
  
  Gull.
  
  
  Run down tourist spot. Very very bumpy parking lot.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Pillow fight???? Us???????
  
  
  
  

DAY 8 - SALT LAKE CITY and DRIVING THROUGH IDAHO

• Started the day with a trip to downtown Salt Lake City. Not a lot going on. We saw a Borders and were all excited, but the sign on the door said "We are closing. Our last day at this location will be July 21st". It was July 22nd. Oh well. Here are some pictures of the Mormon Temple, and a very fancy historic hotel interior that we happened to walk through.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• After John arrived at around 4pm (about 3 hours late) we knew we had a long drive ahead of us. We drove north on I-15 and then broke off towards West Yellowstone on Highway 20. We finally got to our KOA campground at around 9:30pm.
  
  A rest area stop in Idaho. Time for a little football throwing. Steve and I hiked up a little trail to the top of a hill.

Setting up the tent in West Yellowstone Montana at about 9:30 pm.


DAY 9 - YELLOWSTONE

• We took soooo many pictures at Yellowstone. I will post a few. On our drive into the park, towards the geyser area, there was a bison just rambling down the road!
  
  
  
• Our first hike was through the Lower Geyser Basin.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Next we hiked around Old Faithful.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Last we hiked around Biscuit Basin and hiked up to Mystic Falls.
  
  
  
  
  
  Steven waving from the overlook at Mystic Falls.
  
  
  
  
  
  Sapphire Spring, just beautiful. About 20 feet across.
  
  
  
• Before leaving Yellowstone we stopped at Lewis Lake, on the south side of Yellowstone.
  
  
  
  
  
  Our contribution to the landscape.
  
  
  
• Can I tell you about my Clark's? I LOVE THESE SANDALS. Got them on the clearance rack at DSW and I have done so much hiking in them on this trip. My feet felt GREAT. I did get a blister in one spot, but the shoes were so comfy. Highly recommend Clark's!
  
  
  
  
• Lewis Falls,
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• and Moose Falls.
  
  See those people swimming down there????
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Here is a picture of Jackson Lake north of Jackson Wyoming, with the Tetons in the background. Very gorgeous scenery.
  
  
  
  The Teton Range.
  
  
  
• Campsite at the Jackson-Teton KOA
  
  
  
  

DAY 10 DRIVING THROUGH WYOMING

• Long, long drive through a big bunch of nothing. But we did see a wind farm which I thought was cool.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• We got a cabin at the Estes Park KOA in Colorado.
  
  
  
  

DAY 11 ESTES PARK, ROCKY MTN NATL PARK

• On the drive to the park:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Thought we would get our hiking done in the morning to beat the afternoon showers. We hiked 6.2 miles round trip in Glacier Gorge to the Loch. We thought about hiking to Andrews Glacier, but after reaching the lake decided that was far enough!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Panoramic view of the Loch.
  
  
  
• I drove the family up the old Fall River Road to the Alpine Visitor Center. I didn't stop to take pictures much along the way, except at Chasm Falls. Everybody else was kind of freaked out. The road was a twisty windy mountain road from about 6500 feet all the way to 12,000 feet in about 9 miles. I loved the drive. It was gorgeous, but I think if I ever do it again it will have to be by myself!
  
  This panoramic view is from the very end, the last mile of the old Fall River Road.
  
  
  
  Here is Chasm Falls. My dad broke his ankle on this path in 1983. (That was the last time I had been at the park).
  
  
  
  
• Here is a picture of John and I at the Alpine Visitor Center, over 12,000 feet elevation, above the tree line. I must say it was a little tough to catch my breath up there.
  
  
  
  
• Here are some pictures of the way back down. The Trail Ridge Road is the highest paved highway in the U.S. It is a longer route than the Fall River Road, taking about 20 miles to go to about the same place.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• We drove to Denver to sleep in a hotel that night for a quicker start home the next day.

DAY 12 - No pictures from the drive home through Kansas, but I certainly appreciated it more after going through the desert!

Hope you enjoyed these pictures.

Road Trip Day 11 - Rocky Mountain Natl Park

Back in my FAVORITE (still) national park of all time. I loved this day. We hiked the trail to the Loch (lake) in Glacier Gorge. A 6.2 mile round trip hike. Wow! We were all breathing hard with many, many rests on the way up to that lake (via several waterfalls!). The way back was so fun! Only one or two rest stops! We then drove the Fall River Road up to the Alpine visitor center above the tree line, drove back down on Trail Ridge Road. A great, great day. The last real day of our trip.

Tonight we are in a hotel outside of Denver, ready for the drive home tomorrow. I can't wait to get some pictures posted for everybody!

Road Trip Day 10 - DRIVING through Wyoming

We got an early start and just drove, drove, drove through Wyoming. I have to say it is more boring than driving across Kansas on I-70. No towns for miles and miles at a time. We did see a wind farm off of I-80 which was kind of cool. Saw a few mountains here and there. Headed south from Cheyenne on I-25 and made it to our campground in Estes Park Colorado. We had decided to get a cabin and skip the tent for the rest of the trip! So, we got unpacked, John fixed hamburgers for supper and we played some spades in the cabin. Jordan and I played some speed too. Fun! Incidentally we were just upwind from the trail horse place. Oh well. We got used to that pretty quick! Nice to sleep on a mattress again!

Road Trip Day 9 - Yellowstone Natl Park and Tetons

• Got an early start from the campground which was only about 6 miles from the entrance to Yellowstone. We had a wonderful day hiking around Yellowstone. We stopped at several waterfalls, Old Faithful (of course), lots of other geysers and springs. A beautiful day for hiking, a bit cloudy, so not too hot.
  
  It was SO nice just to have John around again after missing him for a week!
  
• On driving towards the south entrance of Yellowstone, towards Teton Natl. Park, we stopped at Lewis Lake, Lewis Falls and Moose falls. All these we fabulous. I can't wait to share the pictures.
  
• We did not stop in Teton Natl Park, just drove through on the way to our campground in Jackson WY. Very pretty peaks, and we did get a couple of roadside pictures. Somewhere this day Steve lost his DVD case and I lost some sunglasses. Oh well. You can't have a trip without losing something.
  
• Made it to our campground and set up tent. Had time to watch a DVD (from Jordan's case!).

Road Trip Day 8 - Hanging at the airport

• We woke up this day very excited to be seeing John at long last! His plane was supposed to arrive at 12:59 pm so we spent the morning in downtown Salt Lake seeing the sights. Not very impressive, but at least we can say we have done it. The kids had fun in the family search center looking for their ancestors.
  
• We arrived early at the airport and hung out. Unfortunately the time for John to arrive came, and went. We were so worried. I was finally able to get some information from the airline (very difficult!) and found out that his plane out of KC had been delayed and he wouldn't be arriving until 3:50 pm.
  
• Thought we would try to find a Wal-Mart, but only succeeded in finding a Sam's Club. We stopped at Burger King and ordered a few things of the Dollar Menu. (just call me cheap!)
  
• Finally back at the airport, John's plane arrived about 15 minutes late, and we were HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!
  
• We headed on north on I-15, and entered Idaho. We drove, drove and drove some more and finally arrived at West Yellowstone Montana, the KOA campground. Got there around 9:15pm, set up tent and went to bed right away.

Road Trip Day 7 - Provo and Salt Lake City

We had a very short drive this morning from our campground in Fillmore to Provo first. We had considered staying in Provo, but then decided to just head on up to Salt Lake City.

• Our first stop after arriving in Provo around 10am was the visitor center. We picked up some maps and other useful travel info.
  
• Next we hit the Provo public library. They have about 50 computers for public use. Amazing. Some on the first floor and some on the second! We were able to get a log on card and password for $1 since we were from out of town. That gave us each 90 minutes. Quite enjoyable to sit in the nice air conditioned library for awhile.
  
• Before leaving Provo, we drove through Wendy's. Ahhhh. A taste of home! Next as we headed out of town, we drove up Provo Canyon to see the Bridal Veil Falls attraction. Now, I had seen a postcard with this waterfall pictured, and wasn't impressed, but in real life the waterfall was absolutely stunning. I am so glad I took the detour. Of course midday is not the best time to photograph anything, but I did my best and when I get pictures posted I hope you will agree. A beautiful waterfall.
  
• I was able to get a reservation at the Fairfield Inn right by the airport, so that is where we headed next. We got checked in about 2:00 pm and just relaxed in the air conditioning. Turned on the TV and as Jordan was flicking through the channels we got sucked into a Live Break News car chase going on in the Houston area! We watched it for about an hour before the suspect (armed robbery) finally lost his front tires from spike sticks and drove himself into a culvert full of water ("a bayou" according to the reported - whatever. She is the same reported who thought the extended cab on the guy's truck meant he had more engine power. Lordy!).
  
• After watching a few Law and Order episodes while eating our supper of PB&J sandwiches, I dragged the kids back on the highway for a short 10 minute drive to the Great Salt Lake as the sun was starting to get lower in the sky. It was a bit smelly to say the least. Not the clean fresh salt smell that I love near the ocean, but a stinky salty dead smell. Yuck.
  
  We parked at the "Great Salt Lake State Marina". There was a weird run down building falling into disrepair, with one room open as a tourist souvenier shop. There were some broken down train cars that I guess were once part of the tourist experience. One thing positive, there were fresh water showers in back of the building for those who dared to get in the water.
  
  We walked down to the shore and took a few pictures. There were these little tiny flies all over at the shore. They just looked like dark patches on the sand, but as we got closer they would swarm away. The birds absolutely loved us getting them stirred up and I got a few pictures of them chasing a swarm! So, as the kids agree, the flies and birds were the most interesting thing!
  
  Headed back to the hotel, watched another Law and Order and the new show Psych.

We are so looking forward to Day 8, picking up John. We might head down to Temple Square while we wait for his plane.

Blog Challenge 07/21/06

"If you could choose any career in the world, what would it be? Forget that you may not have the talent for it.......imagine that you could be the best at any one thing. What would that be? Does it fit with what you thought wanted to do when you were younger (as in: when I grow up I want to be a ........) "

THIS IS HARD LISA!!!!!!

I have so many, many things that I would love to do. There really isn't any one thing. Maybe that is why I have had such a variety of jobs, from Kindergarten teacher aide to computer programmer! Goodness. Well, I will have to take my organized self and make a list. I will say this, my favorite job of all time so far has been the kindergarten teacher aide job. I like little kids and they seem to like me okay too for some reason. With that said here is an organized list of things I would absolutely love to do!

• Professional organizer. I LOVE ORGANIZING STUFF. Hey, somebody's gotta do it, right? Seriously though, I will have to show everybody my vacation notebook at the next event. My sister can probably attest to my organizational drive. I love organizing stuff. That is not to say I keep MYSELF organized on a day-to-day basis, but give me a job (and NO JOB IS TOO BIG!) and I will conquer!
• Travel agent. Next to organizing, I love TO PLAN TRIPS. This is probably due to my organizing obsession. But seriously, I love going to new places, and seeing new things in good company. So I would love to help other people realize that same dream/desire.
• Forest Ranger / National Park Service employee. I love the National Park system and the forests, trees, living critters and wish I could hang out with Bambi more often.
• Hula Dancer. I am not coordinated enough to do this, but if it means I would be on the island of Tahiti! WOOO HOOO count me in!
• Social Butterfly. Could I have a job where I just sit around all day and talk to people? I love to talk to people, and embarrass the crap out of my kids when I start talking to total strangers. Oh well.

Road Trip Day 6 - Zion National Park - Back to the Desert...

Another good, but hot, day for travel. Here is my recap:

• We loaded up. Another granola bar breakfast day. Headed back out of the Kaibab plateau on highway 67. Got back on highway 89 and headed northwest. As soon as we descended from the plateau we were immediately back in the desert. Nothing changed until we reached Zion National Park. We arrived there around 10am and stayed until 2pm. We hiked the Riverside Walk trail and the Lower Emerald Pool trail. These two trails were relatively short and rated Easy, so no struggles. Zion was pretty amazing, but I would recommend visiting in April or October! We heard many languages this day! Jordan even heard some French!
  
• We got a cell signal back at the visitor center and John told us about the St. Louis windstorm that left hundreds of thousands without power in the heat wave.
  
• After leaving Zion, we eventually reached Interstate 15 and headed north. We got to Fillmore Utah (pop. 2500) KOA at around 5 pm. We had hamburgers and then went to the old time movie theatre in town and saw Superman Returns (admission $5!). It was fun to see the curtain open up for the movie like when I was a kid. It was a one screen theatre, The Avalon, so only one preview! Got to bed at 10:30.

Here is a preview of our plans. This morning (day 7) we drove to Provo Utah. We are not sure where we are sleeping, maybe the KOA if they have space. There are some sights around here to see including Bridal Veil Falls and a cave, so not sure what we will do. On Saturday I want to see the Great Salt Lake and the Temple in Salt Lake City before we pick up John at the airport around 1pm. Then we head to Yellowstone, then Rocky Mountain Natl Park.

It is about 11 am right now (Mtn Time) and we are at the Public Libary in Provo. You pay $1 to use the computer for 90 minutes. After typing all this I hve 31 minutes left, so I can check my e-mail and hopefully check the forum. The kids are enjoying catching up on their e-mail and Jordan her xanga. Jordan was a little homesick last night. We are looking forward to seeing John tomorrow.

Road Trip Day 5 - The Grand Canyon - North Rim

A day to remember.

• We woke up at our campground and had a granola bar breakfast, quickly broke camp and loaded the car. We made the decision to skip showers at the campground. We knew we had a cabin at the North Rim that night and we hoping to get in early for a free shower! (The showers at the campground were $1.50 for five minutes of cold water!).
  
• The drive south on Highway 67 was such a treat. We drove through some of the burned area from the Warm Fire. That was about an 8 mile stretch on the northern part of the highway. The remaining 40 miles of the highway down to the rim was just lovely. Beautiful forests of ponderosa pine and quaking aspens, meadows, MANY colors of wildflowers that I don't know names of. Just beautiful. We saw elk and mule deer running across the road on our way down. We also spotted the Kaibab squirrel which ONLY exists on the Kaibab plateau. Dark colored squirrel with a very light gray tail.
  
  We stopped off at the store halfway down the highway to pick up some hamburger meat and ice.
  
• We finally arrived at the Grand Canyon Lodge right on the North Rim. We went in (7 o'clock Arizona time) and asked to check in. The nice young man from Australia explained that check in was at 4 pm, but sometimes they might have something ready as early as 2 pm. I was polite and said that was fine. He said, well, let me just check and see if there is something ready. And, guess what!? There was. So, we immediately went to our cabin and took showers in turn, unpacked and settled in.
  
  Next we walked back down to the lodge and took the trail to Bright Angel Point. It was about 1 mile round trip and not too terribly strenuous. I saw Indian Paintbrush up there and it was just gorgeous. The view from the point was fabulous. I know we have all seen pictures of the Grand Canyon, but seeing it for real is awe inspiring.
  
  We made sandwiches for lunch and went to a couple of ranger programs in the afternoon. The first one was all about the California Condor being reintroduced at the Grand Canyon. That was very interesting. The second program was about why is the Grand Canyon her and no place else, geologically speaking? Also interesting.
  
  I had made a dinner reservation at the lodge, but when I saw the prices (about $20 per person), I gave my spot to a couple who were not able to get in. I made four people happy with that move. Not only the couple who took our spot for dinner, but the kids, because we stopped at the deli and had some pizza by the slice with chocolate milk. Ahhhhhh.
  
  We went back to our cabin and watched Return of the Jedi, took another walk down to the canyon rim at sunset. Just beautiful. Then we settled in for the night. A huge thunderstorm blew over, but we felt pretty safe in the solid log cabin. Steve had his window open a crack and said he could hear the thunder echo in the canyon. Wow!

Road Trip Day 4 - Desert Drive

A gorgeous day for travel, but certainly hot! US highway 160 goes straight through southern Colorado and on into Arizona. Our route took us through the Four Corners, the only place in the US where four states meet at one spot! Here is a recap of our day:

• From our KOA Campground in Cortez we drove into town and stopped at the visitor center, then went across the street to a neat shop to use their computer.
  
• Around 10 am we headed down 160 to Four Corners. This was out in the middle of nowhere. There was a little platform for the photographer to take the picture, while the others of the party could pose on the huge plaque/platform where the exact spot is. There wasn't much of a crowd. There were loads of Native Americans, mostly Navajo I think, selling various goods such as jewelry, indian fry bread, blankets and such. I stayed away from the booths as I am on a very tight budget for this road trip.
  
• We passed into Arizona afterwards. Most of the driving on Hwy 160 took us through the Navajo Indian Reservation. The highway continued in a west-south-west direction through the town of Kayenta where we stopped and made a sandwich, and had a pit stop. We continued through this desert, made our way to ELEPHANT FEET.
  
  From http://www.explorenavajo.com/attractions.asp "Plenty of vehicles stop on the side of the road near the pair of lonely sandstone towers jutting out from the flatlands east of Navajo Nation. To everyone who sees these formations, they look exactly like their name: Elephant Feet. There is no visitor center, but that's part of the beauty of these pachyderm formations — you can walk right up and touch the "toes" of these rocks. "
  
  Continued our drive which took us through Tuba City. We were trying to find Dinosaur Tracks, but never saw a sign, so we just skipped it and headed north on highway 89. We split off onto 89A and headed to Marble Canyon with a gorgeous view of the Vermillion Cliffs on our left. The Navajo Bridge at Marble Canyon spans the Colorado River. It was a great sight to see! The visitor center told all about the Historic Bridge and the newly constructed bridge (1990s). The people who signed the visitor register right before we did were from Finland. Their comment? "TOO HOT!" That was funny. But it was HOT for sure. Oh, we had a stowaway that we picked up at Four Corners, a fly, which Steve named "McFly" (think Back to the Future). Anyway, he bailed on us at the Navajo Bridge. Guess he found his new digs.
  
• After crossing the river we continued in a west direction through desert and eventually crossed into the Kaibab National Forest. As we climbed in elevation we encountered a few sprinkles and the higher we got the more living things we saw. The highway was a twisting road up to the top of the Kaibab Plateau, elevation about 8800 feet. In the desert we were at 5000-6000. We found our way to Jacobs Lake. We thought it was a town but really they just have a gas station and a lodge.
  
• We headed south on highway 67, the only road to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Our campground was just a quarter of a mile down, so we settled in for the night. There was a bit of thunder and lightening but not directly over us. However, with each wind gust the pine trees lost a few of their nuts, so it was raining pine nuts! We had our first campfire. All the rain had allowed the campground to lift the fire ban. I showed Steve the right way to sliver wood with an ax and hammer so as to be able to get a fire going. Worked well. We toasted some marshmallows. We had a nice night for sleeping. Our tent site was right by a lovely horse pasture with a pond. (the lake in Jacobs Lake). Zzzzzz.

Road Trip Day 3 - Mountain Pass and Mesa Verde Natl Park...

I am typing this from a quaint shop in Cortez Co called "Let it Grow". Steve is having a Strawberry / Banana Smoothie and Jordan is having some pie. Here is a recap of Day 3

• Drive from S. Colorado Springs to Mesa Verde. This drive was pretty uneventful. US Hwy 160 is a very good road. We saw the Spanish Peaks from the turnoff from I-25 to US 160. Those are some BIG mountains and they just stand by themselves. We did have to drive through one mountain pass. The grade was 7% and it took me about half a mile before I thought to shift to 2nd gear on the way down. There was an overlook with a very sweet view into the valley were Pagosa Springs is.
  
• Mesa Verde. We arrived there about 2:30 pm. The drive to the visitor center from the entrance was 15 miles of winding climbing scary switchbacking mountain road. (Okay it wasn't THAT scary!). Once we arrived at the visitors center we obtained tickets for the 5:30 guided tour of Cliff Palace which you can only visit with a ranger. While we waited for that tour we drove around on the Mesa top (nice flat roads!). We visited Spruce Tree House and got to climb down into a Kiva. It was an amazing place.
  
  We took our guided tour of the Cliff Palace Dwelling. This was very cool. Our ranger said they usually call the 5:30 tour the "shake and bake" tour but we were very lucky to have some cloud cover. It was very comfortable, although I did have a blister on my foot at the very end.
  
  We left at about 7:00 pm. Got back on the highway and finally got to talk to John. There was absolutely no signal in the park!
  
• Drove the last 8 miles to our KOA campground in Cortez. Upgraded to a Camping Cabin which was very lucky. We originally just did it because Mesa Verde really tired us out, but then thunder and lightening moved in for a short bit, with just a few raindrops, so we were glad for the solid log walls. we started to watch a movie, but Steve and I couldn't stay awake, so we decided to call it a night.

Today we are headed to Jacob Lake Arizona, about 40 miles north of the Grand Canyon Lodge where we will stay tomorrow night. We just stopped at the visitor center, and came to this little coffee / plant / nature store to use the computer.

I don't know if we will have computer for the next couple of days but am hopeful. I am using this as my trip journal and don't want to forget things!

Sidebar - i.e. the fear factor

So, what I didn't say, since Jordy and Steve were standing right by me, was last night after we were heading back to the "campground" after Seven Falls, we were in a left turn lane and an ambulance was coming by, right after we noticed about 7 fire and police personnel standing by the road. Jordy noticed there was someone lying on the ground. After I was able to make the left turn, she said she saw he had a white shirt with blood on the chest. Wow. That really scared me. This was just a few blocks from the campground. Definitely contributed to my inability to sleep last night. I feel better today. Had a nice long chat with John. He gave me all our Triple A info over the phone, so now I don't have to worry about that. We all really miss him and can't wait to pick him up in Salt Lake City on Saturday.

I feel like it has already been a week, but we have just done a lot these two days, but that is just because Co. Springs has so much. Next week will be calmer. Can't wait to get to the Grand Canyon.

Road Trip Day 2....Colorado Springs

Seven Falls last night was great. The kids would not climb the stairs with me. I tell you, it was a little scary coming down them. I had to hold on with both hands and just stop when someone was passing me the other direction.

Sleeping last night was AWFUL. Well Jordy slept okay. Steve and I did not, even with ear plugs. I can't wait to post a picture of the joke of "creekside camping". There was some commercial building across the creek with some kind of air compressor going all night long. Plus, we were on rocks to start with.

So, today got up and had egg sandwiches for breakfast, showered and broke down our camp. Threw fate to the wind regarding someplace to stay tonight.

We made the 8 o'clock Cog Railway train up Pikes Peak. It was so FUN! BEAUTIFUL. Last time I was up there in Aug 1989, it was sleeting, cloudy, and freezing. Today, perfect temperature about 60 degrees I would guess. Certainly did not need all the warm stuff we had on. There was not a cloud in the perfect sky until we were headed back down. We actually saw a lot of neat wildlife, some elks and some bighorn sheep. Hope my pictures are good.

So, from there, we just got on I-25 south towards Pueblo to hopefully find a REAL campground. Just by chance, stopped at the CO Springs South KOA and they had a tent site that had opened up. Not just any tent site, but a DELUXE tent site! Canopy hard top cover, level sand platform for the tent! Well, we are very happy to be here. We even have a plug in and water spicket at our tent site.

I AM TIRED. I am going on some kind of fuel, but I am not sure what it is. Is there such a thing as "mom fuel"????? I hope I sleep good tonight.

Road Trip Day 1 of 12

Started out the day by showering at 4am. Couldn't sleep. Started packing up a bit, and John told me I had better just lay down and rest. Smart guy. I did and napped another 45 minutes. Left the house about 7:10 am. Made it to Co Springs about 4:30 mountain time. Not too bad. We took frequent breaks to stretch. Great weather, good companions. We listened to my IPOD shuffle on the way and did not make it complete through the playlist. Started out with the BACK TO THE FUTURE movies themes. Great tunes to start a Road Trip. Very exciting!. There was a BUNCH of fog over the Missouri River.

After we pitched our tent we headed over to Garden of the Gods. It was FABULOUS. Late afternoon early evening was a great time to see it. Tonight we will run down to Seven Falls. In the morning we will go up Pikes Peak then head south.

Our campground stinks. We were supposed to stay 2 nights but I cancelled tomorrow night. Hopefully we can find something better a little farther down the road. It is a HUGE RV park, and then a little gravel strip for tent camping along a creek. Sounds pretty, but...... ugh.

Bye now!

Emmy Nominated Project Runway....

Wednesday I was a total couch potato along with Jordy and Steve. I got off work at 12:30 and immediately headed to the sofa to relax. They were re-playing the ENTIRE last season of Project Runway before the new episode aired that night, so we tuned in about halfway through the season. SUCTION. It means HOOKED, unable to ESCAPE, and no desire to anyway! Sucked In! Totally and completely. It was love at first sight! I barely moved off the sofa the rest of the day. I even let the kids eat their dinner in the living room!

Funny thing, I never even heard of the show before (least ways not that I remember!)

Getting ready to roll

I started my "don't forget this" pile in the dining room this week. As I think of things I can't forget to take on our road trip, they get added to the pile. Like just today, I remembered my cell phone charger. Duh. Well, I hope I don't forget anything big. Tried to swap my 128MB memory card for Joanns 1Gig. Our cameras are almost identical. Turns out her card won't work in mine, even though mine will work in hers. How annoying. So, I sprung the $25 for a 256MB card so that gives me about 550 pictures, plus 200 on the little red camera. Should be enough for 12 days.

I have my organization notebook. I have all the maps to the campgrounds, and I even printed out maps to public libraries in towns we will be in, just in case we can stop in and check our e-mail.

Today I spent an hour and got my "dry goods" packed up. Tomorrow just have to load the ice chest with the "cold goods" and then load the car. We have our cat-sitter / house-sitter / gerbil-sitter all lined up so we are good to go.

I am getting a bit nervous, butterflies in my tummy and all! So exciting.

Blog Challenge - the day I found out I was pregnant the first time.....

Like Sara I had been told I would have trouble getting pregnant and would probably need fertility treatments. Good LORD! How many people have been told this story? So I really didn't worry much about it.

Then, along came October 1990. I starting having these weird little pains. Like a little bitty knife in either side, in the lower abdomen. I thought I better go to the doctor and see what was up. The first thing they asked me was if I thought I might be pregnant, when my last period was, etc.... I really had no clue. I didn't even keep track of my periods since they were irregular, sometimes as much as three months apart. So, they did a pregnancy test and a pelvic exam.

The next detail I remember is when I was at work and got "the call". I about dropped the phone. I remember that when I hung up the phone, my co-worker John Ball was the first to find out what I was in shock about. I had this ear-to-ear grin on my face saying "I can't believe it... I'm pregnant... Wow!. Couldn't stop smiling. Couldn't stop the happiness I felt. I was just overwhelmed with happy happy happy. So, John Ball, made sure I called my John right away of course and I did. I don't remember the conversation at all, I was just in happy land somewhere.

I do remember at home that night. I felt like I was high. Seriously. I was silly, bouncing off walls just about, couldn't sit still, couldn't soak it all in.

A funny conclusion to the story. Jordan was born in May 1991, and I decided I wanted another one right away, and when I got pregnant with Steve a few months later, I KNEW. I mean I absolutely KNEW I was pregnant when I was just 2 or 3 weeks. The test was postive and everything, so John believed, but I KNEW. It was weird, but very cool.

Just some of my boring life

SHOP - I ran over to Joann's to shop the 70% sale today. I got LOADS of flowery thingies. Spent LESS than my allowance, miracle of miracles. But at 70% off most of them were only like $1 or $2. Got silks roses for my table that are really life-like and some other misc plants.

SCRAP - Starting working on a layout of Maricar's pictures for a swap. Finally found the paper I wanted to use. Now I am thinking of pulling out the sewing machine but first will look for rub on stitches.

WORK - Feels like Tuesday but it's THURSDAY! Friday is almost here!

VACATION - Getting closer, closer, closer. I made the last of my campground reservations yesterday.

KIDS - Youth band practices tonight, and they play at Sunday night church.

"The Warm Fire" part 2

AND I QUOTE:

"Grand Canyon National Park's North Rim and Arizona State Highway 67 will reopen to the public at 8 a.m. Monday, July 3, unless conditions change due to the Warm Fire. The North Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park has been closed since Monday, June 26. Employees of the North Rim are returning to the park in order to prepare for the July 3 opening. "

http://www.nazteam.com/assignments/warm/press/Warm_070106am.pdf
HIP HIP HOORAY! Thank you firefighters. You're fabulous!

Visit to Mom and Dad T......

We took a little drive up to M&D T's over the weekend. It was sunny when we left. A little storm blew up while we were there and it just poured for about 10 minutes straight. Then the sun came out again. Dad T and I caught some fish out of the pond to give to my friend Shelley. (As of today they are still alive!).

Oh. Did I tell you? (no of course not) Took the kids to Superman Returns Wednesday. It was really good! I might have to see it a second time. We had the big pop where you get the free refill, but none of us could bear to leave the movie! So, we were thirsty. Oh well. The movie was WOW! Great effects, but more importantly, good story. Also Kevin Spacey makes an EXCELLENT Lex Luther!

Here are a couple of pictures from Sunday.

"The Warm Fire"

"What is the Warm Fire?" you may ask. In early June lightening sparked a fire in north central Arizona. The fire has subsequently been named "The Warm Fire". It started small, but has subsquently spread over tens of thousands of acres.

"Why does Annette care about this fire?" you may ask. In mid July I have a reservation for the Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The Warm Fire is blocking the only access to the North Rim, highway 67. I will be disappointed if we are not able to make this. The 1000 people at the North Rim were evacuated over the past few days.

I was attracted to the North Rim because it is wilder, not as touristy, farther from the big cities and far from an airport, thus less crowded, more natural.

Being practical of course, and having never been to the Grand Canyon, if the road is still closed, we will visit the South Rim and I am sure it will be fabulous too.

Do you think fires are interesting? The Northern Arizona management team has a very cool website with maps of The Warm Fire, press releases and even photos! Here is the link if you find this all as fascinating as I do. There are some AWESOME PICTURES.

http://www.nazteam.com/assignments/index.html

De Train, De Train......

Visiting the folks yesterday. Had a nice dinner, courtesy of grill-meister Pa. We played some train dominos. I won. (TOO BAD FOR THE LOSERS). Mom made banana pudding with vanilla wafers. MMMMM. I haven't had that for a long, long time. It was delicious. The dog Missy is really learning to behave better. They have started squirting her with a water squirter when she does bad and she was a changed creature. Not nearly the jumping crazed fool! Until she was outside of course. Then she tore around the yard like a wild woman. We got a look at how the train set is coming along in the basement. They have really come a long, long way from where the train set started. I took a few pictures.

Here we are playing dominos

Some of mom's flowers

Missy jumping for joy, and her toy
Dad and Missy

The Train

"I've been working on the railroad"

Hurricaine Katrina - 9 months later

My dad went to the gulf for a couple of weeks in June to do some counseling. We actually lived in Biloxi when I was a baby. I think this picture pretty much says it all. This was taken in the 9th ward - New Orleans.

Do sunshine and blues go together?

I just feel ick today for some reason. Unmotivated, bored, and hungry all at the same time. John has meetings tonight with a couple of CUs and his boss. Maybe I just miss him. Could be lack of sleep. I started a new shift and now just get 6 to 7 hours of sleep instead of my usual 8. This will last until August. I don't even feel like scrapping, so that's pretty bad. Maybe I will perk up tomorrow. I can't believe the sun is shining and I'm not ecstatic. Freaky.

Blog Challenge....What if I won the jackpot?

"If you were to win the PowerBall jackpot, what would you do with it......and why?? (assume it's a big one!) "

The jackpot is $100 million dollars (after taxes). Here is where that money would go, and why.

• $15 million - set up income generating funds for immediate family members. So I/we can "take this job and shove it..." travel and have time for philanthropy, visiting family, and hire a MAID.
• $5 million - one time gifts for other family members. Just to be nice.
• $30 million - Gifts to churches and other organizations. Just to be nice.
• $30 million - Create a scholarship fund. Just to be nice.
• $10 million - Build a community center. Just to be nice.
• $50,000 - Home improvements. Because I desperately need some new flooring and would dearly love a bathroom in my basement.
• $1 million - Rainy Day fund for things I was too freaked out to think about.
• $8,950,000 - Get this in $100 bills a little at a time, and walk around a few times a year and hand out $100 bills to people that look like they need it.

Craziness I say! Is it band hair?

So, the youth group leader sent me this wild picture of some of the kids that went on the mission trip last week. (Mine is in the red shirt). Now I REALLY wonder what was going on! Those smiles say it all! As in, "we're up to something and we ain't tellin'".

Darleen's party

Here are some exciting pictures from Darleen's party. Her birthday was 6-6-6 so she had to do something wild and outlandish. It was crazy!

This is Darleen and her brother who was visiting from out of town.

These are some crazy people


This lady had a few too many..
Oh, I actually wore some FALSE eyelashes for the very first time. That was so fun. Trying to get them on was interesting. But, since there was no camera around, you'll never know BWAHAHA...

What kind of bird is this?

I have no clue. I don't have my own bird book 'cause I'm *cheep*. If any of you know what the heck this bird is, let me know. Three views, one front, one back, and one side view. Click on the picture if you want to make it larger, but they are not very good quality pics. I was too far away from the sign.

***ADDENDUM*** It is a barn swallow!

Brokeback Mountain.....

I saw this movie over the weekend. I loved it.

Blog challenge times 10.....

Here it is! I actually haven't answered it myself. I plan to in the morning...

1. Last 3 books you borrowed from the library or bought at the store that we should read.

1. DaVinci Code
2. Compassion - A reflection on the Christian Life
3. The Count of Monte Cristo (Penguin Classics) (Paperback) by Alexandre Dumas pere, Robin Buss (Translator) I read this over and over and over and never get tired of it.

2. Preferred time to wake up and start the day and what you would PREFER to be doing.

• Perfect time to start the day is 5:00 am sharp. Get up, make some hot chocolate or some hot tea, sit on the patio with my beverage and listen to the world waking up. Watch the sunrise.

3. Name 4 songs that have special memories attached to them, and what those memories are.

1. "All of Me" a Mosie Lister song from a musical we performed at church when I was a teen. This song really brings back a lot of teen memories, some would've, could've and should've thoughts, and lots of affection for my dad who directed our youth groups in various places through many a musical production.
2. "All Creatures of our God and King" This is my favorite hymn. I have loved this song since I was itty bitty. It was #1 in the Salvation Army Songbook and it is just beautiful. I am sure you all know how much I love nature, and this really speaks to my love of this physical world we live in.
3. "Everybody wants to rule the World" Tears for Fears. Well, things are not much different now than they were in the 80s when that song came out, and it is just plain sad. Will there ever be Peace on Earth?
4. "One Will Fall By The Way" WG Snuffy Walden from "The Stand" (Stephen King) movie soundtrack. A beautiful instrumental number that I have managed to transpose into piano to play for myself (you can't buy this sheet music *grr*). It really is in this list just to represent all the really beautiful movie soundtracks that take me somewhere marvelous, fantastic, other-worldy, or around the corner.

4. Tell me about one dream you seem to have over and over and remember. OR, tell me about the last dream you remember.

• Funny you should mention that. Just last night I dreamed about a cow. Yesirree. A nice brown cow. I (riding the cow) was travelling all over the place on some kind of a quest. (In my dreams I am always on some kind of adventurous quest!) My friend Jean K. was following on foot for some reason. We had to go through a house that was blocking the path we had to follow, and I had to get off the cow so the cow could carefully traverse some downward steps. But the cow made it down safely and then I got back on and continued my quest. (Sorry, I have no idea what the quest was but it did involve a LONG journey! and such a nice cow she was too!)

5. Whose is your favorite blog (or 2 or 3...) out there at this time and why? (I know my choice changes with the wind.) I am just too new at this to really have a favorite.

6. Share a favorite picture you’ve taken. Why is it a favorite?

I just entered this photo in a contest. Hope you like it. Why do I like it? Well 1st - it is just gorgeous. 2nd - it reminds me of my Washington D.C. trip. and 3rd - I finally figured out how to do "silky water" pictures!

7. Write a Haiku about any subject you choose.

My book is a thought-
provoking way to spend time.
Keep reading, read more

8. Your ‘last supper’… What would be your most favorite drink, appetizer, salad, dinner & dessert if you could have anything in the world?

• Blue cheese stuffed baked mushrooms
• That old bottle of Sterling Merlot I have been saving for a special occasion
• Ribeye steak, cooked medium
• Texas Toast with garlic parmesan butter
• Macaroni and cheese
• Corn on the Cob
• Chocolate bundt cake with homemake cocoa butter frosting

9. What are you looking forward to most, this summer? Going somewhere? Buying something exciting? Seeing a movie or play you love? Share!

2 week ROAD TRIP

I am really looking forward to this one. This may be the last year I am able to take my teenagers on a trip like this. They will probably have jobs and stuff next time the opportunity comes around. So I am excited that we are taking advantage this year and not waiting.

• Colorado Springs
• Mesa Verde
• Four Corners
• Grand Canyon
• Delta Utah (fossil digging)
• Great Salt Lake
• Yellowstone
• Rocky Mountain National Park

10. Tell me a couple habits that you had as a child that you now continue to repeat, and possibly see your children (if you have them) copying as well? ( I personally lick all the inside of an Oreo before I eat the cookies, so do my DDs.)

Thank goodness nobody copies this one, but I like to lick off the powdery substance on Nacho Cheese Doritos. Weird huh. Then the spit makes the chip kind of soft, and it is a whole different texture chewing it up! (is this gross or what! ?)