Four corners... again!

Slept in cuz we were so exhausted from our trails yesterday. Decided we would head on out to Colorado and go to Four Corners. Let me begin by telling you our story about Four Corners.

10 years ago, my sweetie and I took this same exact trip before we had kiddos. We packed a quick bag and jumped into our small Toyota Tercel and headed off to Utah. It was so much fun! On our way back home we decided to stop at Four Corners. The only place in the US where you can be at four states at one time. As we drove to the entrance, a guard told us it would be $2. Unfortunately we had no CASH and they didn't accept credit/debit cards! Can you believe it?! So we vowed one day to return to be able to cross this off our bucket list.

Today we:

• Stopped at every opportunity during our scenic drive to jump off and take pictures of sites on the road.
• Visited "Newspaper Rock." More on that later.
• Took a picture of Wilson Arch.
• Stopped at "Hole in the Rock."
• Went to Cortez, Colorado... had an amazing lunch in a Mexican Restaurant that First Lady Laura Bush visited. YUM!
• Headed off to Four Corners ensuring that we had cash in hand and nothing and I mean nothing will stop us from entering this time.
• Drove up to Four Corners and.....

IT WAS CLOSED! AUGGHHH!

• Well, I guess there goes that idea! Maybe we'll have to try again. Definitely before 20 years passes us on by again.
• Drove to Chinle, Arizona to check out Canyon de Chelly National Monument. What a scary hike! There were steep cliffs and slippery rocks.
• Took a scary road on the way to the Interstate 40. All I have to say is Navajo roads are SOOO unmarked!
• Made it home by 12:30 am. Loved coming back to a clean and organized home!

Utah!

So we wound up in Utah today! Here are our highlights:

• Drove from Page to Kayenta, Arizona.
• Drove past Mexican Hat Rock, Valley of the gods, and Bluff fort.
• Stopped for lunch in a cute little cafe in Monticello, Utah. Ended up watching a huge snowstorm/blizzard from our window! Wow! Thank God for his timing! Stayed until storm passed (about 1.5 hours) and drove onto Moab Utah.
• Checked in hotel and took off to Arches National Park. 2 National Parks in 2 days! Wow! Hiked two fantastic trails and had a blast! It was pretty cold though!
• Marveled at God's creation. Utah is a beautiful place.
• Ate at the same restaurant that my sweetie and I went to for dinner 10 years ago. Steak still tastes just as good! Yum!
• Went to bed exhausted again!

Will be posting up pictures soon.
Today we:

• Hiked the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Can't believe we live in a state that houses one of the Seven Wonders of the World. I listed the other seven wonders below just FYI (we were wondering too!).
• Saw a California Condor (one of only 75 in the entire Grand Canyon area). Sat on a rock and watched it for over 30 minutes. Amazing sight! One of my highlights since I love seeing rare birds! We were in awe as it stretched its wings (over 9 feet wide) and soared across the canyon. Wish we had binoculars. IT was AWESOME!
• Watched the sun set at Grand Canyon (a must on your bucket list! it was amazing).
• Took a new exit out of the Grand Canyon. We actually drove to the east exit. As we drove for miles we realized how HUGE the Grand Canyon was! Wow!
• Found a hotel in Page, Arizona. Went to bed exhausted!

Can't wait to see where the road takes us tomorrow!

Spring Break! Road Trip!

Boy do I love homeschooling...especially when you can road trip whenever and not worry about what your kid might "miss" in school. So today, after all our Spring Cleaning housework chores were done, my sweetie says, "Mom, what do you say we go on a road trip?" First I start thinking, where, how much will it cost, and should I start booking hotels? And then I realized it was time to relax, let it go and just go with the flow.

RV Road Trip, Happy Birthday Daddy!

What an amazing Road Trip! For Daddy's Bday, we decided we'd rent an RV and take a drive. I was so psyched about this road trip since, 1 we never ever been camping before, and 2 we desperately needed a getaway!

A few highlights:

1. We stayed our first night in Payson and had a drunk dude (so HILARIOUS!) show us how to hook up the camper. This picture on the right as when we stayed on lot 55 at the Payson Resort. To be honest, this wasn't a great stay. There was absolutely nothing to do there!


2. The second day, we drove over to Christopher Creek and barbecued. That was a really neat experience, but it turned out we didn't even find the lake we were looking for!


3. We drove over to Show Low and camped out at Fools Hollow Lake. OMG this place was AMAZING! There was a gorgeous lake, hook ups for the RV and plenty of firewood to make your own campfire. The picture below is right behind where our RV parked. Loads of fishing opportunity and beautiful hikes here. This is a must stay for the first time RVer who considers necessary for "Glamping" (as my friend Katrina called it) instead of Camping. You can also see in the picture below the fire pit where we had a campfire and roasted marshmallows the night before...

All in all, A+ for this vacation. I am so grateful for my sweetie and this birthday was a great of showing what he means to me!

I love you baby, and Happy Birthday!

Happy New Year 2009!

For New Year's we went to Lake Havasu to watch the ball drop from our Hotel Room. My mom always taught me, whatever happens on New Year's will happen all year! So we decided to spend New Year's traveling. Hopefully that means we will be traveling during the 2009!

Disneyland 2008

This is the saddest time of my life. We had just found out that lost our Gianna and decided to go to Disneyland to pick up our spirits and spend some quality time with Babies. I am so blessed to have had my time with her (even though it was only so little). I know she is with us and I continually think about her all the time.

Daddy's Birthday 2008

This is a picture of my sweetie and I on the train. I surprised him with a trip on the Verde Canyon Railroad for his birthday. This trip was soo awesome. It was relaxing and we took his mom, sister and all the kids on this day. I loved this picture since it shows how much we have grown.

Legoland 2008

I don't remember the date we went in 2008, but I love this picture.