We Made It!

Grand Tetons. And I can tell you, they are truly Grand.

Dinner at Slickrock Cafe in Moab

Such a fun time in this quaint town. Great service and live music. Fun!

Bryce National Park

We hiked the hoodoos at Bryce Canyon and there are some fabulous pictures - however the pictures take so long to load that I have to be picky.  Before we hiked the canyon, we did some walking around the rim and met a young couple that agreed to take our picture. You can meet the nicest people at National Parks!  ;)
We are off to Arches today so I hope to blog that tomorrow.  Love to everyone!

More Catch Up - Zion

Hiking the narrows in Zion National Park was absolutely amazing.  It is an event that should be on every persons "bucket list".  So far, for me personally, this was the highlight of the trip.  I was impressed with the kids love of this adventure as the water was 58 degrees, and the current was fairly swift.  We had to turn around at some point to get back to the paved walk but the kids really didn't want to.  We hiked about 1 mile in the Virgin River.  Looking at these pictures makes me emotional - so I hope you enjoy the views 1/4 as much as I enjoyed the hike.

Catching Up - Pics to Share

Here are some pics of the Grand Canyon that I didn't get to post earlier.  Service can be very spotty, usually only available at campsites if then.  However, pulling into a campsite means meals to be made, showers to be had, beds to prepare, etc.  We have settled into RV life nicely, although I swear this big rig has grown smaller each day ;).
So here are my catch up pictures.  All the kids are so cute (most of the time).

Leaving Zion and Entering Bryce

Breakfast in Zion

This is just an amazing canyon and a great setting for breakfast today.

Greeting at Zion

We got into Zion National Park and were told due to the size of the RV, we had to get an escort through one of the tunnels.  It was close to closing time so we were encouraged to hurry to the tunnel to get our escort.  As soon as we rounded a corner, our official greeters were there.  Aren't they so cute?

Despite our fascination, we did make the tunnel in time, and saw beautiful sights on the way. I'll show some pictures tomorrow.
All is still going well.  Our campsite near Zion is next to a river and there are lots of people here.  We are excited for our hike tomorrow.

Breakfast with a View!

Breakfast at Grand Canyon Lodge this morning!

Crossing the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon

I dropped off the gang on one side of the bridge so they can take the pedestrian (old bridge) across with the Colorado at least 1000 ft below. I drove Artie, our beloved RV across the new bridge and picked up the crew on the other side.

My Forrest Gump Moment

Stopping to take the obligatory pic in Monument Valley. Dawn reluctantly stood in the middle of the road to capture the Kodak moment...

Four Corners, NM AZ UT CO

On the way to the Grand Canyon, we stopped at Four Corners. We bought "genuine" Navajo goods and then took a short trail to the top of a nearby hill, overlooking the San Juan River. Only the boys made it to the top, though...

Heading to Mesa Verde.

This was Saturday afternoon to visit our first national park. We spent the night in an awesome campground just outside the park...

On Our Way to Durango (and I don't mean the horse)

We pulled out of Tijeras at 8:30 am - after refreshing showers and enjoying the rocky hill scenes.  We are all in high spirits due to only a 5 hour drive and being able to walk off some of our energy.  Just a glimpse of our RV life as we travel.

And one of the great scenery for good measure.

What an amazing time with all of our children.  John and I are loving it.  I think the kids are too.

Intrastate Travel

We started in Arkansas, crossed Oklahoma, the panhandle of Texas (we saw real Texas Longhorns!), and into New Mexico.  We will be staying in Tijeras NM, and going to Durango, Colorado and Mesa Verde National Park tomorrow.  It has been an extremely long day of traveling with very strong cross winds.  The wind likes to blow big square boxes around on the road and that is most definitely us.  We have all loved the scenery changing from mountains to flat plains to sandy desert to rocky desert.  The windmills, long desert trains, and dry river beds have been fascinating as well as the acres and acres of land dedicated to cattle and plant farms.  We are all in good spirits, playing card games, listening to music, watching movies, and eating.  Just a bit of extra knowledge for you - a family of seven can easily spend  $44 at McDonalds.

On the road

Huge wind farm in western oklahoma...

Just for Stan...

Again, Spirits are Good!

Spirits are good...so far!

The Morning in Little Rock

Good Morning! We made to Little Rock last night...it was a bit late. There was some panic when a couple rv parks were full when we called, but we landed here on the banks of the Arkansas River looking in to the city. Don't worry Stan, we don't plan to go see the Clinton Museum...

Got to Nashville!

Made by 3pm... not bad considering the refuel in Knoxville took almost 1hr...

5 more hours to Little Rock to sleep in a Walmart parking lot!!!  See kids, I told you this was going to be fun....

On Our Way Out!

Our plan was to leave at 5am.  John and I woke up about 6, woke the kids about 7, and left about 8am. We are on vacation time so it matters little.  These pictures are before getting in the RV to pull out.  David couldn't bring himself to be with us, he was too upset about leaving our dogs.  He found his balance again after about an hour.

Our Five Fabulous Kids

John and I

Before the trip

These are my first words to share with you our trip west!  We are so excited!
John, Dawn, Heather, Steffi, Coley, Ryan, and David will all be sharing fun and exciting text and pictures.  We can't wait!