Days 29,30,&31

Day 29

Arrived at family ranch in Grand Junction, CO

My husbands side...

Uncle Clint and Justin

They welcomed us with big hugs...

Told us to pile our kids in their Excursion and handed us the keys...

(they must of not read the post about the last time we borrowed a car ha!)

Told us to go explore and have fun....

We drove the Excursion through Colorado National Monument.

Sheer-walled canyons, monoliths, colorful formations, bighorn sheep, soaring eagles and a spectacular road reflect the environment and history of plateau-and-canyon country.

We learned that CONM was the pet project of John Otto. He moved into the area and loved Grand Junction so much that he moved into the canyons and became a hermit. He became the unofficial caretaker of the canyons and gathered the residents of the surrounding areas together in support of the preservation of the canyons. In 1911, President William Taft used the Antiquities Act to create CONM, and Otto was hired on as the official caretaker of the monument, for $1 a month. CONM was very impressive. As a part of the Colorado Plateau, it rises more than 2000 feet from the valley floor below. The sheer walls and cliffs of the canyons were breathtaking, and there was evidence of native people who used to live in the area in the form of petroglyphs.



Landen at balanced rock....

The kids got another badge for their road jackets. Daddy met some other young earth creationist, they chatted a bit. Got frustrated at the video we watched that mentioned billions and millions of years about a million times in a 5 minute video.

We then headed back to Clint and Jeanie's ranch and they had dinner ready for us:)

Day 30

Our great hosts fixed us breakfast then we went to visited Cabela's.

A great outdoor sporting goods store.

Now that we are outdoor nature loving nerds we drooled over half the things in that place!

After that we just relaxed and played around the ranch.

They have their own little lake.....

Landen did a great job by himself!

I borrowed Austin's hat and took the kids out for a ride on the boat...

Row, row,row your boat........

It was super hot! I had a headache from the elevation in CO.

Later that evening my in-laws drove up from CA to meet us!

The tried to surprise us, but we were on to them:)

Day 31

Enjoyed family visits,we all went out to a big country breakfast then headed to Utah...

In -laws following....

I've been doing a lot of the driving. (I'm sure they were scared to death following my driving haha!)I figure I might as well master this rig. It's good to know just in case Daddy has to work and Mommy wants to take fun road trips with the kids just in case something happens,I know how to drive it. You know emergency situations. ha! I drove Hwy 128 which was beautiful and ended up being very narrow on a 2 lane Hwy.

We soon stopped and traded seats:)

Beautiful Utah!
view out my window driving up hwy 128
on our way to the Arches.

We arrived at the Arches....

Hiked around the Arches...

Most people are familiar with the image of Delicate Arch. It's the most common arch in Utah. But the park was full of other arches and spires. There were Arches 300 feet wide and 200 feet tall. There were arches side by side and arches that were more like holes in the mountainside.

We had fun naming our own rocks and arches by what we thought they looked like.

Again, God's creation is amazing and beautiful!

I just wish more people gave God the credit for these beautiful places instead of mother nature.



Grandma hiked to the top of south window and north window arches with us.

The kids getting a lesson on why the rocks are the color they are.
Red or rusty colored rocks were deposited in oxygen-rich environments.
Many rocks contain iron compounds, and the combination
of iron and oxygen commonly produces red colors.

They also learned why they are blue, green,black and many other colors.

He's the Ranger explaining our veins and why they are the color they are. The blood in our veins is deoxygenated just like the rocks.

Then because Grandma and Grandpa were following us from one adventure to another we decided to take advantage of some babysitting:)

I have always wanted to go white water rafting. Ever since my whole family went when I was younger leaving me to watch with a full leg cast. ha!

Here we are white water rafting at The Big Rock Candy Mountain,Utah.

Which I couldn't help think of this old song wayyyyy before my time:)

The little girls wished the mountain was really made of candy!

But Grandma fed them yummy snacks while Mommy Daddy and the 3 older ones paddled down the Sevier River.

Which was surrounded by mountain peaks rising up to 12,189 feet.

The steep canyon walls presented a scenic backdrop with formations and sheer cliffs rising 500 feet above the rivers course.
This was not a "sit back and let someone else have all the fun" rafting trip

(unless you were the kids)

In spots the 5 adults on the raft had an important part of navigating the raft through the exciting rapids.

We hit a couple strong rapids and Landen fell.....

We had a great time and we thank the Grandparents for following along the river and getting some great shots..oh, and the babysitting!

The in-laws left early the next morning...I'm not sure if it was the cabin shed we found for them to stay in (oops didn't realize it really was a shed and not a "cabin"ha!

Or if we just flat out wore them out!ha!

If they were looking forward to a relaxing vacation, they didn't get it.

If they were looking forward to crazy fun adventures with tons of stories to tell later....they got it!

We love you and thank you for spending a few days with us out on the road:)