Day 3: The Grand Canyon

After discovering that you must have a reservation (or get there earlier than we did) at the Grand Canyon in order to camp there, we ended up camping in beautiful Kaibab National Forest.  I would highly recommend this campground to any family, except that there was no electricity or running water other than a pump.  However, we all loved our first night in the tent!

The next day we toured the south rim of the canyon.  The pictures below are in no particular order, as I am blogging from the iPad and don't really know what I am doing.  :)

We saw elk (above), deer, rabbits, lizards, and many birds.  George was so excited to see his first elk!

James

The Grand Canyon was so much better than I had expected!  The pictures of it are good, but they don't really do it justice; the canyon was just so deep and wide.  I guess that's why they call it the GRAND Canyon.

Got sunglasses?

Mommy and Daddy

Sweet William

After taking a short hike along the rim we drove on through the Navajo Nation.  We could not find a place to camp so we planned to stay in a hotel in Kayenta.

(Okay, typical trip story here: Kayenta only has three hotels--the trashy hotel, the chain hotel, and the interesting-looking hotel.  We passed the trashy hotel by; we tried the chain hotel, only to find that there was no room at the inn; and in desperation we tried the interesting one.  Lo and behold, there was one room left, so we took possession of it.  It was tight, but it was great.)

All of that was yesterday.  As I write, we are driving to Four Corners, and then we intend to camp at Mesa Verde, but judging from our success rate we may or may not find a campsite :)

Check back for more updates on our crazy western journey!

Posted by Joy

Day 2: Petrified National Forest

We rolled into the beautiful Painted Desert early on Tuesday morning.  We really wanted to be in the Petrified National Forest when they opened at seven, and to our surprise, we were actually on time!  But there was a hitch: the gates were still closed.  Oh well, we thought, they must be opening late this morning.  After waiting for a few minutes it hit us that we were in Arizona, where it was only six!  If you know us, you know that we're late to everything everywhere, so this was a major accomplishment. :)

We decided to eat breakfast in the parking lot while we waited for the gates to open.

A friendly hippie--I wish we had a picture of his van-- took our picture in front of the sign.  I guess we'll have to credit him for our Christmas picture this year!

Four of the best brothers in the world: James, Samuel, William, and Thomas

Taking in the view

Miles upon miles of no signs of civilization=breathtaking

We took a short hike (or run, for the little boys) along the edge of the cliff.

I love my beautiful sisters--and the background as well!

We took a hike through a "forest" of petrified wood, some of which was huge.  Delie took this picture of George next to this log for scale.

After spending five hours in the Petrified Forest (and wishing we could live there), we ate lunch at a cute diner on Route 66.  The restaurant was a family business and the food was delicious--and there was a lot of it!

Then it was on to Grand Canyon, where we planned to camp for the night.

Posted by Joy

Day 1: The Cowboy Museum and Ute Lake

We left home around 2:30 this morning and have driven in five different states since then.  Here's a brief recap of our first day:

We ate breakfast at a rest stop in OK that had tepees!  Really, that's so much more exciting than regular tables; couldn't TN come up with something creative like that...guitar-shaped tables or something along those lines.

Our first major destination was the Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma City. The boys had been looking forward to this for a while, and they weren't disappointed.  In fact, we all really enjoyed it. I hope to post pictures soon.

After the museum, we piled (or crammed) ourselves back into the van and drove through Oklahoma and Texas.  The scenery was beautiful!  I wanted to belt out How Great Thou Art at the top of my lungs, but I refrained, fearing that John (usually a good traveler) would awake and start belting something out at the top of his lungs.   And it would not be great.

God's creation is beautiful, isn't it?

Edit: It's 10:45 Mountain Time, and God's plan is different than ours.  We were rained (or blown, or lightning-ed) out after watching a beautiful sunset over the lake.  Now we are driving through the night (again) to make it to the Painted Desert by sunrise.  

All this to say, we are not at Ute Lake, we do not normally drive through the night, I do plan to post pictures in the near future (tomorrow?), and God's ways are not always ours.

On the Oregon Trail

A family of eleven gets the bright idea to drive from Tennessee to Oregon, and back again.  And they plan to camp along the way.

I realize that the above sounds like the beginning of a joke, because only a crazy family would take nine children (including a nursing baby) on a three week camping trip.

So I guess that makes us crazy.

Daddy is speaking at a math conference in Portland and we are all going along for the ride, miles upon miles of it.   The covered wagon is already in the carport; the fearless explorers are stocking up on venison jerky and Oreos; and we are getting ready to hit the Oregon trail in just a few hours.

William and James playing in the van before filling it to the brim

And we are EXCITED!!!!!

We plan to roll out of here around midnight tonight (Sunday); knowing us, we will probably hit the road around two a.m., Monday. ;)  So...unless there is an ocean or two between you and Oklahoma City, beware of a sleep befuddled family touring the Cowboy Hall of Fame some time tomorrow morning.

We plan to blog frequently, Lord willing, so check back for updates on our big adventure!

Joy

Update from Johnnycake

Hi everyone, this is John (better known as “Johnnycake”) reporting.  Delie thought it was about time to post some new pictures of me, but she really should be doing more productive things.  I have therefore taken this project into my own hands.  By blogging myself, I can show you my most flattering pictures.  Just take a look at this one for example:

I know.  Pretty cute, huh?  You just gotta love my double chin.  Here’s another one: 

 That one was taken when I was trying to get the internet cord.

Let me tell you, that is pretty fun.  It’s also a great way to get attention.  You should give it a try.

This next picture shows me making a really good looking face.  Yes, I’m handsome alright.  Delie just looked over my shoulder and said I sounded conceited.  She just doesn’t know what it’s like to be this cute.  

I’m pretty clever, too.  Recently, I discovered a great box under a piece of furniture in the kitchen.  That box was full of cookbooks.  I knew right then and there that if I was ever going to be a good cook, I had to take a look at those.  But not everybody agreed with me.  That is to say, they kept moving me back into the living room to some boring toys. 

Then Mommy got the idea that she should get rid of some of those wonderful books so that they would all fit on the same end table.  She filled a bag for Goodwill and moved the rest of them.  Next, she told George to fill the box with my toys.  I was not so easily fooled.  Not at all.  I thought it would be polite to play with them for a little while, so I made the best of it.  But today Delie saw me doing this:

She seemed to think it was funny.  I’m not sure why.  Maybe she’ll understand when I’m a great cook and filling this blog with my recipes. 

For now, however, I should probably go take a nap so that I’ll be all energized for whatever mischief comes my way.    

Until next time, 

Johnnycake