Day 6: Southern Utah

After Four Corners we drove several more hours to Moab, Utah.  We camped outside of Arches National Park and took a driving tour of it on Saturday.  However, the highlight of our stay was a 4 1/2 mile hike that the people at the campsite told us about.  The trail was very kid-friendly and at the end was Morning Glory natural bridge, the sixth largest natural bridge rock formation in North America.

This was our first really primitive hike the entire trip.  There were no rangers, few people, and we felt like we were out in the middle of nowhere.  George, Delie, and Thomas had been wanting to do a long hike and this fully met their expectations!  

John has been a trooper!  He has become quite the extroverted ham on this trip; I think it has something to do with the fact that we have nothing to do but play with him and carry him around. :)

The hike was through a canyon; it was beautiful--and we got red dirt smeared all over us.

Several of the more adventurous spirits climbed the sides of the canyon.

George, Delie, Anna, James, Samuel, Joy, Thomas, and William

The highlight of the trail was that we had to cross a stream several times.  The water was cold, but we were so hot that we didn't care. ;)

The crossing

George liked this big rock.

We love the water!

We also have a new appreciation for cold drinking water.  Although we've gotten to the point where we can drink it at any temperature, we all prefer it ice cold.  The stream seemed to help a little-- except that several of the younger people *cough* discovered that their bottles were fuller after sticking them in the stream.  All I can say is yuck.

Samuel and James

Sweet John-John

We're almost there!  (The bridge is on the upper right of the picture.)

We're here!

There was a spring under the bridge that flowed into a pool that flowed into the stream that flowed into...oh, never mind; I think you get the idea.  It was so cool and beautiful under there.

We ate lunch under the bridge while Daddy told us a story about drinking bad water in his Eagle Scout days.  John looks sympathetic; what he's really thinking is that hot baby food is disgusting.

The little boys really like splashing in the pool.

And Thomas liked climbing the rocks.

After lunch we hiked back to the van. 

We both look like we have more energy than we did. :)

We're finished!  James took this picture of Mommy and Daddy at the end of the trail.  You should hire him to photograph your next event; he's pretty good.  Plus, he'll work for animal crackers.

Our campsite was nice, albeit hot.  John, the camera magnet, was happy to play in the tent--and to escape from it!

We got a kick out of the camp store's sign.  Pop?!  I think they meant coke; they just don't know how to talk southern.  :)

The boys have enjoyed the play-dough.  It's a great camping toy, but beware: it will stick to the table like crazy and nothing short of water and a credit card will budge it.

A typical trip sigh: Thomas reading wherever he can find a quiet nook.

And another typical trip picture.  We haven't had electricity at any of our campsites, so we find the nearest outlet and plug in.  In fact, I'm typing this in the restroom, the only place at our campground with electricity.

Now we're in beautiful Yellowstone, Wyoming, seeing bison in our campground and snowflakes on our noses.  (Okay, that last part wasn't quite true, but the nights really have been cold here!)  We won't have internet for most of the time, so I may not blog again until after we leave on Friday.  

Lots of love to all our friends and family back home!

Joy

Day 5: Mesa Verde

On Thursday we camped at Mesa Verde.  Our campsite felt like we were out in the middle of nowhere.

We even saw a few deer right behind our tent!

After we set up camp we hiked to Spruce Tree House, the most accessible cliff dwelling at Mesa Verde.

John waves from in front of a kiva, or ceremonial pit.  He's become quite the camera hog on this trip. :)

Anna and I

We got to climb down into one of the kivas.

After Spruce Tree House we drove to the highest point in the park, over 8,000 feet above sea level.

I am almost getting used to beautiful views, but this was amazing.  They say that you can see four states on clear days; as it was, we saw several different rain storms across the valley.

All our menfolks at Park Point

William

On Friday we toured the Cliff Palace, the largest cliff dwelling in North America.  The hike involved lots of steps and several ladders, so the little boys loved it. :)

The view of Cliff Palace was  definitely worth every step to get there!  We really enjoyed our ranger-guided tour of the cliff dwellings.  We had had concerns about safety--after all, it is a cliff dwelling--but it turned out to be very family friendly.

Our little cliff dweller, James

Mommy and Daddy...

...and the children

* * *

After Mesa Verde we climbed back into our home away from home--a.k.a. the van--and drove on to  southern Utah.  We had reservations at a campground near Arches National Park and we looked forward to some hiking and picture-taking.

Check back for pictures of a really fun hike and a hot campground!

Posing on the Corners

We lined up in age order to stand on the four corners.  Daddy gave us ten seconds each to get our picture; I'm not sure we were quite that fast, but it was close.  The people behind us probably had a good 110 second laugh!

As promised, here are the shots of what we did when it was our turn to be in four states at once:

Joy

Me (Delie)

Anna

George

Samuel

Thomas 

William

James

John

Sweetest couple in the world! (I guess it wouldn't be authentic without all the little children running around.)

Lastly, our whole family got a photo together.  It was a fun experience!

Day 4: Four Corners

As Joy said, we spent a wonderful night at Wetherill Inn.  Those beds felt really good!  After a yummy breakfast buffet, we hit the road for Four Corners.

Daddy kept our place in line while we looked at the various vending booths.  The Navajo jewelry is beautiful.  George bought a handmade arrow.  

When it was our turn to stand on the corners, we each posed.  (We plan to do a separate post with those pictures.)

After that Daddy and Mommy treated us to Navajo fry bread (pictured below) made by one of the vendors.

It was delicious--better than a doughnut!  (Or was I just hungry?)

We are now safely at Mesa Verde National Park.  Can you believe we're actually staying where we planned to?  The view here is breathtaking. Almost everyone else is in the tent now and I have a bug crawling on the screen, so I guess I'd better go.
Posted by Delie