Road Trip, Again: Santa Fe to St. George

 Day 10: Santa Fe to Farmington, NM
Monday, Oct. 7

So, we decided to go to Santa Fe, just so we could visit New Mexico's state capitol building. (And you've already heard me tell how unimpressed we were, right?) Well, one sad thing about that -- we found out that if we had chosen Albuquerque instead, we could have lucked into the International Hot Air Balloon Festival, which was going on that whole week! Can you believe?! Our one consolation was that our schedule didn't really match up with any of the big balloon launches. But still... next time, eh? :)

So, Santa Fe...
Brian woke up early and took a bike ride around the town, capturing some of the fun southwestern architecture designs, like this...

 Once we got loaded up, we stopped at the Native American Indian museum, to buy some souvenirs (colored corn necklaces, beaded rings, etc.) These artsy old west guys were in front of the museum...

And then, we opted for the scenic route to Arizona, heading north to hit some Aztec ruins and Four Corners monument. It was a bit desolate, but pretty...

Camel Rock (below)... Do you see it? :)

The Aztec Ruins...
I really, really love these kinds of things, so, I was glad to see my kids were enjoying it, too. We took about 30 pictures of the ruins, but I'll just show you these few...

They recreated a replica of what one of the towers might have looked like inside. Very fascinating! Natalie loved the echo, Samantha and Spencer loved the hidey holes and ladders...

So, after visiting the ruins and eating a bite, we realized if we kept driving toward Arizona, we wouldn't make it to Four Corners before it closed. Believe it or not, I was mildly devastated. I even started to cry a little bit. (Give me some leniency here, please... I have ALWAYS wanted to go to Four Corners, AND, I had been on the road in a minivan with three small children for ten days at this point. AND, I had just sacrificed the majority of Houston, and we all know I would have enjoyed spending a week or so there. So, I vote that the tears were in order! You can vote too, as long as you agree. :)

Brian was the sweet hero who decided not to cross his tearful wife... er, I mean, ... decided we should stay in Farmington for the night, at a nice Marriott with a fun pool. (No pics of the pool, too bad!) Even though we had only driven about four hours that day, and it was only 4:30 in the afternoon. It was a wise choice, and made for a much better Day #11 :)

Day 11: Farmington, NM to Page, AZ
Tuesday, Oct. 8 -- Monument Valley and Grand Canyon Day!

This was our earliest morning of the trip. I think we were on the road by 7:30 a.m.! Gooooo Bishops! (If you know us, you KNOW this was a GREAT accomplishment!) On our way to Four Corners, we passed by a lot of "nothing" and then, this famous, big rock, called Shiprock. It's actually an old volcano -- our kids freaked out when we told them that. ha!

 At Four Corners, we were some of the first visitors of the morning. We each took our turn standing -- or kneeling, I guess? -- in four states at once: New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado.

Seriously, though, can you blame me for wanting to go there? I know it's just an imaginary border line, in the middle of the desert. But I love it! I've always thought it would be such a cool place to visit!

Brian's been before, but he humored me, and drove us waaaay out of the way, so we could do it. :) Fun!

Next, well... hey! There's the Mexican Hat rock. See it? Get it? It's a big rock, that looks like a Mexican sombrero hat. See it now?? :)

And then, below... yes, we DID get everyone out of the car to take a picture by the famous Monument Valley, the very moment we first saw it on the horizon...

Then, we managed to take 50 MORE pictures of it from every angle as we passed by it, through it, and around it, for the next two hours...

Hey, isn't this shot from the movie, "Cars?" ha!

FINALLY, the amazing finale of the day... the GRAND CANYON!! We got to the parking lot, and literally had to spend a full five minutes playing on these rocks (below), before we could drag the kids down to the main attraction. ha!

Here it is, and here's my handsome man, too...

Natalie was our little climbing maniac. Seriously, we should all be thankful she is not at the bottom of the Grand Canyon right now. She was relegated to the stroller shortly after this picture was taken...

Samantha loved it...

 Brian took some great sunset shots...

 And yes, we even begged some fellow tourists to take a group shot of us...

(If' you're eager to see the other 150 pics we took of our Grand Canyon adventure, just email me. :)

What else is there to say about it? Yes, it's everything everyone has ever told you... massive, gorgeous, awe-inspiring, etc. We loved it. We want to go back someday and hike it... maybe without children. :)

We stayed so late, oohing and ahhing over the views, that we had a hard time finding food and a place to stay that night. But we lucked into a great 1-bdrm apt. in Page, AZ, after checking tripadvisor.com. (Hint: if you're ever in Page, visit tripadvisor, and get in touch with Jake!! And no, I don't get paid to say those kinds of things.)

Day 12: Page, AZ to St. George, UT

Wednesday, Oct. 9 

We had a nice, leisurely morning in Page, enjoying our lovely apartment and stocking up on some groceries. Then we were off to visit the nearby Glen Canyon Dam, at the Head of Lake Powell... 

Pretty amazing and impressive, even for the kids! We went into the visitors center and they had some great exhibits showcasing how the dam was built. What a project! Another small sidenote: I get a tiny bit squeamish standing at the top of huge dams. But again, I just be brave, and I'm still alive after many ventures on top of big dams.

And bridges, like this one...

Proof that we were in the visitors center...

Next stop, Zion National Park. (Aside: We were actually smart enough to buy an annual National Parks pass at the Aztec Ruins, back in New Mexico, which practically paid for itself by the time we toured the Grand Canyon and Zion. And now we've got the rest of the year to keep banking free trips on it, wahoo!)

Note of significance: we turned over 4000 mile on our trip odometer right as we entered Zion. (And technically, we should add and extra 25 miles or so, since we didn't actually set the trip odometer at the start of our trip until we were a ways into New Jersey.) Anyway, it was exciting enough that I made Brian stop and take a not-so-focused picture...

Even more exciting was the view around us a that moment. Hello, Beautiful Zion...

 I seriously LOVE Zion, and my kids and Brian loved it too. Even right on the heels of the Grand Canyon, we were all amazed at the grandeur of the whole place. Amazed, I tell you...

 One-mile tunnel through a red rock mountain. Super cool!

 I even snapped a not-very-good picture out the "window" of the tunnel, halfway through. (They don't let you stop, or you can be sure my pic would have been better!)

Then we rode the bus through the park to all the most noteworthy sites. (Spencer's back there studying the map, to be sure. That kid LOVES maps. Samantha too, actually.) ...

 We let Samantha have the camera while on the bus. So, we got a little of this...

 And some of this...

 And this...

And we took it back when we started getting this (close-ups of the butterflies on her shirt)...

We got off the bus at the end of the line, up near the starting trail for the Narrows, with the Virgin River.

 We let the kids play in the water for a half hour or more. It was seriously one of the highlights of the trip, for all of us. It was coolish, but still comfortable. And the air smelled so fresh and clean. And the kids had so much fun stomping around in that water, playing with each other, building little dams, etc. It's one of my "happy moments," especially looking back.

 Natalie was not about to stay dry, so we removed her clothes and let her splash to her heart's content...

 Spencer was picking up mud off the bottom of the river and building something with it. Very exciting...

 Funny thing about Spencer -- after so much digging in the mud, his shirt was getting quite dirty. So, I told him to maybe not keep wiping his hands on his shirt so it didn't get any dirtier or wetter. He looked down, saw the dirt on his shirt, and immediately laid tummy-down in the water to wash it off! Needless to say, he was drenched, but I don't think he minded too much. :)

Seriously, it was all sooo majestic and beautiful. We stayed a long time and soaked up the awesomeness of it all...

 And we took about 50 more pictures like these...

 Then, on to St. George for the night, to stay with my Aunt and her grandkids at their vacation house. I'm sure you can hardly wait for the grand finale post, where this road trip will finally come to an end. Stay tuned for one more round of good stuff, coming soon...