California Dreamin'

While probably not the wisest thing I did on our long-haul drive, I managed to make it not just into California, but all the way to Bakersfield to start our day heading northwest.  I realized once I'd made it to California, we had a lot of desert between us and the coast, so I pushed on, long into the night, so we wouldn't have to do it all.day.long.

The good thing is the kids are good sleepers - even after waking at 4:00 AM to get into the hotel room, they were back to sleep in no time and stayed asleep until 10:00 AM, which meant I did manage to get in six hours before getting up and getting started on our day.

Decisions, decisions - head north for Oregon, or head west to the coast, then head north?

We opted to head west and take the Pacific Coast Highway (road) up the coastline toward our hoped for destination tonight, Monteray!

The good - it was a beautiful drive!  Perfect weather and awesome views.

The bad - it was long, long, long for the kids.  In the future, given a similar choice, I'd opt to head right up to Monteray and back-track down the coast a bit if we wanted to see it, otherwise it's too long a drive with kids, with very few opportunities for stops and burning off energy.

When we did finally roll into Monteray, it was well worth the wait.

After a couple of hours exploring the area, we had dinner and then pushed off to our overnight destination, now Santa Cruz since Monteray was over the budget - way over!

Sure, Let's Stop

As we headed out of Flagstaff, with our sites set on California, Boo notes the billboards along the way for Bearizona. 

Can we stop?

Bears?  In Arizona?  Bearizona?

Oh, heck, why not!

Yup, a total tourist trap...but one that is totally kid-centered and kid-friendly, especially the end, which is like a zoo and you can walk around and see all different animals.  The drive-through was fun too, but the walking areas were better.

Some animals along the drive:

Would I recommend it?

If you have antsy kids, tired of being in the car - yes; otherwise keep going, it's expensive!

Three-in-One

Holy Cow!

Doing three national parks, each with a Junior Ranger program, in one day is nuts!  Nuts I say!

Somehow we pulled it off though.

Before we left Sunset Crater - and this is the only way we managed to do it - we completed the activities at the Visitor Center, leaving only the lava flow trail hike to do today.  That, and we didn't start here, but ended here today - starting instead at the park farthest from here, Walnut Canyon.

Walnut Canyon is a fairly small park, so it only took about two hours to complete the activities and explore the area.

Then we were off to Wapukti Ruins - and wound up staying much longer than we planned since it was such a fun area!  The ruins are amazing, and you can walk through them.

As our last stop, we headed back to Sunset Crater Volcano and hiked the Lava Flow Trail; in a word, amazing!

Grand Canyon

Waking up and realizing it was me, and only me with the kids was, well, interesting.  It's not often that I'm not with Bear in our travels, and here I woke up realizing for the next three weeks, it's me and just me!

YIKES!

After a quick breakfast, we packed the minivan up and were on our way to the Grand Canyon, entering from the northeast side of the southern rim.

Once we arrived, Boo was awed as he scanned the canyon for the first time:

We headed into the Visitor Center to grab a Junior Ranger book, and over lunch realized this wasn't going to be a short stop - we'd need to be here for a few hours to do the program correctly for Boo to really earn the badge.  With that, we headed to some of the canyon sites to explore.  Not an easy task with a baby in tow, but we managed.  Then we headed for a ranger program on the history of the canyon - not its geological history, but how it turned into a tourist attraction and the many changes over the years in tourism.

After doing a couple more activities to explore and find some things needed, Boo earned his Junior Ranger badge and was duly sworn in!

Since it was mid-afternoon, I looked at our National Park Passport and decided that we'd likely make it in time to see Sunset Crater Volcano near Flagstaff, AZ.

We made it to the Visitor Center about an hour before closing, in time, but not in enough time to do the Junior Ranger program any justice.  So, with that, I decided we'd stay the night and return the next day before pushing off to California.

Good decision too - the park ranger let me know there were two other parks in the area that we might want to see too, Walnut Canyon and Wutpatki Ruins!  With all three junior ranger books in hand, we headed to a hotel for the night and laid out our day to try to do all three in one day!

Saying Goodbye

My husband is absolutely amazing! 

On Sunday we needed to say good-bye as he flew home from Durango and we were on our way to Oregon via California.  He didn't complain, nor did he worry way too much (just a little), and I do think in some ways he was a bit excited for Boo to be able to continue on this grand adventure across the country, even if without him!

In my previous life, before kids, I was a road-warrior for work, so I'm not reluctant to drive or do lots of miles and hotels over a month.  What I hadn't planned on was how different traveling with kids is, to traveling solo.  They need many  more stops, more eating breaks and just a lot more time out of the car than in the car!

So, if you're planning to do something like this, plan for more stops than you think you'll need to make!  And, while I usually plan stops without hotel reservations, that too is something I'm now re-considering after realizing that sometimes you can't find a hotel when you need one!

That said, our next stop was Mesa Verde - we weren't able to do much of the park with Bug, but did see enough and do enough that Boo loved it and enjoyed it.

Once we were heading out of Mesa Verde I needed to decide where we'd stay for the night; with Boo eager to earn more Junior Ranger badges, the obvious choice was near Grand Canyon.  Little did I know that I'd have to drive late into the night to find a hotel (see above), though we did have a spectacular sunset along the way!

Into the Mountains They Go

One of the biggest plans this vacation was for Bear to take Boo up into the mountains to go camping - a hike-in, camp and hike-out experience that would be his first.  Bear himself was taken hike-in camping for the first time around the same age and Boo has been chomping at the bit to go, so this was the opportunity to make that happen.

The main reason I drove for this vacation was to be able to bring the gear needed for overnight camping - packs, tent, sleeping bags, food, etc.  When we arrived in Durango the previous night, all the gear was checked and re-checked so we could head out and Boo and Bear could head out early in the afternoon.

Their destination was Ice Lakes, in the San Juans.  May is still an iffy time of the year for snow and frigid evenings, but with the warmer weather and pitiful snowfall this year, Bear decided it was probably going to be okay - cold, but not snowed in.

At the trailhead there was more checking and re-checking gear and then they were off!  It was just me and Bug for the next few days, with no communication between us and Boo and Bear!

As they headed into the mountains, I took Bug for a ride to Ouray, CO - a beautiful little town called "Little Switzerland in the USA" for a good reason - the village is quaint and the homes are very "Swiss" in design, and the road there is one that will wreck your nerves on a good day!  But brave the road I did and it was spectacular to see the area...until this jumped in front of my car, in the middle of the road and then seemingly jumped off the side of the mountain to my right:

Yup, it scared me - but I still had to stop and take a picture!

By the time Bug and I got settled into the cabin we were renting through Sunday, I realized my brakes needed to be done - all the mountain driving was taking its toll, they'd never been done and I was at about 93,000 miles.  So, I spent the next day tooling around Durango with Bug while the mechanic in town did the brakes!

The next day we picked up Boo and Bear and spent the rest of the weekend exploring the area some more!

Monument Valley - Over-rated

While I think Monument Valley, the drive-through part, is over-rated, the area isn't - it is worth the trip to get there and see.  I just don't think the "park" itself is worth risking your car to drive through - the road through the park is horrible - pocked dirt, huge potholes, ruts and more that have the potential to totally do in your tie-rods!

On our way to Monument Valley we saw a sign for Natural Bridges, looked at each other and said, "yeah, why not, we're on vacation" as we turned toward the entrance with no idea how far it was, or if it was going to mean not getting to Monument Valley.

I am so glad we made that turn - Natural Bridges is a gem of a park, a definite must-see if you're in that area!

And heading there, before Monument Valley, didn't do much to our plans other than provide another great park to see and explore!  Rather than drive back the way we came, we headed down an old route that was carved out for uranium trucks to get in and out of the valley quicker - not sure that it made a difference in time, the road was steep, windy and really narrow in places...but was a fun, if not also an anxiety-producing, ride!

I recommend if you're going to be in Monument Valley around a meal, bring it yourself or eat before you arrive - I didn't think the restaurant serviced by the area was worth the price.

Roughing It

While Bear is a outdoorsy guy who loves camping - me, not so much - we decided to compromise and stay in a primitive cabin overnight on our way to the Four Corners area.  It really wasn't so primitive - while the bathroom was a short walk down the path, it was ours alone, private and had a flush toilet, running water and a shower!

The area was beautiful and the kids got a chance to burn off some energy before bed.

The cabins were located in the foothills of the Abajo Mountains and were a wonderful, off-the-beaten path find for us - the perfect stopping point (Blanding, UT) on our way to Monument Valley!

Arches is Amazing!

Not only for it's absolute beauty, but because it was here was got hooked on the Junior Ranger program!

Nearby, on a road toward Potash, are some ancient petroglyphs - definitely worth the side drive!

The Junior Ranger program is offered in most National Parks, Monuments and other national sites.  While not intense in difficulty, it does offer a great introduction for young kids to spark their interest in an area - the geography, geology, animals, plants and peoples that are there, or once were.  Boo really enjoyed the programs - and as you'll see, we did quite a few in our travels!

Canyonlands, a Parent's Panic-Attack

Our first order of business on Sunday was Canyonlands, which is absolutely amazing.  It is, however, what parents can call a panic-attack park - no real barriers to keep you from falling down into the canyons, and when you have kids, you worry.

We kept Bug strapped in his stroller and gave Boo some rules, namely no going to the edge on his own, and when walking along the narrow pathways, Bear or I am on the canyonside, not him.

Yes, you can walk right off that edge!

But, we did have fun and did explore some great areas despite the potential for death!

Later that evening, we headed to Arches to see the Solar Ecplise at the Ranger Program at that park!

Ranger's pinhole camera

iPhone photo taken with filter