day 7- grants NM to Alamogordo NM

We started our morning off with a short drive to Sky City to see the oldest inhabited Pueblo village.

We got on a tour that took us up to the village at 10 and even then we were HOT. The houses were cool but there were cars parked by the houses kinda killing the authentic feel. There were vendors and we bought a few souvenirs. We had not bought the camera pass so I do not have pictures up there. we were happy to get back in our air conditioned Explorer. Off we went to the town of Alamogordo. It was about a 4 hour drive turned 5 hours when we got a tad lost. NM is not pretty. It is ugly. But we did travel a bit on route 66! We checked in, the kids swam, and then we were off to see White Sands National Monument. We borrowed sleds from the hotel and took off about 7:30 pm. We could not believe that in a state that is so ugly was something so beautiful. The kids sled and dug in the sand. We all loved it.

day 6-Moab, Utah to Grants, New Mexico

We left Moab and headed for Four Corners Monument. This was the only thing Ethan asked for on the trip. We made a small unplanned detour and visited Hovenweep National Monument.

It was hot so we only hiked a short ways and not the full 2 hour loop. What we saw was cool. The buildings, or what remained, were over 800 years old. We then continued on to Four Corners.

It was hot here and Ethan didn't want to wait in the line for pictures at the spot but we did anyway. After about 15 minutes we had our turn and then headed for Grants, New Mexico. We soon hit a detour that took us about an hour out of the way but this was where we saw the pretty part of NM.

We can't decide if the part of Colorado around Four Corners or the srea we are in now of New Mexico is ugliest. It is so barren and poor. The animals we have seen are dead dogs on the side of the roads. We finished our first book on CD (Gregor the Overlander) and are now half way through our second book (Gregor and The Prophecy of Bane). I did not bring the third so we may have to find a Borders. As we finally got close to Grants we hit a lightening/thunder storm. The temperatures dropped dramatically and we got some rain. When we got to the hotel we immediately went swimming and watched the storm some more. Finally we headed to dinner at a diner. It had potential because it was cute but I didn't think the food was great and we had to move tables because the roof started to leak. Then we were back to our room for reading and journaling.

day 5-Moab

We were up late last night so we slept in a bit and had breakfast at the hotel about 8:30. We then walked Main St. Moab and shopped. We even got a Christmas gift! Then we headed off to hit a couple National Parks. We went to Arches NP first and took a short hike out to see Delicate Arch, the famous arch on the Utah license or the Visa commercials.

We then went to Canyonlands NP.

Ethan was being a punk so you have to imagine Ben's arm around him.

We made sure to get stamps from both visitor centers so when we get home the kids can cut them out and paste them in their National Park passport books, which we forgot at home. The area around here is gorgeous but there doesn't seem to be any animals! I miss animals! We keep thinking how Yellowstone had buffalo and antelope and prarie dogs. Here-nothing. It was hot so we headed back to the hotel for swimming and laundry. We then rested before our Bar-M Cowboy Chuckwagon dinner. It was hokey but enjoyable. More fir the kids.

Tomorrow we leave Moab. This place has so much to do and we didn't even scratch the surface. I would like to return someday.

day 4- Park City to Moab, Utah

We packed up and headed on to Moab for 2 nights. I had scheduled a stop in Midway Utah at a cheese factory but we were ahead of schedule so we listened to our book on CD for 30 minutes in the parking lot before they opened.

We have all had some problems breathing at this elevation but today seems harder. I had read to expect it to take about a week for our bodies to adjust, we'll see. After some icecream we kept moving on. We love Utah. It is so pretty and we were enjoying the book on CD so the hours went quickly. We checked in at our hotel about 4 PM and then went to find Moab Cowboys where I had booked an ATV tour. This was something Ben had asked for and ended up being a HUGE hit. I think the kids will rank it high when the trip is over. It was a great day.

day 3-Park City Utah

We took our time this morning and headed out about 9 to get spots for the parade. We found a great parking spot and the last free spots on the sidewalk. No joke. We waited about an hour and a half before it started. One of the best parades I've ever seen.

If it hadn't been so hot we would have enjoyed it even more. It was about an hour long so the kids were ready for some swimming. We got lunch at Whole Foods then jumped in the pool. About 25 minutes later the pool was shut down because some kid got sick in it. So we headed up to our room for our coffee drink! After a rest we went back to Park City (we are actually in The Canyons) and we shopped and had a yummy dinner. We decided to skip fireworks in PC and come swim at our hotel but they decided not to open the pool at all tonight! So we watched The Odd Life of Timothy Green which is a fun family movie. We giggled a lot and I cried, a lot. Not a typical 4th but we had a good day. I love Park City. It's got really cool old buildings and beautiful mountains. I'd like to visit again someday.

day 2- Boise to Park City

We were woken up about 4:45 to Willie Nelsons "On the Road Again" that Alicia had set as an alarm the day before! She turned it off but we woke 30 minutes later as she had just pushed snooze. Oddly enough we all fell back asleep until 8:00! We had breakfast and then Ben took the kids swimming before we were On the Road Again. I am not a big fan of Idaho but I do think Utah is pretty. It was another longish day in the car and we started a book on CD. When we got to Park City we could tell this was a popular 3rd of July spot, lots of traffic and cops directing it. I was glad we booked ahead of time and didn't have to take buses up to the fireworks here at The Canyons. This hotel is very nice but there is not a fridge so I am hoping our annual coffee drink stays frozen until tomorrow. ;) We had dinner at a restaurant here at the hotel and sat outside. The food was great. I had a tamale in banana leaves. Gorgeous plate. But sitting outside was HOT. Seems strange because by the time the fireworks started I was wearing a sweater. After dinner we relaxed in our room before swimming at the outdoor pool. About 9:30 the fireworks started and we raced from the pool to the sidewalk and watched some amazing fireworks before bed.

day 1 -Sublimity to Boise

Kids woke us bright and early and we were on the road by 4:30. Detroit Lake at 5:15 is so beautiful. The fog was just covering the water and the sun was rising. It was a long hot drive to Boise but I think that area of Oregon (Bend to Vale) is really pretty. Ethan suffered from car sickness within the first hour of our trip (he made it out of our car in time) and didn't feel quite right the remainder of the day so he was ready to get to our hotel. We unpacked and headed to the pool. We made a pact before we left Oregon that we wouldn't eat at any restaurants we've been before. We found a place, GoodWood BBQ, for dinner and it was very yummy. Now we are all lounging, reading or coloring. Not an exciting day but we are all glad to be on vacation. Tomorrow we are off to Park City, UT.