Durango - Day 1

Durango is a pretty little town, and we sure are enjoying ourselves here.  It is good to be with family and enjoy the great outdoors.  The kids got to sleep in, and our campground has warm, free showers.  The Animas River flows just a few feet from our campsite, and we can hear it all night.  Everyone is happy.

We still had one more National Park to visit on our trip.  We have been planning Mesa Verde since the beginning, so we reluctantly packed up and left the peace of our camp (and company of Grandma & Grandpa) to hit this last milestone.

Mesa Verde houses the largest cliff dwelling in North America and is a very large and sprawling park.  We knew we wouldn't be able to see it all in a day, so we settled on the Balcony House tour.  You have to take a 40 foot ladder to get to this dwelling, and it is a little less popular than the enormous (and more easily accessible) Cliff Palace.  Sure enough, we had about 10 people total on our tour.  It was nice to be able to ask questions and really explore the ruins the way you couldn't with a big group.

We learned that only about 40 people lived in Balcony House.  It was a smaller "village" that interacted with the larger towns around it.  Although the Civilian Conservation Corps came in and cleaned it up a bit, most of the dwelling is original.  They know that the native people who lived here vacated the dwellings around 1278 A.D.  We were amazed that these structures have held up so long.

To leave the dwelling, we had to crawl through a short tunnel on our hands and knees.

And back up another (much shorter) ladder.  The kids, once reluctant to go, were really glad they made the trip to see Mesa Verde.  Most of us wanted to continue on and tour a couple of other dwellings while we were here.  Tatum, however, has a way of convincing us that we really don't want to take her somewhere she doesn't want to be.  So, we looked through the museum, hit the gift shop, and headed back to camp.

Grandma & Grandpa have been to Durango before.  They told us about this great place called Bar D Chuckwagon.  It's an old western dinner and show.  Grandpa & Grandma had brought cousins Jake & Jacy to Durango, too, so we all headed out to Bar D for some supper.

By the time dinner arrived, these kids were so famished that even Tatum cleaned her plate.  The menu included BBQ beef or chicken, baked potatoes, baked beans, rolls, spice cake, and fresh applesauce.  The kids washed it down with real lemonade, all served on tin plates and cups.

 

Connor ate two full helpings of everything.  That kid was in heaven.  He ate until he couldn't stuff down another bite.

Then the Bar D Wranglers took the stage for a fun performance.  The show was a perfect mix of music and comedy, and everyone had a blast.  The kids were talking about the show all the way home.  After a full day of fun, everyone was wiped out.  We were asleep in record time.  We're excited for what tomorrow brings.  Our little road trip is nearing the end, and we intend to soak up every last moment.

Arches National Monument & Colorado

When you have been staying in a camper for going on 2 weeks, it is very hard to get kids to leave a hotel room.  Justin and I learned that today.  The kids did not want to leave the beds, the WIFI, or the TV.  But the day was wasting, so we "encouraged" them to get up and pack their things so we could move on.

Since we were so close, we hit Arches National Park on the way to Durango.  It wasn't in the original plan, but leaving Yellowstone a day early gave us some time to do a few other things.  We bought a National Parks Annual Pass before we left, so this visit was free.

We are definitely glad we made the time to stop.  There are some amazing sight to see at Arches.  We didn't have much time, so we couldn't do the big hikes, but there are quite a few things you can see from the car tour.  This is us at Balanced Rock, one of our favorite formations.  Very cool to see up close.

We also wanted to see Delicate Arch, but didn't have the 3 hours necessary to hike to the base.  So we took the Upper Viewpoint Trail.  This was our view of Delicate Arch.  Not great, right?  We made plans to come back in the fall and see it up close.  The park is really beautiful, and we wanted to get a better look at all its wonder.

We also hit the Visitor's Center for some in depth learning about the formation of the arches.  The kids have learned so much on this trip, and I'm glad that all three of them enjoy learning all about the places we've been.  They are like sponges and soak up everything around them.  Arches has a fantastic Visitor's Center, and there was much more to soak up that we had time for.  So, after about 30 minutes, we hit the road again...

Everyone was excited when we caught sight of this sign.  We are starting to lose track of how many states we've crossed, but this is our first visit to Colorado.  We called the campground where we had reservations and asked if they had room for us a day early.  We were excited to discover they did, so we headed to camp.  We were meeting Grandpa John and Grandma Linda there, and were excited to show up early to surprise them.

We hit camp about 30 minutes before they did, and were waiting in their site when they arrived.  It was fun to see the look of surprise on their faces when they pulled up.  We spent the evening around the camp fire making s'mores and telling them all about our trip.  The kids are happy to be with their grandparents, and life is good.

Moving On!

We left Yellowstone a day early.  The crowds were getting to us, and we had seen everything we wanted to see.  It was also supposed to rain in Yellowstone that day, and we didn't want to pack up a wet tent trailer.  So we got up early, packed the camp up in an hour, and headed out.  We weren't exactly sure where we were going, but we knew that in a few days, we had reservations in Durango, so we headed that way.

We drove, and drove, and drove some more.  We passed through Montana, Idaho, and finally hit Utah.  When we passed through Lehi, we decided it was time for lunch.  We saw a familiar stop on the GPS, and headed into Culver's for our favorite butterburgers.

Then it was time to hit the road again.  We drove for about 12 hours, until we finally decided it was time to stop.  We had promised the kids one hotel stay, and they were going to hold us to that promise.  So we grabbed a room in Moab, UT and hit the showers.

 

We ordered pizza and brought it up to the hotel room while the boys settled in for a few hours of River Monsters.  I was just thankful it wasn't Spongebob, which is their usual hotel favorite.  Then the girls and I crashed out.  It was a good night.

Yellowstone National Park - Day 4

 This morning we woke up and decided to hit the big stuff...  Old Faithful, the lodge and inn, the Grand Prismatic Spring...  the things people associate with Yellowstone.  We got up early, ate a quick breakfast, and hopped in the car.  As soon as we arrived at the geyser basin, Old Faithful began erupting.  We have great timing.  Old Faithful erupts every 93 minutes (give or take) so we knew we'd get to see this awesome sight again.

Justin had been to Yellowstone as a kid, and the only thing he really remembered was the Old Faithful Inn, so we headed over there next.  It was just like he remembered it.  The kids were excited because it reminded them of the Grand Californian Hotel at Disneyland.  Disney patterned that hotel after this one and the Awanee at Yosemite.  It was pretty cool to see the original inspiration for GC Hotel.

There is a very cool restaurant, which is pretty packed during lunch and dinner, inside the Inn.  We wanted to eat there, and the host recommended we come right at 11:30.  Since we had an hour to kill, we went over to the Visitor's Center to take that in.  The kids have already learned a ton about Yellowstone, so they knew a lot of the information, but it was still cool to see.  Connor spent at least 10 minutes at one exhibit, which compared the acidity and alkalinity of the different features at the park to household items.  One hot spring has the same acidity as battery acid!

Then it was lunch time at the Old Faithful Inn, where everyone (except Tatum) sunk their teeth into a delicious bison burger.  Let me tell you...  bison is delicious!  We loved it!

We checked the geyser schedule, and Riverside Geyser was set to erupt an hour after we finished lunch.  It was on the end of the boardwalk about 1.5 miles away.  We really wanted to see it erupt, so we walked as fast as we could to the end of the boardwalk.  We passed some really awesome geysers, hoping to see them better on the way back.  Luckily, we arrived just as Riverside was erupting.  It was awesome!  We liked Riverside better than Old Faithful.

Some of our favorite geothermal features were the hot springs.  They are brilliant and beautiful.    Here is Morning Glory Pool.  Once we hit the top of the trail, we made our way back down to catch the geysers we missed on the way up.

One of our favorites?  Grotto Geyser.  It was formed when trees at the base of the geyser were covered over with deposits from the water in the geyser.  The result was this crazy geyser.

After spending hours on the geyser boardwalk, we were ready for a rest.  We headed to the Bearpaw Deli for some huckleberry ice cream while waiting around for Old Faithful to erupt again.  We all loved the ice cream.  Huckleberry flavored products were everywhere here, and we sure liked the local flavor... and Old Faithful didn't disappoint.

 

We were able to witness another eruption from this great geyser before heading out of the basin.  Then we headed to the Midway Geyser Basin hoping to glimpse the Grand Prismatic Spring.  Alas, it was too windy, and we weren't able to see much more than steam.  We did see a couple of cool springs, like Crater Geyser Spring.

At the end of the day, we were starting to feel a little fenced in by the huge crowds.  Yellowstone was really busy, and we weren't even visiting during the busy season.  Parking is hard to come by, and there are tourists everywhere.  We felt like we had seen all the sights we were willing to fight to see, so we headed back to camp.

Justin grilled us up some chicken for dinner, and we had a peaceful night around the campfire.  We love seeing the sights of Yellowstone, but as our tour progresses, the park is getting busier and busier.  Sometimes a little peace and quiet is definitely on the itinerary.

Yellowstone National Park - Day 3

We woke up today to beautiful weather.  It rained all night last night, and it was slightly overcast this morning.  We decided to take a drive to Mammoth Hot Springs and take in the sights at the terraces.  On our way to Mammoth, we stopped to take a short hike to Wraith Falls.  Here is Justin making Connor into a Ring Wraith...  it's a Lord of the Rings joke.  Only nerds will find it funny.

Wraith Falls was quite breathtaking.  The beauty here is almost overwhelming.  We've seen lush valleys, countless waterfalls, and so much wildlife, it is ridiculous.  We've stopped paying attention to bison.  They are everywhere.  We've seen 2 grizzlies, 2 black bears, 3 moose, a wolf, a coyote, elk, a marmot...  just about everything they advertise in the Yellowstone brochure.

At Mammoth, we took the boardwalk to view all the amazing terraces.  There are no geysers at Mammoth because the Yellowstone Caldera (volcano) does not extend to this area.  There are terraces, which stream hot, mineralized water and leave deposits in a terrace type formation.

The terrain here is quite different.  It is pretty barren, unlike the rest of Yellowstone.  It is definitely not as pretty as the other areas, but it has a unique beauty.  The kids were also happy that the sulfur smell was decidedly less pronounced here.

After our drive to Mammoth, we still had a few hours for sightseeing.  We decided to take in the Mud Volcano area.  There are all types of geothermal features here, and it is definitely one of the stinkier areas of Yellowstone.  The smell of sulfur is constant.  One of our favorite features was called Dragon's Mouth.

This one belches steam and water constantly.  It is loud and very active.  There are several legends and old stories about it.  It was really interesting to watch.  You can tell Tatum just loves watching geysers.

And as the perfect ending to a great day, we went home, made dinner, and played games all evening.  We are really enjoying ourselves, and looking forward to another great day tomorrow.

Yellowstone National Park - Day 2

We woke up the next morning, ready to tackle a new adventure.  Much to Tatum's delight, we were not attacked by a grizzly bear in the middle of the night.  She did spend much of the morning reading the Yellowstone brochures and has educated us all on what to do if attacked by a grizzly.  After breakfast, we decided that we wanted to explore the Canyon area of Yellowstone.  First stop, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  We packed up our Camelbaks and headed out to hike.

We started out at Uncle Tom's Trail, but many of the trails were closed due to snow and erosion.  We were able to view the upper falls, and then we took the South Rim trail down to the lower falls.

When we hit the lower falls, we were dismayed to discover it was a zoo there.  There were so many people all around.  We couldn't get a good picture, let alone a few minutes to ourselves.  We were feeling a bit claustrophobic, so we opted to ditch the crowds and head for a backcountry trail.

No sooner had we hit the backcountry, then we saw this sign.  Tatum was not amused.  She wanted to turn around immediately.  We coaxed her into a few more miles, and promised ice cream at the end of the trail.

The backcountry proved to be just what we needed.  We didn't see any wildlife, but we came across the beautiful Clear Lake.  Clear Lake is an acidic lake, and you can hear and see the gases bubble to the surface of the water, but it is so gorgeous.  It might be my favorite sight so far.

Once we made it back to the trailhead, we were hungry for more adventure...  and some lunch.  We had packed lunches earlier that morning, so we ate our lunches in the car and made our way to the Norris Geyser Basin.  The kids had never seen a geyser before, and they were not fans of the smell.

There were several miles of boardwalk trail and more geysers than we could count.  The smell was a little overwhelming, though.  Tatum even remarked that the smell of geysers was worse than hiking.  Haha.

Most of the geysers weren't active, but we did get to see a few erupt.  We are hoping for better luck at Old Faithful.  Once we'd thoroughly explored the Norris Geyser Basin, we headed back to the Canyon General Store for some ice cream, as promised.

We rounded out our evening with dinner around the campfire and board games until it got dark, which is pretty late around here.  It finally gets dark around 10pm.  When we went to bed, it began to rain, and it rained all night long.  We stayed warm and dry in that little trailer.  We have patted ourselves on the back a couple times for that purchase.  It's been a great adventure so far.

Yellowstone National Park - Day 1

We woke up early the next morning to pack up and head out of Grand Teton National Park and into Yellowstone.  We were eating breakfast, lamenting the fact that we hadn't seen a moose, when a big moose crossed our path and made his way across the campground.  It was amazing.  The kids watched in awe, as Justin told them they would probably never see another moose this close.  Ironically, we turned around, and there was an even bigger moose right behind us.  We watched them for several minutes until they left camp.  Then we said goodbye to the Tetons and headed out.

On our way out, we saw dozens of bison.  They were everywhere.  The road to Yellowstone was beautiful, and as we crossed into the park, we were surprised to find snow all over the ground.  This was going to be a cold trip.  We got to our campground in Canyon Village and started setting up.  Thirty minutes later, the kids and Justin were making peanut butter sandwiches, talking about how berry jam would attract grizzlies, when, on cue, an enormous grizzly walked into our camp.  We were all more than a little scared, and I directed the kids to get into the car.  Justin and I kept an eye on the big guy, and Justin yelled down to the campers below us to warn them that he was coming their way.  Tatum was crying the whole time.  He finally moved on, and we could all breathe easy.  We didn't get to snap a picture of him, but Justin went back and put his hand in the bear's paw print.  He was a pretty big grizzly.

Once all the excitement was over, we moved on to the mundane stuff, laundry and showers.  The kids didn't get to shower in Teton, and we were all ready for some clean laundry.

While the girls and I did laundry, Connor was happy to have some cell service.  He spent the afternoon in the corner of the laundromat catching up with friends.  He is not as happy as the rest of us to leave the civilized world behind.

Then we ran across the street to the Canyon Visitor's Center.  They have some fabulous exhibits, and we were anxious to learn all about Yellowstone.

The kids' favorite exhibits were the large relief map of Yellowstone and the earthquake exhibit.  They spent quite a while looking at all the earthquakes that have happened around Yellowstone.

Then we headed back to camp to make dinner and relax.  Tatum was still very freaked out, and we didn't think she was going to sleep at all that night.  She kept asking if the grizzly was going to come back.

After a very eventful day, we finally called it a night, and were very grateful that our little pop up camper had a good heater.  It was a cold night, but we were glad to be here.