San Antonio Day One

We enjoyed San Antonio.  We spent some time at the Alamo learning with Cole about the battle to free Texas.  

 We did some of the activities across from the Alamo.  The Tome Rider 3D ride was short and not as neat as it should have been. We did enjoy the haunted house though.  It was well done and the people were personable and creative with our kids.

We had dinner along the Riverwalk and enjoyed watching Jayden.  We has to boogie when there is good music.  Here's a little bit of his boogie...

We walked along the river for a while, but I'm a paranoid mom and was worried about Jayden knocking someone in (mainly Cole, but was fearful for all of the people on the walk).

Carlsbad Caverns

After Albuquerque we traveled down to Texas.  As we approached the border to Texas, we reached Carlsbad Caverns.  We had been told they were neat but we didn't know anything about them.  If you are ever traveling south to Texas this is a stop that must be made.  The entrance to the caverns is gigantic.  As you approach the cave you follow a switchback path that leads you down into the cave.

You continue along the path downward for 1-1/2 miles until you enter a large cavern with an elevator to take you back up to the surface.  Nice and convenient since you are 600 feet under the earth by this time.  The listening devices are wonderful as you are led through the cave features and the history of the cave.  Originally, the cave was accessed by stairs.  Every stair you descended had to be climbed to get back out. 

Both boys participated in the junior ranger program.  I didn't know about this until after our first couple  national parks.  They get a booklet at the beginning of their visit with activities to help them look and learn.  They have to pay attention to signs and their surroundings.  It helps keep them interested in the things they are seeing.

   

New Mexico

 After Mesa Verde we drove to Albuquerque, New Mexico.  We had two routes to chose from and decided to go through Durango, Colorado.  The drive to Durango was beautiful.  I found it difficult to see why the Anasazi people would chose to live in the cliffs and farm on top of a plateau when the valley was so green and beautiful.  Anyway, I would chose Durango and we've decided that will be a trip all it's own.  We stopped for lunch there and I wanted to stay.  Unfortunately, I think we had only traveled 40 miles and at that pace, we can't get anywhere!  The views changed dramatically after Durango, almost exactly at the border to New Mexico.  Suddenly, it was dry and flat and dull.  OH, and the WIND!  Thank you New Mexico for reducing my pathetic 10.5 MPG to a gas gauge falling so rapidly you can watch it 7!  OH, the pain!  But good times!

In Albuquerque, we found a restaurant recommended by a dear friend that lived in Albuquerque.  La Placita has an amazing history and the food was incredible.  We all enjoyed our dinner.  There is a tree in the central dining area.  It use to be the inner courtyard for the house.  The courtyard is now covered, but the tree is alive and grows through the middle.  We stayed the night in our first Walmart parking lot...if you chose to do this, do not park by the big trucks.  They run their motors ALL night long, and they pull out early in the morning.  

I had to go back the next morning to take pictures of Old Town.  The buildings were amazing.  I was drawn to this old church.  It is still in use today.

We left Albuquerque that morning and drove through Roswell, New Mexico.  Yes, we went to the alien museum.  I think Trent might have enjoyed the most.  Cole thought the alien statues were neat and watched for them to move.  While I chased down children, Trent spent the time reading all the exhibits and by the time we left, he knew more of the crash than any of us.

Mesa Verde

Mesa Verde National Park

 On the hike back up from Long House the boys were tired and this cute couple moved over so we so sit down also.  Jayden climbed up and laid down before the rest of us could sit.

 The boys got hot...

 Cheese-doggie

Palace House

First week in photos

Photos for the beginning of our trip.  We enjoyed St. George and then went to Pipe Springs National Park and on to Four Corners.

We're working on the swimming skills this Summer.

This is Pipe Springs on the drive between St. George and Kanab.

Feeding the horse at Pipe Springs

Cole and Jayden walking the line

Doing the spread

Yes, mine are the cutest!

Twister Mister

Yep, even got Trent to do it.

I don't know why Trent never centers a pic, and no it's not to be creative.  Most of the time he cuts off some important part of the pic, usually me...

This is Jayden's pic, not too bad.

This is how I roll....

kinda slowly! (and carefully)

What a week

First of...our St. George trip.  Trent's brother Randy and his family joined us on Thursday.  We swam and enjoyed the sun.  On Friday we found a park Molly had heard about with a crack in the rocks you crawl/side step through. Even barrel-chested Trent and cute little pregnant tummied Molly fit.  Sorry, no pics, didn't want to ruin the camera.  It was so fun.  Cole and his cousin Ike climbed (with great help from Uncle Randy-thank you Randy) up through a hole and of course carved their names in the top.  That evening we attended the Tuacahn's Aladdin.  Only one of the kids made it through.  Jayden took a nap, but we had to wake him up early.  Cole should have taken a nap.  Both zonked during the play.  Even Trent slept a little bit.  The play was pretty good.
We left St. George on Saturday and started towards Kanab.  We passed a National Park called Spring Pipe and decided to stay the night closer to the park in order to check it out on Sunday.  We made it to Fredonia, AZ.  Tiny little town, but big enough to have two wards.  We parked in the church parking lot for the night and attended the ward the next day.  We couldn't get the times worked out and so while the boys attended primary, Trent and I went to Gospel Doctrine and then jumped into the next sacrament meeting.  It was...interesting.  Definitely a rural community.  They talked cattle ranching...
We went back out to Spring Pipe National Park and found it was a former cattle ranch owned and designed by the LDS church.  The fortified ranch house was designed by Pres. Brigham Young and the ranch supplied meat, milk, butter and cheese for the workers of the St. George temple.  It was fortified against Indians, but never needed defending.  It was a hide out for polygamists when the federal government was prosecuting them.  They could see the federal agents buggies from miles away because they used white tops on their buggies and then the extra wives and children would run into the hills and hide.  They were never caught.
We drove on towards Four Corners and got close late Sunday night.  We stayed the night in the parking lot of the local post office.  That was a first.  We slept pretty well even though we were right at a highway junction.  Monday morning we went to Four Corners.  It was funner that I remember.  They have a nice plaza there with the states defined and the flags of each of the states flies above it's area.  There are booths around the perimeter and the local Navajo people can set up their crafts.  We visited with an older woman who was creating tiles with sand art.  She was amazing.  Using glue she would draw a design and then pour the sands on it.  It was so detailed and defined.  The story of the picture was written on the back.  It was so simple, but such a talent.  Her lines were straight and her lettering would have two or three colors in the letters.  She gathers the rocks and grinds them to sand herself.  I chose a bear in a beautiful turquoise.  I paid $15.00 for it.  On the other end, there was a man who makes pottery, colors it and then carves it by hand without a pattern or design ahead of time.  I got an amazing pottery with a bear carved into it.  That one was $300.00.  I love them both!  The boys each chose an arrow and we'll hang them over their bedroom doors at home.
After Four Corners, we headed to Mesa Verde.
In Cortez, NM we stayed at our first KOA.  Loved it.  The staff was so great with our boys.  They had a couple of dogs there and my boys seem to love dogs even more since ours had to go live with Grandma due to allergies.  We went into Mesa Verde on Tuesday and enjoyed exploring.  Cole earned his Jr. Ranger badge and really enjoyed the activities he (we) had to do to earn it.  We enjoyed learning about the Anasazi and Puebloan people.
We left Cortez on Wednesday and drove to Albuquerque.  We chose to take the route through Durango.  The drive from Cortez to Durango is BEAUTIFUL.  It is green and the fields are lovely.  Then the mountains around Durango and the big river are amazing.  I was more than a little disappointed that we couldn't stay, but we really needed to travel more than 46 miles!  We will definitely come back here.  It was so picturesque in Colorado, but almost from the moment we passed into New Mexico it wasn't.  Glad the speed limits were so fast, so we could zip right through.
We ate at an amazing restaurant in Old Town called La Puecita.  It was so cool.  It was one of the first homes built in Albuquerque in 1706.  It now has six different dining areas.  We ate in the interior courtyard.  It is now enclosed but a living tree grows up through the roof.  The kids got a kick out of that.  We spent the night in the Walmart parking lot!  What an experience.
Thursday morning we went back to the Old Town area so the kids could play on an awesome playground and I could wander around to take pictures.  We traveled to Roswell and yes, we went to the UFO Museum and Research Facility.  Yippeee....k, not really. The kids were interested though.
We stopped at Carlsbad KOA for the night and I finally got the laptop!  Trent works will I drive and it's worked well...so far!  We are enjoying ourselves so far and the biggest problem has been getting the satelite working for Trent's NBA final games:)