How do I take a vacation out West to see the National Parks?

Hopefully after reading our blog posts, you are asking yourself the question above. If so, I have a couple of suggestions assuming you don’t have 2 months and/or your own camper to devote to the trip.

The first suggestion is this….rent a motorhome. One of the things that Missy and I were continually surprised by was the number of rental motorhomes we saw at campgrounds near, and in, the National Parks. If you have never thought about renting an RV here are a couple of facts to consider:

1. All of the National Parks out west have parking and accommodations for RV’s. We saw hundreds of Motorhomes driving around inside Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Arches, Mt. Rushmore and all the other parks we went to. Several times we took our camper into one of the parks. When planning our trip, I had no idea if the National Parks would have someplace for me to park my truck with the camper attached to the back. It was not a problem as all of the National Parks are used to dealing with people with Motorhomes and campers.
2. The larger RV rental places allow you to pick-up your Motorhome and drop if off in a different city. So if you wanted to see Yellowstone and then go down to the Grand Canyon you could pick-up you RV in Boise and return it in Phoenix.
3. Remember when considering the cost of renting an RV, you are not only renting a vehicle, but also a Hotel room and a kitchen. It is very easy to throw together a quick breakfast and lunch in the Motorhome. This saves a lot of money on food since you don’t have to eat out every meal. Plus since the dining options inside the National Parks are very expensive, being able to hop in the RV, drive to a scenic spot, and make your own hot lunch is very handy.
4. Camping in the National Parks is cheap. $25.00 per night seems to be the current going rate. Even if you want the amenities of a private campground (swimming pool, playground, camp store, restaurant) it is still usually less than $40.00 per night.
   

My next suggestion is to plan what you want to do in the parks beforehand. If you want to go fishing in Yellowstone, you can buy a license and rent fishing equipment ahead of time. If you want to go rafting in Yosemite, you can arrange that before arriving. Bike rentals, overnight hiking permits, tour groups, and more are easier to arrange before you leave than while at the parks.

And lastly, unless you are going to use your own RV, fly out west…don’t drive. The drive through the Plains States is long and horrible. There is just nothing to see in Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa. Save yourself the pain and fly to the biggest city near the Park you want to visit and pick-up your RV there.

The names of the Large RV rental companies that I am familiar with are the following (from largest to smaller) http://www.cruiseamerica.com/ http://www.roadbearrv.com/ http://www.apollorv.com/ www.campingworld.com/rvrentals/ http://www.elmonterv.com/ There are other of course, but these are the ones we saw most often while traveling.

You are welcome to post a question if there is anything you want more information on.

Day # 62 - Home

We left Casey, IL this morning after spending more time than usual doing our pack-up routine. Since we will be home this afternoon, I took the time to dump all the tanks and put everything away in a permanent location. Missy took the time to do all the little stuff inside like clearing all the bath stuff out of the tub and gathering all the coats and towels that get hung on various hooks. It was a little weird thinking that we won’t be sleeping in the camper tonight. After 61 days, it will be an adjustment to go back to our normal bed.

The drive home was easy. It only took about 4.5 hours. We had to go around Indy and Cincy, but after San Francisco and Vegas, these cities didn’t even warrant taking my headphones off.

We arrived home around 4:00 EST. The first thing I thought when we walked into the house is…Man, this place is BIG. After being in a 23’ x 8’ box for the last 2 months, the house feels HUGE. Funny how your perception changes based on your surroundings. Missy and I had been talking before we left about the time when we would move to a bigger house because our place is too small for a family of 5. That seems a little silly right now after the summer we have had.

Sarah and Abby are certainly glad to be back. They went and hugged every stuffed animal in their room as soon as we got home. Then they came down stairs and asked to each get on one of our two computers. We bought a laptop to take on the trip with us. But since the laptop was our lifeline to our bank accounts and paying bills (not to mention this blog) we decided early on that we would not allow the kids to use it during our trip. So after being denied nickjr.com and Barbie.com for 2 months, they were both very happy to play on the computers for a couple of hours. AJ upon getting home, promptly got every toy truck, train and car out of the bins in the family room and lined them all up on the dining room table so he could play with them all at once. He kept bringing Missy and me a toy and saying “dis AJ’s” and smiling and running off to play with the newly re-discovered toy.

This kind of brings me to the end of our daily updates. We spent 2 months traveling in our trailer this summer and camped in 18 states. And I think the question most people would ask is…Would you do it again? And the answer is…absolutely. We had a wonderful time. I might do things slightly different next time. We learned a lot about how to plan and manage a long trip. But yes…we would absolutely do it again.

Thanks for reading.

Day # 61 - Casey, IL

We camped last night just east of Kansas City (on the Missouri side of the city) and yesterday had been a long day. I didn’t want to push as hard today as I did yesterday. Still, as the hours rolled away, I found myself looking at the GPS more and more often. This morning, I had entered in our home address as the “destination” into the GPS. Hallie the GPS (go back a couple of days if you want to know why the GPS is named “Hallie”) displayed the estimated time we would arrive home. At 5:30 tonight Hallie said we only had 4 more hours until we were home. It was tempting. But I was tired, and after 2 months of traveling, what is setting up the camper one more time going to hurt. Besides, the girls were getting antsy and I knew the KOA in Casey, IL had a nice campground from the pictures I had looked at last night. (I checked on a couple of campgrounds on the route home last night).

So when the exit for Casey, IL came up, Missy and I decided to go ahead and stay the night. Besides, I knew we had enough VIP credits left over from all of our KOA stays this summer that it wouldn’t cost much. I was right. Total cost to camp tonight with taxes and fees = $11.86.
As we have come to expect during the work week, the campground was almost empty. When planning this trip, all of the information we read in books and on the web told us we had to make reservations every night we wanted to stay in a campground because they all get full during the summer. This has simply not been true. In fact, even on the weekends, most of the campgrounds we have stayed at have had sites available. The exceptions were the Oregon State campgrounds and the San Francisco KOA campground over 4th of July weekend. Other than that, we could have easily not made a single campground reservation this summer.

We requested a site near the playground and got one right across the gravel drive. The kids played while Missy did our nightly set-up. While both of us are sick of having to set the camper up, we have gotten pretty efficient at it. I can have all the outside stuff done in under 30 minutes and Missy can have the inside done in about 20 minutes.

After we set-up, we decided to go back into Casey for dinner. We purposely didn’t re-stock on groceries knowing that we would be home tomorrow, but we ran one day short on dinner foods. So, we decided to go to the local Dairy Queen for dinner. Hamburgers and Onion rings for Missy and me and Hotdogs and chicken fingers for the kids. And of course, ice cream for dessert. Our conversation focused mostly on what everyone will do first when we get home. Sarah wants to hug all of her stuffed animals that she hasn’t seen in 2-months. Abby wants to play on the computer. AJ does not really understand that being home means no more camper for a while. Missy wants to take a long shower in a “real” sized tub. I want to relax on the couch without someone asking me to move or crawling on top of me. But everyone is excited about getting home

After dinner, we got the kids to bed and were in bed ourselves shortly after. It does feel weird to be going home tomorrow.

Day # 60 - Oak Grove, MO

The campground we stayed at last night has a daily all you can eat pancake breakfast. It was faster than what we could make (and I didn’t have to make a mess in the camper), and cheaper and much tastier than McDonalds. Actually, it was very good. The owner’s wife was the cook. She also made a pretty good batch of biscuits and gravy. With our tummies full, we loaded up and headed out. We have a very long day ahead of us driving through nothing but cow pastures and corn fields. Too bad you can’t fly over Kansas with your camper in tow! We were doing our best to keep moving so we could actually get out of Kansas today. How depressing would it be to wake up in Kansas, drive all day and have to go to sleep in Kansas! We made it across the Missouri border and stayed in Oak Grove, just outside of Kansas City. We stayed in – you guessed it a KOA Kampground. This one actually sold us some propane and gave us a sight close to the wi-fi tower so we could actually use the service – go figure! The kids played at the playground 3 sights away while Tony and I got set up. We threw burgers and dogs on the grill and had a quick dinner before getting ready for bed. We want to try to get a reasonable start tomorrow to see how far we can get. We will probably have to stop one more night, but we’ll see how it goes.

Day # 59 - Goodland, KS

Unfortunately, it’s time to go home. I can’t believe how fast this trip has flown by! It seems like the planning and preparation took forever and now it’s over. What great memories we’ve made together. It’s weird to think that we’ll be home in just a few days.

Because we extended our trip, we needed to get Sarah’s medicine refilled. The problem is that because ADD medications are controlled substances you have to jump through a few hoops to get them filled. In our case, we had to have Alice pick up the actual scripts and Fed-Ex them to us in Colorado. Since we knew we were going to be waiting around until 10:30 for Fed-Ex to arrive, we were in no real hurry to get packed up and on our way. We made a quick bite for breakfast and got things squared away.

We were pretty glad to be leaving this particular campground. Woodall’s (the campground Bible so to speak) rated this campground a 5 diamond, its highest rating. I don’t know who was doing the reviewing or what their pay-off was, but this facility certainly was NOT a 5 diamond! The wi-fi was all but unusable, the cable was unwatchable and the landscaping left much to be desired. Throw in the highway noise and the train that rolled through at all hours of the day and night and you start to get the picture. Since we were only staying a few nights and once again using the camper as a hotel room, we decided just to make the best of it. The straw that broke the camel’s back so to speak though happened when Tony tried to get our propane tanks refilled this morning. Selling propane is a pretty standard service in most campgrounds. Most places even advertise it as one of their amenities. So when Tony went to the office around 8:30 a.m. to inquire about getting propane, he was surprised at the reaction he received. The woman in the office told him that there was no one else there that could help him. She said there wouldn’t be anyone else on until 11:30. Tony left dismayed and puzzled. He ran into another KOA worker cleaning the pool. Tony asked if he knew if someone could help him with propane. The man replied that he was finished cleaning the pool and he could probably do it. He told Tony to head over to the tank and that he would be right there. A few minutes later, the man arrived and informed Tony that the woman in the office told him that they were far too busy for him to sell propane and that Tony would have to wait until 11:30. Never mind that the man was standing right there. Never mind that a customer was asking you to provide one of the basic services you advertise. Never mind that you just told a customer that you were too busy doing busy work to actually help them. Talk about poor customer service! We will take great pleasure filling out the camper satisfaction survey and sending it off to corporate along with a letter to KOA corporate, Woodall’s directory, The Good Sam Club and anyone else we can think of that might be interested in the poor experience we had at the Colorado Springs KOA.

Once we had prescriptions in hand we headed for the nearest Walgreens and then we were on our way. It had gotten pretty late in the day and by the time 4:30 rolled around we were only to Goodland, Kansas. Because Kansas is an incredibly long and empty (read boring) state we knew if we didn’t stop in Goodland, we’d have to drive several more hours to make it to Salina and we didn’t really feel up to that. We stopped at a small but very nice KOA in town. Because we arrived at the campground earlier than normal, we had plenty of time to enjoy some of the campground’s amenities. The kids played on the playground while Tony and I set up. Abby had been begging us to play putt-putt and there was a small course in the campground. We played perhaps the longest round of 9 holes of putt-putt ever, but the kids had a good time. The owner even turned on the windmills to make it “more challenging.” I took the opportunity to get a little laundry done so that we won’t have so much to do when we get home. Tony fired up the oven and we had our famous camping pizza for dinner. We had a relaxing day even though we didn’t make much progress home.

Day # 58 - Flying W Ranch

We woke up this morning and were unsure of how we exactly wanted to spend our last day. We made reservations when we got into town to attend a chuck wagon dinner this evening, but still couldn’t decide what to do in the mean time. We had originally wanted to take the cog railway to the top of Pikes Peak. Given Tony and AJ’s breathing issues recently we didn’t think it was wise to drag them 14,110 feet in the air. We had also wanted to visit the Garden of the Gods, but once again we were feeling a little jaded about red rock formations having just come from Sedona, AZ and Moab, Utah. We had read up on the Garden’s visitor’s center and decided that we would start there.

The visitor’s center is really nice. They have an all new 15 minute long movie about the formation of the rocks in the park and also about the benefactor that left the land to the city of Colorado Springs. I didn’t realize that the Garden of the Gods is a city park when we planned this trip. In addition, admission to the park and visitor’s center is free. Apparently, it was a condition of the Perkin’s family when they donated the land to the city that it should remain a free park. We all know I think free is good! The visitor’s center was full of fascinating displays and housed a gift shop and snack bar. The kids loved the display of animal pelts. A volunteer had several pelts and skulls from various animals indigenous to the park. We located the penny press and smashed our pennies. I only have 1 spot left in my penny passport so it’s a good thing we are going home soon. We picked up a map of the park. The park itself is a lot smaller than we thought at a little over 480 acres. Compared to the National Parks we have been in, this park felt very small. Because of its size, the park is very accessible to hikers.

There are several trails to choose from to view the rock formations. To get away from the mid-day crowd we opted for a moderate hike instead of one of the paved trails. The kids had a great time stomping around in the rocks once again. Another great feature about the size of the park is that you can explore a little bit off the beaten path without the worry of getting lost and having to have park rangers come out and rescue you. We were able to putter around and enjoy the views. The view of Pike’s Peak was pretty awesome. We also got an excellent view of the Sleeping Giant formation.

After our hike, we went back to the camper to get ready for the chuck wagon dinner. Early in planning our trip we had decided that we wanted to go to a chuck wagon dinner. When I was a kid, my family went to one during a visit to Colorado. I vividly remember it to this day. I wasn’t real fond of the food, but I was enthralled by the music of the Lazy B Wranglers. I guess it was part nostalgia that prompted me to want to take the family while we were there. In researching the many options available I came across the website for the Flying W Ranch. The ranch is an actual working cattle ranch that has run a dinner and a western show for over 50 years. In addition to dinner and a show, the ranch has a western town that guests can tour prior to dinner. There are several buildings that house knick knack shops as well as artifacts on display. The kids’ favorites were touring the jail cells built in the late 1800’s and watching the blacksmith shoeing a horse. We also liked the one room school house. I enjoyed reading the rules of the school marm and learning that a woman could no longer teach once she was married as it was considered poor taste to consort with men- hmmm there’s a thought.

Before long, the dinner bell rang calling us to dinner. We had choice seats at a picnic table near the stage. Dinner was served buffet style and we were called early to get our grub. The food was actually pretty good – BBQ beef or chicken, beans, homemade applesauce and biscuits, baked potatoes and spice cake. There was coffee, iced tea and lemonade to drink. Abby and AJ didn’t eat much, but we were really proud of picky Sarah for trying and eating a lot of her dinner. One of the upsides to choosing the Flying W was their pricing. Many of the dinners we looked at charged full price for kids, or charged a set amount for all kids regardless of their age. At the Flying W, Sarah was half price and Abby and AJ were only $5 each. A good deal considering they pretty much just ate cake and applesauce! After dinner, the hour long show began. The wrangler band was very good, especially the fiddle player. The jokes were lame as expected and everyone had fun singing along to cowboy favorites. I was waiting for my favorite song Riders (give me a mountain tempo in A minor….) and wasn’t disappointed! After the show we made our way back to our car. Abby and AJ were starving so we tossed them some goldfish crackers. It was a great evening and a fun way to end our trip.

Day # 57 - Manitou Springs, CO

We had trouble deciding where to go today. There are numerous attractions and landmarks here in the Colorado Springs area. We decided we would start with the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. The cliff dwellings are authentic Anasazi Indian cliff dwellings built over 700 years ago. They are similar to the dwellings we saw at Montezuma’s Castle in Arizona, but they are much cooler because you can actually walk around and go inside them. It was extremely fascinating to walk through the structures and envision how these peoples must have lived. The kids enjoyed climbing up the ladders and squeezing themselves through the small openings. We have long ago established that I am a complete geek about these kinds of places so I was totally in my element, and my husband and the kids seemed to be enjoying themselves too.

As we were exploring the sight, we discovered that during the summer months there are Indian dance exhibitions. As luck would have it the first one of the day was starting in 15 minutes. We made our way down to the small amphitheater area to watch. There was a single drummer and two dancers. The drummer explained some of the traditions surrounding the dances and the costumes. The dancers were very good. Everyone sat mesmerized. Our favorite dance was the hoop dance. The traditional hoop dance taught balance and agility. It was impressive to see the movements he could make with 5 hoops. I think I got winded just watching him. For the final dance, all of the kids got to join in on a friendship dance. Sarah and Abby had a lot of fun. We wouldn’t turn AJ loose on the unsuspecting dancers and he wasn’t very happy with us. Fortunately, he doesn’t hold a grudge very long.

After the dancing, we finished looking at the cliff dwellings and then headed over to the Anasazi museum. The museum is housed in a 3-story pueblo. The original 6 rooms were built in 1898. They have expanded and modernized the building several times, but it is an impressive replica. We enjoyed looking around and locating the smashed penny machine so we could fill our passports. We headed back to the car for change. While I took the kids back to smash our pennies, Tony had a look around the tables of t-shirts they had set up on the upper level. He found a great deal on some kids-sized glow in the dark t-shirts. Abby couldn’t wait to wear her new “glow-up” shirt.

We were staring to get hungry and went in search of lunch. We decided to head up the road a few miles into historic Manitou Springs. Manitou Springs sits at the base of Pike’s Peak (the tallest mountain peak in the continental US). It is a very quaint little town. We found a public lot and paid our 5 bucks and went in search of a good place to have lunch. Tony really wanted BBQ, but the place was packed so we headed down the block to the Historic Stage Coach Inn. We had a very enjoyable lunch. We had great service, good food and touristy prices. After lunch, we headed back out into town to check out the sights and walk the streets. Once again the weather was beautiful and we could actually enjoy taking a stroll without feeling like we were going to melt. The main attractions in Manitou are the mineral springs. There are 11 named mineral springs in the city. This area was once considered sacred by the neighboring Native American Tribes. The springs were thought to have healing properties. Today, the springs flow and freely for public consumption. Each one has its own design. The kids were really excited about drinking the water until they tasted it. The high mineral content gives the water a metallic taste in my opinion, but many of the people we saw liked it. What was also interesting is the each springs water had a unique flavor. Tony tried 4 different springs and declared that the Shoshone Spring tasted the best. As we strolled along, we spotted a penny arcade with a huge section of mechanical kiddie rides. Of course the rides were all a quarter (inflation?) but the kids had a blast trying them all out. A half hour and 5 dollars later we finally managed to tear them away. At the far end of town, we spotted a small city park with a playground. It had some unique play equipment that I’d never seen before. AJ’s favorite was a merry-go round like wheel that you could lay down on and be spun. He squealed with delight and rode that thing over and over again. The girls were partial to the giant swings that looked like a cross between Frisbees and UFOs. We coaxed the kids away from the playground and strolled back down the other side of the street towards our car.

We headed back to the campground for dinner and a relaxing evening, or so we thought. We had a terrible wind storm that woke the kids up and made our two drama queens cry. In all honesty, it was a little unsettling. The wind gusts were pretty big and our little canvas sided camper was rocking and rolling pretty good. I know that Tony was thinking of all the wood, metal and screws he replaced (and the parts he didn’t) as the camper was being shook by the storm. In the end the camper held fast and the storm passed without major incident.

Day # 56 - Colorado Springs

Got ourselves over the Rockies and made it to Colorado Springs. One more shining example of my husband’s towing prowess and a sigh of relief from me that I didn’t have to be behind the wheel! Slept in a little bit and then grabbed a bite of breakfast.

We had to go in search of new shoes for the boy. He actually wore a hole in the bottom of his sneakers and the toe seams are starting to give. Luckily, we are back in civilization and there are about half a dozen Kohl’s in the area. We managed to get AJ to hold still long enough to measure his feet and encouraged him to pick the shoes we liked (nice black Sketchers that will hide dirt instead of the cheaply made pair sporting Lightning McQueen). We made our final selections and proceeded to the checkout, then the happy little man proudly wore his new sneakers out of the store.

We decided to not push ourselves too hard today as everyone was still recovering from the drive and Tony was finally starting to feel better again. We thought we would check out the lay of the land and plan the next few day’s worth of activities. We headed into downtown Colorado Springs. Tony remembered that it was a neat downtown area from when he was here on business years ago. It’s more metropolitan than the towns we’ve visited recently, but it still had a small town charm.

The main section of downtown had several sculptures and a few nicely manicured parks. We were looking for a park with a play area for the kids to run off some steam because we were tired of hearing Abby chastise us that we weren’t making full use of the playground at the campground. I don’t know how many times this trip we have had the discussion that we can play at a playground at home. That we want to do things on this trip we can’t do at home. After 2 months, you’d think it would sink in.

Anyway, Tony happened upon Acadia Park. There was a very interesting fountain spouting water that local kids were playing in along with a small but nice area with a jungle gym. We hopped out and were surprised that the fountain was staffed with 2 young men to watch over the play area. Having park staff there made the play seem that much more orderly. The kids in the fountain were certainly having a good time, but it wasn’t a free for all. Our kids were disappointed that we didn’t have extra clothes with us so they could get wet too. They enjoyed playing on the playground for a while. Suddenly, the fountain seemed to come to life. Music started playing and the water was choreographed to the beat. The center part of the fountain rose up displaying a comical figure named Uncle Wilber playing an enormous water spouting sousaphone. Apparently the fountain’s “show” happens every 30 minutes and at night there are lights as well. It wasn’t a Vegas fountain, but it was entertaining and we enjoyed watching it. We took a stroll around town to get a closer look at some of the statues, stopped by Mrs. Field’s for some cookies, Starbucks for iced tea and then walked back to the park to watch another show before heading back to the campground. It felt good to just be out walking around. The temperature was perfect – in the low 70’s!

We headed back to the campground for lunch. After the kids took their rest, we headed for the campground’s playground before dinner. We grilled out for dinner and then everyone got cleaned up and ready for adventure tomorrow.

Day # 55 - Colorado Springs, CO

Today is not going to be a fun day. It is raining and we have to climb over 6000 feet in elevation to go over the Rocky Mountains on our way around Denver to Colorado Springs. We left Grand Junction at a reasonable time, but the GPS wanted me to take the back roads over the mountains. No matter how many times I made it re-calculate, it would never pick up on the fact that I wanted to stay on the Interstate. Ain’t technology grand!?! Finally I just switched it off. After all, I made it almost 40 years reading maps the old fashioned way. Sarah takes great delight in asking me if “Hallie is getting us lost again” (why the GPS is named Hallie is a long story. The short version is that when I first got it, I thought the female mechanical voice sounded like the sister of the computer voice in the movie “2000 A Space Odyssey”. That computer was named HAL2000 so his sister would have to be…yea, you guessed it) after a trip she and Missy took through the corn fields of Indiana because they were following Hallie’s directions.

Technological malfeasance aside, we did make it to I-70 and started east. It took about an hour to reach Glenwood Springs and for the climb to start. I had thought we might drive out of the rain because it was slowing down and the sky was getting lighter, but as soon as we started to go up, the rain got harder. By the time we reached the Eisenhower Memorial tunnel about 45 minutes outside of Denver (the highest vehicular tunnel in the world with an elevation of 11,158 feet according to the sign) the temperature outside had dropped to 39 degrees. Yea…39 freaking degrees at the end of July!! I guess I should be thankful that it was raining and not snowing.

Hauling the trailer up the incline really sucked. About as fast as we could maintain was 40 miles per hour. If I tried to go any faster, the transmission would drop into first gear and the RMP’s would shoot up above 5000. Better to keep it in second gear and take our time. A hill like that is one of those rare times you are thankful you cannot afford a larger trailer.

We did finally make it around Denver and decided to stop at a Chili’s for dinner. After a nice meal we piled back in the truck and drove the last hour to the KOA campground in Colorado Springs. Most KOA campgrounds are pretty nice and because of that they tend to cost a bit more than other campgrounds. This one is very average and given the price, not a very good value. But, at this point, I am not willing to go through the hassle of finding another place, so we decided to just stay put. It was getting late when we arrived, so we finished setting up the camper and got the kids right to bed. Since I am still not feeling 100% and it was stressful day, I was asleep on the couch shortly after the kids were down.

Day # 54 - Grand Junction, CO

Originally we were going to push all the way from Moab, UT to Colorado Springs today. That was before I got so sick. I’m not so sure I want to go 400+ miles today when some of those miles are arguably the hardest towing miles in the country. The drive on I-70 from Grand Junction up and over the Rockies to Denver is a well known truck killer when you are towing. In addition to the steep climb, there are the cross winds that can push your trailer into another lane very easily. So, we decided to break the drive up into two days and stop around Grand Junction today. Hopefully tomorrow I will be feeling better and can tackle the trip over the mountains.

During our hike in Moab at the Copper Ridge Dinosaur tracks, Sarah found a billboard that listed all of the other dinosaur related activities in the region and she saw a Museum in Fruita, CO called “The Dinosaur Journey Museum”. She really wanted to stop there so Missy and I decided this would be a nice activity for today and we could stay in one of the many campgrounds between Fruita and Grand Junction, CO for the night.

So this morning we left Moab and headed north. My time in Moab was pretty frustrating. If seeing National Parks and hiking are things you enjoy, then Moab is someplace you really want to visit. But since I was sick much of the time we were there, it felt like I was a kid who had my face pressed up to the glass of the candy store window but could not go inside. The things I did get to do were great. So we will definitely be returning for another visit. I will say however, that it would be nice to be able to visit in the spring or fall. Moab is very dry and very hot during the summer. It is true that the parks are much less busy in the summer than the fall or spring. But the hikes would be easier, especially on kids, if the weather was cooler.

We stopped in Fruita to visit the Dinosaur Journey Museum. The cost was reasonable at $20.00 for the whole family. The museum is small, but they have several very interesting displays. And several of the displays use animatronics (robot) dinosaurs. They even had one that you could control using a joystick to move the head back and forth and the arms up and down. It was pretty neat and worth a visit if you are on I-70 at the western border of Colorado.

Another display they had was an Earthquake machine. All the kids thought it was great to “feel” how an earthquake feels and watch the display as the tectonic plates shift. I was less interested in the robot dinosaurs (I saw plenty of robots in my previous job) and more into all the fossil skeletons that had been found in Colorado. I guess I thought most of the dino-fossils that were found in America came from Wyoming and the Dakotas. But there are many archeological sites in Colorado too. I learned something new.

After 2 -hours we had seen the entire museum twice and it was time to go. After rides on the dinosaur in the gift shop we headed for one of the campgrounds in Grand Junction. Since we have stayed at so many KOA campgrounds during this trip, we had accumulated some bonus points good towards $25.00 off a nights stay. So I called the KOA in Grand Junction and they had a spot right across from the playground. It was a smaller campground than most of the other KOA’s, but it was clean, the people were nice and the girls liked being able to go to the playground on their own since I could watch them as I got the camper set-up. Tomorrow will be a long day for me, so I am heading to bed early.

Day # 53 - Moab, UT

Okay…I thought yesterday I was getting over being sick. It had been 2-days since I got an allergy shot and that is usually is how long it takes to feel better when I have gone too long between shots. So imagine my disappointment when I woke up today feeling worse and with a 102 degree fever to boot. We already extended our stay in Utah a day so we could see more of the sights and now I feel terrible.

Since we needed to pack-up for the move to Colorado anyway, we took it easy this morning. We made breakfast and AJ (who is feeling better but not yet well) and I played in our bunk for a while. By 10:00AM we were at that point that I have come to recognize during this trip. The point where it will be easier to take the kids out of the trailer to do something, than to stay in the trailer with them driving me crazy because they are cooped up.

Missy had wanted to go back into Arches N.P. and take a look at the most famous arch in the park…Delicate Arch. The problem with Delicate Arch is that from the lower overlook you can only see the arch from a distance. If you want to get up close to the arch, you have to hike a pretty difficult 3-mile trail up to the upper overlook. If I had been feeling well, it would have been possible for me to carry AJ on my shoulders so we could get to the upper overlook. But that is not going to happen given the fact that I have a fever and the temperature outside is 95 degrees. Not a good recipe for a moderately difficult hike.

So we drove to the lower overlook for Delicate Arch with the intention of finding the ranger who was supposed to be there. Yesterday when we were in the visitor’s center, I noticed that there was a “Family Ranger Talk” scheduled at Delicate Arch for between 11:30 and 12:30 today. The Park Rangers at most of the national parks we have visited will give different talks out in the park. Sometimes it is on geology, sometimes wildlife, or whatever other feature is unique to the park you happen to be in. When it is a “family” talk, there is usually some kind of activity for kids. So after checking out the arch from the lower overlook and not finding the Ranger, we headed back to the trailhead for the upper overlook hike which is also called Wolfe Ranch. According to our Utah guide book there was supposed to be some very interesting petroglyphs on the rocks behind the ranch. This particular grouping is called the Ute panel. And since the ranch is also the trailhead for the upper overlook trail we had hopes of finding the Ranger there. As luck would have it AJ fell asleep in the 10-minutes it took to drive from the lower overlook to Wolfe Ranch. Since I was feeling crappy, I volunteered to stay in the truck with AJ so Missy and the girls could check out the petroglyphs and find the ranger. They were able to do both. The pictures they took of the glyphs were very interesting and they got to listen in to the last half of the rangers talk on protecting the parks and the environment at large. After the talk and reciting the Jr. Ranger Pledge the girls both got Jr. Ranger Badges that they proudly showed me when they got back to the truck. It worked out well for everyone. They had fun and I got a nice nap.

It was time for Abby to lay down for a nap so we took one last cruise through the park and headed back to the camper. Since AJ had slept in the truck he and Sarah used the wireless headphones to watch a movie in the camper while Missy, Abby and I all slept. After everyone was awake, Missy drove into town to get fast-food for dinner since neither of us felt like cooking. After my nap, I felt a little better so I did all the usual outdoor stuff to get ready for the move tomorrow (dumped the holding tanks, filled the fresh water, put away all the outside tables and chairs, put up the awning and cleaned the grill) while I felt up to it. After dinner I helped with the kid’s bedtime a little but mostly I lied in the bed and went to sleep.

Given how I feel we have decided not to go too far tomorrow in hopes that we can delay the long drive over the mountains a day and give me time to feel better. I know for a fact that Missy would rather hang out in Western Colorado until I am well than have to pull the camper over the Rockies herself.

Day # 52 - Arches N. P.

Tony was feeling better today and AJ’s asthma has quieted down so we are up for adventure today. Our first stop is looking for dinosaur tracks.



Abby has been on Tony’s case about the fact that he promised to take the kids to find dinosaur tracks. She was very excited to get going today. We headed north up State Route 191 from the campground to Copper Ridge Fossil Bed. The pamphlet Tony picked up at the Moab Visitors Center was very specific about the directions: Turn right just past the microwave tower that is ¾ of a mile beyond the mile marker and cross the rail road tracks. Why didn’t they just tell us to look for the church tower and the three-legged dog?



Anyway, we did manage to find the right road and were pleased to see a very small wooden sign with an arrow pointing the way. There was a small parking area and an information sign. The sign said that there were fossilized tracks of a few different dinosaurs including what were thought to be those of an Allosaurus (meat eater) and a large sauropod (veggie eater). We headed uphill a few hundred feet to a small ridge. We weren’t exactly sure what we were looking for, then we spotted the cairns. Cairns are rock piles used to mark trails. In this case, they were used to mark fossilized dinosaur tracks. At first some of them were a little difficult to see. There was another informational sign off to the side that discussed the tracks and types of dinosaurs and once you orientated yourself, you could begin to pick out the tracks without the use of the cairns. They were freakin’ cool! I just couldn’t get over the fact that I was standing in actual footprints made by dinosaurs millions of years ago. These weren’t molds or objects in a museum, they were actual tracks. Pretty impressive! (Yeah, I know that I am a dork!). We all had a good time tramping around for a bit and looking for more tracks.

After we had our fill of tracks we headed back to the car. Sarah and Tony stopped back by the information board. There was a large map on it displaying the Dinosaur Diamond pre-historic By-Way. The Dinosaur Diamond is a 512 mile loop through Colorado and Utah that contains several sites/museums of pre-historic and archeological significance. Check out the website: http://www.dinosaurdiamond.org/ We found a couple of places that looked like they might be worth a look on our way to Colorado Springs.

Next, we headed for Arches National Park. We were really anxious to get out in the rocks again. We started at the very modern visitor’s center so we could stamp the family “National Parks “passport. There was a nice gift shop and some very neat displays. Next, we headed for the windows section and chose to take the North and South windows trail. It was a moderate climb, but very doable for the family. We took our time and enjoyed the scenery all around us. It truly is impressive just how many arches there are in this park. They are a wonder to behold. We made it to the first arch (North Window) and actually climbed up inside the arch. Lying on your back looking up from below gives you an entirely different and amazing perspective of the arch. We continued down the trail and opted to skip the South Window in favor of the nearby Turret Arch. As we approached Turret, we turned around and had an awesome view of North and South Window together. This park is relatively small and some of the arches are large and easily seen from a distance. This gives you many different angles from which to view the arches. It is pretty cool. We met a nice family from Bakersfield, CA who offered to take a few photos of the whole family. After a short while scrambling around on the rocks we were all getting pretty hot, tired and hungry so we headed back to the car for lunch. I had packed in a lunch. There are absolutely no restaurant/snack bar facilities in the park. I think it kind of adds to its charm.

A few words about Arches National Park – it is pretty incredible. Because it is relatively small in size, it is easy to navigate. You may think it would make it unbearably crowded, but we didn’t find that to be true. The landscape is almost surreal. The rocks are strikingly red – more so than the red rocks of Sedona. The smooth surface of the rocks (slick rock it is called) gives the arches and rock formations a totally different look. The vast number of arches in such a small radius is impressive. The petrified sand dunes were also very neat. The thing we liked most about the park was its accessibility. The trails took you out into the thick of it without the pavement and handrails and a “Disneyesque” quality that some of the other National Parks have. Here, actually walking under and through the formations really let you feel like you were part of the experience, rather than watching it from afar. This is definitely a place I would like to visit again.
We left the park and headed into town to a local drug store. Tony had called home to our doctor and filled him in on how he was feeling and the lack of competent care in town, so he called Tony in an anti-biotic just in case. We headed back for the camper for a quick rest and to clean up for dinner. We felt like a steak and were directed to Buck’s Grill House in Moab. Dinner was very good, even though it was a bit pricey. The steaks were tender and the kids well behaved so we were all good. After dinner we headed into town to walk off dinner and to buy the kids dessert. We had put in a full day so it was off to the camper and to bed.

Day # 51 - Moab, UT

In addition to Tony still feeling pretty crummy, it’s raining! It’s not the normal pop-up summertime thunderstorm either. It is a constant downpour! There have been quite a few pop-up storms that have been very isolated and as a result, we have seen a number of rainbows. No luck with those wily leprechauns today though.

With all of the rain, I would love to get the kids out of the camper (and out of Tony’s hair) for a few hours, but there’s really no place to go. Moab has no shopping malls, no Super-Wal-Marts and AJ is not quite ready to sit through a full length movie in a theater, so we are cooped up inside watching Disney’s "Cars" and "Air Buddies" for about the millionth time this trip. Thank goodness for wireless headphones! After naps, the rain did stop and the boys were feeling a little better so we decided to venture out into town for dinner. We really just wanted to get out of the camper. That is one downside to camping in a small trailer – if the weather is bad or someone is not feeling well, there’s nowhere to go. Fortunately, we haven’t faced that problem very much.

We went to the Moab Brewery for dinner (another recommendation) and were again pleased with the food, the price and the service as well. The kids were a little antsy after being cooped up for most of the day, so we took them to a small but well appointed city park. Tony had stumbled upon it on his way to the local hospital to get his allergy shots last night. The kids had a great time running off a little steam. It was starting to get dark and storm clouds were heading our way so we decided to head over to the local City Market to pick up a few things. After shopping, it was back to the camper for bed.

Day # 50 - Moab, UT

We made it to Moab and were excited to check out Arches National Park, but no one feels very good today – especially Tony. We thought we would head into town to have some breakfast and to check out the lay of the land. We also wanted to pick up a travel book on Utah. Utah was not originally in our travel plans, so we didn’t research the area we are staying in or the National Parks located here. The poor quality of the wi-fi service we have had didn’t allow for us to research on line either, so we figured we would hit a bookstore in town so we could orient ourselves a little better.

There were 3 book stores on the main drag in town so we were confident that someone would have what we were looking for. The first store was a used bookstore that didn’t have what we were wanting, so they sent us down the street. The second bookstore didn’t have exactly what we wanted either, but they did have a really cool Cars book (from the Pixar movie “cars”) that contained movable cars on each page. AJ sweet-talked daddy into buying it despite its steep price tag – “dis AJ’s book…Daddy peas…dis AJ’s book.” There was another bookstore across the street, but our tummies were getting rumbly so we headed out in search of brunch. We were directed to try the Moab Diner. The food there was excellent. Since it had gotten late, we opted for lunch. Tony got a roast beef sandwich smothered in what was advertised as the best green chile sauce in the state. He concurred with their assessment. The bite I had was excellent. My chicken sandwich was good, but my onion rings were awesome. The kids meals were very reasonably priced, came with their drinks and ice cream for dessert was included in the price. Tony and I were impressed with the quality and the price – we’ve paid more on this trip for lunch at McDonalds! The service was the only downside – it was slow at first, but got better.

After we ate we headed over to the information center. The kids had been interested in fossils and dinosaur tracks and I wanted to see more petro glyphs. We picked up some information on where to look around town. Tony was starting to feel pretty crummy, so we made a quick run into the third bookstore and found what we were looking for. We thought we would head back to the camper for a little rest before heading into the parks.

Everyone took a little rest but Tony was pretty congested and AJ’s asthma was really flaring up. We were feeling pretty frustrated that it looked like the boys were getting sick. Tony thought that maybe getting his allergy shots would help him (he surprisingly hasn’t had much trouble until now). Tony has his allergy medicine (serum) with him but needs a clinic or urgent care to administer the actual shots. We asked in the campground office and found an immediate care facility in town. When we got there we were surprised to find a note on the door explaining that the office was closed until Labor Day because the doctor was delivering babies in Alaska. Small Towns! We found the town “hospital” and the ER department said they would give him the shots, but they had to admit him (instead of doing like an outpatient so he could just leave afterwards) and he would have to stay there after the shot until the doctor was sure he wouldn't have any reaction (even though he has been getting shots for 10 year with never having a reaction). With one vehicle, we didn’t want to leave Tony stranded and we didn’t know how long we would have to wait after his shots for the Doctor to dis-charge him, so it didn’t seem like a good idea at the time.

Since Arches National Park was only about 3 miles down the road, Tony thought we could drive in and take a quick look. We were in awe of what we saw. I think I was more impressed with the redness of the rocks and the formations here than I was in Sedona. The varied rock formations were indeed awe inspiring. My favorite formation on the drive in was definitely the Three Gossips. As its name implies the formation appears to be three women standing around doing what women are accused of doing best – gossiping. We continued on and stopped at balanced rock, but the “boys” didn’t feel like getting out and Abby couldn’t tear herself away from the movie AJ was watching, so Sarah and I stepped out for a closer look. Man it was cool. This huge boulder balanced precariously on a rock pillar. We went a short distance up the trail but didn’t get to actually hike around it. We hopped back into the car and drove a little farther into what is known as the Windows section of the park. We stopped at the Windows parking area. North and South Window Arches are surrounded by other incredible rock formations and numerous arches. When Sarah and I hopped out this time, Abby decided that she wanted to come too. We walked part way up the path for a closer look and were genuinely impressed at the sight of so many natural rock arches being visible from one spot. It was also a little frustrating that we couldn’t get out into the rocks and dirt to enjoy it.

We reluctantly headed back to the camper in the hopes that a good night’s rest would help set everyone on the road to recovery. After we returned and the kids were in bed, Tony decided to go back into town to get his allergy shot. The ER doctor took a look him and they only made him wait the standard 20 minutes after the shots rather than admitting him (after the hour they took trying to figure out what to do with him). We’ll wait and see if it helps.