The Odegaard family: in progress: No time for lunch, gotta hike!

It was an epic family road-trip, no doubt. Ten days, eight national parks, and 3,300 miles. In a rental van, thank goodness. Here's how it went down:

Although our plans changed several times due to COVID-19 and wildfires (seriously, was there anywhere safe to travel?!?), we couldn't have been more excited for our giant national parks trip.

I spent weeks prior finding hiking pants for the two girls would would consent to wear them; acquiring a super-nice, clearance-sale, REI broad-rimmed hat for myself; ordering national parks passports for the kids; preparing a few new things to do in the car; and printing of entrance passes, directions, VRBO instructions, and everything else we'd need for the trip. I also arranged pet/house care with detailed instructions, returned and renewed library books, cleaned, and completed all the tasks that would need to be done in the next two weeks. Which was a lot. I made sure Elise's birthday was mostly planned out/acquired since I'd have precious little time after we arrived home. And I did a lot of laundry. And cooked, because who knew what we'd get to eat on the road in the nearly deserted West?

In fact, the week before the trip, preparing for it felt like a full-time job, especially with a VRBO snafu that had us potentially having to leave a day early. Needless to say, by the time our vacation day arrived, I NEEDED A VACATION.

We rented a van for the trip, acquiring a super-low rate thanks to a new Costco membership. Matt thought it was a great idea to reduce the wear and tear on our van's transmission, which we really want to work for a while. I was sold purely on the idea that we'd begin with a clean car, and then return a dirty car. Bliss. It even still had that new-car smell!

But it didn't have a roof rack, so we we had to pack light, and we'd need to re-wear gently-worn clothes, and/or do a little laundry. I had the kids pack about 50/50 for cold/hot weather. I personally forgot to bring any long-sleeved shirts or warm pajamas Because that's how you roll when you're a mom--everyone else has what they need, and you have about 90%. More on this later.

We ended up taking the bulk of the day before our trip off of school because there's only so much one person can do, plus we started school way back in early August for this very reason. We left as soon as we could on a hot, sunny Friday morning, which was approximately a pathetic 9:10. But everyone was in such a good mood that we made it until past lunchtime with only the license plate game to keep us company--and I believe we'd found over half the states by that time.

This was about when I realized I'd forgotten my camera. My really nice, special camera that Matt had spent several holidays purchasing cool features for as gifts for me. That would take amazing pictures, even far away. That I'd been looking forward to using on our big summer trip for 6+ months. That we couldn't go back and get. I would have to content myself with my 3 1/2-year-old iPhone and Kalina's Craigslist camera, that she couldn't remember whether it was charged, and didn't have the charger for, and may be full of pictures anyway. I needed a moment. But ended up super grateful later that Kalina at least had her camera, and was willing to share (as long as I carried it), and that we'd be seeing my brother and Clarissa, who had much better phones and an actual camera that we could use, and that we were on the trip at all.

Elise wanted to see how long she could go without entertainment, but the rest of us didn't, so we put on an audio book--The Prince and the Pauper--despite her protests. To her credit, I fully believe she could've lasted all the way to Colorado on sheer determination, willpower, and a bit of spite .

[Actual Elise quote from the ride home 9 days later: "Who would want to drive this long without anything interesting to do?"]

Ironically, Elise was the one who initially enjoyed The Prince and the Pauper the most, and everyone else was doubtful (except me--I chose it). Since it's a masterful book, and we're studying the middle ages, we pushed on, and by the end of about the third chapter, everyone but Naomi was sold. To her credit, she tolerated, and even enjoyed, most of the book with very few complaints outside of the actual slightly disturbing bits that make it into any medieval period piece. And to Kalina's credit, she allowed her mind to be changed such that she truly loved the book by the end. As everyone should.

We waited for mountains to come into view, and by late afternoon, we could see them through a little smoky haze. Soon enough, we were at Uncle Tom and Clarissa's place just outside of Denver, and gratefully sitting down to real food. This amounted to a lot of not-Mom's-cooking tastes for the girls, which Kalina and Elise reacted to by actually eating it (yes, we had a conversation about that in the car ahead of time) and Naomi reacted to by licking a grain of rice to be polite, crying tears of pure emotion when we suggested she eat it, and then gratefully downing the slice of bread we handed her without so much as butter or jam.

Throwing bedtime to the wind, we headed out on a nice, long hike through the hills, squealing exuberantly about everything from a pond (we have those in Kansas) to cacti (not anywhere near where we live). The views were lovely, and the temperature actually cooled down, as though fall might ever happen. Naomi bravely pulled some cactus spines out of her sandaled toes, and then so did I shortly after. And back at home there was mochi ice cream--another new taste and texture that we all loved (even Naomi, who kind of gave up on figuring out the texture and just tried, rather adorably, to get anything into her mouth that she could...).

With the kids finally in bed, the grownups played childish video games, including a blast from the past called Bubble Bobble. We really wished Aunt Nancy were there.

Rocky Mountain National Park

The next morning, we arose bright and early (less bright and early for those of us used to the central time zone) to be able to use our entrance pass into Rocky Mountain National Park. This was the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, so we were extremely grateful that covid was limiting the number of visitors to the park. Even so, by the time we rolled in at about 8:30, a parking lot was full and we were many shuttle buses away from being able to reach our hiking destination. Fortunately, there were word games to play (this became a theme for our trip).

Eventually, we hiked a beautiful trail, with three pristine lakes that everyone kinda wanted to wade in but no one felt quite like they could, except possibly Elise. (Elise, at the first lake: "This is a perfectly good lake, it's just not far away enough.") We did, however, greatly enjoy the rather audacious chipmunks, especially when we could nearly touch them, or actually touch them...if we were quick and brave and stubborn enough.... Only two of us succumbed to the temptation, but I only managed to barely brush a tail. The other one you can probably guess. We didn't learn until Zion that chipmunks' cousins, squirrels, are the most dangerous animals in the park. Not only did one take on a rattlesnake, but they are the cause of many injuries every year requiring stitches, and a significant number carry the plague. While attempting to touch chipmunks wasn't exactly sanctioned by Matt before that, the rule of "stop trying to touch the chipmunks!" was strictly enforced afterward.

One of Kalina's favorite hikes:
the tundra at RMNP

After a picnic lunch, with more chipmunk friends, we drove up Trail Ridge Road a bit and pulled off on a tundra hike. The reactions were mixed. Elise charged ahead, and would have kept hiking indefinitely, if not wisely. Kalina was awed by the scenery, different plants, and elevated feel of the place, plus the sheer fact that we were on a tundra high in the mountains. She felt the weightiness of the matter. For her part, Naomi wanted to turn back. In the end, we reached to goal of a specific vista and felt okay making Elise turn back, especially when we noticed that...*gasp!*...we very likely would not arrive back at the visitor center before closing time and, in turn, would miss out on stamping our passports at the very first National Park we visited on the trip! FAIL!

Even worse fail: having achieved the view, we directly turned our backs on it and high-tailed our way back down the trail, with Elise again charging ahead because she was as excited about her passport as about the actual park. To her credit, she's also only 9. So that's about right. A little more than an hour later we were in the car, careening down the mountain road, hoping the visitor center would stay open a few extra minutes. I weighed calling ahead. That's when we saw the elk, and it was decided for us by the driver that nature outweighed passports. We stopped and exited the car for a better view before finishing our trek to the visitor center about 10-15 minutes after the advertised closing time.

We got our passports stamped!

So imagine my delight when I saw a tent, and a ranger, and a roll of stamp stickers awaiting us! The girls and I launched ourselves from the car and thanked the ranger profusely for "still being there." We took pictures--not only had we achieved an amazing hike, but we had our stickers! It's about then I realized the ranger seemed in no hurry to leave. Could the visitor center actually be open late on Labor Day Saturday? Naw....

It was a good thing we'd hurried, though, as our amazing spring roll dinner with crepes for dessert was quite far away. But totally worth the wait.

Kids to bed. Must video-game.

Dinosaur footprints!

The next morning we headed to a site where dinosaur and crocodile footprints had been found, and dinosaur bones exposed. The coolest was the part where we saw the underside of dinosaur foot impressions, as the mud below had washed away. This was a long, hot walk, but the various prints were worth it, to most of us, anyway. Or me, at least.

Incidentally, I'd searched out a few other sites throughout our travels where we'd be able to see dinosaur footprints, and the occasional petroglyph. The kids' response at my suggestion that we see more dino prints later in the trip? "But we already saw some. They were really cool, but I feel like we've done that." I personally could seek them out all day but I guess that's just me. Because there were, like, more than just one or two types of dinosaurs, right? Everyone else: box checked.

After dinos and a yummy lunch, we played a super-fun game before reluctantly saying goodbye and heading to the amazing state of Utah. And in some ways, this is where the scenery really began. We loved the areas of Colorado we saw, but they didn't quite compare to driving through a canyon. Or, actually, barreling through it as Matt scrambled to keep up with the insane speed of traffic. We gaped at the scenery the entire 6-hour drive, occasionally checking to make sure the kids were also looking.

Our hotel was clear on the other end of the cute town of Moab, which we'll totally be exploring next time. By the time we arrived, both the day and Naomi were done: long days and unfamiliar surroundings were starting to wear on her. She just wanted her kitties and her own bed. Homesickness followed her for the next few days, but as we caught up on sleep a bit, and she got used to the routine, and acquired the occasional stuffed animal, she held it together and enjoyed herself. (But did her sisters enjoy sharing a bed with all those stuffies? Not so much....)

Canyonlands

First thing in the morning, we made our way to Canyonlands National Park, hoping to beat the crowds, and using Elise's 4th-grade National Parks pass for the first time (estimated savings: $240). There were none--one of the strangest things about touring the national parks was how some could be prohibitively packed and others truly tranquil. Although I hadn't had time to research parks much ahead of time, I did manage to use spotty Internet service to dredge up a couple hikes that should be good for kids.

And they were! In fact, our first hike was one of our trip favorites. We came upon startling views of canyons (go figure), climbed on rocks, and overheard another hiker talking about a rattlesnake he spotted. We pretended we were on Mars. A second hike was more crowded, but with equally amazing views--that is, if you like smoke. By early afternoon, wildfire smoke had settled rather thickly into place and reduced visibility throughout the park. Which would have been more of a bummer if it hadn't also allowed us to hike for 6 miles without burning up in the sun.

We knew we needed groceries, and that we might want to make it to Arches for a preview later in the afternoon/evening, so we stuffed our cooler and a few additional bags at an overpriced store before crashing in the hotel for just long enough to take showers. A glance at the weather app showed a 40% chance of rain the following morning, so we microwaved some potatoes for an early dinner, which took, like, half an hour, and practically ran to Arches.

Which was also amazing, in its own way. And crowded still! It seemed, as we walked from scenic arch photo spot to scenic arch photo spot, that all we did was line up to take our picture, and then continue on. Fortunately, we also got in a lot of good climbing. And sand.

The girls climbed a
large arch! They're
bigger than you think!

Sandstone was fun to climb on, but sand was only fun to walk in for Naomi, who adores sand, and has since she was a baby. "Why is the baby covered in sand?" I wondered the first time she was introduced, at about 10 months. Turns out, she still likes to wallow in sand, and even allow it into her shoes. She and Elise are opposite in that way, as we frequently heard during the trip.

We climbed arches until sunset, and were glad we did, as the next day dawned rainy and cold. Hoping it'd clear, and because we still hadn't had a look at the famous Delicate Arch, we packed up, bundled up, and made the drive into the park. Although the rain had cleared the smoke, it also washed out our chances for a good look at Delicate Arch. Of course, we threw on raincoats and made the short walk, but quickly turned back after our picture. We completed a scenic drive, as though we hadn't already spent enough time in the car. And then as we were leaving for Capitol Reef and points south, the clouds started to clear. We didn't, however, trust them enough to change our direction.

Delicate Arch and 3
chilly, wet girls!

We enjoyed the scenery of the drive, despite the cold rain that seemed to follow us. We stopped at a gas station in Hanksville, a decrepit little town but with a gas station that's really trying hard. Apparently Hanksville is also home to a Mars research station, which makes sense with how alien the landscape felt at times. It's not home to much else, just like the dozens of other tiny towns we passed through that somehow were big enough to warrant a large mention on a highway road sign, but no businesses bigger than an odd gas station or miniscule diner. And not many of them, either.

A likely slightly creeped out Naomi, tired of barely understanding the Prince and the Pauper, and all its few grizzly scenes, and weary of foreign scenery, convinced us to put in Ribsy, which we alternated with P&P until we finished both.

Capitol Reef State Park,
wearing most of our clothing
and still chilly.

Despite having spent several hours in the car already, it was actually a little bit hard to emerge from it at Capitol Reef. We were considering the park as a bit of an "extra," plus the weather was better suited for sipping a cup of hot cocoa by a window wearing jammies. But the hike we found followed a canyon, with lots of neat little caves to explore along the way, and rocks to find. My conscience wavered as I tossed away a very nice piece of petrified wood I'd found--but I just couldn't break park rules in front of my rules-following kids. Elise and Naomi passed the hike telling stories and pretending to be ocean animals (other hikers were sharks--a fact I hope they never became aware of) and Kalina chatted with Matt and I. After the hike, we checked out some petroglyphs. Elise was delighted by the bighorn sheep, and especially the one with the spiral tail.

Kalina and I found
petrified wood and
such at Capitol Reef!

After stamping our passports and deciding against a stuffed puppet chipmunk, we pressed on, my heart slightly sinking as the temperature dropped. Our accommodations for the next two nights, which I'd booked in late July, were covered wagons at a campground. What's more, a nagging feeling reminded me I hadn't absolutely confirmed that we didn't need to have brought sleeping bags for everyone--although as the place billed itself as "glamping," I thought we'd be okay. As I watched tiny snowflakes drift from the sky, however, I knew that if we weren't okay, we'd be really not okay.

You know how when you come out of the cold into a warm building, everything feels like it'll be okay? That's the feeling we didn't get as we opened the door to our covered wagon. I started both heaters and turned on the promised heated mattress pads. The temperature registered at 37 degrees, and that's where it pretty much stayed, despite the heaters' hard work.

Home-Sweet-Covered-Wagon
in Utah. Our rain jackets and
sweatshirts just weren't cutting
it.

Still, we were delighted by the property--in the middle of pines after long tree-scarce stretches in the car. The girls took a few laps and jumped on the trampoline until I had heated all of the cups of macaroni and cheese in the microwave (so, like, 15 minutes--and can I just say, I am not impressed with a microwave's ability to "speed up dinner?"). After another 10 minutes, Matt and I both had cups of hot chili. Which helped. A little. We also made smores out of the little smores packets the owners left for us. These included: individually wrapped Hershey chocolate, plastic-wrapped graham crackers, and 2 marshmallows hard enough to burn for fuel. Still, we figured we could soften them up in the microwave. And we could...some of them...kinda. Each marshmallow took about 3 times as long as usual, and still hardened up once it was added to the graham crackers. The cold air couldn't have helped.

It was then I heard the wind whistling and realized that, wow, we're really sleeping under canvas! There wasn't going to be much between us and that frigid air swirling around us. I thought back to when I'd stared hard at the coat closet, certain we couldn't possibly need winter coats in early September. Then I realized I hadn't even packed a long-sleeved shirt for myself. One day I'll get the hang of this whole packing thing; until them, I'm just going to have to remember that Kansas is just warmer than everywhere else. Except St. Louis and North Carolina.

As I'd read in the "welcome packet" about all the predators we could run into, I pulled Kalina and Elise aside and warned them not to go anywhere alone, and also not to let Naomi. They already knew how to make themselves look big in the event of a mountain lion or bear encounter, and I cautioned them to protect Naomi without letting her know what they were protecting her from. They understood, having lived with their little sisters' fears and worries for years now, and not wanting to make them worse in any way.

The detached bathroom was ever so slightly warmer, and soon we were bundled into our beds, heated, after some fiddling, by the mattress pads, and starting to thaw out a bit. In the middle of the night, I felt almost warm! We drifted off to the hum of the heater.

The next morning, we awoke to ice on our front step. I insisted on hot showers for a few of us, which also helped--but barely enough. We moved very slowly, stumbling over what to have for breakfast, which should've been pancake mix that I was positive I'd packed, but couldn't locate. (It was at home in the pantry after all.) At any rate, we didn't make it to Zion until nearly 10 or 11 (I couldn't keep the time zones straight), which was late enough that we couldn't get a nearby parking spot, and we spent most of our time among crowds thanks to some really restrictive shuttle-bus rules.

Zion NP

After about a mile of walking, we were at the beginning of our hike! This ended up being my favorite park, but least favorite park experience overall. We learned that we wouldn't be able to see most of the park unless we waited in a long shuttle-bus line at 3:00. We also learned that the chipmunks we'd been highly entertained by could be dangerous, as could squirrels, who could possibly carry the plague. And we hiked among the masses, who also didn't have shuttle-bus tickets.

Nevertheless, the hikes were amazing. The first was uphill to a lovely view (unfortunately, with a campground, road and parking lot at the bottom--but one could overlook those). We passed and were passed by many people at narrow ledges, but managed well enough. We also did much of the climbing in masks, since the trail was so congested. But fortunately, I'd stuck a deck of travel games into my pocket, and we enjoyed playing such games as "Personal Chef, " "Alias," and "Favorite Things" along the way. These ended up being a huge morale booster overall for when hikes got long or difficult, although after about the first day of our trip, I didn't hear any complaining. I did occasionally hear arguing over nuances in over games. But they were still fun. Actually, with my little deck of cards, enough water, and granola bars, we could probably traverse the country one day.

By the time we were finished hiking and back at the car, it was mid-afternoon. We ate lunch.

Arches, with smoke.

As a side note, our motto for the trip was: No time for lunch, gotta hike! As it happened, we did most of our exploring in the mornings, and our driving in the mid/late afternoons. This meant that we didn't want to stop and take a long break around noon most days. So granola bars became our elevensies, and lunch happened anywhere from 2-4. Dinner was around 7, and bedtime closer to 9. Not sure which time zone, as we seemed to use them interchangeably, and especially once we entered Arizona and technically gained another hour for less than a day.

After lunch in Zion, and a trip to the visitor center, we decided against the giant shuttle-bus line, even though we would have enjoyed seeing the rest of the park. Instead, we headed for a hike on our way out.

Naomi charged ahead
even on rocky, narrow
ledges. Not me.

This park took the cake as one of the very most beautiful we did--but also one of the most precarious. Fortunately, Matt took Naomi's hand and told stories down the trails so she was calm and sure-footed. Any other day, she worries about stairs sometimes (like the kind you can see through), but on this trail, she calmly trotted across bridges over canyons. Elise pushed the limits, but not too far, and Kalina and I carefully picked our way along.

We made it to another beautiful overlook, and were admiring the view when the wind swept up and pulled my hat off my head, despite the cord that was looped around my neck holding it on. Our overlook was simply a large rock with no rail, so, despite the fact that the hat landed, temporarily, a few feet from the edge, I hesitated to lunge for it. Matt made a move, but it was too late--the hat sailed over the edge and disappeared down into either the trees or traffic that were below. Naomi cried and handed me her beloved hat to stuff into my backpack for safekeeping, bystanders watched to see what would happen, and I, with my momlike instincts, began to calm everyone down. "It's only a hat, no biggie!" I said for everyone to hear. "I'm glad no one went after it--it was too dangerous." I reassured the girls I could buy a new hat in the next gift shop if I wanted, and that at least I had a second hat in the car, that I also like. Inside, I was super bummed. That was a nice REI hat I got on clearance, and I actually liked it! The girls also mourned the hat: they had liked it as well. But there was nothing we could do except move on--literally, and figuratively. I kind of wanted off that windy perch right away, having seen my hat float over the side. What would be next?

And it turns out, I'll be reminded of the unsettling hat incident every time we travel now: the very site I lost my hat is pictured on the front of our atlas.

Zion National Park

Onward! We hiked back to our car and drove back to the covered wagons for our second night there. We arrived in daylight, thank goodness, and Matt started a fire for hot dogs and smores (with marshmalllows from our own supply this time). Ten minutes later, our hosts were also lighting a large fire. Soon, we found ourselves invited to a singalong, along with the other family staying on the property (whose cousin, it turns out, created the board game, Trekking the National Parks). Naomi instantly made friends with the two other young girls, and our hosts passed out more bags of stale-marshmallow-smores. How rude would it be to open our own bag? Pretty rude, I guessed. The three young girls then did their own "show" after the regular music was over.

We enjoyed the music and chatting with the family to see what kind of people own such a cool property. To Elise's consternation, the dad used to be a dentist. This fact was hard for her to reconcile, especially since she'd already mentioned that she could picture doing something like running a camping property someday. But clearly, there's no dental school in her future.

Somehow, this night was a little warmer, and not quite as painful.

The next day, we headed out to Bryce Canyon after a much quicker breakfast, just in case. I debated whether I should wear my one pair of hiking pants for a 3rd day. They were dusty, but truly the best thing for hiking. So, yes.

Bryce Canyon NP

Bryce Canyon

We enjoyed another set of stunning views and enchanting trails hiking among the hoodoos. We spotted castles, the queen and other people, and mini arches among the spikes The push to get up and out at the end of the hike was not as fun, especially for Naomi who started getting concerned about the heights we were achieving. I was right there with her by the end. We also hiked along the rim for another amazing view. This was another of my favorite parks, but words to describe it fall short.

This park also held the excitement of actually selling a cute, reasonable stuffed chipmunk in its gift shop! So naturally, Naomi picked one up, now completely out of allowance money, but happy as a well-fed chipmunk.

We ate another 3:00 lunch before driving south to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We stopped on the way at Kalina's request at a rock shop, of which there were many. A quick Google search led me to one actually shaped kinda like a rock (on purpose) and serving ice cream. A cat greeted us at the door, so we knew we were in a good place.

We loved all the
passageways at
Bryce Canyon!

The girls perused, Naomi holding it together despite the fact that she was out of money, and the older girls making very modest purchases despite, like, 30 minutes of browsing a small shop. I found a rather perfect sandstone arch for the fireplace. The salesguy was helpful in many ways, explaining why we were seeing so many California license plates (yes, the fires and coronavirus restrictions, but also because every other rental car out of Las Vegas is licensed in California), and that the giant Styrosaurus "fossil" held up with tiny hooks in his shop was actually probably a movie prop. Then he gave the kids free ice cream for behaving so nicely. We ate it outside, with the cat, and felt a little at home.

Our stop was fun, but we didn't cruise into our small, old, only-place-left-near-Grand-Canyon hotel until nearly 7:00 Utah time, which was 8:00 Kansas Time, and 6:00 Arizona time. We'd debated trying to catch the sunset at the Grand Canyon, but eyed the quickly sinking sun and realized we'd be too late to see anything but stars, which we could actually catch pretty well from the open field right next to our little duplex cabin. So instead we hung out in the not-super-exciting room catching up on showers and postcards and eating cheese and crackers for dinner.

Matt holding "Thor's
Hammer" in Bryce
Canyon.

When the sky darkened, we stepped out to try to spot the Milky Way. Scared of the dark, Naomi begged to go inside every minute or so for about 10 minutes when, quite chilled, we gave in. But the stars really were amazing! We wished we had more time to see them properly, in a darker sky, but as virtually every night was either cloudy, smoky, or quite cold, we missed out this trip.

The next morning, knowing we'd have only a few hours at the Grand Canyon before needing to press on, we jetted out the door. We passed a coyote out hunting on the way, and were early enough arriving that we felt the need to keep our voices low.

Naomi and I opted for the steady bench to study the canyon and play a game of I spy ("I spy something brown... Is it the canyon? I spy something green...is it that tree? How about that one?") while Elise dashed off toward a precarious (yet fenced) overlook and Matt followed for safety, and Kalina followed to see the scenery.

The Grand Canyon!

Then we made time for three somewhat short hike/overlooks. The first challenged my notions of what constitutes a reasonable risk. Matt and Naomi, telling stories, were the ones to forge ahead this time while Kalina, Elise and I picked our way across ridges too narrow and steep for my comfort level and clinging to whatever we could. Naturally, the views were gorgeous and amazing, but the whole place made me nervous. Maybe I still hadn't shaken the image of my hat blowing off the top of a cliff at Zion NP.

We were bummed that nearly everything was closed, with no rangers present, so we were unable to stamp our passports here. If we'd had more time, we would have sought it out in the handful of buildings that were open, but not knowing whether or not the passport station existed anywhere reachable, we instead decided to see the actual site.

The second place we went was an overlook that featured sweeping views of the canyon. The previous view had felt, well, a little narrow for a canyon that's supposed to be grand. Beautiful, but more of an offshoot. I wanted the real thing. During the 15-minute drive, I spotted a bird that could have been a California Condor but was probably instead a turkey vulture. But the point here is that it could have been a California Condor and I'm not certain because I saw it for all of 1 second.

We enjoyed the overlook and almost as much fun was the fossil hunting! We found lots of sponges, along with some brachiopods and coral. Naomi and Elise made a pile for other hikers to find.

After this, we wanted a taste of what it's like to hike down into the canyon, so we drove to yet another spot and started down a mule trail. I'd pictured clinging to a cliff while a parade of mules passed us, but instead found a somewhat gentle slope, and only the occasional sign of a mule (if you know what I mean). We played the game "My Favorite Things", and turned around before we felt ready because of the steep climb up that we knew awaited us. Which actually wasn't too bad. Soon, we were having lunch at a somewhat reasonable time, just after noon, and then piling into the van to drive back to Colorado.

Along the way, we passed more astonishing scenery, and drove through part of the Navajo Reservation. We felt deeply for the people living there and their astounding lack of opportunity in a dry, brown land. Simultaneously, we were bummed we couldn't visit the Four Corners Monument, but we at least were able to see it as we drove by. As soon as we crossed into Colorado, and left the reservation, the land greened up and people clearly prospered. Huh.

Our stop that night was the equivalent of a Cliff bar on a long hike: just what we needed. A cute, new, squeaky-clean little AirBnB right next to a horse pasture charmed us all, except possibly for Matt, who had a bit of a headache. The girls discovered their own adorable loft area while I started water for pasta and what would feel like our first regular meal in days. I marveled at how much easier it was to get dinner, or do anything, really, when you're not in a covered wagon or cramped hotel room.

The only bummer was that we didn't have longer to enjoy the lovely, clean, space, as the next morning, we were again up early to spend as much time as we could at Mesa Verde before we'd need to again hit the road.

Mesa Verde was a park that I was both eagerly anticipating and dreading. I couldn't wait to see the ruins, but I had also mentally prepared myself for the major disappointment of not being allowed inside the ruins and having to content myself with mediocre views. Was it even worth visiting at all?

Spoiler alert: it was! We were all delighted with how many ruins we could see, many of them fairly close. We would've loved to have taken a tour through them, but seeing as we only were able to spend 4-5 hours at the park, a tour would've cramped the rest of our visit. Which was awesome.

Elise, in particular, voiced her amazement at the ruins we saw, and the fact that people used to live in them. And Kalina was, as she always is, delighted with their beauty and their architecture. Naomi was just glad to keep up, and that she'd found a stuffed chipmunk. As she should be: not only have her hiking skills blossomed, but she really stuck it out for a chipmunk.

One of the coolest spots on our
hike in Mesa Verde.

As we poked along exclaiming over various ruins, we checked the time and noticed that if we really hurried, we could do what sounded like a fun hike out to see some petroglyphs. And once you mention a thing like that to Elise, you don't take it back very easily (plus we all kinda really wanted to), so soon we were switchbacking our way down into a ravine and passing all the other hikers on the trail.

It seemed crazy to try to "squeeze in" a 2.5-mile, moderate hike when our day was already packed, and we weren't exactly bored with what we were seeing. But we'd grown used to risks and adventures, and this seemed like a good one.

The petroglyphs at
Mesa Verde

We knew we had made a good choice when the trail required us to squeeze between, climb over, crawl up and duck under rocks everywhere. It felt a little like an obstacle course but in a shady, scenic, super-fun way. The kids were motivated by the sheer novelty of feeling just a bit like a pet mouse in a tube system (not that it took anything to motivate them) and Naomi and Elise told more stories as they traveled the trail.

Rushing the trail perhaps added to the adventure, and being in such good shape from so much hiking over the past week, we acted as a well-oiled machine, even in the section where we had to scramble up rocks using handholds and footholds carved into the sandstone (much like the people who used to call the area home did). We enjoyed the challenge and the petroglyphs, which we compared and contrasted with the others we'd seen, and finished in an hour and a half-ish.

We quickly prepped for another 6-hour drive, grabbed a couple souvenirs and passport stamps, and then, as the time showed around 2:00, threw together some lunch from the last of our reasonable (non-Oreo or granola bar) car stash, which we'd lived off of ever since leaving Tom and Clarissa's place.

Much to our delight, we drove straight into the our new favorite mountain range, the snow-capped San Juans we'd been eyeing in the distance. Even better: our route took us above the snow line. I nudged Matt into pulling off at some sort of pull-off, and the kids dashed into the snow in their shorts. We threw a few snowballs, made a mini snowman or two, and watched a fellow traveler fly a drone.

Zion National Park

Then we were back on the road, heading for the biggest of the small towns we'd drive through on our route home, as it had a hotel. Dinner was yummy pizza that we ordered an hour early and picked up, hot and ready to go, as we passed by a small-town restaurant. They also sold mini fudge cups, and I found fun flavors for everyone. Then the sun began to set, and during the last, dark hour we counted nearly as many large deer as cars. Fortunately, we were enjoying the audiobook version of Cheaper By the Dozen by this point, which is lighthearted (most of the way through) and even had Matt laughing.

Still, by the time we arrived, which was later than we were hoping, Naomi was again missing kittens, overtired, and ready to be done. We fixed up our somewhat disappointing hotel room with all the stuffies, blankets, and pillows from home, and Naomi really did fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

The next day we loaded up on grab-and-go hotel breakfast, probably really annoying the attendant who had to keep grabbing different yogurt flavors for my girls, and hit the road, again as early as we could manage, as we were eager to see our kitties.

Elise was annoyed that
climbing wasn't
allowed.

Driving from tiny town to tiny town, we noticed that our route would nearly pass by Kansas' newest state park, Little Jerusalem. How could we not stop? The girls had been asking to go for the past couple months, and we kept our plan a surprise. Still, I couldn't help being wondering that they didn't seem to notice when we pulled onto a gravel road.

We were all happy to be out of the car, and excited to see another natural wonder. Predictably, the site was cool...but no national park. Matt got a bigger kick out the grasshopper varieties, and the fact that cows were allowed to graze on the state park land. In all fairness, due to the fact that we really didn't want to spend a lot of time, we only walked the shorter trail. Glowing reviews exist about the longer one, so we probably missed out.

During the afternoon, we enjoyed one last fun vacation stop, at Dairy Queen for a late "lunch" that we didn't even try to make healthy. We passed the time easily enough looking for Rhode Island license plates (the only one we didn't see!), playing with a few trip toys, and listening to our audio book. Easy peasy.

The kitties were as glad to see us as we were to see them. They were super clingy for the next few days, and to be honest, we were, too. Within a week, they had chilled out and probably would've been okay with a few less snuggles--but it's nice to know they missed us.

By the numbers:

Miles traveled: 3,300

National parks visited: 8

State parks visited: 1

Miles hiked: 30-ish

Items forgotten at home that would've been really nice to have: 4, mostly mine

Highest speed limit: 75 (thank goodness!)

Meltdowns: Maybe 3?

State license plates found: 49, plus DC and a couple from Canada

States visited: 5, including Kansas

Time zones visited: 3, including central

Meals eaten out of our cooler: 14