We are headed home today. So time to pack up our $16 cooler that has saved up untold $$$ in lunch, snacks, and drinks, and now is loaded with dirty laundry.We did pretty well with our groceries- we ended up not using 5 pieces of ham, 3 slices of cheese, some mayo, mustard, teriyaki sauce, ranch dressing, an apple, 7 bottled waters, 4 rolls of paper towels and some laundry detergent (which we donated to the hotel laundromat 😊It’s sad to think vacation is over, but it’s also time to go back to school 😳😳😳Arrived at the Durango Airport in plenty of time. It’s smaller than the Greensboro airport so easy to navigate.Even got to walk out to our plane … Chicago here we come…Chicago was a quick 30 minute lay over this time and thankfully the gates were only working minutes apart. Grabbed some donuts and as the iPads recharge, we read for school 😉

Now the real question arrives… did the little red cooler survive???

YES!!!We made it! Home and safe with more memories we will never forgot!now to tackle the laundry…🤨

Well, it’s the last full day of vacation and we finished strong with one last National Park. That National Park Pass has paid for itself about 3x over! After breakfast at the hotel, we packed a picnic with the last of our groceries. We have really done well with with our cooler and groceries. We ended up with about 6 pieces of ham and 3 pieces of cheddar cheese left.🤗.

Cooler packed, we headed out for Mesa Verde National Park. BUT before we left Durango, we had to go by the Barefoot Shop for Michael’s souvenir. He decided on the way here that he was getting his souvenir hat in Durango, Colorado. The river rafters were sold out of hats yesterday, but he found the one he wanted last night in a store window. The store was closed then, so here we are now. After getting his new hat, we were off to Mesa Verde.

Mesa Verde National Park is a World Heritage site – which I had never heard of until today, but it’s apparently a big deal. Thanks to google, we now know that a World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the United Nations as having a special culture or physical significance. There are 24 World Heritage Sites in the United States, and Mesa Verde was the first in the US.

You can tour Mesa Verde on your own, but there are several locations that you can only access with a park ranger. The tours are only $5 per person, but the key is you have to sign up ahead of time. Thankfully one our rafting guides told us this bit of info yesterday so we were booked for the 1pm tour. We stopped at the Visitor’s center for the bathroom and to pick out our travel tree ornament… when we caught a glimpse of a familiar face… oh my word! The Texas Terrors were at Mesa Verde😳🥴😳🥴 Without us even having to say anything, the boys pulled their hats down, averted their eyes and we all quickly scooted in another direction! I just prayed they weren’t on our tour later 😬

The drive into the park was beautiful! It was so different than all the sand and desert we saw earlier in our vacation.The turns and switchbacks driving through Mesa Verde were crazy!! We finally decided that maybe Otis from Andy Griffin drew the road map they used for constructing the roads! The orange line is the road 😳We made it to Cliff Palace for our tour with plenty of time, so we located the picnic area and enjoyed our lunch. We have thoroughly enjoyed our picnics across the Southwest. 😊❤️

We met our Park Ranger and tour group – Hallelujah! The Texas Terrors were NOT in our group! Whew! Ranger Ruth was great, and she LOVED her job! So we begin our hike to see the cliff palace. From what they told us back at the Aztec Ruins, and our friend the Rayfield’s, the cliff dwellings were supposed to be amazing. So, the hike began with a descent down some stairs that were varying shapes and sizes. (I got tickled thinking of a picture I have of Daddy measuring the steps at the Mayan Ruins in Cancun with his tape measure “Peggy, these steps aren’t built to code.” 🤣🤣🤣) so I had to get a picture

As we came around the corner, we see what all the fuss is about…There is an entire city built into the cliff! According to Ranger Ruth, approximately 800 years ago, and for unknown reasons, the Pueblo Indians moved their civilization from the top of the plateau down with the cliffs. There are hundreds of rooms, with enough space to provide for thousands of people. There are Kivas that appear to be ceremonial, and others that were a living room or common room for the families. They even found a drawing inside one of the towers.It was an amazing thing to see! We also met a really cool lady from Texas. She was 69 years old, had a couple of new knees thanks to her knee replacements, and was traveling around hiking wherever she wanted. We told her we’d look her up if we came to Texas 🤗 She even got a great family picture for us.Mike was especially fond of the French family behind us for the first part of the tour whose children talked non-stop and then the dad who asked 7,000 questions of Ranger Ruth 🤣🤪🤣 Finally he ran out of questions 🤪But we got some great pictures from today – each of the boys taking turns being the photographer 😉🤪❤️

The only thing about climbing down for a tour is that eventually you have to go back up… so here we go…So glad we added this last minute tour in, because it was definitely something to see. Pictures can’t really do it justice.

The drive back through the park was just as lovely, and since we weren’t in a rush we stopped at a couple of overlooks… at one stop, we were about to stop when who comes out of the bathrooms… The Texas Terrors We diverted our eyes and drove away. 🤣😂

The Tower was our favorite overlook because of this gentleman. He didn’t bother to park so others could get by… and then didn’t seem in a hurry to move when he saw us… even making an additional lap around the tower to re-read the plaque! We just got so tickled that we were dying laughing by the time he bothered to get in his car and leave 🤣😂🤣

As we made it back to Durango,we found a FedEx store and started filling our now empty cooler with dirty laundry The plan was to ship the cooler home and save the $30 per bag that the airline charges…well that was the plan until we learned that a 30 pound cooler costs $105 to ship to NC 😳 Um, no thanks. So we’ll be taking our laundry-cooler to the airport tomorrow to go home with us 🥴🤪

(Y’all pray the baggage carrousel in Greensboro isn’t covered in our laundry tomorrow 🤦🏻‍♀️)

We had dinner at the restaurant in the hotel, got packed up… and had one last swim

Now we’re ready for bed and our airport adventures tomorrow.

Can’t believe this is the last night. Since there weren’t any amusement parks or things like that on this trip, we really just had a great time being together. Michael and Leo are growing up so fast, and have so many distractions in our day to day world. It has been so much fun to just be together, the four of us, laughing and spending as much time together as we can before they are grown. It has truly been the best vacation ever. ❤️🤗

What an awesome day!

We slept in and had a late breakfast trying to plan ahead for rafting at 1:30… we did such a good job with our planning ahead that we ended up with over an hour of time to spare before we needed to leave for the rafting spot. So we went to practice our bellyflops and burn off a little excitement.We made it to Mountain Water Rafting on time and ready to raft! I was afraid to take my camera, so we only have some before and after shots from me, but plenty of great shots by their photographer.Michael was stressed out that others in our group were not on time and ready to go right at 1:30! (He definitely doesn’t get that trait from me 🤪) . We loaded up on a bus with others on our trip and headed to the drop-in site. One of guides, Cheddar, gave a safety speech that was part funny and part “we have to warn you of things that won’t ever really happen but just in case”. Mike Brown was intensely listening to this speech, and I was praying that Cheddar would shut up! 🤪.

AJ was our guide – very nice guy who just graduated from college with a degree in Adventure Education. Adventure Eduction – How cool is that? And apparently it’s a real thing because in Colorado, the schools have a lot of classes like this as an elective. How did I not know this was an option in school?!?! 🤷🏻‍♀️. He was so kind to the boys asking about school and what they liked… but when he told Leo he didn’t think he had seen any Marvel movies, I thought Leo would fall over 🤣

The only hiccup was that we rafted with a family of 5 from Texas… who I am labeling the Texas Terrors. The best way to describe them would be if the Kardashians and the children from Madea’s Witness Protection had children. These would be those kids… know-it-all, disrespectful to their parents, over-privileged tween and teenagers. Michael and Leo said well at least we know how not to act when we get older 🤗 (parenting score!). It was so bad, that the guide asked if we would sit in the back for the second half of the ride so he could have a break from them 🥴

The boys were awesome ! They did great paddling and listening to instructions. Michael started in front with Mike, and Leo sat in the middle between me and the Texas mom. Then Leo and I switched and he did the padding while I relaxed. As we got the big rapid, AJ switched Michael and I in order to put to 2 adults up front. I don’t think he cared ❤️🤗We did a 4-hour ride, and stopped half way through for snacks and water. Then it was back in the raft. This time we moved to the back of the boat and each of us paddled (and AJ got a break from the Texas Terrors).

Right before the end of the float, we got to climb up an 8-foot rock and cannonball into the Animas River. Even though it was pretty warm today, when you hit that water 🥶Dang! That water was cold!!! 🥶 It took your breath for a second. A few people jumped in more than once… any guesses which ones? 🤔

We had so much fun today! Even with the Texas Terrors, they just gave us something else to giggle about 🤗 And now to the clothes… everything had a brown gritty film to it. I was going to wash at the hotel but before I put it into the washer, we decided to soak it in the tub with some detergent. Here is it right when we put it in…

Ten minutes later…Two hours later when we got back from dinner… Yuck!

While the clothes soaked, we headed out for dinner at a place AJ and another guide recommended – SteamworksThe food was delicious and great laid back Colorado atmosphere. Think they are full and tired 😊

We decided to explore the downtown a bit in search of a hat for Michael and a T-shirt for me, and stickers for our water bottles. And we found ice cream in the process … there’s always room for ice cream 😉I thought the sign on the office door was hilarious We found Michael’s perfect hat but they were closed so we’ll come back tomorrow.

Tomorrow is our last day. We are headed to Mesa Verde National Park for a picnic and tour tomorrow and then to celebrate our last night of vacation…Can’t believe it’s already been 2 weeks. Time flies when you’re having fun 😀❤️

We woke up today with nothing on the agenda, and only needing to end the day in Durango, Colorado. So we decided to just see where the day took us. Michael was so out of his comfort zone with this agenda!

After breakfast, we decided to “Ross Geller” the room and stay until the last moment of check out. The boys watched a movie on their iPads, Mike watched a movie in the bedroom and I caught up on emails. We didn’t know what to do with ourselves with no place to be.

We finally left the hotel at 11am, and headed to the Farmington Museum and Convention Center. This was a really cool little (free) museum that featured rotating exhibits. This summer that had 3 displays: woodworking, gas and oil, and dinosaurs. You would think the first 2 exhibits were boring but they were actually pretty interesting.

The woodworking was done by a local artist and had some beautiful pieces. Of course, my amateur wood worker was thinking of ideas he could make from wood the saw mill. I hope he does because these things are gorgeous!They had several kid-friendly sections:

In the first, you tried to build a table from the directionsI figured out how to put the box together but it took a little workIn the second – you used small squares of wood stained different colors. Leo loved the “design with wood section” And then they both decided to be creative

We headed to the oil and gas display. Since Mike grew up working at his parents’ station, he loved this, and the Boys loved him telling stories of when he was little

Then it was on to the dinosaurs! 🦖🦖🦖

This was a pretty amazing display for a small town, especially considering they had a full size Tyrannosaurus Rex named Stan (after the amateur paleontologist who found him). And we learned our individual dinosaur names:

Mike – Velociodactyl, which means speedy finger;

Michael – Velociodromeus which means speedy runner;

Leo – Iguanovenator which means iguana hunter; and

Heidi – Pentadon which means five tooth and made the coolest shadows EVER!🤣

The lady at the museum gift shop suggested we check out the Aztec Ruins and lunch at the A&W. Since our day was free, off we went…

The Aztec Ruins aren’t actually Aztec at all. They are the remains of a Pueblo Indian Civilization from the 11th to 13th centuries. They are amazing in not only the construction but that they are still standing and haven’t even been fully excavated.In the center of the ruins, is the Great Kiva. This building is amazing! It was used as the ceremonial center of the tribe. There were several other kivas located around the ruins, all slightly small than the Great Kiva. The Great Kiva is believed to have burned down, but based on excavation findings, it was rebuilt in 1934. We were all impressed by the audio recording that you could play

It looked like something from Raiders of the Lost Ark or The Mummy.

The Pueblo people must have been very short because the doorways were tiny. We all cracked our head or back on the door jams sometime during the day.

It was surreal being here. Just knowing that someone built this house 700-900 years ago, and they are still standing. They really don’t build them like they used to 😉The technology included in the construction was incredible. This is the North Wall, and during summer solstice, the sun follows this exact path! And the roofs were built to hold the weight because these dwellings had 2 to 3 stories. They also used these holes as old-fashioned AC or ventilation. The air coming through felt so cool. One way scientists have identified Pueblo structures and building is the presence of this dark green rock/brick. No one has figured out its meaning but it is present in every Pueblo building.can’t believe we were lucky enough to stumble on this!

The boys tried their hand at making corn meal… And we met a local sand artist. Heads full of culture, it was time to feed our bellies. An old fashioned A&W restaurant sound perfect!just pick what you want and call your order inIt doesn’t get much better than thisUntil the food arrives, bacon cheeseburger chili cheese fries and coney dogs 🤗They were so full, they decided to skip a milkshake dessert 😳 We headed into downtown Aztec. Very cute bridge to enter, and we loved the quilt shop name (although now its a boarding house) We have also learned that the stoplights in New Mexico are horizontal, instead of vertical? It was really strange to see but after a little research, we discovered it was to cut down on wind resistance. That will be a good bit of trivia one day!

We headed north, and arrived in the last state of our Vacation – Colorado This is bittersweet because we’re all ready to get home to our own beds and pillows, but hate to see vacation starting to wind down…

But we’ve still got 3 days!

We checked into our final Holiday Inn Express in Durango, Colorado. It is a beautiful town! Plenty of big stores (Target, Wal-Mart) but a great downtown with little shops to explore. We picked up a “Welcome to Durango ” magazine in the lobby and decided to go see the La Plata County 4-H Fair.and guess what they have? Livestock🐑🐄🐂… and even better – Pigs! 🐖🐖We watched several sheep events, and loved seeing the County Fair Queen and Princess present the Blue Ribbons. Notice that they wear their crowns on top of their cowboy hats.Then we had to go check out the Swine Showcase. This pigs weren’t anywhere near the size of Gilberta and Madea, but they were pure muscle! Mike found some folks to talk pig with, and we found a pig named Leo ❤️🐖

But wait! It gets better – there’s the final True West Rodeo of the Summer starting at 6:30! Seriously, we find the most random things on our vacations!

So yee-haw! We’re headed to the rodeo. Mike had been to a rodeo when he was younger but this was a first for the boys and I, and it was so much fun!Apparently, kids start young in rodeo and begin by riding a bucking mutton … these kids were between 3 and 7 years old!Then came the young bucking broncos and young bull riders. There was a scary moment with the bull riding when an 11 year old was thrown off and the bull stepped on his back! Thankfully, he was okay but it was scary for a little bit.

Then they had a “calf catching” event for anyone 10 and younger. Well, we’ve got a 10 year old… so off he went!

He didn’t win, but how cool to say I competed in a rodeo contest this summer!

YeeHaw! Time for the bull riding contest!It was just too much fun to get to be a part of this tonight. Who else but the Browns would start the day with nothing to do and end the day at a rodeo in Colorado 🤷🏻‍♀️🤪

Michael asked me if I planned this? No sweetheart, not even I could plan all this 🤣😊We finished the night off with some time in the hot tub, and now happily snoozing away… dreaming of bull riding and bucking broncos, I’m sure ❤️

Tomorrow, we head down the river for some white water rafting. Can’t wait to see where tomorrow takes us. 😊❤️

What a day! From a beautiful sunrise to Navajo park to a delicious dinner, we did it all today!

Michael and I started the day early watching the sunrise from our little porchWe weren’t quite awake when we started 😴 but the view made it all worthwhile ❤️☀️

We fixed a quick breakfast, packed the car and headed back to Arizona to meet our guide for the day. (Sounds a lot further than it is since the Arizona line was 5 miles away 🤪)

We met our guide Duffy and loaded up for a tour of Monument Valley. Duffy is a Navajo Indian and clearly enjoys his job as a guide. He grew up in this area, and knows Monument Valley! He took us to so many sitesLeft Mitten

Right Mitten

1 – Praying Hands

2 – King in his Thrown

3 – King’s Castle

We loved hearing about each butte and the stories of Monument Valley. The names were hilarious and named by visitors from years agoCan you see the Elephant and Snoopy?

The next Mountain was one we loved the “Three Sisters” but something was missing… Hahaha🤣🤣🤣

We saw John Ford point – it’s the point where many Hollywood Directors shoot their scenes 🎥🎞 Duffy told us about life as Navajo then and now, and the difference in Navajo life versus our lives. Work is done on a barter system here. He said often people will see Navajo and by looking at their homes, assume they appear poor. But for the Navajo, having material things are not important, and just meet physical needs like shelter, food and water.We got to go into a real Hogan and met a lady who’s family is one of the 7 families who own Monument Valley. She taught us how to take sheep’s wool, brush it in one direction (many many many times) and then spin it into usable wool.I know why Navajo rugs cost so much now – these things are a huge amount of work!

We visited some arches within the park, and listened to a flute performance by Duffy and the other guides

Remember the scene in Indiana Jones and Temple of Doom where the snakes are all around? It was filmed hereand we got to see a petroglyph on the rock wallOf course we did some climbing 😉Duffy showed us a poison plant that Navajo would mix with rattlesnake venom and dip the tip of their arrows into for battle, and of course boys thought this was very cool!

And we saw some petroglyphs that are estimated to have been draw between 500-1300ad

I kind of think the petroglyphs look like Dr Suess’ sneetches 🤨

This was a really cool arch called the sun’s eye, because… it looks like the suns eye!I think it’s safe to say the boys (and Mike and I) loved this tour today!Again with the black and white 🤪Duffy was awesome! So glad we did this tour today.

Once we finished the tour, we went though the Navajo Park Museum. It was clear from the plaques and wording that the presence was of non-Navajo people was tolerated but not preferred. Of course, it hard to blame the Navajo, when there were still Acts of Congress that prevented running water and electric lines to parts of the Navajo Nation until 2006 😳

Once we finished in the museum we filled up with gas and started making our way to the Four Corners area. And it was time to open Mom’s Restaurant on US Highway 163 🤗We passed the famous “Mexican Hat” and crossed into Colorado (clearly we aren’t on a major interstate with this mega sign 🤪When we say these are long roads, they are looonnnggg roads!But some are more familiar than others. Does this ring any bells?How about now?Yep! It’s the Forest Gump Hill and there was cars everywhere trying to get this picture – some crazy people were standing in the middle of road making a selfie 🤦🏻‍♀️. (or That could be nature just thinning the herd 🤷🏻‍♀️)

Anyway, we finally made it to Four Corners Monument. Monument is a strong word for this spot. It’s basically a Navajo park that they charge you $20 for admission. They have port-o-johns for use that have seen their better days. And then there are brick and mortar flea market stands around this big stone markerbut it’s still pretty cool to say you stood in 4 states at the same timeCrossing into New Mexico – Rabbit! (For those not related to me, you say rabbit when you cross into a new state for good luck)

We did some flea market shopping and headed on down the road… Go fish is our new pastime when we use all our iPad minutes 😀I have never heard such smack talk over Go Fish!!

This moment was one of my favorites today❤️

We arrived in Farmington, New Mexico today! The hotel is very nice – newly renovated and very clean. But Farmington isn’t what we expected. We were supposed to stay 2 nights here but we can cover all there is to do by lunch tomorrow. So we’ve adjusted plans and are headed to Colorado a day early.

We did find an amazing Italian place tonight that made coming to Farmington worth it. Trattoria di Barnardone. Wow!!! It was fantastic! Homemade pasta and sauces 🤗 And the dessert was awesome too

So tomorrow we are sleeping in, and then headed to Colorado for a little more fun before we head home on Saturday 😊

We woke up in the Grand Canyon, AZ, and went to bed in Monument Valley, Utah… that’s a pretty perfect Out West day!

In order to leave the Grand Canyon, we have to go back through the national Park.

We have discovered our problem with the Grand Canyon. We are North Rim people, but we visited the South Rim. The Grand Canyon gets 6.5 million people each year, and 6 million of those visit the South Rim. The North Rim is much less developed, and commercialized. You have to really want to see the North Rim. After the beauty and peacefulness of Zion and Bryce Canyon, we probably should have gone to the North Rim. Oh well, live and learn. Boys can mark Grand Canyon off their bucket list 😊

We had no where to be until Tuesday morning so we slept in, had breakfast and started making our way to Monument Valley. The WiFi in the Southwest is spotty at best, so we’ve learned to do anything online whenever you have WiFi. So we plotted a few stops on our way and off we went!

Talk about open spaces and long roads… they just go on and on and on!

Our first stop was in Tuba City, Arizona. Tuba City was home to some of the Navajo code talkers during World War II. These young men signed up and provided an unbreakable code based on the Navajo language. The amazing part was that they signed up to fight for a country that up until this point had done nothing but destroy their heritage, with actions like the Long Walk, internment at Fort Sumner, Mandatory Navajo Boarding Schools and federal programs that prevented anything beneficial to the Navajo. Tuba City is also home to one of the original Trading Posts on the reservation. We bought some Navajo spun-wool, Mike found a book on The Code Talkers, and we found an ornament for our travel tree – a hand carved wooden flying pig 🐖❤️

We spent some time in the Explore Najavo Museum. The Museum included a film on the beginnings of the Navajo culture, that bore a striking resemblance to the creation story in the Bible, including Noah and the flood.

The great part about being the only people in a museum is that you get some very personal touches from the guides. One young man spent time teaching us to speak Navajo:

Mother – Shima

Father – ShizheeOlder brother -shanii

Younger brother – shitsili (of course this name led to lots of giggles!)

We got to see real life Hogans – the homes of the Navajo Indians. The Boys thought it was particularly cool that the front door always faces east to get the first light of day.We also learned about the government/judicial system of the Navajo Nation.We left the museum and found the local grocery, Bashas- like a Food Lion out here – and restocked our cooler and snacks. This little $16 cooler has saved us hundreds in breakfasts, lunches and snacks! Speaking of lunch, Mama’s Restaurant on US Highway 89 is now open for lunch 😉The drive was so beautiful but again so different as you pass through different areasand these two enjoyed switching to the front seat some 😉

Well there’s something you don’t see everyday, a hitching post We said goodbye to Arizona and hello to Utah

We made it to our hotel for the evening, Goulding’s lodge. The Gouldings were a couple who lived in Monument Valley, Utah. They initially opened up rooms in their home for borders, which led to a hotel, which led to the lodge today. During the Great Depression as the Navajo nation was hard-hit, the Gouldings traveled to Hollywood with their last $60 and photographs of Monument Valley. They convinced movie producers to come to Monument Valley to shoot movies, and that began the Hollywood phase in Monument Valley. Hollywood and Monument Valley aren’t limited to John Wayne and Westerns – National Lampoon’s Vacation and Forest Gump’s loooooonnnnnggggg run 🏃 were filmed in Monument Valley thanks to the Goulding’s.

It’s easy to see why you would use this for a backdrop of a movie, especially with these two ❤️The boys spent some time swimming and then we had dinner at the Lodge Restaurant.Mike and I tried some traditional dishes, beef stew and green chili stew with Navajo Fry Bread The boys stuck with traditional dinners of cheeseburgers and corn dog bites 🤪We were too late to catch the showing of A John Wayne movie at the theater but it was a great day anyway.

Tomorrow we have a bright and early tour of monument Valley with a Navajo guide. I’m also going to try to get up for the sunrise because when am I going to be in Monument Valley again? ☀️

Well, it had to happen sometime. Everything has been awesome on this, and honestly all of our vacations. But today we had a crummy tour! Crummy and expensive which is soooo much worse.

We got started early today – we needed to be on the road by 8am so we would be at the Grand Canyon by 11:30 for our Pink Jeep Grand Canyon Tour. We left fine, and drove along a beautiful, although sometimes treacherous drive across Arizona and Navajo Nation. Even spotting another Mountain Monogram in Page, Arizona.

We drove through the Grand Canyon National Park and made on quick stop at the Watchtower Overlook before heading to the Holiday Inn Express to meet our tour. We made it at 11:20 – checked in, dropped bags and cooler, grabbed our backpacks and water bottles and met our guide, right on time 😀

The tour started off fine. We were with a family from Kansas who were driving to California to surprise their kids with trip to Disneyland. Our Guide, Brad, was very nice and explained lots of things as we drove. Nothing went wrong on the tour, but there was nothing out of the ordinary either. My rule for any tour we take is “did you show us something we couldn’t have done on our own?” The answer for today was a resounding NO! Ugh!!! I hate not getting my money’s worth 😡 basically we paid for someone to make conversation with us, take our photos and drive us to 3 overlooks that we could go to ourselves 🤦🏻‍♀️😡🤷🏻‍♀️ lesson learned! At least we got some good pictures 🤪

BUT the Grand Canyon was really amazing! The colors and levels for all the different kinds of soil were unreal. It was fun to see the boys’ reactions

We stopped at “duck on a rock” overlook … Because it looks like a duck sitting on a rock.Can you see it?

And made some great family pictures… coming to a Christmas Card near you soon 😉We also had a little fun pretending to “fall”Such Hams 🤣😂🤣

We left this overlook and Brad showed us the pine trees that grow here. When you “smell” the bark it smells like vanilla/orange creamsicle! And as the tree ages, it looses its’ bark and the trunk turns orange. The more orange the trunk, the older the tree. Back in the Jeep and off we go to Watchtower (where we stopped coming in… for free 🤦🏻‍♀️). some of us were starting to get sleepy No one knows why the Indians who lived here built these towers but clearly they were worried about someone or something. We went inside the replica built in 1939.

Boys loved seeing the petroglyphs – like hieroglyphics but prehistoric The views from the Watchtower were really beautiful. And it wasn’t as crowded as some of the other spots.

On the drive to the next overlook, we saw some elk. (Again, same elk that we passed on our way to meet the tour… for free 😤) They were pretty cute but apparently we were the only country people in the park today, because people were amazed that there were elk and deer roaming around!?! Seriously, I have deer come on my front porch to eat my flowers. Ugh! 🙄 It finally got to be a joke. We were giggling to the point of tears from Mike’s yankee impersonation of “oh my gawd, it’s a de-ah!” 🤣🤣🤣Waiting in line because “oh my Gawd, it’s a de-ah!” 🤣🤣🤣

But again, focusing on the Positive: I am loving these black and white photos! Who knew you could do so much with an iPhone and the photo edit app.

We left Watchtower and went to another overlook. We thought we were getting out again, but instead, Brad just wanted us to stop and look out over the Canyon. Think of that thing we most want to do and then make a promise to ourselves to make it happen. 🤢 Seriously? It took all I had not to say, what I most want to do is get my money back for this tour. Can you make that happen, Brad? 😤🤪😡🤪😤

Thanks to the power of prayer and self-control, I did not say that. I smiled, tipped my guide, and went on with life (and wrote a scathing trip advisor review and dis-satisfaction survey) Boys were ready run a bit, so we went back to hotel, grabbed lunch and headed back to the park to tour on our own.We drive around the park, and honestly it’s really disappointing to see. The Canyon is just gorgeous but the areas around the Canyon are really run down. It’s just missing a Wings to complete the commercialism. Maybe if we had not seen so much natural beauty at Zion and Bryce, then this may be okay.

BUT we have giggled so much over the mess ups today, that it’s ended up being an awesome day. We had dinner at Plaza Bonita- and were absolutely stuffed with some of the best Mexican food.

Tomorrow we head out for Monument Valley and whatever adventure we can find along the way 🚗 🚙🚗🚙🚗

After our monster hike yesterday, we slept like babies last night, and slept in this morning. We got up, finished off our breakfast and packed up to leave the tiny house. We had an almost 4 hour drive ahead of us, with no particular plan for the day. Sounds like the perfect way to find something cool.

Utah towns are loaded with history! Most of the little towns were started as part of the Mormon church, and operated as communal towns. Some didn’t even exchange money. You earned credits for work and then had debits for things needed. As we traveled I researched the towns. Mike and I thought it was interesting. The boys, well, did not.

The views continued to amaze us. And we have noticed that all the mountains have initials or first letters of the towns on the hillside. After some research, we learned this are called Mountain Monograms in and around Utah. This is Kanab, Utah.

Here’s our cool stop today, Kanab, Utah… also known as Little Hollywood. Before we get to Little Hollywood, let’s talk about lunch. We stopped initially at a drug store/soda fountain type place, but when no one greeted or acknowledged us when we entered, it seemed odd, and then as we got to the counter, the sliced turkey for sandwiches was sitting uncovered on the counter. Um, yea, no thank you.

So off we went in search of lunch… and then we found it – Big Al’s! They explained that they don’t start cooking your order until you order so it takes a bit, and they really didn’t want you to stand around the counter waiting…

Hahaha 🤣 – seriously, that’s hilarious! But wait, check this one they had up as well:

So we went outside and waited, and killed some time playing Go Fishthen the food and milkshakes arrived – no more cards. Yum! This lunch was delicious!

With our bellies full, we set off to find “Little Hollywood,”. Old westerns movies were filmed here in Kanab , including The Outlaw Josey Wales. A 501(c) corporation runs Little Hollywood and have set up an old western town with sets from old westerns. (It’s probably a front for the mob but whatever, it was fun to see)Now when I say this place is kitschy, I mean serious Clark Griswold kitschy 🤣😂🤣But the surprising this was that Michael and Leo loved it! they pretended to be deaddrove a fake horse and wagonwere the jailer/went to jailand had a high noon showdownTotally cheesy and totally fun! It was starting to get really warm again, so we headed on to Page, Az And then we saw the state lineWe couldn’t figure out what was going on with our clocks. Suddenly the car clock and our phones were an hour different. The we realized that Arizona doesn’t recognize daylight savings time so we gained an hour from Utah.

And then guess what we saw: Another Dam – The Glen Canyon Dam! The boys were so excited about another Dam Tour

But then they remembered the Dam puns, and then they were all about the Dam Tour 🤣🤣🤣

Here’s a Dam picturehere’s a Dam little boy who reminded us of our cousin Rhett. Boys played this game about Dam trivia for about 30 minutes Here’s some Dam family pictures 🤪❤️

and here’s the Dam kid area

Hahaha! And now we’re done with the Dam puns🤪

We went to the pool before dinner to burn off some energy. I’m not sure what this game is, but had something to do with trying to pull each other off the rail?Who knows, but whatever. They were calmer than when they started.

For dinner, we headed out for Navajo taco’s – everyone who has been to this section of the county says we have to try a Navajo taco, so tonight we did…at Steer 89 in Page, Arizona

Wow! These things are amazing! Basically, it is a HUGE TACO served on this freshly baked flakey bread.Look at these 3 after finishing their 1st Navajo tacos

Hahaha! We are all miserably full but smiling.

It’s an early bed tonight so we’re curled up watching Shark Week… Ready to get up early to head to the Grand Canyon!

Escalante is known for its hiking, and we wanted to check it out. The Park Ranger at Bryce Canyon told us to be sure t check out Calf Creek Falls when we made it to Escalante. So after sleeping in this morning, we studied the hiking book here in the Tiny House and researched Lower Calf Creek Falls, locating the Trailhead and making our hiking plan. So a little long but the Falls are supposed to be amazing. So we packed a picnic lunch, first aid kit, compass, whistle and lots of water. Mike also loaded up a cooler to keep in car with cold water for when we finished the hike and off we went.

The drive was beautiful – although it looked like a different planet.

The map was accurate and we found the trailhead without any problems.It was a 3.1 mile hike in and 3.1 out, so off we went to conquer Lower Calf Creek Falls.

We signed the TrailRegister – the hiking book explained that you should always sign the register listing which trail, number in your party and how long you plan on being on the trail.The Hike was beautiful, but it was tough, especially in the heat and altitude. There were some pretty steep climbs followed by gradual descents. But the views were awesome!

There were 14 trail markers that we estimated were placed every quarter mile or so… and once we got to #14, the hike was TOTALLY worth it!The boys played and slid and played and slid for an hour or so.

I think it’s safe to say they had a great time 😉 We had a picnic lunch and just enjoyed watching the boys have so much fun ❤️

I cannot explain how beautiful the falls were, and how grateful we are that this was the hike we took.

After eating and cooling off, it was time to hike out…

We were all so proud of ourselves for completing this hike. It wasn’t what I’d call “easy” – apparently easy in Utah means something different than in North Carolina🤪

On the way back to our tiny house, we passed a Dinocare Gas Station, so we had to get our picture with the dinosaur… because how often do you have a chance to get your picture with a green dinosaur?

We did a little exploring in the town of Escalante… it’s not a big place – no stoplights. But everyone was very nice.

We have one more night of home cooked meals before we are back to restaurants, so we used our leftover steak and a couple of chicken breasts to make stir fry. It was delicious! And we finished off our convection oven apple-blueberry dump cake.

We finished off this perfect day with Solo, A Star Wars Movie… but paused for a few Snacks those 2 are great at finishing off leftovers 🤣

Tomorrow we head to Page, Arizona on our way to the Grand Canyon.

Today we left Zion National Park and headed to another of the BIG 5 in Utah, Bryce Canyon National Park. To get the Bryce, you have to drive all the way through Zion National Park. We probably irritated everyone behind us because we were in no hurry and drove like old people on Sunday, just out for a drive.

Yesterday, during the horseback ride our guide pointed out “holes” in the mountain connected to the tunnel built in 1930. Today, we saw it all up close and personal. An interesting note when the built the tunnel, they started at opposite sides of the mountain and worked toward the middle. When the met, they were only 6 inches off a perfect meeting. That’s pretty impressive for 1930’s technology. This is one of the viewing “holes” in the tunnel for outside.This is the view from inside the tunnel.

After a mile in the tunnel, I was happy to see the light 😎

The change in topography was crazy the further you got away from Zion.

And then a rock tunnel as well

We made to Bryce Canyon! It’s a beautiful day and perfect for hiking at 75°. Supposed to be some thunderstorms later today so we have to see as much as we can before that. Their Visitors Center had a few exhibits explaining the wildlife and Bryce’s famous hoodoos. Hoodoos are former when a large piece of rock erodes at different levels, then ice goes into crevices, expands, melts, erosion, ice, expand, melt, on and one for hundreds of years.I also found these wild animals in the wildlife of a Bryce exhibit 🤪Sandwiches, and picnic packed, water filled – lets go see Bryce! We decided to hike the Navajo Loop which took us waaaayyy into the Canyon. Like 1,000 feet into the Canyon. I tried to mark some of the Trail in blueIt is really hard to describe but it was just gorgeous! The giant hoodoos, the trees that seem to just sprout of from any crevice with moisture, and views!These two again had the best time and scared their daddy and I to death! There isn’t a railing on the hike and my stomach was just in knots until we made it to the bottomWe found the perfect picnic rock and enjoyed some rest before starting that crazy climb UP! We has to take several rest breaks as we climbed up. At one break, the boys built mini-hoodoosThe climb continued…And finally we made it back to the top. Whew!!! Those were hard fought miles!

The shuttle system at Bryce is no where near as good as Zion, but the park isn’t as large or as busy. Our big hike completed, we drove up to the main sights of Bryce, stopping at overhangs along the way. The Natural Bridge was amazing!

We beaded ALL the way to the top of Bryce, Rainbow Point, elevation 9,115 😳

and temperature 53° 🥶As we stopped at different overlooks, the boys began to get tired of my plaque reading and desire to stop at every single stop… to which I responded in a very Mother-of-the-Year moment: “you get your butt out of this car, and come look at nature!” Which resulted in absolute belly-shaking giggles from all my boys, and then from me 🤣😂🤣

Whatever, it was worth it…

Back in the car, and we said goodbye to Bryce Canyon. It was really nice but we all agreed Zion was our favorite.

The landscape continued to change to some hills but a good amount of flat pastures and housing spread miles apart.

We are taking a break from hotels and spending the next two nights at a tiny house in Escalante, Utah. This place is too cute! We are all ready to move into a tiny house… or at least maybe travel in one.

We headed into town for groceries, and a little exploring. Steaks on the tiny house grill for dinner and apple/blueberry dump cake for dessert 😊

Even had my own kitchen crew do the dishes for me🥰We watched a gorgeous sunset from the back porch, and thanked God for all our blessings.We finished the night watching the Astronaut Farmer and enjoying being able to spread out a little instead of a hotel. The boys have their own bunk beds, so pray no one falls off 🤪

We’re heading off tomorrow for a hike to see Calf Creek Falls, pools, and a picnic lunch, and the Escalante Grande Staircase.