Changing Venues - catch me on Wordpress

I've turned over a new blogging leaf, which also means a new blogsite.

When I first created this blog, it was mainly to keep out-of-town family updated on what is going on with the kids.  As they have grown older, and with Facebook and texting, it seems that a blog devoted specifically for this purpose is unnecessary.  I had originally created a separate blog to post my thoughts, as well, but I didn't use it much and therefore it was useless.

Lately I've been feeling that maybe some of these thoughts that I have could be useful if put to writing, so I thought I should act on it.  Who knows what will come of it--if nothing else, maybe it will serve as a journal of sorts for my kids one day (because lets face it: it's really just another blog--there are SO many out there already!)!  If you're interested, you can find it by clicking here.  There is only one entry as of today, but I hope to update it at least weekly--literally as the spirit leads.

I've never been great at being consistent with these kinds of things, but who knows?  Maybe this 39-year-old dog can learn a few new tricks in her 40th year!

National Parks Trip

OOPS!  Forgot that I had this post all ready to go--just had to add some pictures.  Well, better late than never, right?!?

We just finished up a week long trip to several of the National Parks of the southwest with my parents. As I begin to type, we are about 3 hours into our trip home to Fishers, IN from my parent's house in Highlands Ranch, CO. I knew this keyboard for my iPad would come in handy AT SOME POINT on this trip!

Paige and Jo-Jo

We arrived at mom and dad's on Thursday, which was also the 4th of July ... the kids rekindled their friendships with the kids who live next door to my parent's, Josh and Rachel (same ages as Nicholas and Paige, respectively), while Brian and I unwound with my parents. The next day, Dad worked and Mom went with the four of us up to Fort Collins to see my Grandma and my cousin, Todd. We went to lunch and then spent the greater part of the afternoon going through old pictures. My mom suggested to my grandma that I take an extended weekend to come out and help her organize all her photos--I would love that! I love looking through pictures from when Grandma was a child and up through the years. I inherited ALL the pictures we found of me (mostly baby pictures), and a few of my grandparents that were duplicates of ones Grandma already has. We had a LOVELY time--time with my Grandma is never long enough--and my kids absolutely ADORE Todd ... it was a perfect afternoon!

Four generations

GiGi and the kids

Saturday we got the rig packed up ("the rig" being a 36-foot fifth-wheel my Dad pulls behind his ginormous diesel pick-up truck, and in my humble opinion, the only way to "rough it"!) and were all ready to head out Sunday after church.

[From here on out, I'll try to keep the commentary to a minimum (it's all relative--remember, this is ME!) and maximize the pictures--you know I took *a few*!!]

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Paige coming back up a Dune

We arrived between storms in the late afternoon--much needed rain for the extremely dry area. The beauty was that the sand was wet so it was a little easier to walk through. The river was dry, which bummed me out--I remember sitting in the river as a child--it was very shallow and calm and a great place to cool down after walking in the hot sand! We spent about an hour climbing and headed back to camp before the thunderstorm came through, and then went back for a little while the next day before heading down to Mesa Verde.

Heading up the Dunes

Paige resting on the way back up (and getting sand EVERYWHERE!)

Nicholas swimming up the dune

While we watched Paige struggle up, her grandma actually HELPED her!

Sunset at the Sand Dunes

View from our camp site

Paige and Brian at the Visitor's Center

Paige, way up high!

Taking a break

Crazy Girl

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Mesa Verde National Park

Waiting for our Cliff Palace tour

Just like the pictures!

We arrived at our camp ground in the mid-afternoon and decided to stick around and relax--we all got a swim in before dinner, and Dad, Brian and I took Paige over to the visitor's center to book our tours for the next morning. Our first tour was at 9am, and it was about an hour drive back through the park to the Cliff Palace area where our first tour was to begin, so we started our day out early! Cliff Palace absolutely took my breath away; the pictures can't do it justice. Just looking down at it from the look-out was amazing, and then we got to go down to see it close-up! We were the first tour of the day, and our guide was absolutely AMAZING ... I am at a total loss for words. The ingenuity of the Ancient Puebloans and all that they were able to accomplish with the resources they had available to them at the time blows me away. And that the remains of their home still stands today ... I'm so grateful for our country's National Park Service and the preservation it provides.

Small dwellings across the valley from the Cliff Palace

Our tour guide (he was AWESOME!)

A little closer

Sitting at the edge of the ruins

Our next tour was at Balcony House. It was a little more strenuous--we had a couple pretty tall ladder-climbs, a tunnel with very narrow openings to crawl through and the side of a cliff to scale, all in 90+ degree mid-day heat! But it was worth it! The tour guide provided more of the same information, but the ruins were just as awe-inspiring as the Cliff Palace, and the location of these ruins invoked in me an even greater appreciation for the people by whom they were built. It was a trek to get up to the cliff and very well sheltered from potential enemies and the elements; a thoroughly thought-out location.

View from the Balcony House dwelling

Crawling through the tunnel

Towards the top of the cliff

Waiting to go up to the dwelling--some natural shade!

A window in the wall that separates rooms

Another view from the dwelling

The actual "balcony house" (see the remains of the balcony?)

We saw a few more sights, ate lunch, did a little shopping and then headed back to camp. Mom and I were WORN OUT from the heat (the heat--not at all from the exercise! ha!) and we all relaxed. Dad and Brian took the kids swimming and I made everyone sandwiches for dinner--we had no desire to heat up the camper with the oven or extend any major effort in food preparation. After dinner, Dad got out the propane grill (no open fires allowed) and he and Brian roasted us all marshmallows for s'mores. A perfect end to a perfect day!

Literally out in the middle of NOWHERE!

I think Brian is standing in Colorado and New Mexico,
both at the SAME TIME!

Our next National Park stop was The Grand Canyon, along the way to which we stopped at the Four Corners National Monument: the location where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona all intersect, and the only place in the United States where four states intersect at one point. We arrived there relatively early and were able to take pictures without waiting too long for the guests who were there ahead of us. The four corners is located on Navajo land, and all along the perimeter of the monument there are Navajo people selling handmade jewelry and crafts, along with some Four Corners souvenirs. We spent about an hour walking around and looking at all the different booths, and were able to pick up some beautiful jewelry and mementos. Of all our stops, this was the one I had most anticipated: how cool is it that each of us were standing within a few feet from each other and also standing in four different states?!? Such a unique place, and now that both of the kids have studied the states in school, they had an appreciation for it, as well. It was located in the middle of nowhere--no beauty or grandeur to speak of, and no comparisons can be made to what we saw in the National Parks--but it was probably one of the coolest places I've ever been in all my 38 years!

Nicholas copying his father!

Standing in Arizona

Paige in Utah

Paige in Arizona

Each of us in a different State:  Nick in Utah, me in Colorado,
Paige in New Mexico and Brian in Arizona

The kids in FOUR DIFFERENT STATES at ONCE!  (it BLOWS MY MIND!)

The intersection

Some other visitors talked mom and dad into doing this ... crazy seniors!

The entrance

The Grand Canyon

We pulled into Williams, AZ late in the afternoon the same day we left the Mesa Verde area. We were staying about an hour south of the south rim of the Grand Canyon, and because of that, we chose to get an early start the next morning rather than heading over right away. Now, I was excited about Mesa Verde and the Four Corners, and even the Sand Dunes, but walking up to the edge of the Grand Canyon from the parking lot, I was absolutely GIDDY! I mean, it's not every day that I get to witness one of the natural wonders of this world IN PERSON! Wow! We walked a little over 2 miles along the rim trail--stopping at look-outs and taking pictures--between the changes in our physical location and the position of the sun, the canyon looked different from each vantage point and I can't imagine ever tiring of it. For the most part we stuck to the designated viewing areas and the trail--which is more than I can say for most people--we saw a complete lack of safety and common sense more times than I can mention. There was one point at which I sat down on a rock just off the path and scooted a few feet from the edge and I let Paige come sit out there with me. My dad sure didn't like that, and he wouldn't back down until we were both away from the rock! He says it's because the two of us are the least sure-footed of our group (a nice way to say we're both clumsy!) ... this may be true, but it's nice to know that at 38, my dad is still concerned for my safety! (By the way, I would never put my daughter in harm's way ... I felt completely safe and comfortable with where we were sitting, but I decided I didn't want to be responsible for giving the old man a heart attack and stuck to the path from there on out!) After we ate lunch, we rode the free buses that stop at the major vantage points along the south rim and took pictures, and then headed home. We talked about hiking down into the Canyon a bit, but decided against it! It wasn't as warm as Mesa Verde, but the elevation is higher and the sun was still hot--none of us was very excited about the prospect of a hike. If we were to go back at another time of year, it would be nice to travel down in to the Canyon, but this time around we thought it best to stay up top!

See the orange squiggly line?  THAT is the path
we considered going down on.  I know, right?!?

Walking along the rim trail

Even the trees were different!

Colorado River

We found these rare Grand Canyon monkeys climbing this tree!

Family picture at the eastern most point of the south rim

Family picture at the western most point of the south rim

One of the few pictures we got of all 6 of us!

Paige doing a bridge in front of the Grand Canyon ... that's normal, right?

We decided that we needed a treat before we drove back to our campground so we stopped at McDonalds just outside the park for ice cream. As we pulled in, we noticed a bunch of people gathered in a field between McDonald's and a hotel ... they were looking at the two most beautiful bull elk I've ever seen! Of course, we had to join them and get pictures of our own. Brian, Mom, the kids and I stood at the edge of the parking lot, while my dad ventured closer. I can't say for sure how far my father was from these massive animals, but whatever the distance, I trust his judgement and I know he was acting with caution. However, another gentleman started running BETWEEN where my dad was standing and of one of the elk, causing the elk to become agitated--he scratched the ground with his hoof, like he was getting ready to charge. We couldn't hear him but without missing a beat my Dad told the guy not to run, which is when the guy stopped and the elk slowly went back to grazing. I literally about wet myself! Had the elk charged the man, certainly my dad would have been in danger, as well! Dad assured me that he's been much closer to elk than that when he has been hunting, but I feel better when he has a gun pointed at these beasts, rather than just a camera! Regardless of the little "incident" (apparently no one else in our group was concerned, just me!), it was yet another bright spot in our day!

Paige at Wilson Arch

The Arch from the bottom

That was it for the National Parks ... technically, anyway. We drove up through Moab, Utah on our way home to Denver from the Grand Canyon area, which is where Arches National Park is located. We had originally booked a reservation at a campground in Moab and planned to spend the night, but the more we thought about it, the more Brian and I wanted more than a day to get back to Indiana, so we ended up canceling our reservation. We were, however, able to see a small piece of what we were missing at Arches ... on the south side of Moab, along the highway, sits Wilson's Arch. We pulled off to the side of the road and opened the rig ... mom made us all sandwiches for lunch while the 5 of us climbed up to the arch and back down. It was steep, and without my mom next to me I had to "stop and take pictures" all by myself (our code for "I'm tired, let's rest!") but beautiful and well-worth it! In the July desert heat, it was probably the most hike my oh-so-toned-body would have been able to handle!

Our rig from about 1/2 way up to the Arch

Me stopping for a "picture break"

Brian getting a picture from under the arch

The rig from the top of our climb

There is a bush growing ON TOP of this thing!

... and we're back!

From Moab, we caught I-70 through the Rockies back to Denver ... I have grown to love Indiana, but I could totally live in the mountains--I especially loved Glenwood Canyon, along the Colorado River.

Glenwood Canyon ... GORGEOUS!

A few other observations about this 7-day adventure:
-We saw a lot of wildlife--ranging from birds to a BEAR on the side of the mountain! Brian Wiard continues to be the best wildlife-spotter I know!
-We all know that Paige talks non-stop, but she also invoked laughter amongst the 6 of us more often than not! She is quite the little comedian!
-The kids helped their Pa-pop set up and tear down camp each time we arrived at or left a camp ground. They each had specific jobs I was proud of their willingness to do their part, and think they learned quite a bit in the process.

Paige and Monna coloring in the back seat

-Nicholas does NOT like it when we sing our prayer before dinner! We sang "The Lord is Good to Me" (not sure of the actual song name, but it's from my childhood!) on several occasions and The Doxology once ... each time Nicholas turned a deeper shade of red than the time before.
-We all got along WONDERFULLY, the kids (with each other) included. Given the fact that there wasn't a whole lot of downtime, this is especially impressive! I am reminded how lucky I am to have such a wonderful family--parents, husband and children. We enjoyed each others company, laughed and learned a lot ... wonderful memories to be cherished for the rest of our lives!

Mom and Dad with the kids the morning we headed home

- Posted (well, it was started!) using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:  I-70, somewhere in Kansas