Sunday July 3, 2016 – Day 8 – Rocky Mt. NP

So today was the marathon drive day – we had 770 miles to go from Englewood to Dallas.  We ate breakfast downstairs and got on the road around 8:15.  Our first stop was in Trinidad, CO where we ate lunch at a very crappy diner called Double D’s Grill.  The salads were rotten and the service was bad.  The kids barely ate their food.  We then drove 20 miles farther into Raton, NM.  The plan had been to go to Climax Canyon Park and hike the canyon for 45 minutes (because I needed to exercise and since it was a weekend day, I had to go for 45 minutes).  We got into Raton and tried to fine the park but it was a little scary/”Deliverancy” and we got the heck out of dodge without exercising. 

It was funny because I was trying to figure out when the time zone line was so I kept telling Ryan to watch the time on my phone and let me know when it switched forward by a whole hour.  We figured out that the time zone changed at the Texas border.

Our next stop was Dairy Queen in Dalhart for ice cream.  Then I did leg lifts, computer lifts, twists, water bottle curls…anything I could think of for 45 minutes in the car.  And I counted it!  Then dinner was in Childress (we were going to go to a highly recommended bbq joint but it was closed to a private party so we ate at a Subway in a gas station).  The kids were absolutely outstanding the entire time.  I was so proud of them.  They watched some movies and looked at videos of the “world’s cutest dog”, Boo, who lives in San Francisco. 

We continued our drive and about the time we hit Wichita Falls, the lightening and the fireworks started.  The lightening was like nothing I’d ever seen.  It was lightening in so many places that it was very distracting and stressful to be driving.  The lightening was very close.  At one point Grant said, “If lightening hits our car will we be ok?”  I very confidently said, “Absolutely.  We’ll be absolutely fine!” all-the-while thinking, “I have no idea if we’ll be ok”.  Then the rain came then the wind, then the rain, then more lightening, then more fireworks, etc., etc.  We pulled into the driveway at 11:10

What a trip.  I’d like to go back to our 20^th national park!!!

Saturday July 2, 2016 – Day 7 – Rocky Mt. NP

Today was definitely the highlight of the trip.  We left the house in Breckenridge around 9 and drove to west side and stopped at the Kawuneeche Visitors Center and got hat pins and magnets.  I got magnets with pikas on them for the kids because I was so excited about seeing a pika again. 

We drove a short ways and stopped to see 3 or 4 elk on the side of the road that came right up by the car.  Then not more than 10 minutes later we say a MOOSE, a first for all of us.  We kept driving north then east on Trial Ridge Road and past the Alpine Visitors Center where the road is above the tree line and at around 12,700 feet. 

My ears were hurting and Ryan was feeling terrible but we saw a small herd of elk bulls just lounging on the side of the mountain and they were spectacular.  

Continuing to drive east, we stopped at Hidden Valley and took a short trail back to a picnic table where we feasted on slim jims, cheese nips, apples, oranges…you name it. 

Our next stop was amazing and completely unplanned.  We took the road towards Moraine Park (which we decided that if we wanted to come back and camp, that would be the nicest place to camp).  We parked at the trailhead for the Cub Lake Trail and began our official hike.  It was 2.7 miles back to Cub Lake which was covered with blooming lily pads.  The hike itself was so interesting – lots of ecosystems and NO pikas.  We jokingly called to them by farting and no luck – ran into lots of cute chipmunks but no pikas.  We continued on to The Pool and then back to the road on the Fern Lake Trail.  We crossed streams, rivers, drank out of waterfalls, saw beautiful wild flowers, got bit by mosquitos and generally stayed in the shade for what ended up being a 6.5 mile hike and I loved every minute of it as did the kids for the most part. 

After getting in the car and before getting back on the main road, we had to stop for a true herd of elk (probably 40 of them – all moms and babies) who crossed the road.  It was awesome. 

We then drove down to Bear Lake which is where I was sure I’d seen a pika when I was 16.  If we’d had more time we would have hiked the Bear Lake trail that led to another lake which led to another lake.  If we come back I’d like to do that hike but the kids were absolutely beat. 

We left the park and ate dinner at a so-so restaurant then went into a souvenir shop next door and Ryan bought a stuffed moose. 

We got back on the road (it was around 8:30) and drove through Denver to Englewood, CO where we stayed at a Drury Inn.  We got in around 10:15 and everyone crashed.

Friday July 1, 2016 – Day 6 – Rocky Mt. NP

This was our last full day in Breckenridge and it was still raining.  I was getting cabin fever and needed to get out of the house so just our family drove up to the town of Frisco and went on a 1.5 hour hike.  We started out of just a city trail (which was incredible) and then turned off on a real trail that lead up to Mount Royal? It drizzled on us but overall it felt so good to get out and do something.  After our hike we stopped for lunch at the Log Cabin Café and it was really good.  Then we drove to a candy store and the kids got something sweet.  As soon as we got back to the house we went down to the ski lodge and bowled (the kids and I went) with everyone.  It was a lot of fun except that one of the kids had a complete meltdown and started throwing his hat because the score board wouldn’t work.

After bowling, we walked back to the house and just hung out the rest of the evening.  For a while, the adults all played Cards Against Humanity while the kids watched a movie in the downstairs movie room. 

Here's Chad lookin' good!

The house was absolutely amazing – 7,200 square feet with 7 bedrooms and 3 stories.  I forgot which night but one night while we were there, a fox came right up to our house and just sat down by the hot tub.  It was really cute. 

After dinner we packed up all of our stuff.

Friday July 1, 2016 – Day 6 – Rocky Mt. NP

This was our last full day in Breckenridge and it was still raining.  I was getting cabin fever and needed to get out of the house so just our family drove up to the town of Frisco and went on a 1.5 hour hike.  We started out of just a city trail (which was incredible) and then turned off on a real trail that lead up to Mount Royal? It drizzled on us but overall it felt so good to get out and do something.  After our hike we stopped for lunch at the Log Cabin Café and it was really good.  Then we drove to a candy store and the kids got something sweet.  As soon as we got back to the house we went down to the ski lodge and bowled (the kids and I went) with everyone.  It was a lot of fun except that one of the kids had a complete meltdown and started throwing his hat because the score board wouldn’t work.

After bowling, we walked back to the house and just hung out the rest of the evening.  For a while, the adults all played Cards Against Humanity while the kids watched a movie in the downstairs movie room. 

Here's Chad lookin' good!

The house was absolutely amazing – 7,200 square feet with 7 bedrooms and 3 stories.  I forgot which night but one night while we were there, a fox came right up to our house and just sat down by the hot tub.  It was really cute. 

After dinner we packed up all of our stuff.

Thursday June 30, 2016 – Day 5 – Rocky Mt NP

This morning we were going to go on a hike from the 2^nd stop on the gondola but the trail was closed because a mama moose and her babies had been spotted on the trail.  So we rode the gondola all the way into town (it was just Ryan, me and the Fulghums) and we bought a t-shirt.  Then Ryan and I went to find a place to eat and at first, stood in the crepe line (Crepes a la Cart is supposed to be this great restaurant – it’s a permanent food cart) but after waiting for 30 plus minutes and seeing the line not move at all, she and I went to Clint’s bakery and had a very good bagel with cream cheese (Ryan) and a chicken salad sandwich.  It was sprinkling and we ran back to the gondola which had closed down because of lightening so we rode a city bus back up to the ski resort and then Carrie & Mary came and picked us up.  We were pretty darn wet.  The rest of the day, it just rained and was uneventful.

Wednesday June 29, 2016 – Day 4 – Rocky Mt NP

Got up, and went over to the “park” and got all-day passes to ride the rides.  We rode the roller coaster, the alpine slides, had burgers on the outdoor patio, then ran through the maze and played a round of mini golf. 

Then just the Bomersbachs took the Colorado Super Chair up to the tippy top of the mountain but it started raining on the way up so once we got there, they said we could run into the ski restaurant, which wasn’t open for business but was open, or we could just ride back down.  We chose to go to the restaurant because it got very cold but then they shut down the lift due to lightening so we ended up sitting up there for over an hour and played an entire game of Scrabble.  The ski resort finally sent buses up to get us and we rode down the mountain, returning to the house around 4.  It rained the rest of the afternoon so the kids hung out at the house.  I went on a walk later in the afternoon then came back, took a shower, think I broke the middle toe on my left foot on the bathtub, then we had an Italian dinner that Erin made.  Grant started feeling badly so he went to bed early and I was right behind him.  I think Ryan, Mary Louisa and Leighton stayed up until midnight!

Tuesday June 28, 2016 – Day 3 - Rocky Mt NP

Today was somewhat uneventful.  We ate some breakfast at the house.  Then I went for a walk but had to cut it short due to a complete colon blowout.  The altitude has given me the worst gas.  The kids have also had headaches and everyone generally feels a little bit worn out.  We then walked over to the gondola and went into town and had lunch at Downstairs at Eric’s. 

It was really good.  The kids were able to run around and play in the arcade and the grownups had lunch and drinks.  Afterwards, Ryan started feeling terribly so she rode home with Chad in his car and Grant, Nick and I, after making a stop at a souvenir store to get Grant a hat, rode back home on the gondola. 

The afternoon was spent mostly around the house with the kids playing pool and sitting in the hot tub.  Mary and I hit the grocery store and got stuff for fajitas and the Bomersbachs cooked dinner. 

 

Monday June 27, 2016 – Day 2 - Rocky Mt NP

Monday June 27, 2016 – Day 2 - Rocky Mt NP  We got up at 7, ate a pretty bad breakfast, and drove to Palo Duro Canyon State Park with the intention of going on a short hike (I was trying to find a fun way of working in my 35 minutes of exercise).  Apparently I’d been to Palo Duro as a very little kids but have no recollection of it.  Well they got like ½ inch of rain the day before so literally every trail in the entire park was closed.  But I’m glad we got to see the canyon.  It was really beautiful and seemed very out of place to be in Texas.  We drove around for just a bit then left and drove through Amarillo. 

Before really getting on the road, we stopped at Cadillac Ranch.  I’m not sure if I’d ever been there or not but it was cool.  There’s only about 10 cars, not as many as I was thinking, but it was cool.  I didn’t realize that everyone spray paints them so there were cans of spray paint lying around and the kids each sprayed a little something on one of the cars.  You could actually only get to one of the cars because the other nine were in a big rain puddle.  As we were walking out to the cars we kept asking the kids to guess what they were and they guessed some crazy stuff – arcade games, paint ball stations…but not cars until we got close.

After leaving Amarillo, we drove to Dalhart and had lunch, this time at Dairy Queen.  I think the kids watched Zootopia again.  Then we crossed into New Mexico and made another AWESOME stop at Mt. Capulan Volcano. 

Ryan was super pissed but I LOVED IT.  We got magnets and had the passbooks stamped after taking a picture in front of the sign even though it’s only a national monument.  Then we drove to the top.  On the way I was telling Nick that when I was there last (27 years ago?) there were these lady bugs everywhere and sure enough they were there again.  We hiked the perimeter of the crater and it magically took 35 minutes so I got my exercise out of the way.  But those lady bugs were flying around a lot along with a bunch of other insects and Grant nearly lost it – he was squealing and saying, “I don’t like this!”  The hike was great – it was steep but the weather was cool and dry and the breeze was heavenly.  I told Nick that as soon as our kids get out of the house, we have to move to a drier climate. 

We left the volcano and drove on to Colorado, and yes, the kids watched Zootopia again.  We pulled into Breckenridge around 6:30? and stopped at Windy City Pizza for a quick (and delicious) dinner.  Then I ran into the grocery store and we got to the spectacular house at 7:45.  We were the last ones here but we still got a decent room.

Sunday June 26, 2016 - Rocky Mt NP Day 1

Sunday June 26, 2016 – Day 1 - Rocky Mt NP

Every year my college roommates and our families go on a summer trip together.  We all have kids the same age and we started this when they were 1 and now they’re all 8.  Year 1: Fossil Rim, Year 2: Rockport, Year 3: Canyon Lake, Year 4: Crested Butte, Year 5: Alabama, Year 6: Alabama, Year 7: Las Vegas, no kids, Year 8: Breckenridge!!  This wouldn’t normally even be a blog-worthy trip because we’re not really hitting the national parks but since we’re in Breckenridge, we’re going to make a 1-day stop at Rocky Mt NP at the end of the trip (NATIONAL PARK #20 and one that we’ll surely go back to.)  So we left this afternoon from The Colony because Grant played in a baseball tournament.  His team, the Tomcats, a mix of school kids and neighborhood kids, actually won two games so while it caused us to get away late (3:30pm), it was worth it to see the kids win. 

We got on the road at 3:30 and had a 5.5 hour drive to Canyon, TX ahead of us.  We bought Zootopia (a movie) for the ride so the kids started watching that first.  We stopped in Childress, TX for dinner at Dairy Queen but when we got to the register, after a bit of a wait, they said that if you wanted food, there’d be a 30-minute wait…strange.  So we went to McDonalds, the first one I’d ever been to that had ordering kiosks.  It’s strange to find the most technologically advanced McDonalds I'd ever been to in Childress, TX.  We kept driving down some dark, single lane highways and after getting a big rock in the windshield, realized that we had 14 miles of gas left.  And sure enough, what seemed like in the middle of a field, we found a beautiful gas station. 

We pulled into the Holiday Inn Express around 10pm and Grant started complaining that he hates Holiday Inn Expresses.  I didn’t tell him that I got the 4-person Jacuzzi suite (for like $12 more than a regular room – I think the bill was $131/ night).  It was a double room and one side was literally a 4-person Jacuzzi tub with a lounge area and a TV and a king-sized bedroom and the other side was a regular hotel room.  We all four got into the tub, Nick and me sans clothes and the kids with their bathing suits on because they were too creeped out.  It was, hands down, the cheesiest thing we’ve ever done.  It reminded me of one of those super cheesy family holiday cards.  It was truly ridiculous and I LOVED IT.  We went to bed around 11pm.

Southern CA Parks Day 7 - March 25, 2016

Friday March 26, 2016 (Last Day)

This was a journey day – up early, quick shower, then I went for an uneventful 35 minute walk around the parking lot of the Residence Inn before we grabbed breakfast and got on the road around 7:30am.  The drive ahead was a long one – we left Oxnard and drove all the way to outside of Vegas and got Subway at a gas station, surrounded by a bunch of thugs.  The kids watched Rookie of the Year (for the 100^th time) then Home Alone then the Sand Lot.  We got to Hoover Dam at 2:00 after sitting in about 30 minutes of traffic caused by security checks.  The dam was cool but not as amazing as I remembered.  The Pat Tillman Bridge (which is now I-93 instead of actually crossing over Hoover Dam) is actually more beautiful than Hoover Dam. 

But I’m glad we stopped.  It was really neat to see the two bronze statues next door to the dam that were mentioned in a Percy Jackson book that Ryan and I read. 

But man the water level seemed really, really low. 

We grabbed magnets and ice cream then drove back to the airport, arriving around 4pm to drop off our car. 

The entire trip had been pretty magical until…after we dropped off the car, we rode on a shuttle bus to the airport, which is apparently where I left our portable DVD player with about 16 movies in it!  We got to the terminal just in time to grab dinner and get on the plane. The plane ride home was uneventful and the kids did great even without the DVD player.  But the airlines lost Nick’s/Grant’s bag.  We got home around 11:30 and it’s now 12:30 and I’m ready to go to bed.  But what a great trip!  The kids have now been to 19 national parks and there’s no end in sight.  Man, I LIVE for this!!!!!

Southern CA Parks Day 6 - March 24, 2016

Thursday March 24, 2016 Channel Islands

What another amazing day.  We got up this morning and had a nice breakfast in the lobby.  Then we drove back to the harbor where we were last night.  We dropped Nick off at the empty Visitor Center (didn’t open until 8:30) then the kids and I parked the car (just a few 100 yards down the road) and checked in for our trip to Santa Cruz.  Nick walked down a little after 8:30 with hatpins and stamps (for the passport books) in hand – the park ranger showed up at 8:20 so whew, we made it.  This visitor center didn’t have magnets, strangely, but Island Packers did so we bought those too.  Then it was time to board the boat.

I’d read about motion sickness and that you might want to consider taking medication but I assumed it was overblown.  NOPE!  I threw up all over the bathroom and again in a barf bag with people sitting all around me and poor grant was just a zombie.  He never threw up but man, it was the longest 1.5 hours of my life.  Ryan and Nick were both nauseous too but both faired ok.  A stranger gave me a Dramamine but I threw it up.  And he gave Ryan and Grant each 1/2.  It was awful.  Our boat went through a herd? of dolphins and I didn’t even take a picture because I was in the bathroom. 

When we finally got there, it was such a relief.  When we first got off the boat we saw a cute little fox who is native to the Channel Islands.

We went on a 5 mi guided hike to Pelican Bay.  The land we hiked is owned by the Nature Conservancy, not the national park so we had to sign waivers.  It was hard but amazing.  The whole island of Santa Cruz reminded me of the NW side of Maui.  We finally got to our turn-around spot and ate lunch (that we hiked in) on Tinker Beach, so named because back in the 20’s, the first Peter Pan silent movie was filmed there.  It was gorgeous. 

We hiked back on our own (not all with a group) and played I’m thinking of something which is always fun…for a while.  It was hot and we were all sweaty and getting tired.  And Grant and I were dreading the return voyage.  As we walked back to the pier, the same nice man gave me his last Dramamine so Grant and I split it.  Then we got on the boat a little before 4pm.  We sat at the back, on the first level because we’d been told the boat doesn’t move as much but then one of the guides said the return trip is never as bad as the outbound trip because we’re going with the waves – what a relief.  AND WE SAW WHALES!!  It was incredible.  The one we mostly watched was a juvenile and the captain said it seemed he might even be asleep because he never jumped out of the water.  But man was it awesome – everyone’s first whale. 

Then, it really was a nice, easy trip back.  Ry and I played Gin for a bit then we docked back in Ventura around 5:30pm.  We grabbed the car, drove around the corner and had dinner at Brophy Brothers – pretty good.  Then home for 30 minutes in the hot tub/pool.  Around 8 we got back to our room and packed up.  Everyone was a little grumpy because this trip has really been go, go, go and it’s coming to an end.  But overall, the day was amazing, sans the sea sickness which was just plain AWFUL!!  First time I’ve ever used a barf bag.

Southern CA Parks Day 5 - March 23, 2016

Wednesday March 23, 2016 (Day 5)

This was our first and only leisurely day of the trip.  We took our time getting up (6:15?J), got dressed and ate breakfast at the McDonalds right in front of our hotel.  We then walked back over to Downtown Disney so that the kids could do some shopping.  They each got $50 for the trip and we really discouraged them from spending any time shopping yesterday or buying anything the first day we pulled in.  Grant bought a Stitch (from Lilo and Stitch) pillow pet that he is absolutely in love with, and he also got a yo-yo at a Duncan booth.  The guy showed him how to do a few tricks and we caught it on video tape.

Ryan bought a really cute Mickey Mouse t-shirt and Nick and I got a magnet for our magnetic wall. 

We went back to the room, grabbed our bags and headed to the car.  We almost made it out of the parking lot until Ryan remembered that she forgot her Kindle charger.  (This was what I thought was the 3^rd full-blown drama-filled false alarm but this time it was legit).

We drove up to LA in a convoluted way and saw the Hollywood sign, Hollywood Blvd, the starts on the side walk, the Chinese Theater, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive and then made it down to Santa Monica after rotting in traffic for what felt like hours. 

We stopped in Santa Monica around 1:45 for lunch and ate at Wahoo’s (it was so-so).  Then we took Hwy 1 all the way to Oxnard.  It was beautiful and the first time either of us had ever been through Malibu.  We passed Pepperdine University (incredible!!!) and pulled into the Residence Inn in Oxnard around 4:45.  It’s like an old apartment complex.  We have a kitchen, living room, etc. – it’s strange. 

This was when I realized that the Visitor Center closed at 5:00 and we couldn’t make it there in time. So we drove over to the Harbor anyway and took pictures in front of the sign and walked over to where our boat leaves in the morning (Island Packers, Inc.) 

We kept walking around the Harbor for 35 minutes so that I could keep the exercise streak alive (much grumbling from the kids) then got back into the car, went to the grocery to grab a few things (stopped at a WinnCo which I thought was a Winn Dixie but definitely not!! – didn’t take credit cards!) then went through the Chick-fil-a drive through and headed back to the room.

It’s now 8:30 and the kids are watching/practicing yo-yo tricks, Nick’s working and I’m blogging.  We’ll probably got to bed soon because tomorrow’s going to be a long day.  I don’t think we return until 5:30 which is a bummer because I think it means we’ll miss A&M play OU in the Sweet 16!  (On Sunday night we missed A&M come back to beat a team in the round of 32 – apparently it’s being called the best basketball comeback of all times.  With about 45 seconds left to play, A&M was down by 12 points and ended up winning by 3 – sorry to have missed that!)

Until tomorrow…

Southern CA Parks Day 4 - March 22, 2016

Tuesday, March 22, 2016 – DISNEYLAND

Well, let’s see – up at 6am, breakfast, ready, and out the door at 7:30.  We walked back to the entrance and waited forever in the bag check line, then the admission line, but sure enough, we were walking into Disneyland at about 8:05.  It was SOOOOOO crowded but fun. 

The first ride we went to was Space Mountain.  Neither of the kids had ever been on a roller coaster before so I was curious to see how it’d go but they both LOVED it.  (I definitely need to buy season tickets to Six Flags this summer!). 

Then we rode the Nemo submarine ride, then the Matterhorn, then It’s a Small World, sans Nick, who was getting Star Tours fast passes, then Mr. Toad’s wild ride (which wasn’t nearly as wild as I had remembered it as a kid), then Pinocchio (which was super lame), then Haunted Mansion, Star Tours (on a fast pass which was amazing), Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan (waited 50 minutes and the ride lasted about 2 minutes – wouldn’t do that one again), then Splash Mountain – this one was a lot of fun – didn’t realize there was more to it than just the big drop – also rode this on a Fast Pass!!, Thunder Mountain (also on a Fast Pass) – the kids LOVED this one!!!, then Indiana Jones, then dinner in the “French Quarter”, then Buzz Lightyear, where we had our own joystick and laser guns.  After all of this, it was around 7:45 so we walked back over to the It’s a Small World area and Grant, who was fading by the minute, and I saved some seats right outside of the It’s a Small World gift shop while Nick and Ryan rode the ride together, since Nick missed it the first time.  There was a beautiful full moon. 

The parade started at 8:30 and started just next to It’s a Small World so we got to see the very beginning.  It was loud but awesome.  At the very end, the classic Disney characters came out and I just about teared up until a lady came and told us we had to get off the railing.  After the parade there was supposed to be a fireworks and light show but because of strong winds, the fireworks were cancelled. 

That meant it was finally time to go – we rocked it out from 8:00am-9:15pm and rode every single ride I wanted to ride plus one!  Grant was almost in tears at this point from leg pain so I carried him part of the way and he walked part of the way too. 

We practically feel into bed around 10 and I feel cheesy for saying this but it really was a magical day. 

Southern CA Parks Day 3 - March 21, 2016

Monday March 21, 2016 – Day 3

We got up this morning, early, and had a great breakfast at the Fairfield Inn.  Then we drove back into the park, through the Oasis entrance (grabbing some pictures at the national park sign first). 

We then drove over to Ryan Mountain and climbed to the summit, approximately 5,450 feet.  The hike up was pretty challenging, only because of the steep climb but the view at the top made it worth it!  It took us about 1 hour 10 minutes to get to the top and only 37 minutes to get down.  I know this exactly because we all placed bets on how long it would take to get down and Ryan won by guessing 37 minutes. 

Around 11ish, we got back into the car and left out of the Joshua Tree entrance.  The kids had started Rookie of the Year in the car so I just ran into the Visitor Center and got the hat pins, magnets, etc. and we were on our way to Anaheim. 

The 122 miles to Anaheim was fairly eventless.  We stopped in Corona, CA, after driving through a Wind Farm, and had lunch at Goodfellas.  It was very good, which was a good thing because Ryan was very upset with me that she didn’t get her pick, which was Subway, and she didn’t understand how we got to choose dinner the night before AND choose lunch – she felt the whole thing was extremely unfair.

We pulled into our Anaheim Fairfield Inn (directly across the street from Disneyland (looking out at Space Mountain) and checked in around 2:30.  This is a neat hotel/motel and we’re on the 8^th floor so we have a pretty nice view.  As we were getting our things out of the car, Ryan found Grant’s knife that he thought had been left on the side of Darwin Falls Road so he was very excited.  After getting settled, we walked over to Downtown Disney and the kids looked at all kinds of souvenirs.  We all got Haggen Daas ice cream, and really enjoyed walking into the Lego store.  We also went  into the Rainforest café. 

Then back to the room and down to the pool/hot tub for a bit.  The kids and I went to the 3^rd floor market and picked up chicken noodle soup, mac and cheese, etc. and ate it back in the room and were literally in bed at 8:30 and totally asleep by 8:45.  That is until the Disneyland fireworks display kicked off at 9:10.  It scared the crap out of me – woke me up with a start!!  It lasted until 9:25 then back to bed.

I woke once in the night, having a “nightmare” about how we had all of these plans for Disneyland but all Ryan wanted to do was shop in the “Hebrew clothing store” and not ride any of the rides!?!

Southern CA Parks Day 2 March 20, 2016

Day 2 “Sunrise to Sunset” March 20, 2016

Today we got up very early, ate oatmeal (in cups with basically no spoons) and bagels in the hotel room and then quickly drove down to Zabriskie Point to watch a spectacular sunrise.  We all faced west because as the sun came up in the East, it painted the mountains pink to the west.  It was spectacular. 

We then drove over to the road that took us to Dante’s View.  It was also amazing.  We parked then walked basically along the ridge of mountains.  It was glorious but as we were  heading back to the car, Grant fell and busted his right knee and right hand very badly.  Nick and Ryan walked ahead and Grant and I walked back together after he quit crying.  As we were walking, sort of out of nowhere, we heard a bird singing.  And sure enough, he was sitting on this thorny bush right in front of us.  It was like he was there to tell Grant that everything would be okay.

We got back in the car, drove back west to our hotel room, packed up our bags and went into the “camp store”.  There we got coffee.  Ryan bought a wind catcher and Grant got a pocket knife.  I got an awesome Death Valley t-shirt.  We got gas then drove Hwy 190 north then west towards Panamint.  That drive took about an hour.  We talked about the presidential election during the drive. 

After we passed Panamint Springs Resort, we drove for one mile then turned left onto a very bumpy road and followed it back to a trailhead, about 2.5 miles away.  The parking lot was full so we precariously parked on the side of the road.  When getting out of the car, Grant dropped Omnom (his strange green stuffed animal that he got for his birthday) under the minivan, which we retrieved, and he also dropped his pocket knife, which we did not retrieve.  So he owned it for less than one hour.

The Darwin Falls hike was amazing.  It started out as just a gravel path in a very arid, desert, landscape but then we came to a creek and the entire climate changed to green and shady.  We hiked back to Darwin Falls and it was great fun.  The hike was flat but there were some fun water crossings and right towards the end, you had to hike over some boulders. 

We sat near the falls and ate a picnic lunch of summer sausage, cheese, apples, trail mix, etc. and of course, it was delicious.  While were where eating, a guy, his son and his dog Bella, climbed passed us and Bella nearly fell back and hurt herself. 

After we hiked back to the car, we got on the road for Joshua Tree.  We drove south on Hwy 178, through the town of Trona, which was a depressing mining town.  The kids watched The Bee Movie (an old one).  I lost all cellular service and hadn’t printed out the map to Joshua Tree so when we were in Trona, I asked a lady there if she knew how to get to Joshua Tree (she’d NEVER heard of it) or if they had a California map – nope.  So we had to drive a little ways out of the way until we had cell service again then were able to get directions to Joshua Tree.  We lost 45 minutes or so because of this so the drive took close to 4 hours.  The kids watched Home Alone then started Rookie of the Year.  We pulled into the Joshua Tree Visitor Center (that’s the NW entrance), around 5:45 and the Visitor Center had already closed for the day but we were able to grab a few maps which was what we needed. 

The original plan had been to check into our hotel then head into the park to catch sunset but because we got there late we just went straight into the park.  I wanted to get down to Keys View at around 7pm because I’d read that sunset was spectacular.  We had some time to kill so we stopped first at Barker’s Dam and stumbled onto such a cool, 1-mi loop hike. 

The terrain seriously looks like you’re on another planet between the strange rock formations and the Joshua trees.  The hike was amazing.  Then we just barely got down to Keys View in time and it was indescribable.  I think it’s the prettiest sunset I’ve ever seen – very windy and therefore very cold but utterly spectacular. 

After that we drove back north then rather than retracing our steps, we took the road through the park and up to the NE entrance (Oasis Entrance?)  It was now 8pm and we were hungry and tired.  We went through a Del Taco drive thru (took forever), Grant fell asleep, and we checked into our very nice Fairfield Inn.  The kids thought the hotel was so fancy.

It’s now 9:45 and I’ve showered and am just wrapping this up so that we can go to bed. 

What a day!  The kids have been so great.  A little bit of arguing but nothing too bad.  I think Nick and I have argued more than the kids have J

Until tomorrow….

Southern CA Parks Day 1 - March 19, 2016

Day 1 March 19, 2016

This morning we left our house at 7:15 and our “Lift” driver took us to the airport.  We got through the line easily and had plenty of time to relax before our flight took off.  We took an uneventful flight to Vegas (I read a great book called “The Collapse of Parenting”!).  We landed around 10am Vegas time and took a shuttle to the rental car place.  We rented an awesome Dodge minivan through Enterprise – the van has a DVD player, leather interior…the whole nine yards. 

We drove up the Vegas strip and the kids were pretty amazing but also a little bit scared.  We stopped at an Einstein’s Bagels for lunch then to Trader Joe’s for some food for tomorrow.  They didn’t have everything we needed so I stopped again at a Target and got most of what we needed. 

Everything took longer than expected so we were running a little behind schedule.  The kids watched The Sandlot in the car on the way to Death Valley. 

We finally arrived around 3:45 and checked into the Furnace Creek Ranch. 

We quickly dropped our things off then drove another mile north to the Visitor’s Center where we got our magnets, hat pins, maps, etc.  I’m bummed that I left our passbooks at home so we had to just stamp a sheet of paper but that’s okay.

Then we turned back around and took the road down to the Badwater Basin (the lowest spot in North America).  We walked out onto the salt deposits and it was really, really cool – 284 feet below sea level. 

Afterwards we headed back north on the same road and stopped at the Natural Bridge.  After 1.5 miles on a really bumpy road, it was a short but steep walk back to the bridge.  The bridge was cool but also a little creepy because it was full of cracks!

We then took the Artist Drive and saw the Artist’s Palette.   Also very neat – the drive was 9 miles and at certain places along the way, it was like we were on Mars.

Last stop (7pm and sun setting) was the Golden Canyon Trail (2 miles round trip).  This trail is apparently where parts of the original Star Wars movie was filmed.  It was getting dark so we cut the hike short and Grant, Ryan and I ran the whole way down. 

At 7:30 (9:30 Dallas time) we went back to the Furnace Creek Ranch and ate at the Saloon, which was not very good but the other two restaurants on the “resort” both had really long waits.  We basically sat in a bar, which I think also made the kids kind of nervous, then, after overeating, we got back to the room (8:30ish).  I took a quick shower and we all got into bed.

Quite the first day.  Generally speaking, the kids were fantastic.  Tomorrow should be fun too!